SunBeltMen’s/Women’sBasketballChampionship
March8,2017
Game#2-#12ULMvs.#5ArkansasState
PostGameQuotes
ArkansasStateQuotes
OpeningStatementfromHeadCoachGrantMcCasland:
Thisissuchatoughtimeofyear.Especiallywhenyouknowit’stheend.Goingintothat
lockerroomandhuggingDonteThomasandDevinCarteristough,justbecausewhat
theyhavepouredintoourprogramintheshorttimeIhavebeenherehasbeen
tremendous.Ihateitforourteam–thisisthewayourseasonends.ULMplayed
tremendousdownthestretch,madebigshots,stayedaggressive,gotusonourheels,
andgivethoseguyscreditforplayingagreatgame.Theworstpartwaswalkinginthe
lockerroomandknowingitwasthelasttimethisteamwouldbetogether.Wehadtwo
seven-gamewinstreaks,won20gamesintheregularseason,hadagreatturnaround,
hadoneofthelargestturnaroundsstatisticallyinthecountry.Startedout281andI
thinkwewere120goingintothisgame.Probablydroppedsomewiththisone,butit
wasthelargestturnaroundinthecountry–somanythingstobeproudof.We’vegot
suchagreatfanbaseandsuchgreatpeoplethatsupportedus.Ijusthatedtoseeitend
thewayitdidtoday.Butgivethoseguyscredit,anditwasablessingtocoachDonte
ThomasandDevinCarter.TheycompetedtotheendandIlovethoseguys.
QuestionforDonteThomas:Takeusthroughthesecondhalf,whatitwasthatyou
guysfacedwithULM.
Secondchances,andIthinktheybeatustoallthelooseballsthatweweresupposedto
get.
QuestionforDonteThomas:Howproudareyouofthisteamandwhatyouhave
accomplishedthisyear.
Iamproud.Ithoughtwefought.
QuestionforDevenSimms:Fromyourperspectivejustwhatthisyearhasbeenlike
andtherunthatyouguyswenton.
WehadmoreupsthandownsandIwouldn’twanttobeonanyotherteambutthis
team.IlovealltheseguysandIwishIcouldhaveboughtinmoreforDonteThomasand
DevinCartersowewouldn’tbeinthispositionrightnow.ThisisbyfarthebestteamI
havebeenon.
QuestionforHeadCoachGrantMcCasland:Ontheplaycallforthefinalpossessionof
regulation.
ThelastplayofregulationwasaslipplayforDevinCartertocomeupandfakeaball
screen,heslippedoutofit,Donte(Thomas)didagoodjobattackingthegapandRashad
(Lindsey)filleduplikewewantedandgotagotagreatlook.Then(Deven)Simmscame
crashingdownandgotanoffensivereboundandwasrightattherimbutunfortunately
itwentout,andDontedidsuchagreatjobatdrawingtwoandmakingtherightread.
Brucehadatip-inrightunderthebasketbutitwasjustafterthebuzzerwentoff.We
gotaprettygoodlookconsideringwehadn’tshottheballwellinthesecondhalf–we
gotsomeprettygoodshotsIjustfeellikewedidn’tgetenoughofthemtogodown,but
thatlastplayisaboutasgoodasyou’regoingtogetasfarasalookgoes.
QuestionforHeadCoachGrantMcCasland:Canyoutalkaboutthefoulshooting?
Thathaskindofbeenthestoryallyearlong,unfortunately.Ourguyshaveworkedonit
andIknowit’ssomethingthatwasapointofemphasis.Tenfor22inaclosebasketball
gameain’tgonnadoit.Itwasn’tlikeitwasn’taddressed,andyouknow,DevenSimms
hasshotitsowellallyearlong…butitdoesgetcontagious.Youmissone,andthen
peoplestartlookingaround,andyoulackalittleconfidenceandhopeyoudon’tmiss,
ratherthansteppingupthereandhavingtheconfidenceyou’regoingtomakeit.
SunBeltMen’s/Women’sBasketballChampionship
March8,2017
Game#2-#12ULMvs.#5ArkansasState
PostGameQuotes
ULMQuotes
OpeningStatementfromHeadCoachKeithRichard:
First,I’dliketocongratulateArkansasStateonagreatyear.Theyhad20wins.They
weregoodthroughouttheleagueandinnon-conference.Theywillbeinpostseason
playsomewhere.It’sanoutstandingteam.Asforthegame,we’vebeenthroughso
manycloselossesthisyear,particularlyinconferenceplay,toomanytocount.Ifyou
knowanythingaboutourteam,thenyouknowtheyarenumerous.Iwasveryhappyto
seeourguyscompeteagain,keepitaclosegame,andcomeoutontop.Very,very
gratifyingtowatchthoseyoungmendothat.”
QuestionforNickCoppola:Onkeepinghisseniorseasonalive
Itfeltgreat.Likecoachsaidwe’vebeenthroughsomanyclosegamesthroughoutthe
year.Justtoseetheballgoinafterstrugglinginthefirsthalf,itwasagreatfeeling.
QuestionforHeadCoachKeithRichard:OnSamAlabakis
He’scomealongwayinthelastmonth.Abigpartofourwin,whatwetalkedaboutat
halftime,thereasonweweredownnine,wasweweren’tscoringaroundtherim.Alot
ofmissedlayups,shortshots,andtheyweretransitioningoutoftherequick.Theyhada
20-10advantageinthepaint,butitwasn’tfromthemthrowingitinside.Itwasour
inabilitytoscorearoundtherim.That’swhywewereshooting34percentinthefirst
half.That’sallwetalkedaboutathalftime.Actually,ourhalf-courtdefensewasvery
goodeventhoughweweredown.Inthesecondhalf,weshot48percent,butwemade
playsaroundtherim,whichtooktheirtransitiongameout.Itbecameahalf-courtgame
whichiswhereweneededittobe,andthathadalottodowithhowwewon.