Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Wichita State at Indiana (NIT)
3/26/2019 9:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
IU Head Coach Archie Miller
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: Not able to win tonight, and again, in front of our crowd, great support all the way through, and you know, gave us an added advantage tonight and we couldn't take advantage of it.
You've got to give Wichita State a lot of credit. Excellent defensive team with great size. Our inability to get to the foul line and run good offense was the big difference, and then you know, 11 made threes. Coming in the game, they weren't a great three-point shooting team and they had some guys really step up, especially Dexter Dennis making five of them.
For us, you look at the three-point shooting and you look at the free throw discrepancy and that's a big deal right there just in terms of how we weren't able to get to the line because obviously we try to play a style where you can get there and that discrepancy, obviously fouling late didn't help.
But the inability to get to the foul line for us tonight, because around the basket, we knew things were going to be very hard, and they were. Everything was challenged.
Q. Big picture as you start to look at next season, what are some of the keys you're going to look at?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: I haven't thought about it yet. But at the end of the day it takes time here in the off-season to really take a deep breath. It's a long year, and then we have to make sure that our players are all on same page as we move through the spring.
Q. Can you talk about what Juwan has meant to the program?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: You know, couldn't obviously be anywhere without him. He was an outstanding player. He's an outstanding guy to be around every day. Battles hard. You know, easy to coach. Just a great guy. Great teammate.
But really improved and now he's got to rest his body and get ready for the next step, and I'm with him 110 percent this next thing. I think he a chance to be a heck of a player here for a long time at whatever level he can get to.
He's a guy that could add value to any locker room; that's the one thing about him, and he's going to better as he sort of gets away from college and really starts to hone in on his game and his body and whatnot. I think he's got a bright future.
Q. The play of your guards tonight, you had some good, some bad. Your thoughts on how they did tonight?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: Our guard play wasn't very good. Our shot selection was tough. Our inability to score around the basket and convert didn't get done. You know, if you really look at it, the difference in the game to me was just a few open shots that weren't able to go in. You know, played hard defensively I thought at times. I thought we were a little bit winded as the game went on. Just not having our full depth.
But I thought those three guys kind of hung in there but it wasn't one of our better games. We probably needed Devonte, Rob and Al to play as good as they have played all year with that type of defense.
The guards are going to have to make plays in a game like this just because of the size around the basket and the way that they give you the lane, but there's nowhere really to go.
Q. It seemed like every time you grabbed some momentum in the second half, Wichita hit a dagger on the other end. How much was that a lack of focus or Wichita hitting good shots?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: I think we competed hard and I thought the game right back to -- right there, 50-50. It could go either way there. They made the plays. We didn't.
And they capitalized; every single time we were right there, we could not get over the hump, whether it was a foul at the end of the shot clock, a rebound on the weak side that leads to an end one -- they just made some really tough, hard plays in a game like that when we didn't.
That's the ability of a group like they have. You know, they are tough guys. They play hard. They have been playing really, really well here in the last two months and I'll be honest with you, I'll be surprised if they don't win the NIT. I think that's the type of team that they have right now.
But they definitely didn't allow us to get over the hump and we couldn't get over the hump in a couple of those stretches where it was right there for the taking.
Q. How do you build on this postseason experience and make sure the guys take as much out of it as they possibly could?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: More games. The more games you're playing, it's always good for your players. It motivates them in the off-season, how they finished the year, sometimes good and bad.
It also gives them a lot of evidence when you play this amount of games on this stage on what they need to do to get better. Without question, we had some guys here in the last two weeks, whether it's the end of Big Ten or into the Big Ten Tournament or into this three games, they got a lot more reps and opportunities to play.
Some guys really finished strong. Some guys didn't finish as strong. But at the end of the day, there is now a clear picture on what has to be done with them as individuals and players to get better to help us be better in a lot of areas; offensively I think is the one thing.
But yes, the postseason always adds experience to you. You always finish on that last game, and you want to build on it.
Q. The lack of consistent perimeter shooting, would you rank that as the biggest offensive issue you had throughout the year? How impactful was that?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: Shooting from the three-point line is the No. 1 reason in many ways that our team could not get over the hump so many times. You've got to be able to make shots in the Big Ten because they turned it into a halfcourt league, and you have to be able to stretch games out and break them open when you have your opportunities from three and this team this year couldn't make shots.
When Devonte Green, you know, really stepped up here in the last probably six games, the one difference was he gave you a guy that was making shots behind the line.
