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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 9, 2018Gregg MarshallRashard KellyLandry ShametOrlando, Florida Wichita State - 89, Temple - 81 THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with an opening statement from Coach and then take questions for the student-athletes and coach. GREGG MARSHALL: Great game, two great teams. Three times we've played them, they're all like that. At least it didn't go into overtime or come down to a buzzer beater. But tremendous respect for Coach Fran Dunphy and his kids and how hard they play. They're hard to guard. Thank goodness we made enough shots and plays to win the game. THE MODERATOR: Open it up to questions, please. Q. Landry, can you just tell me how you were feeling it tonight, especially as you hit those first few shots in the first half? LANDRY SHAMET: I was just taking what was coming to me. I got a couple good looks early on and that's my mindset every night, just take what comes to me, don't force anything and guys were getting me open looks, and I was just trying to step into them and knock them down. That's what I did. Q. Coach, what is it do you think that -- I'm sure you've watched some film of Temple games where they're just not nearly the team that they were in the three times that you guys have played. What is it about this matchup that seemed to bring out the best in Temple? GREGG MARSHALL: I think you have to ask them that question. We certainly do bring out the best in them and I watch every game film that is put on my computer, which is quite a lot, and I think, okay, man, sometimes they play like that and sometimes they don't. But that's a lot of teams. You can't play at peak efficiency all the time. Our team doesn't; no team does. You watch Villanova or Virginia. The bottom line is they make shots against us and we have got to do a better job of pressing up and getting into their shooters because tonight they go 46 percent but in the first half they're 58 percent. And in our place last time they made 11 threes in the first half, and their high for the season prior to that was 12. And they make 16 for the game. So again, just a lot of respect for their shooters, the way they can drive it, and create, as well as shoot it from deep. Brown makes shots against us, but Shizz Alston and Rose and the other guys, I mean last game it was Perry. He has 14 threes on the year but he makes six at our place, so of his 14. Q. Can you guys just talk about how this tournament, your first time in the AAC Tournament has been different than previous tournaments for you guys? GREGG MARSHALL: You want me to do that? Different? In what way? Q. Just the atmosphere, the teams, the program. GREGG MARSHALL: Well, it's mostly Shocker fans, we're used to that. We would have five to seven thousand, depending upon the year, travel to St. Louis. Obviously St. Louis is a little bit closer, seven hours from Wichita. I don't know how many people are out there now but it's got to be about 75 percent Shocker fans at least. So we're used to that. We probably don't have that many because of the flight and it's a long drive, a couple days. But we have great support and our guys, we have come close to winning two championships. Cincinnati got us Sunday, and they won the regular season; they certainly deserved it. And then we were one possession away from winning a championship in Maui and kind of gave that one away. So we need to finish to win a championship, and we haven't done that yet this year. So our guys to my left and some of those guys in the locker room did what they needed to do tonight to beat a very good team, a team that's beaten tremendous teams throughout the course of the year. Q. When you made a run there late in the game you had quite a few reserves on the floor contributing, Reaves and I can't remember the other guy. But talk about contributions off your bench tonight and what a difference that made. GREGG MARSHALL: I thought Austin was good. In his 19 minutes, he has 13 points but 8-of-10 from the foul line. Darral Willis was really good offensively in the first half. And then Markis McDuffie is one of our core players, but Zach Brown starts and they share the minutes. So we usually get great contributions from our bench. Tonight it was 27-17 in the points, and I think we're 10 or 11 deep. That's a good thing. It gives us a little flexibility. C.J. Keyser was the other guy that was going in there to give Landry a blow on the defensive end. THE MODERATOR: Wichita State, thank you. GREGG MARSHALL: Thank you, guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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