SunBeltMen’sBasketballChampionship
March10,2017
Game#6-#4TexasStatevs.#12ULM
PostGameQuotes
TexasStateQuotes
OpeningStatementfromHeadCoachDannyKaspar:
WestartedoffalittleshakyandgiveMonroecredit,theyareoneofthetoughestteams
witha9-24recordIthinkI’veeverplayed.Weplayedthemtwiceintheregularseason
andwebeatthembysixinaclosegameatourplaceandbeatthembyfiveinavery
closegameattheirplace.Theyjustbattleyouandbattleyou.Ithinkoneadvantage
theyhadoverusisthattheyhadtheshakesgone.Theyplayedagameandwehadtogo
throughthat.Ithinkthescoreatonetimewas20-15aroundthe10-minutemarkofthe
gameandIthinkweheldthemscorelessthelast10minutesofthehalf.Iwasrealproud
ofourteam’seffortsatthatpoint.Wereboundedtheballprettygood,weturnedthe
ballovertoomuch,weshottheballreasonablywell,defendedverywell,hitfreethrows
atadecentclipandI’vebeentellingtheseguysifyou’llreboundanddefend…Ithought
ourdefensewasexcellentandwedidn’ttaketoomanybadshotssoIthoughttheguys
didprettymuchwhatweaskedthemtodo.Ithoughttheydidagreatjobtoday.
QuestionforOjaiBlack:Ontheslowstart.
We’vegotacoupleyoungguysontheteam,ofcourse,it’sanewenvironment,anew
atmosphere.It’stheconferencetourney,soIthinkitjusttookusaminutetosettlein
andfindthepaceofthegameandoncewefiguredthatoutwestartedplayingdefense
likewecanplaydefense,startedmakingshotsalittlebit,reboundingandjustplaying
TexasStatebasketballreally.”
QuestionforOjaiBlack:OngettingNickCoppolainfoultrouble.
Wecamebackintothehuddleandcoachmentionedhehadhisthirdfoulandtheir
offenseisnotgoingrunassmoothlyasitusuallydoes.Wetookadvantageofthat,
tryingtogetintothepassinglanesandpressuretheballalittlemoreandgetoutand
geteasybuckets.
QuestionforNijalPearson:OnsteppingupafterGilder-Tilburygotinfoultrouble.
IwasalittlenervousatfirstwhenhegothisfoulsbecauseIusuallylethimgetgoingand
Igetgoingoffofhim.ButIhadtostepupatthattime.
QuestionforNijalPearson:Weretherefirsttournamentgamejitters?
Ihadfourturnoverssoyeah.Iwasalittlenervous,but10minutesintothegame,
Nedeljko,myroommate,toldme‘calmdown,it’sgonnacometoyou’andIwasgood
afterthat.
QuestionforCoachDannyKaspar:OncapitalizingonCoppola’sfoultrouble
Heisaveryvaluableplayer.Therearetwoplayers,wellthree,inthegamethatarevery
important.NickCoppola,TravisMunningsandNijalPearsonandIdon’tthinkanyof
themmadetheall-conferenceteam.NijalPearsonisanall-conferenceplayer.Idon’t
understandhowourteamcanfinishthirdinconferenceandonlyhaveoneplayeronthe
all-conferenceteam.IthoughtNijalPearsondeservedthatandhehadaterrificgame.
NickCoppoladidnothaveagreatgametodaybutfortwoyearshe’sleadMonroeto
twogreatseasons.Whenheisoutofthegame,theyaregoingtohurt.Theyhave
anotherfineplayercomingupinTravisMunningsbutNickistheonethatmakesthem
go,sowhenhegothisthirdfoulIknewtheyweregoingtohavetroublescoringabit.”
QuestionforCoachDannyKaspar:Ondifficultybeatingateam3timesinaseason
It’sverydifficult.Youhavetoworryaboutplayersmaybegettingoverconfident.
Especiallyifyoubeatthemby10ormore,yougottobecarefulaboutthembeing
overconfidentandlookingaheadtothenextgame.Ithoughtourguysdidagoodjobof
buyingineventthoughwebeatthemtwice.Theyknewthosegameswereclosegames.