And just overall, guard play in general, the firepower from behind, the scoring punch, that's got to go up for us.
Juwan Morgan
Can you talk about how important it was to be here to lay the foundation through the coaching change, for the future?
"He had to come down here and coach guys he didn't recruit. So just trying to establish a culture of hard work and doing all the dirty work. I think guys really picked that up. Especially with it being that I don't think any team can go through what we went through and still have a chance to make the tournament. That just speaks for the resiliency of the guys. There is going to be a good group of guys coming back. They aren't strangers to hard work. I think it's going to be really great for them."
How do you want to be remembered by IU fans?
"Just a blue-collar guy and a hard worker. Although I didn't really like being in the spotlight all the time, they knew what they were getting from me day in and day out."
Rob Phinisee
With this run here in the postseason, what can you use to build upon going into next year?
"I'd say our togetherness. We've been through a lot of adversity this season. I know we could've given up, but we didn't. I'd just say our togetherness and our competitiveness."
Looking back on the season as a whole, how do you step back and look at things and particularly for yourself?
"I mean, I feel like I started off good and that injury set me back a little bit. I stayed with it and kept working hard. I can't really dwell on the past. I just keep looking forward and working hard every day."
What was it about this team that didn't let it let go of the season?
"I'd say the leadership, the upperclassmen and the coaches. We really just like I said practice every day, work hard everyday, and compete with each other. We just didn't want to go out like how our season was going."
Devonte Green
For you individually how can you use these last couple of weeks to build upon it going into next season?
"I think I just have to keep going. I just can't get comfortable. I've got to stay consistent in my work. Then I think it'll lead into a good season next year.
Do you think there are things from these last couple of weeks that you can really pinpoint going into this offseason to keep getting better?
"There is always something that I think I can take from my play to get better. I think just making certain decisions, knowing my personnel better, make smarter passes, and stay consistent throughout the season. That was one of my biggest things this season was wavering throughout the season. You know being consistent I think is the biggest thing."
What can you learn from Juwan and his career as far as becoming a leader and his mentality?
"Juwan is a great leader. I think some of the things I can take from him is how vocal he is with the team. He is always speaking his mind and what he thinks and always listening. I think I can use that next year going in as a senior."
Wichita State Head Coach Greg Marshall
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: Okay. Well, obviously that's a big win for us. Tons of respect for not only Archie and his team and how he coaches and his guys and his program, but the program itself. You know, five National Championship banners, a great crowd. Probably ranks up there with our best road wins of the year. I don't know how many road wins we now have in a row but it's one of the best that we've had all season long.
I'm just really proud of my team, the way they have matured as a team, as a unit, and individually, how they have grown up and just gotten better. Able to deal with the adversity tonight of a tremendous crowd and come out with a victory and make plays like they made all night long.
I don't think we trailed in the game -- I'm not sure about that but I know it was tied a couple of times. But our guys were always there to get the stop, to come up with the loose ball or to make the big basket, so really pleased with the result.
Q. All the road troubles the first three months; that this is the team that every single time they tried to make a run, you had the answer every single time.
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: Yeah, you know, it was a defensive stop here; it was a Dexter Dennis dagger three. He had a number of those. He looked like a tremendous player tonight. Not only -- we talked about his defense and he had number 11, Green, for most of the night because he's their bet three-point shooter, but then there are other times when he was guarding Juwan Morgan, their best inside player, and this were other times when he was guarding 1, Durham.
So he can guard a multitude of guys, and that's been his calling card and we've really relied on some of his defensive abilities to get W's this year.
But tonight, he just steps up like Ray Allen, like a young Ray Allen and strokes that basketball in the basket and looked so confident doing it.
And the guys that were coming off those ball screens, reading their own offense, reading the role and then reading the opposite corner or the roll-up behind him, it was just dynamite; the decisions that Samajae, Ricky and Erik and J.B. were making.
Q. What was it like that, water bath in there?
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: It felt good. It felt really good. The water was cold. I'll have to get my tie dry cleaned. I have my lucky tie working.
I'm going with the Shirley Beggs NIT run. We haven't -- the first year -- excuse me, in 2011, the second year we were in the NIT; 2010 we didn't do so well but in 2011 we beat Nebraska by 30-plus in Cocorain (ph) and as I'm leaving the arena, Shirley Beggs who was the wife of the president at the time, Dr. Don Beggs, she counters my wife, Lynn, my two children and myself, and we have a conversations and she was just -- she is one of the nicest ladies on planet earth.
