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STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 6, 2020

St. Louis, Missouri - Arch Madness

Bradley - 64, Southern Illinois - 59

THE MODERATOR: Salukis are here. Barret Benson, Eric McGill, Lance Jones represent the student body. Coach Bryan Mullins is in the middle.

BRYAN MULLINS: Give credit to Bradley. They made a couple big plays at the end and made one more basket than us. I'm incredibly proud of how we competed today and how we've competed all year. This group of guys have represented the university extremely well on and off the court. It's been a special team.

Q. Lance, 20 points today. How were you able to find yourself to the rim and make some things happen tonight on the court?
LANCE JONES: I just want to credit my teammates. They got me the ball in the right positions. I just wanted to try to make a play off of that.

Q. How much did you feel like the back-to-back threes -- you guys were ahead for most of the second half. Ville hits two threes to put them ahead 53-51, and you guys weren't ever able to lead after that. How much do you feel like that changed the momentum today?
BRYAN MULLINS: Obviously, it was a back and forth game. Any time you score six straight points, it's kind of a little mini run. It definitely got them some momentum, but we were still in it. We were up one, down one, tie game all the way until the last minute of the game.

Q. Bryan, you mentioned how proud you are of these guys and the way they fought all year, but when you look at this year, just what kind of foundation did you want to put down in your first year? What do you feel like you accomplished in that sense?
BRYAN MULLINS: I think we have a great foundation, A, because of the seniors -- Barret, Eric, and Ronnie -- they've done a great job throughout the year of leadership on and off the court and represented themselves and their families and this program the right way. They've practiced hard every single day and shown the younger guys what it takes to be successful at this level.

For the younger guys -- Lance, Marcus, Trent, Karrington, Harwin, everyone else -- they played in big games. They played in big atmospheres now. This was a high level game today, and we've won some big games this year, and we've lost some. Hopefully, that fuels them for the rest of their career at SIU.

Q. Eric and Barret, what was it like to lead this group of largely a bunch of newcomers and a new staff. What do you think the highlights of this season will be for you guys?
BARRET BENSON: It was an honor to be a leader in this program, especially for the first year for Coach Mullins. Like he talked about, establishing a foundation, and getting on track to where this program needs to be again. Saw a glimpse of it this year, and we had a lot of big wins and a lot of memorable times. So we're very appreciative to this program for giving us the opportunity to be in this position.

ERIC MCGILL: Like Barret said, I'm very grateful to play with Coach Mullins and to play with the young team we had, and just a great experience for me.

Q. Coach, you talked about the younger guys getting experience playing in these big atmospheres, but want to know how it was for you -- obviously not the result you hoped for, but coaching as a head coach for the first time in this big atmosphere?
BRYAN MULLINS: Arch Madness, it's one of the best conference tournaments in the country. It was like this as a player, as an assistant coach, and now as a head coach. St. Louis, the Valley, they do an unbelievable job. It's like an NCAA Tournament weekend here. That's why I think teams in our league have a lot of success. So it was a great experience for everyone.

Q. Bryan, can you describe your team's defense? Obviously, you held them down in the first half, and you held Nate Kennell scoreless for a good chunk of the game. What particularly were you focused on? Did you do anything differently than you did in the past against them?
BRYAN MULLINS: Not too much. I thought our guys had incredible urgency and effort today. They did a good job trying to get over screens, trying to pressure passes. Obviously, we tried to limit our turnovers so they couldn't get transition threes. Bradley is so dynamic where they can score 80 points easily on you. So that was a huge concern of us.

Then rebounding has always been a concern. We've got to continue to do better at that obviously, but especially in the first half, I thought we did a better job of that.

Q. Lance, playing a position largely you haven't really played a lot. Just how much do you feel your game has evolved this year when you look back?
LANCE JONES: I feel like it has evolved really well. My teammates gave me the confidence that I need, my coaches. They believed in me, and that made me believe in myself more. I want to give thanks to them because without them, I don't feel I can be the point guard that I'm going to be.

Q. Lance, your first Arch Madness game today, but you certainly didn't play like a freshman. What was your mindset coming in, and what are your thoughts on the whole Arch Madness experience?
LANCE JONES: This is a great experience. I just wanted to try to do whatever I could to keep playing and just try to be the best teammate I could be.

Q. Bryan, what do you think you need to take the next step in this program, and how, I guess, satisfied were you? You kind of overachieved this year in some people's eyes?
BRYAN MULLINS: Definitely not satisfied. I thought we had a group in that locker room that was capable of playing here on Sunday. That was our goal throughout the whole season. Moving forward, we've just got to continue to get our young guys better and continue to add pieces. We're going to miss these guys' leadership, though, for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you very much. Congratulations on a good season.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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