RE: Kent State vs. Ball State (MAC Quarterfinals)
The was no url for ball state postgame. Here’s whole thing.
MEN’S GAME 6
March 8, 2018
KENT STATE - 76
BALL STATE - 73
KEN MATHER: We would like to go ahead and welcome our Ball State Cardinals, and we'll let Head Coach James Whitford open with an opening statement and we'll take questions for Tayler Persons and also Tahjai Teague.
COACH WHITFORD: I thought it was a really hardfought game and I was really proud of my guys. We got down early, early in the game and I thought we really battled. We put ourself in position to win this game five, six, seven times and it was one of those games where it was a play here, a play there. We had three guys dive for a loose ball that seemed to bounce in the wrong hands and I thought we really competed. I was really proud of the way we played tonight. Unfortunately, came up on the wrong end but it wasn't for lack of effort or lack of competing or lack of playing the right way.
Q. What was the biggest difference for you guys tonight, you went down 10 and you came back and you went down 10. What was the difference for you guys tonight?
TAYLOR PERSONS: Just stayed with it, we felt we were playing the right way all game. Like Coach said, I couldn't be prouder of my team, I love playing with them. It's a tough loss for us, but one thing, we battled through so much throughout this year and throughout this game, it's just a testament to who we are as a team. No, like you said, balls bounce their way a little bit, we had our best shooters miss a wide open 3 in crunch time. Just the game of basketball and just couldn't be prouder of my guys, though, because we left it all out there.
Q. Taylor, in the second half the 3s kind of stopped falling for you guys. Was there anything you were doing on defense that kind of made you guys uncomfortable or was it one of those days?
TAYLOR PERSONS: No, I felt we got open shots, missed them. Like I said, just basketball, man. Sometimes they fall, sometimes they don't. But like I said, we gave it our all, and that's all you can ask for from a team.
Q. About midway through the second half, I think Zach started getting a little frustrated down there, missed an open layup there and you kind of pulled him aside as he was coming to the bench. What were you telling him, I guess, focuswise?
TAYLOR PERSONS: Just the next play. That's been kind of my thing throughout my career that I learned, that you can't put your head down on one play and be sad about it. Tried to uplift him. We had a big game for us and we needed him later in the game, that's all I tried to stay.
Q. Tahjai, late in the second half you fought back, you fought back, there was a 3pointer, you took the twopoint lead with two or three minutes to go. Talk about that moment and finally getting back and obviously the closeness down the end?
TAHJAI TEAGUE: Just trying to battle and keep playing. Been working on my shot, you know, so I just wanted to hit it, but it was just one of them days it didn't go in. I just like that we battled and put ourself in a position to win, just came up short.
Q. Coach, I know it's obviously a frustrating game. Zach started getting a little frustrated when he was missing some shots down there, and then I think there was a missed pass, some miscommunication. Was there a different focus today or what was the difference in your mind?
COACH SENDEROFF: I thought Zach played fine. The point you're talking about is he had backtoback he had a wide open layup, the ball just slipped out of his hands. Then he had one of those steals where it's like he's running the ball in the open courts, not a role that he's comfortable in. He's normally looking for the point guard, but he wasn't sure is this one where I can go coast to coast and lay it in, and all of a sudden the defense started catching up and he kind of panicked a little bit and he threw the ball out of bounds. It happened back to back and he's a young freshman playing on a big stage.
The other thing that happened tonight is the way they were playing, they were using his man to rotate over on all the pick and rolls. So like Zach took 11 3s tonight in 18 minutes, and had we played him more, he could have shot 20. The way they were playing forced him to be a playmaker. From our standpoint, I looked at that's a good thing for us.
Zach's a great shooter, he's not like a good shooter. He could go out there from the NBA 3point line and make 75 out of 100. He's an elite shooter. For us, we try to take advantage of that. I thought he played great for the course of the game. 18 minutes he finished with 15 points and five rebounds, you can make an argument I should have played him more.
But that's what the moment of the game you're referring to was backtoback really kind of tough possessions for a freshman. Taylor grabbed him. I took him out because they were so embarrassing, it's like a wide open layup, he couldn't decide to lay it in or dunk it, and the ball just slipped. And then he had one where it's like a breakaway and he almost traveled or whatever. I just kind of tried to compose him for a second and put him back out there is all.
Q. Coach, so there were a combined 48 free throws between both teams out there tonight. Does kind of the slower pace of play, do you feel that kind of throws the team out of rhythm whenever stuff like that kind of starts happening?
COACH WHITFORD: No, I don't think so. I'm going to tell you, I I'll watch the film and I'll get a sense. We had a few shots, we had probably seven or eight shots tonight that I would call ill advised, and generally speaking, we say that number should be three or four. You're going to have some because you're making decisions like this, but I thought we got great shots. I mean, like great. I felt like during the course of the game we got as good of shots as we've gotten in any game in a long time. Sean Sellers got he had two. First possession of the second half, we run a play with Kyle Mallers, he was wide open, he could literally tie his shoots and shoot the 3. We're up 1 when he shoots it that's wide open.
I actually thought we played great on that end. We had eight turnovers for the course of the game, and I thought we had a tough shooting night but I didn't think it was for defense. I was disappointed how much they got to the rim off the dribble and that was the area I felt like we failed a little bit. I look at these minutes and I probably made a mistake, Taylor at 36 and Tahjai at 36. I know Tahjai was there because Trey was in foul trouble. I felt we got run down a little bit and they got to the rim too much down the stretch.
Q. I know the whole season you guys were talking about the focus is on March. I mean, what is the approach like in the locker room after a game like this getting out of the MAC Tournament in the first round?
COACH WHITFORD: We just say you win as a team and you lose as a team. We try to make sure that losers point fingers and winners learning from their mistakes. That's a life lesson that's really valuable. We've got everybody that played in tonight's game except for Sean Sellers coming back. I feel like we can be here and be here for a long time. Kyle Mallers in his two years hasn't played a firstround game yet. That's something I'm proud of and I want to make sure that maintains itself for four years.
We had three games down the stretch where we had leads in the final two minutes of the game and we lose them. Western Michigan at Northern, we lose at the buzzer, and this one, same thing. It's overly simplified to say we fell apart down the stretch with four straight losses. It's not that simple. Three of the four games we actually played pretty well and we were just literally like one possession away. And during our eightgame winning streak we bang a 3 at the buzzer against Bowling Green, we bang a 3 a the buzzer against Valpo, we bang a 3 at the buzzer against Notre Dame. It's overly simplified to say, boy, they were hot and it didn't work out well. That wouldn't be the case in my opinion at all.
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Kent State vs. Ball State (MAC Quarterfinals)