She goes, you know -- we should all dress exactly what we're wearing now for every game until we win this NIT. Is that okay, Kellan? Maggie, Lynne? You're the one that's going to have to watch the clothes. I want the same tie, the same suit.
I went, whatever you say, Shirley. So we did. That we won five straight. We cut down the nets in MSG and so now I'm worried about my tie because it's soaking wet. I may have to get it dry cleaned but we're going to roll with it.
Q. That moment with Markis, four-year guy.
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: You know, this program owes him such a debt because he is now the bridge. I feel very confident in saying that, from the 30-win seasons, the NCAA Tournament, winning games, advancing, his whole career until his senior year, and then he's left with literally less than 300 minutes returning on the roster, other than him. Ten brand new players. Of the ten, not one second of Division I experience and two guys with less than 300 minutes total.
Those are the other two guys with experience, and he has bridged now the past to the present and what's to become the future, and I'm just tremendously proud of him, the leader that he's become and as well as the tremendous performer that he is.
Q. You talked all along, you wanted to get Markis to the Garden and now you have. What was it like seeing young guys buy into that?
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: They also understand what he's meant. It's been really great to see him bring these kids along, and you put an arm around him when he need to, kind of give them a jolt every once in a while, like, hey, we're better than this, this is not how we operate, and they have -- and he's done it so well, and hasn't demeaned them, hasn't been too critical of them, but has brought them along as a leader to get them to play like this because they didn't play like this for the first month or two of the season. It was obvious, we were kind of treading water, and sometimes we were going under the water. We were fighting to stay alive.
But now, now we're swimming like fish, and it's just beautiful to see Markis, to help lead these guys in this direction and get to this point. 22 wins now and we're in the Final Four of the NIT.
Q. A lot of guys over the years -- anybody who stands out to a program like Markis?
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: Well, right now Markis is my favorite, okay. Now, I've had many favorites, and there will be favorites in the future. But the way he has helped bridge this gap, because it looked for a while, man, we were going to take a dip.
But the way this season has evolved and the way now we are playing down the stretch, I'm very prideful of that. I'm very excited for the excitement that's in that locker room and how they have continued to persevere and fight, and grind and get better individually and collectively, and he's the leader. He's my go-to guy in that locker room, and he deserves a ton of credit. He's got a wonderful family. He was raised the right way and him and Samajae have been tremendous leaders, when they really have never led at all previously in their life.
But they were thrust into this situation, as was I, and it was difficult, but they never wavered.
Q. What does it say about this team, the top three seeds --
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: We talked about that in the locker room. We've tried for years to be a team of superlative, the best, the most, the first. We didn't have too many good superlatives this year, okay, but now we do. We're the first team in the history of this format of the NIT to go on the road and beat a 3, a 2 and a 1 and go to Madison Square Garden.
And this was a wonderful crowd tonight. They have a great program, a wonderful fan base, very talented players. Big, long, athletic guys. They are just young, and they are going to get better.
But tonight was our night and we led start to finish.
Q. Is this the most fun you've had winning games?
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: It's the most fun I've had this year. You know, we've won a lot of games, man. I can't say it's the most fun I've ever had winning games because we've been to the Final Four, we've gone 35-0, we came back from down 17 points to 21 points to win when our streak was going that one year in the second half. There's been some tremendous wins.
But nothing is better than that right now.
Q. What do you think winning three games on the road, and now going to Madison Square Garden, you might the favorite going in even though you're the sixth seed.
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: I don't if we'll be the favorite. There will be a lot of good teams. I know we have to play either my friend Kevin Keatts from North Carolina State or Lipscomb -- do they play tomorrow? We'll be able to watch that. We'll be able to schedule some time to watch that game and view our upcoming opponent. There's still TCU, there's Creighton, who else is left, two more -- Colorado, who I watched last night and one more, Texas.
And Colorado was there the last time we were there and Tad Boyle used to be an assistant coach at Wichita State.
Doesn't matter. We've got a chance, and at this point in the season on the 26th of March, this team is still playing and we're going to be playing into April, and that's unbelievable from where we started.
Q. In the locker room they were playing "New York, New York" --
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: I love that song. We had it blaring on the speakers in could he can a Ryania, old blue eyes, I think when Lynn and I got married, there was another Frank Sinatra song that we danced to the very first time and he's one of the greatest. That's a tremendous song, and says in there somewhere, "I'm King of the Hill, top of the heap: And at least now, we're at the heap but to be the King of the Hill, we've got to win two more.
