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STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2019Ben JacobsonWyatt LohausTrae BerhowSt. Louis, Missouri - Arch Madness Northern Iowa - 61, Southern Illinois - 58 THE MODERATOR: Victorious Panthers are with us. They have a date in tomorrow's semifinal game, game No. 2. They'll play Drake. We'll have an Illinois-Iowa semifinals tomorrow, Bradley and Loyola, and Drake and Northern Iowa. Wyatt Lohaus and Trae Berhow represent for the Panthers. BEN JACOBSON: What a great game. We've had a lot of those with Southern Illinois. This one wasn't much different. I thought we were maybe just a little bit -- maybe just a half step ahead for a while in the game. Both teams played extremely hard. We were able to get just a little separation. They played great here in the last ten days. They did what a team like that does when they've got a group of seniors and extremely well coached and playing what they're playing. They had just as much a chance to win as we did. We've seen that a lot when we play against Southern Illinois. These two guys were great. I thought Trae battled Fletcher all night long. Was able to, in the first half, do a terrific job on him, and that really helped him get to that lead at halftime. Wyatt was terrific all night, loved how aggressive he was. Loved the shots that he was getting to. And we got a big lift from Justin off the bench. That first half from Justin really helped us. So proud of these guys, and I love what they're doing. Q. Jake, you had a situation earlier this season where A.J. had the ball in a similar deal, final shot against Loyola, didn't fall. Did you tell him anything after that game? What did you want to see in him in that moment there tonight when he had the ball in his hands after the go ahead three-pointer? BEN JACOBSON: Yeah, I did. I told him that we'll take that in that same situation, we'll take him with the ball in his hands and the shot he had at our place, the one you're talking about, we'll take that every single time. That's all I told him, and he said, "I got you, Coach." When I said it, I know I was speaking for these guys as well. I was speaking for our team when I told A.J. that, and tonight, man, he was strong on that play. He had to work to get himself to a spot. That was a lot of strength to get to that spot. When you think about the last game we played at Southern at their place, it didn't go so well for A.J., and it didn't go so well for a couple of our guys, and it did not go so well for our team in the second half. To get back and make that play in this game, like I said, in that situation, we'll take him with the ball each and every time. Q. Wyatt, a bunch of jumpers. You were able to find a spot, kind of around the screen. Did you think that was going to be open today, or did you just kind of create that yourself today? WYATT LOHAUS: Yeah, that's something we talked about in practice a lot. They changed up how they're defending the ball screen, sagging off the five man and kind of just dart it with two guys. We talked about waiting for the screen and putting the defender on me and reading that big man and putting pressure on him. That's a shot I'm really comfortable with, that midrange pullup. I felt they were giving it to me, and a few of them went in. Q. Wyatt, did you have a message for A.J. or any of the guys in that final time-out after Southern Illinois took the lead? WYATT LOHAUS: It was more just we're right in it. Keep your heads up. You know, we've got to go make a play. I think the general message just across the board was head up, flush it, what just happened, let's go make a play, and let's win. Q. As the lone senior on the team, how significant is a game like this for you? WYATT LOHAUS: It's awesome. I want to keep playing as long as we can here at the end. To win a tough game like that the way we did, it feels really good. Q. Ben, you seemed to give Pippen that free-throw line jumper instead of kind of maybe letting him post up in the rim. Were you kind of willing to give up 15, even 20, what he had, not to let him beat you in the other way? BEN JACOBSON: Yes, when we looked at everything that Southern has and what they were going to throw at us in this game at both ends, you've got to make a decision, at least we felt like we did for us at the defensive end, because of the versatility we've got with the lineup. Pippen has been -- he's been really good, and he's been really good here late. But Fletcher and Lloyd are getting 40 points a game in the last five. So you've got to take care of those guys, and I said it, I believe, yesterday is when I talked about it. I think McGill and Cook are the most underrated guys. They don't get talked about much in our league. You don't hear their names talked about a lot. I think they're the most underrated pair of guards in our league. So, yes, we had to give up something. We weren't going to guard him at 17 feet, guard Fletcher and Lloyd in all their spots, keep the two smaller guards, Cook and McGill, keep them out of the lane. There's a lot to handle with their team. So in looking at what we -- you know, our list of things, that was something we were going to give up. Q. Trae, obviously, you've gone four games going into this without knocking down a three-pointer. What was kind of your process like going into this game and trying to get back on track? What were the keys for you to kind of recover there? TRAE BERHOW: It's the same thing every game. Just let it fly. Get the ball and shoot. Coach has been preaching that to me. Don't go overboard. Don't do anything that I don't do. Just keep it simple. Catch and shoot, stay confident in myself. That's what I did. Q. How comfortable are you feeling out there in the second half? It looked like you showed some poise there with the hook shot and then the big three-pointer, a little bit of emotion there. What kind of stood out from that moment? TRAE BERHOW: We're pretty comfortable in these situations now. We've had a lot of close games. So coming down into crunch time and making some big shots is nothing new to us. If I don't make it, someone else will make it, there's a lot of trust in the team. We're used to being in those close situations. Q. This is your first year on this team, after playing with another team, what would you say about this group? What's kind of stood out how these guys have come together? TRAE BERHOW: I think the key word is together. If one person doesn't make a shot, no one's going to get down on you. They're going to trust and make sure that you're going to make the next shot, and they're going to believe in you throughout the whole game. Q. You mentioned the production out of Justin, Wyatt, some of the other guys stepping up. What does that say about your team, the kind of depth you had to display there tonight? BEN JACOBSON: I think that's why we played so well in February. We had -- we played pretty darn well in January also. Didn't win all the time, but we played pretty good in January. I think in February our offense really ticked up, and we were -- it was either -- before the last two games, either 7 of 9 or 8 of 10, we were one point per possession or higher with our offense, and that's taking in a lot of games. That's taking in, of course, some road games and playing against some good teams in that stretch. And the reason that the offense is better, it's been everybody. The ball has moved a lot better here in the last six weeks, and I think that's the part of the process that I've really enjoyed being a part of. I was learning as much about our team in November and December as they were learning about each other, and we were trying to figure -- there was a lot of things we were trying to figure out, and I give these guys a ton of credit for the way they've shared the basketball, the way they've moved the basketball, and that's led to what happened tonight. We don't need just A.J. or just Wyatt or just Trae to make threes or on down the list. We don't need just one guy or just two guys in order for us to play well on offense. Like I said, these guys deserve a ton of credit for that. Q. Coach, looking ahead to tomorrow with Drake, what are going to be the keys for that matchup for you guys? BEN JACOBSON: I don't know yet, and I appreciate your question. We'll watch their game from tonight. Obviously, a different lineup for them, and I was able to watch part of the second half after we got here and see some of that, but without Wilkins, without -- I don't know McGlynn's status. I know he didn't play in the second half. So I will say this, for Wilkins to go down ahead of time and McGlynn to go out in the first half and not come back and play in the second half, that is a tremendous game that they played and a tremendous win. So even given the injuries, it's obvious that they're not ready to be done. So it's going to be a heck of a game. Both games with them this year were close, and we got one, they got one. So we'll have to watch -- I'll have to watch tonight's game to be able to figure out what we're going to need to do at both ends. THE MODERATOR: Anything else for the Panthers of Northern Iowa? All right, gentlemen. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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