Irememberwithsixminutestogoatourplacethegamewastied.Icertainlyhavealot
ofrespectforKeithRichardandforNickCoppola.Itreallywasn’tshockingformetosee
MonroewinthatgameonWednesday.Thebestthingaboutgettingthe#4seedandnot
the#5seediswedidn’thavetoplaythemrightofftheback.Wewouldhaveplayed
themSaturdayandthenWednesdayandthatwouldhavebeenverytough.
SunBeltMen’sBasketballChampionship
March10,2017
Game#6-#4TexasStatevs.#12ULM
PostGameQuotes
ULMQuotes
OpeningStatementfromHeadCoachKeithRichard:
Firstofall,IwanttocongratulateTexasStateontheirwin.JustlikeArkansasState,they
havehadagreatyear,andDannyhasdoneagreatjobwiththatprogram,buildingitto
getalittlebettereveryyear.Thisishisbestteamandtheywerecertainlygoodtoday.I
thoughttheyreallydefendedusforlargeportionsofthegame.Obviouslyitwashard
scoring.WeweredefendingtoointhefirsthalfandIthoughtwedidagoodjob
defendingthemaswell.OnceNickwentoutwithhisthreefouls,wereallystruggled
offensively.ButalotofthatisduetoTexasState.Itwashardtogobythemoffthe
dribble,itwashardtoscoreinthepost,itwashardtomakeshots;theydidareally
goodjob.
Questionfor:NickCoppola:Itseemedlikeevenbeforeyouwentoutwithyourfouls,
youweren’tabletofindanyrhythm.
Yeah,Ididn’tfindarhythm.Iwasn’tshootingtheballwell,butlikeCoachsaid,theydo
playgreatdefense.Ihadsomeopenlooks,buttheyjustdidn’tgodown.
Questionfor:NickCoppola:Whentheyplaydefenselikethat,doyoupushyourself
ortrytogetyourteammatesinvolvedmore?
Iwasjustreallytryingtoplay.Ifsomethingwasopen,Iwasgoingtoshootit,butwe
werestrugglingwiththatandmakingthegamehard.Coachwassayingathalftimeto
tryandmakethegameeasier.
QuestionforHeadCoachKeithRichard:WhenNickCoppolawentoutwithhisthird
foul,itwaskindofaturningpointinthegame.Couldyouelaborateonthat?
Wellitwas,andwejustgotreallydiscombobulated.Withouthimoutthere,youcould
seehowvaluableheistous,andreallyhowvaluablehe’sbeenoverhisfour-year
career;hisabilitytomanagethegameforus.Itreallyshowedinthatlastsevenminutes
(ofthefirsthalf).Wecameoutinthesecondhalfand,wearepressingnowbecausethe
guysknowwearestrugglingtoscore.Wetriedtoshoottheballfromtheoutsidealittle
bittoseeifwecouldgetbackinthegame,andthatwasn’tworkingeither,soitwasa
struggle.Again,Idon’twanttotakeawayfromCoachKaspar’steambecausethey
madeithard.Theymadeithardoutthere.ButcertainlyNickgettinginfoultrouble
hurtus.
QuestionforHeadCoachKeithRichard:SamAlabakishad11pointslastweekwhen
youplayedthem.Isthereanythingdifferenttheydidtodayinholdinghimtofour
points?
Theydidagoodjobofdenyinghimtheball.He’snotastrongkidyetandwehadtohit
himattherightmomentorhewasn’tgoingtobeopen.Theyclosedthegaponhima
lotoftimes,andhe’snotquitestrongenoughtoholdthemoffandholdhisposition.
Butagain,theydidagoodjob.Wemissedhimsome,butitwashardtogetitinthereto
him.Ithinkyousawustrynumerousthings.WetriedtothrowitinthereandTravis
(Munnings)washavingahardtimescoring,wecouldn’tgetitintoBigSam,thenwe
triedtoplayoffthedribblebutit’shardtogobythem.Thenwetriedtheoutsidething
tomakesomeoutsideshotsandthatdidn’twork.Theywereexcellentdefensively,to
behonestwithyou.