So cutting down those nets in Madison Square Garden is pretty cool, and to end the season on a win. If you're counting the CBI and the CIT, there's only four teams that get to do it along with the eventual national champion. I've done it once and I'd like to do it again, and it would be great to get to 24 wins and an NIT Championship with this bunch.
Q. How much better -- you mentioned the patrol, the chess match, giving what the defense takes you, how much better has this team got, the kick-outs to the corner, the roll-up guy, how much better has this team got?
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: A lot. And I've gone to it more because they have really improved as the season's gone on. Early in the year, man, maybe should I have gone to it earlier but we just threw the ball to the other team too much. We didn't read the play. We just kind of predetermined what we were going to do, and that's not a good idea.
You can't do that in basketball. You have to let the game come to you and however the defense guards you, there's some way -- they can't guard you 360 degrees unless you're a fifth grader and you're playing against LeBron James. He can shut you down 360 degrees. But there's always got to be a way to cut, a way to move, to free yourself, okay, against one man, unless he's just far and away superior to you athletically.
We've got especially so much better at using those ball screens and reading the situation, and then making the right play.
All right. Thank you, guys. See you in New York.
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: Not able to win tonight, and again, in front of our crowd, great support all the way through, and you know, gave us an added advantage tonight and we couldn't take advantage of it.
You've got to give Wichita State a lot of credit. Excellent defensive team with great size. Our inability to get to the foul line and run good offense was the big difference, and then you know, 11 made threes. Coming in the game, they weren't a great three-point shooting team and they had some guys really step up, especially Dexter Dennis making five of them.
For us, you look at the three-point shooting and you look at the free throw discrepancy and that's a big deal right there just in terms of how we weren't able to get to the line because obviously we try to play a style where you can get there and that discrepancy, obviously fouling late didn't help.
But the inability to get to the foul line for us tonight, because around the basket, we knew things were going to be very hard, and they were. Everything was challenged.
Q. Big picture as you start to look at next season, what are some of the keys you're going to look at?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: I haven't thought about it yet. But at the end of the day it takes time here in the off-season to really take a deep breath. It's a long year, and then we have to make sure that our players are all on same page as we move through the spring.
Q. Can you talk about what Juwan has meant to the program?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: You know, couldn't obviously be anywhere without him. He was an outstanding player. He's an outstanding guy to be around every day. Battles hard. You know, easy to coach. Just a great guy. Great teammate.
But really improved and now he's got to rest his body and get ready for the next step, and I'm with him 110 percent this next thing. I think he a chance to be a heck of a player here for a long time at whatever level he can get to.
He's a guy that could add value to any locker room; that's the one thing about him, and he's going to better as he sort of gets away from college and really starts to hone in on his game and his body and whatnot. I think he's got a bright future.
Q. The play of your guards tonight, you had some good, some bad. Your thoughts on how they did tonight?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: Our guard play wasn't very good. Our shot selection was tough. Our inability to score around the basket and convert didn't get done. You know, if you really look at it, the difference in the game to me was just a few open shots that weren't able to go in. You know, played hard defensively I thought at times. I thought we were a little bit winded as the game went on. Just not having our full depth.
But I thought those three guys kind of hung in there but it wasn't one of our better games. We probably needed Devonte, Rob and Al to play as good as they have played all year with that type of defense.
The guards are going to have to make plays in a game like this just because of the size around the basket and the way that they give you the lane, but there's nowhere really to go.
Q. It seemed like every time you grabbed some momentum in the second half, Wichita hit a dagger on the other end. How much was that a lack of focus or Wichita hitting good shots?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: I think we competed hard and I thought the game right back to -- right there, 50-50. It could go either way there. They made the plays. We didn't.
And they capitalized; every single time we were right there, we could not get over the hump, whether it was a foul at the end of the shot clock, a rebound on the weak side that leads to an end one -- they just made some really tough, hard plays in a game like that when we didn't.
That's the ability of a group like they have. You know, they are tough guys. They play hard. They have been playing really, really well here in the last two months and I'll be honest with you, I'll be surprised if they don't win the NIT. I think that's the type of team that they have right now.
But they definitely didn't allow us to get over the hump and we couldn't get over the hump in a couple of those stretches where it was right there for the taking.
Q. How do you build on this postseason experience and make sure the guys take as much out of it as they possibly could?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: More games. The more games you're playing, it's always good for your players. It motivates them in the off-season, how they finished the year, sometimes good and bad.
