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MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 4, 2020

Las Vegas, Nevada

Wyoming - 80, Colorado State - 74

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Wyoming.

COACH EDWARDS: I thought this was one of our better games. Obviously having, I want to say, five guys in double figures, I thought we did a great job sharing the basketball on the offensive end of the floor.

I thought we were connected defensively. Thought we did a good job rebounding, but the stat sheets don't say that. But I just thought our guys went out there and competed. The last time we played them at our place we had a 19-point lead that we let get away. But our thing to our guys was it's tournament time and let's leave it all out on the floor.

And I thought our guys did a great job of just staying the course. And this time around, even though I thought CSU continued to fight, like us three were talking back stage, those were the longest two minutes in the history of college basketball, it felt like. But our guys found a way to pull it off in advance.

Q. We've talked about this before that you guys have been in these situations earlier this year and you guys came up on the wrong end. Today it seemed like every time they made a big shot to cut it down to two or three you guys were able to respond. You guys made all your free throws late today for the most part. What made today different?
JAKE HENDRICKS: I would say all the hard work we've put in. Every day in practice, we come in and we want to get better and we work hard every day. And the other times we've talked and we've come on the wrong end, we've had something -- every time it's been something that's gone wrong.

And tonight I thought we fixed all of those things and put a complete game together and it just comes with all the hard work we've put in.

Q. [Inaudible] was very adamant to say they never overlooked you. Did you feel overlooked by the rest of the conference and CSU?
JAKE HENDRICKS: I would say so. I think people would doubt a 2-16 team, an 11 seed. We've had a lot of close games, maybe a lot of people within the conference, other teams might not have because they know we can play a close game. But I would say for the most part we were probably pretty doubted.

Q. I think you guys got it, it was like five at halftime, went back up to 13, then went back down to two or three, and obviously the way the last game against Colorado State went with you guys being up 19, was there ever a moment when you had to kind of regroup and say, we're not going to let this happen again? What were those huddles like when you kind of had to call those timeouts and break up their momentum?
JAKE HENDRICKS: What Coach Edwards has preached all year is just to continue to defend and rebound. And if we get stops, they don't score. So they can't come back. And I thought we did a really good job of defending and we always preach about getting kills, which is three stops in a row.

And I don't know how many we got, but we were on the verge of a lot. And we got two quite a bit. And when we don't let them score it, it stops their run. And then we've just got to finish with a rebound because they're a good offensive rebounding team.

Q. First big upset of the tournament technically. What do you do to stay focused and be ready for Nevada coming up?
JAKE HENDRICKS: We've got to get a lot of this, a lot of Gatorade, a lot of water, get a good night's rest and wake up in the morning and be ready for our preparation for Nevada.

KWANE MARBLE II: We've just got to listen to the coaches, stay the course. Coach Edwards always preaches just stay the course. Stay the course. Like Jake said get good liquids and good night's rest. Get some good food in our body and have a good night to recover.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach.

Q. You've talked all year about them trusting the process and staying the course and it hasn't always worked out this year. And today it hasn't happened a lot this year but it all kind of fell into place. To have it fall into place, especially here against Colorado State, what does that just mean for you personally?
COACH EDWARDS: Well, one of the biggest things we talked about even before the game was clearing out the outside noise. And we've had to say that to our guys quite a bit, because when you're on a course, and at the end of the day the winds don't show up, it's hard to doubt what you're doing.

And we're consistently telling our guys, you can hear them talk, we're consistently telling them about the process -- just stay true to the process, and understand that there's a reason why you work the way you work.

And, again, it doesn't guarantee you a win at the end of the day. But it puts you in the best position to win. And even with this group, we are young with 11 freshmen and sophomores, and we had three of them not even suited up. Thompson got back today. But these guys, whether after a tough loss, a bad loss, when we come back and get prepared for our next team, they're focused and they come in and they work hard.

This has been a good group. Like, there's no talk back. I just gotta understand who I can yell at and who I can't. I've gotten better at that with guys. But again you can hear them talk.

We consistently talk about the process and defending and rebounding. Offensively I just care about you sharing the basketball. And I thought tonight was one of our better performances in the sense of sharing -- 19 assists and seven turnovers. That's pretty impressive with a group -- and you're looking at, again, T.J. being a young guy, Maldo being a young guy. And I thought Jake and A.J. were really solid for our guys tonight.

I mean, this group still believes. Like they said, we've been in so many close games and we could have been on the other side of them. No different than playing Nevada. Both of them came down to the last possession, per se, but they found a way to just keep coming. Tonight it was good and it's a good feeling.

Q. You mentioned close games. Two of them were against Nevada, who you'll play now in the next round. What do you feel like you learned or your team maybe learned in those games that you can apply and maybe come out with a better result this time?
COACH EDWARDS: In both of those games -- a lot of our games, I thought we made a lot of youthful mistakes down the stretch, and we also haven't done a great job of putting in free throws down the stretch, which today we did a better job of not make youthful mistakes. And for the most part we're able to put in free throws.

So looking back at both games at their place, our ball, 50 seconds left, our freshmen gets picked by their fifth-year senior and gets a layup. Changes the course of the game. At our place they had a big stop down the stretch. It was a veteran group.

So we have to understand that it's capable to be done because we've been right there with them. And, again, we just kept making youthful mistakes and we've got to be able to -- front end of one-on-ones, we have to be able to make free throws.

But respect Coach Alford and their staff and the players that he has. But, like I tell our guys, it's tournament time and you get out there and you play.

Q. You pretty much led wire to wire. Jake came out, made his first three 3-pointers. What did you tell the guys that had them so hyped up?
COACH EDWARDS: I don't know if I could tell you that. That's something I have to carry on within my coaching profession. But I gave them a speech that I had heard when I was an assistant under Anthony Grant at VCU that always just stayed with me.

And I thought the message fit well for today. Now, I've got to come up with something for tomorrow. But I thought they were very locked in. Like you said, they came out and everybody would look at the process of making the shots. But I thought we were defending as well. So when you have that combination, that's a good recipe to put yourself in position to win the basketball game.

Q. What's the biggest challenge of facing Nevada and playing a guy like Jalen Harris?
COACH EDWARDS: Gosh, I know Malachi Flynn won Player of the Year and he deserves it because of what San Diego State has done as a team.

He is 1-A, Jalen Harris, in the sense of if San Diego State is not having that type of year you're probably talking about him as being the best player in our league. It's one of those things you just do your best. Cuz it's not like you're not going to shut him down. He's going to have the ball in his hands too many times and he's going to get too many opportunities.

Our job is to just make him take as many shots as possible to have whatever number he has in the sense of scoring. But that's not a one-man job. It's a team job in the sense of understanding positioning, but at the same time the pieces around him help.

You obviously have got to keep your eyes on Jazz. Zouzoua has been shooting the ball really well. Drew, he's really come back and become a really good 3-pointer shooter himself. So they're more than just Jalen, but he's a very good piece to have for that group.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 4, 2020

Allen Edwards

Jake Hendricks

Kwane Marble II