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MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 8, 2018Allen EdwardsIAlan HerndonHayden DaltonLas Vegas, Nevada New Mexico - 85, Wyoming - 75 ALLEN EDWARDS: First of all, obviously commend Coach Weir and New Mexico for the job they did tonight. Obviously wish them luck going forward. I thought it was a hard-fought game. I thought both teams came out and played with extreme energy. Both teams had some highs and lows throughout the game. At the end of the day one team has to win and one team has to lose. We ended up coming out on the wrong end of it. But love our guys and I thought they gave it all we had. Q. The last time you played in New Mexico they dictated the style, being really up-tempo, high-scoring game. It seemed like this time around you did a better job of keeping the pace of play where you would want it. Do you feel that was the case, that you guys played a little more your style tonight? HAYDEN DALTON: Yeah, definitely. That was more of our game plan was to smartly attack. I think we turned it over a little too much still, but I think we did a better job, like you said, attacking them smart and knowing when to pull it out and when not to. Q. You and J.J., two leading scorers, they kind of held you in check as far as shooting the ball. Did they attack you differently or what did they do to prevent you and J.J. from shooting the ball well tonight? HAYDEN DALTON: I mean, their whole team is all about pressure. No easy catches. We weren't getting clean looks off, and they kind of just rushed us a little bit. Q. Coach felt maybe you tried to do a little too much, tried to force some shots that weren't there. Do you feel like later in the second half that happened kind of again? HAYDEN DALTON: I have no comment on that. ALAN HERNDON: I can say we want him to take those shots, whether we're going in or not, he's taking those shots all year. We're confident in him taking those shots. Those shots he normally makes, they just weren't falling tonight. Q. Last time you played them you weren't playing a lot. How tough was that for you to watch as a defensive guy and getting out there? How eager were you to get another shot at this team? ALAN HERNDON: I was very eager. Last game I was dealing with some sickness, and just had to sit there and just watch that score, it kind of hurt a little bit. I just wanted to make sure I just went out there and just be more effective. Wasn't that great in the first half, didn't contribute any rebounding, was able to pick it up a little bit in the second half. That first half dictates a lot. So it did hurt. Q. Was it just the way they were playing you or what worked for you? ALAN HERNDON: Coach always says all year, just attack. I can create a lot of mismatches with what I can do. So I was just taking what the defense was giving me, and making sure I was constantly -- my teammates were hitting me in great positions, and I had an attack mentality. Sometimes it's the win or go home that can do it for you. Q. A lot of good things, but doesn't look like there will be any postseason. Can you put into words what this season has been like for you guys as seniors and what you guys were able to accomplish. ALAN HERNDON: It's been a crazy year. And not even this year, just that's how it's been here at Wyoming with these guys. It became a brotherhood and something I'll cherish for the rest of my life. They meant a lot to myself. Me, myself and H, I don't know how many college coaches looked at us and thought we could become what we are today. This man to our right took a chance on us, believed in us and gave us the keys and told us to go out and do what you do best. And we have to thank him so much for that, I really cherish that. Q. Is this a tough matchup for you guys, because you like to play sort of up-tempo but you have to rein that in and not play their up-tempo? Was it hard to find the balance? HAYDEN DALTON: Yeah, a little bit. Like you asked before, I think we did a better job this game, and I think this game it kind of came down to more on the defensive end, doing more what we needed to do. We didn't get done what we needed to do on the defensive end tonight. But I think we did a lot better job controlling the pace this game. Q. What makes New Mexico so effective at what they do; coach, players? What do they do that works? ALAN HERNDON: They just have a deep rotation. They bring a lot of guys in, and with that pressure you kind of have to, the next sub coming in brings that energy, brings that same pressure. They have a lot of guys that can come in and do that same thing. You just have to prepare for that and just play your game and try not to let them speed you up. I think this game we were a little bit better in the sense of turnovers, I think before we had 20 or something, this time we took care of it better. It was the rebounding and when we needed the stop that really hurt us. Q. You look back on your career, what are you going to think about first? HAYDEN DALTON: I'm just very thankful, like Alan said, that I had the opportunity to play here. Because I went the junior college route and they took a chance on me. Just that I was able to play and step on the court and put on the Wyoming jersey, just very thankful. Q. What does it feel like to look in the stands and see that gold and brown filling the arena? You had more fans than just about anybody. ALAN HERNDON: It means a lot. It really felt like a home game, really, for both teams. I think the fans really showed up for each team. But that brown and gold really means a lot when you have Wyoming across your chest. It's a sense of pride. And all the fans let us feel that. Unfortunately we were on the wrong end of that. But we thank them for coming out and supporting us through the season. Q. You felt like getting into the title game is what you needed résumé-wise to get to the NIT. Is that kind of what you needed to accomplish this tournament? ALAN HERNDON: Even without -- say we would have won more games or anything like that, our goal is to compete for championships. That's the culture we try to cultivate here. We definitely had that on our mind, just go out there and just compete and play our hardest. And just give ourselves a chance. Unfortunately that didn't happen. But that's just how it goes one time. There's a winner and a loser. Q. You were able to get it, I think it was from 3 down the stretch, and