It also gives them a lot of evidence when you play this amount of games on this stage on what they need to do to get better. Without question, we had some guys here in the last two weeks, whether it's the end of Big Ten or into the Big Ten Tournament or into this three games, they got a lot more reps and opportunities to play.
Some guys really finished strong. Some guys didn't finish as strong. But at the end of the day, there is now a clear picture on what has to be done with them as individuals and players to get better to help us be better in a lot of areas; offensively I think is the one thing.
But yes, the postseason always adds experience to you. You always finish on that last game, and you want to build on it.
Q. The lack of consistent perimeter shooting, would you rank that as the biggest offensive issue you had throughout the year? How impactful was that?
COACH ARCHIE MILLER: Shooting from the three-point line is the No. 1 reason in many ways that our team could not get over the hump so many times. You've got to be able to make shots in the Big Ten because they turned it into a halfcourt league, and you have to be able to stretch games out and break them open when you have your opportunities from three and this team this year couldn't make shots.
When Devonte Green, you know, really stepped up here in the last probably six games, the one difference was he gave you a guy that was making shots behind the line.
And just overall, guard play in general, the firepower from behind, the scoring punch, that's got to go up for us.
Juwan Morgan
Can you talk about how important it was to be here to lay the foundation through the coaching change, for the future?
"He had to come down here and coach guys he didn't recruit. So just trying to establish a culture of hard work and doing all the dirty work. I think guys really picked that up. Especially with it being that I don't think any team can go through what we went through and still have a chance to make the tournament. That just speaks for the resiliency of the guys. There is going to be a good group of guys coming back. They aren't strangers to hard work. I think it's going to be really great for them."
How do you want to be remembered by IU fans?
"Just a blue-collar guy and a hard worker. Although I didn't really like being in the spotlight all the time, they knew what they were getting from me day in and day out."
Rob Phinisee
With this run here in the postseason, what can you use to build upon going into next year?
"I'd say our togetherness. We've been through a lot of adversity this season. I know we could've given up, but we didn't. I'd just say our togetherness and our competitiveness."
Looking back on the season as a whole, how do you step back and look at things and particularly for yourself?
"I mean, I feel like I started off good and that injury set me back a little bit. I stayed with it and kept working hard. I can't really dwell on the past. I just keep looking forward and working hard every day."
What was it about this team that didn't let it let go of the season?
"I'd say the leadership, the upperclassmen and the coaches. We really just like I said practice every day, work hard everyday, and compete with each other. We just didn't want to go out like how our season was going."
Devonte Green
For you individually how can you use these last couple of weeks to build upon it going into next season?
"I think I just have to keep going. I just can't get comfortable. I've got to stay consistent in my work. Then I think it'll lead into a good season next year.
Do you think there are things from these last couple of weeks that you can really pinpoint going into this offseason to keep getting better?
"There is always something that I think I can take from my play to get better. I think just making certain decisions, knowing my personnel better, make smarter passes, and stay consistent throughout the season. That was one of my biggest things this season was wavering throughout the season. You know being consistent I think is the biggest thing."
What can you learn from Juwan and his career as far as becoming a leader and his mentality?
"Juwan is a great leader. I think some of the things I can take from him is how vocal he is with the team. He is always speaking his mind and what he thinks and always listening. I think I can use that next year going in as a senior."
Wichita State Head Coach Greg Marshall
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: Okay. Well, obviously that's a big win for us. Tons of respect for not only Archie and his team and how he coaches and his guys and his program, but the program itself. You know, five National Championship banners, a great crowd. Probably ranks up there with our best road wins of the year. I don't know how many road wins we now have in a row but it's one of the best that we've had all season long.
I'm just really proud of my team, the way they have matured as a team, as a unit, and individually, how they have grown up and just gotten better. Able to deal with the adversity tonight of a tremendous crowd and come out with a victory and make plays like they made all night long.
I don't think we trailed in the game -- I'm not sure about that but I know it was tied a couple of times. But our guys were always there to get the stop, to come up with the loose ball or to make the big basket, so really pleased with the result.
Q. All the road troubles the first three months; that this is the team that every single time they tried to make a run, you had the answer every single time.
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: Yeah, you know, it was a defensive stop here; it was a Dexter Dennis dagger three. He had a number of those. He looked like a tremendous player tonight. Not only -- we talked about his defense and he had number 11, Green, for most of the night because he's their bet three-point shooter, but then there are other times when he was guarding Juwan Morgan, their best inside player, and this were other times when he was guarding 1, Durham.
So he can guard a multitude of guys, and that's been his calling card and we've really relied on some of his defensive abilities to get W's this year.
