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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 15, 2019Ernest AflakpuiShizz Alston, Jr.Fran DunphyMemphis, Tennessee Wichita State, 80 - Temple, 74 COACH FRAN DUNPHY: Hard-fought, of course. I thought McDuffie made a couple of huge plays in the game, not the least of which -- I thought we had a run-out late, and he just got himself back into the play and made little plays like that. Obviously he also made some big shots. I think we fouled him twice on jump shots that cost us a number of points as well. So I give them great credit, give McDuffie great credit. I appreciate how our guys fought until the end, and we've had a lot of really close victories. I was just hoping at the end of this one that we would make it another one tonight, but it didn't happen. Q. Coach, since Wichita has joined the conference, it's been five points decided on average every time you play Wichita State, what is it about them that makes it such a tough match-up every time you play? COACH FRAN DUNPHY: They were a different team than the one we played a couple of months ago in our second league game. A little more poise, a little more understanding of who they all are. I think Gregg does an unbelievable job as evidenced by today, and as evidenced by -- I think they're 11-0 their last 13. So they're coming on. It's a good team, well-coached, and a very good basketball time. Yes, we have had a number of very close games with them. Q. Shizz, there were about 25 fouls called in the second half. At some point was it frustration you got that T? SHIZZ ALSTON, JR.: I got a little frustrated, yeah, but as a leader, I got to keep my head in those situations. But yeah, I got a little frustrated. Q. Shizz, 23 wins, third seed in this tournament. What is the level of confidence about hearing your name on Selection Sunday? SHIZZ ALSTON, JR.: At this point, I don't know, man. We're just hoping for the best. I mean, like Coach said, I felt like we did enough to get in, but you never know in these situations, so we're just sitting and watching and hoping. Q. Coach, can you briefly touch on the impact that Shizz will have left on the program? COACH FRAN DUNPHY: That will take a long period of time. He is a tremendous guy, a great player. I don't know where we would have been without him all year-long. The last four years, he's been a terrific guy to coach, and we will continue to play basketball together over the next couple of weeks, I hope. But I'm grateful for having the opportunity to have coached him. It's been a treat. Q. Were you aware that you tied Mark Macon tonight? SHIZZ ALSTON, JR.: No, I wasn't. I was just trying to win. I didn't know that. Q. Can you comment on Ernest's game? He had a career-high in rebounds tonight? COACH FRAN DUNPHY: He was terrific. I don't know what else Ern could have done in addition to the 19 rebounds and the 16 points. He had a terrific block that I thought would change our fate as well in that first half, and we did go out -- we got a decent lead and then we lost it a little bit towards the end of the half. And then Shizz rescued us with a great three at the end of the half. I thought Ern was terrific all game long and I'm very proud of him. Q. You guys came out, you scored, you forced a turnover, you scored. When you missed a rebound, what is it? You started so strong, was there any loss of -- what along the way changed what was like a real fast start on both ends? ERNEST AFLAKPUI: I just thought we started off pretty well, as you mentioned. I just thought in some spreads of the game, we just lost focus. I think we have -- we should have, like, worked hard and then keep boxing out. That was one of the main things, like, that hurt us tonight. And the coaches have been pushing every day, if we rebound, box out, and give them only one possession, we will be good. It is more of losing focus during the game than basically anything else. Q. When you look at the numbers, is there anything you immediately think you could have done differently just in terms of McDuffie and Dennis, how much they hurt you? COACH FRAN DUNPHY: We left Dennis in a corner one time in the second half. We helped off the strong side corner which we talked about. Also the offensive rebounds hurt us again. That probably was as big a detriment to us as anything. We also turned it too many times that second half. We got a little careless with the basketball. But I think, again, in fouling McDuffie when he was shooting a jumper, we didn't need to do it. I thought they had a number of shots that I thought was going to be tough for them to finish and we bailed them out with fouls and they shoot 22 from 24, which is pretty impressive. Q. You talked about how you don't know if you are in the tournament or not. Can you describe what the next 40 or so hours are going to be like? Is it going to be hard to wait for the selection show on Sunday? SHIZZ ALSTON, JR.: Not really. There is nothing we can really do now. We are going to get together as a team and enjoy the moment together with the family, but there is nothing we can do now, just sit and wait. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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