the last two or three minutes you weren't able to get a basket. Was it good defense on their part, shots not falling, any observations there? ALLEN EDWARDS: Probably missed opportunities. I think when we cut it to three we were at the free throw line, missed I think it might have been the front end of a one on one. Came down, got another stop, I think, and then took a rushed three. We had our chances to put ourselves in position to win the basketball game. We just didn't overcome that hump, so to speak, and put ourselves in position to close out the game. But, yeah, you have to give them credit for staying the course, with their game plan, as well. Q. The pace was maybe more what you wanted tonight. Is it tough sometimes to have a loss where it seemed like you guys did do some good things tonight? Is it tough when you do that and it still doesn't push you over that hump? ALLEN EDWARDS: No, like I told them after the game, this will be like any other game, we'll go back and watch film, and say if we did this better we'd be in a better situation. In the first half they did a tremendous job on the offensive glass, they had ten at halftime and we had nine total. We did a better job the second half rebounding the basketball. But you go on with the game plan, and you go out there, execute it to the best of your ability. And whether you win or lose, you just got to stay committed to it, and I thought we did that. Q. I know that Coach Weir said with Justin, he put like three guys on him during times. He struggled shooting the ball. Anything you noticed there, anything against Justin defensively, and what about Hayden's shooting? ALLEN EDWARDS: No, what I think they do, obviously, when you don't have the ball, make it tough to catch it. And like I told our guys, you've got to want the basketball. You're not just going to cut and get open. And I thought the way J.J. -- even when he broke to get the basketball, like any other player, when you don't see it go in a few times your mojo ain't the same. Obviously like it was yesterday. And I thought he was trying to play too much east-west rather than north-south, after taking on a ball screen, which they switched. But still the really good player just didn't have a great night. Q. I know the first game you talked about wanting to go into the first four minutes being strong, and tonight they jump out to a 13-point lead. What was different tonight? ALLEN EDWARDS: Offensive rebounds. The offensive rebound hurt us, even within calling a timeout early just to get our guys back refocused. It was about being on the glass. And we found a way to obviously cut it going into halftime. Cody came out at the half and I think he had a big three to cut it to two or one. We had our opportunities. Q. If this is the end of the season, with this big senior class, what do you feel is the impact they've had on this program? ALLEN EDWARDS: Well, I told the underclassmen in there, they should go around and thank those four guys for what they've done for this program. H, Al, Lou, and Alex has done a lot in the sense of helping this program and helping the last two years with me as a head coach and our culture and what we're trying to do going forward. Those guys have made a big impression on it. And as we go forward guys coming into the program and guys that are returning can look back on what these past two teams have done. Q. I know there will be time for reflection later, but there probably won't be postseason for this team. How would you assess how this season went and what the future looks like for the program? ALLEN EDWARDS: What I always try to do within even the game, I always try to find what happened over the season. And like I told those guys, in the past 16 years there's only been two teams that have competed in the conference play and came out with more wins and losses, and that's this team and the team that won in '15. So when you look at the tradition of the program, in the last 16 years you're saying, well, you were one of those two teams, I think that's a lot to speak about. Because it is a tough conference, top to bottom. And putting yourself in position to win 20 games with one of the toughest schedules that we've had in the last 16 years. But all that was playing, and to me you put your better foot forward. And I thought our guys did a great job, it just didn't turn out the way we would have liked it to turn out. Q. Part of what they're trying to do both offensively and defensively is get you guys in a frantic, almost panicked mode. You called two timeouts early, one in three minutes and you score right out of the timeout, Alan gets a dunk, you call another timeout after nine minutes and Alan dunked after the timeout. After halftime you guys are executing. When you were setting things up it seemed like you were executing, but as longer between stoppages and play, the turnovers seemed to happen. Is that something maybe UNM was doing or just some mental lapses on your team's part tonight? ALLEN EDWARDS: You've got to give them credit for their style of play at the end of the day, because that's what they do. To be honest with you, if I was to look at the stat sheet without playing, I would say we would lose the game, because there were only 14 fouls called. But they are a team that plays aggressive, they aren't going to call it all. I can complain as much as I want to to the officials about reaching and grabbing, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter. So care less about whether they call them, have our guys fight through and play the game of basketball, execute. But like you said, even within going back and forth, you can easily get caught up in what they're trying to do. When we were at our best is when we was poised and just played confidently, rather than -- what I mean by that, like after H missed the free throws to cut it to maybe 1, we get another stop. We come down. The ball is bouncing around. It bounces to J.J., it dribbles and he picks it up and shoots a 3. Like that to me is you're playing their way, rather than picking that up and saying, okay, get my guys into something or move the basketball so we can get something better. So you can get caught up in that style of play, but, again, give Coach Weir credit and the program. Because obviously he's done a tremendous job in year one with these guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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