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NCAA MEN'S 3RD & 4TH ROUND REGIONALS: WASHINGTONMarch 23, 2006P.J. CouisnardPaul MillerSean OgirriKyle WilsonWASHINGTON, D.C. Q. Paul what do you recall about your first game, and what do you have to do tomorrow to have a better outcome? PAUL MILLER: Well, first game definitely was a good game and it was a great atmosphere. We had a lot of people in the stands that night. And I thought George Mason really played well offensively and was really on from outside and also were pretty effective inside. We're going to have to have a balanced effort on defense and try to take away their effectiveness both inside and outside. Q. Paul, the idea that a mid-major team makes the Sweet 16, a lot of times it's considered almost like winning the National Championship. This is an unusual case where neither one of you are looking at the top seed in the Sweet 16 game. How much does that change maybe the motivation, change the dynamic of the game that you're playing a team kind of like yourselves and you could be in the Elite 8 if you win this game? PAUL MILLER: I think it changes it if you look at the seeds, but I don't think it changes it because if you look at how well George Mason has been playing and to think how well we've been playing, you can kind of throw those seeds out the window and just take it for what it is and watch the game. Q. Paul, for the benefit of the people who did not see the first game, you had four fouls. Was foul trouble a big issue or did you pick them up fairly late or was it fairly inconsequential? PAUL MILLER: I think it was fairly inconsequential. If the game would have went to overtime, I think that would have been something we would have had to worry about but going down the stretch it really was not a factor. Q. The George Mason guys were just in there and they said one of their coaches after they beat Wichita state that they just beat a Sweet 16 game. What was your impression after the George Mason game? PJ COUISNARD: I feel they was a good basketball team and caught us on a good night. They play well together and they have got a big man down low. If you haven't seen them or you've just seen them for the first time, you'll be like, wow, they really could play. I feel they are a great team. I feel it would be a great match-up. Q. Can you talk there's been talk this year about the Missouri Valley, can you discuss the league and style of play, what the teams are like? SEAN OGIRRI: In the Missouri Valley we thrive on our defense, we basically try to play hard defense so we have a lot of great players offensively on each team but we just thrive on our defense and try to get up in their body. Missouri Valley has four teams in the tournament and it's great for Missouri Valley and we're in the Sweet 16, so I guess it speaks highly of the Missouri Valley. Q. Give us a sense of what it's been like on campus this week. The George Mason folks say it's been crazy at their place. What's it been like at your place? PAUL MILLER: This is our spring break, so we really haven't had any time on campus. But around the city at Wichita, it's been crazy as well. I don't think anybody on the team can go anywhere within the city and not be recognized and not have people wishing us well in this tournament and just telling us how proud they are of us. Q. Another question about the valley, some of the teams, especially in the conference tournament in St. Louis look tired, like they had been through a war. How much did the regular season take out of you guys? KYLE WILSON: You know, it was tough. The Valley is so strong from top to bottom. There's every game, you have to be on your game or else you'll get beat. So you have to have the same focus from the beginning of the Valley stretch to the very end. You know, I think that does take a toll on you by the end of the Conference, and maybe that's why we were not playing our best basketball in the Conference tournament. It was good to have a couple of days off to get refocused and get ready for the NCAA Tournament. Q. Kyle, when you transferred to Wichita State from Illinois, going from a major program to a mid-major, did you have any reasonable expectation that you might get to a Sweet 16 or did you think it was kind of a crapshoot that you might not see the heights you might have seen there? KYLE WILSON: Well, it was an unknown for me. I had some good conversations with Coach Turgeon and he assured me that the program was going in the right direction and that I would be a key part in helping the program keep moving in the right direction. But at the same time, I didn't know. You know, right now, sitting here in the Sweet 16 is kind of -- makes me feel really good about this decision. I always felt very comfortable with Wichita and being part of the program but it's even more of a plus now that we're here. Q. I just wondered if this game feels any different, it's not like a little guy versus big guy game, you're not a big underdog and people are not looking at you to upset anybody. I just wonder if preparing for the game if it feels the same as the first games did. PJ COUISNARD: Our games going into the tournament you basically feel the same, it's either win or lose. Keep playing or you go home. This game is just another big game and it's the next game. So I think we are as a team looking forward to playing this game. Q. For any of you guys, just wondering how does a coach successfully recruit a student athlete these days when he talks about defense first, when you have so many guys who want to score and put up big numbers, how do you guys -- how does he successfully get you to come somewhere when he says, hey, our main thing is defense? PAUL MILLER: I don't know if coach says our main thing is defense. It's definitely what we hang our hat on. You know, when you're recruiting I think a player that is looking at a school like Wichita State or George Mason, you're going to tell them about the opportunities they are going to have to be in an NCAA Tournament and what a great Conference that Missouri Valley is or the CAA. I don't think that any coach is going to necessarily say that they are all about defense because there is the offensive side of things. You know, I think Coach Turgeon really has our players believing in him that they are going to become a part of a family, a part of a group that, you know, nothing is bigger than the university and nothing is bigger than the team. Q. Kind of along those lines, what attracted you to Wichita in the first place and what other schools were you looking at or were in contact with you? Why did you end up there? PAUL MILLER: I was looking at Oklahoma and Texas Tech along with Wichita State. I ended up choosing Wichita State for the reason that I believed in Coach Turgeon, I wanted to be a part of the rebuilding process of the program and I knew that with Coach Turgeon and the other players that he was involved with in recruiting at the time and players that had committed to our school that we were going to be able to have a successful program and bring back winning to Wichita State. Q. You guys were kind of hard to cover this year, just because you don't have a one clear star that you can focus in on, you have a whole bunch of guys who are low, double-figure scoring. Can you talk a little bit about your team philosophy and sharing the ball, sharing the scoring and all? SEAN OGIRRI: I feel that if we just play great team basketball, Coach in practice just wants us to share the ball. We're just trying to get whoever is feeling it and if not we just go inside, go inside-out and get the best shot for the team.
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