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MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 14, 2019

Las Vegas, Nevada

Fresno State - 76, Air Force - 50

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Air Force head coach Dave Pilipovich and student-athletes Lavelle Scottie and Caleb Morris. Coach, an opening statement.

COACH PILIPOVICH: First of all, a lot of credit to Fresno State. They were really, really, really good defensively tonight. Their pressure was extremely on point. They changed the game with their extended pressure from the full court to the half court, forced us into turnovers and took us out of rhythm.

And Deshon Taylor was really good. He's a redshirt senior guard. He really led them, and so give them a lot of credit.

On the other hand, proud of our group for what we've done, where we've been, where we got to. And we talked at the four-minute media timeout, we talked to our guys and we took Lavelle out and Ryan and our starters and talked about where we've been, where we're at and now getting to that next step. And so proud of us, what we've done, and give them credit as they move on.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. What do you think happened to the energy after that quick start, where you guys got up by 13-6? Obviously what made that so hard to sustain?
LAVELLE SCOTTIE: I believe the pressure kind of riled us up and they kind of took us out of what we was doing initially. They showed up defensively and that's why they was able to win the ballgame.

Q. What did he talk to you about at that point and then what are you guys already reflecting on from this season?
LAVELLE SCOTTIE: To reflect back, like he said, that's a good ball team. They came defensively. We just have to grow from this, take out the positives as we can. And a big emphasis, (indiscernible) timeout we've got to get stops and we wasn't able to shut down Deshon Taylor.

He's a good basketball player. He's been there before. He did a great job leading his team and keeping them poised and stuff like that so you can learn from that, I can learn from that.

Q. I think in November or early December you said it doesn't just happen; you don't just become a good team. No matter what you had coming back. How do you spin this forward and prevent a step back and build from what you guys did and do it at the start?
LAVELLE SCOTTIE: Positivity. I mean, you gotta fail to succeed. And this is definitely one of the times we failed. And we're going to take the positives out of it, grow and become better basketball players, come back next year with a passion to -- we've got everybody returning besides one player. And that's a lot of hope for us right there.

So we're going to take all the negatives from this year and (indiscernible) of it and come back and be a better ball team next year.

Q. Caleb, obviously an up and down year until the last couple of weeks and you finally found consistency. How do you take that forward now?
CALEB MORRIS: I mean, just keep getting better every day, us as a team, me individually, just another day, just keep -- another opportunity, just keep getting better.

Q. Does the summer after your junior year look a little different than after your sophomore year? Will you see each other a little more, be able to play and keep some of this continuity?
LAVELLE SCOTTIE: We'll be able to see each other a lot during this upcoming summer because we should all have the same summer schedule. At least we all have to take two leadership positions over the summer. So that's going to intertwine with each other. So we'll be able to play a lot of pick up stuff like that, get a lot of workouts and lifts in. So this summer is the summer to build and grow.

Q. Dave, how important is it to you this summer? Because obviously there's been a couple times where you've had a lot of guys coming back.
COACH PILIPOVICH: This is a really good group. This group has done some things with the wins we've had in the conference play, moving up to a 6 seed in the tournament. The growth and development of these two along with the others in the locker room, with the addition of some young men we have coming in from our prep school. We've got some length, some athleticism. We've got some young Lavelles and Calebs down there that are coming up. So we're excited about that.

We've got some really good pieces. Now, San Diego State has two guards who are sitting out who are really good. Nevada probably just added a transfer today. I mean, everyone's getting better. So -- Geoff Grammer's tweeting something.

We love our group. We're going to make a commitment in the weight room. We'll get a little bigger and stronger. We're going to do some workouts here, hopefully our schedule will allow us to this summer, with our incoming players as well as our returning players.

And we've challenged our schedule, too, a little bit next year. We've got some opportunities to play some different people, different places. It's going to be a lot in our growth and our development. So we're excited about it.

Q. A loss like this, is it easier to take because you know this season was basically a stepping stone to next year?
COACH PILIPOVICH: No, it's never -- you never want to end the season on a loss, obviously. You want to play and keep playing and surviving and advancing, but we played a really good team. I mean, a really good team. And we beat this team at their place.

I give a lot of credit to them. I told Justin as we shook hands, if they defend like this they have an opportunity to win two more games. They were really good defensively. I'm not saying we were really bad offensively. They had a lot to do with it. Their length and their size and their quickness. They were there.

And if they can guard like that, that will be good for them in the next day and next two days. So it's never a good loss when you lose, but we have really grown. We have really grown. Look at where we were. We weren't ready to win early, November, December. We grew and matured through that. We won at some places.

We beat the third-, the fourth-, the fifth-place teams in this league during the regular season. We've won some games on the road that we haven't done. And now it's now to take that next step and get to another day when we get here.

Q. You touched on Fresno State maybe having the capability to win this. In his first year at the helm, what's impressed you with the way that Justin Hutson has handled the Bulldogs?
COACH PILIPOVICH: Let's talk about Justin. He's a good coach. When we talk about first-year, it's not like he just decided to coach this year, right?

He learned from one of the best in coach Steve Fisher in that San Diego State program. And he was a big part of their success.

I think he's an unbelievable coach. I think he's an outstanding person. And I think he's done a great job with an experienced team and taken them to another level.

And it's been defense. Our room was next door to their room, our meeting rooms, and one of their travel bags was sitting out. And on their Nike travel bag the slogan on there said "defense travels." And it sure does when they play and they play on the road.

So let's give him a lot of credit and his staff and their players for adjusting to a new coach and having the success they have this year.

Q. If they happen to beat Utah State tomorrow and maybe fall to Nevada in the championship game, do you think they're deserving of an NCAA bid?
COACH PILIPOVICH: You know, I always think teams from our league are deserving of postseason play. When we beat them at their place, their next game was at Nevada and it was a one-possession game. I think they lost by six. But they played extremely well. A bounce here or there, they could have won that game.

If they get to that point, are they deserving? Yes. Will they get it? I'm not so sure. There's so many things going on right now with teams winning and losing and on the bubble. Gosh, we talk about the bubble in December anymore. We haven't even put our Christmas tree up and we're talking about teams on the bubble. I just hope they can continue to play well and have success in their next two games.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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