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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2012Maalik WaynsJay WrightMouphtaou YarouNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK SOUTH FLORIDA – 56 COACH WRIGHT: I thought South Florida's defense was outstanding. That's not a surprise to anyone that's seen them this year. I know they're going to do damage in the NCAA Tournament because they play a style that is very, very difficult to play against. We were down 10 at halftime, and down 10 to them is like 20, 25 to somebody else because of the way they control the tempo and the way Collins just controls the game. He was just incredible. We didn't have an answer for him. We know they're going to keep the ball in his hands, and he was outstanding. Q. Did you feel like you got some good looks, though? COACH WRIGHT: I did, but I think part of it is that it's never one thing. We did get some good looks, but part of it is they kind of sucker you into settling for jump shots. I thought early in the game we just settled for jumpers. We didn't get the ball inside, we didn't drive the ball, and therefore they were shooting free throws the whole first half and we were shooting jumpers, and you're down 10 at halftime, and I'm proud of our guys, they just battled in the second half. Our guys never quit, they've never quit all year. They've played until the last second. But I thought a big key was being down 10 at the half to them. Most teams, it's not that big of a deal. Q. What do they do differently? COACH WRIGHT: You know, they get Mouph, they get our bigs in foul trouble and we end up having to play small against them and that's when they get us. Mouph has been outstanding. The last third of the season here for us, just outstanding. Him getting two fouls in the first half, then we played small, played with Markus Kennedy, a freshman, and that's when they took advantage of us. Maurice Sutton got in foul trouble. That's what gets us. Q. What is it about their defense that makes them so difficult? MAALIK WAYNS: They're real long. They just keep you in front of them and clog the paint and there's no driving lane, so they force you into taking jump shots. Q. It looked like you got some good looks. Can you talk about that? MAALIK WAYNS: Yeah, I got my shot. I didn't hit it today unfortunately, this is the tournament. You have a bad day, you go home. Q. Mouph, can you talk about their big guys, what they did to make it so tough to get the rebounds and work inside against them? MOUPHTAOU YAROU: I think they're both seniors, they know how to play. They keep me off the offensive glass, and they make me work on the defensive glass. I think they did a great job. It was tough. It was really tough. Q. How do you assess your team's future? You've got everybody back next year, coming off a disappointing year. COACH WRIGHT: As I said, this was a disappointing year, but I feel great that our guys never quit. They never gave in. They came to practice every day. Right until the last second here, they played hard for us. We've got great leaders in these two right here, and we learned a lot this season. I think we're going to come back very strong. I think this season is going to be something that we always refer to as a group. I'm excited. I'm excited about this group coming back, I really am. Q. Specifically what did you learn about the way they handled adversity, injuries, real tough losses? COACH WRIGHT: Well, we had to play a lot of different styles because when we lost‑‑ everything kind of revolved around Maalik and then we lost Maalik for a while and then I thought we got Ty Johnson some great minutes, so we gained some confidence in Ty. You know, Maalik is our leader, and when he wasn't playing, I thought Mouph really stepped up and gained the respect. JayVaughn Pinkston came into his own, and I just think everyone individually really improved as a player, but we could never get that‑‑ we could never get that rhythm as a team. I thought last night we kind of played that way, but it was the first time we were all together in a month, and then tonight this team was too good to miss shots and still find a way to win. I wish we had more games to play together and everybody healthy. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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