But tonight, he just steps up like Ray Allen, like a young Ray Allen and strokes that basketball in the basket and looked so confident doing it.
And the guys that were coming off those ball screens, reading their own offense, reading the role and then reading the opposite corner or the roll-up behind him, it was just dynamite; the decisions that Samajae, Ricky and Erik and J.B. were making.
Q. What was it like that, water bath in there?
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: It felt good. It felt really good. The water was cold. I'll have to get my tie dry cleaned. I have my lucky tie working.
I'm going with the Shirley Beggs NIT run. We haven't -- the first year -- excuse me, in 2011, the second year we were in the NIT; 2010 we didn't do so well but in 2011 we beat Nebraska by 30-plus in Cocorain (ph) and as I'm leaving the arena, Shirley Beggs who was the wife of the president at the time, Dr. Don Beggs, she counters my wife, Lynn, my two children and myself, and we have a conversations and she was just -- she is one of the nicest ladies on planet earth.
She goes, you know -- we should all dress exactly what we're wearing now for every game until we win this NIT. Is that okay, Kellan? Maggie, Lynne? You're the one that's going to have to watch the clothes. I want the same tie, the same suit.
I went, whatever you say, Shirley. So we did. That we won five straight. We cut down the nets in MSG and so now I'm worried about my tie because it's soaking wet. I may have to get it dry cleaned but we're going to roll with it.
Q. That moment with Markis, four-year guy.
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: You know, this program owes him such a debt because he is now the bridge. I feel very confident in saying that, from the 30-win seasons, the NCAA Tournament, winning games, advancing, his whole career until his senior year, and then he's left with literally less than 300 minutes returning on the roster, other than him. Ten brand new players. Of the ten, not one second of Division I experience and two guys with less than 300 minutes total.
Those are the other two guys with experience, and he has bridged now the past to the present and what's to become the future, and I'm just tremendously proud of him, the leader that he's become and as well as the tremendous performer that he is.
Q. You talked all along, you wanted to get Markis to the Garden and now you have. What was it like seeing young guys buy into that?
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: They also understand what he's meant. It's been really great to see him bring these kids along, and you put an arm around him when he need to, kind of give them a jolt every once in a while, like, hey, we're better than this, this is not how we operate, and they have -- and he's done it so well, and hasn't demeaned them, hasn't been too critical of them, but has brought them along as a leader to get them to play like this because they didn't play like this for the first month or two of the season. It was obvious, we were kind of treading water, and sometimes we were going under the water. We were fighting to stay alive.
But now, now we're swimming like fish, and it's just beautiful to see Markis, to help lead these guys in this direction and get to this point. 22 wins now and we're in the Final Four of the NIT.
Q. A lot of guys over the years -- anybody who stands out to a program like Markis?
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: Well, right now Markis is my favorite, okay. Now, I've had many favorites, and there will be favorites in the future. But the way he has helped bridge this gap, because it looked for a while, man, we were going to take a dip.
But the way this season has evolved and the way now we are playing down the stretch, I'm very prideful of that. I'm very excited for the excitement that's in that locker room and how they have continued to persevere and fight, and grind and get better individually and collectively, and he's the leader. He's my go-to guy in that locker room, and he deserves a ton of credit. He's got a wonderful family. He was raised the right way and him and Samajae have been tremendous leaders, when they really have never led at all previously in their life.
But they were thrust into this situation, as was I, and it was difficult, but they never wavered.
Q. What does it say about this team, the top three seeds --
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: We talked about that in the locker room. We've tried for years to be a team of superlative, the best, the most, the first. We didn't have too many good superlatives this year, okay, but now we do. We're the first team in the history of this format of the NIT to go on the road and beat a 3, a 2 and a 1 and go to Madison Square Garden.
And this was a wonderful crowd tonight. They have a great program, a wonderful fan base, very talented players. Big, long, athletic guys. They are just young, and they are going to get better.
But tonight was our night and we led start to finish.
Q. Is this the most fun you've had winning games?
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: It's the most fun I've had this year. You know, we've won a lot of games, man. I can't say it's the most fun I've ever had winning games because we've been to the Final Four, we've gone 35-0, we came back from down 17 points to 21 points to win when our streak was going that one year in the second half. There's been some tremendous wins.
But nothing is better than that right now.
Q. What do you think winning three games on the road, and now going to Madison Square Garden, you might the favorite going in even though you're the sixth seed.
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: I don't if we'll be the favorite. There will be a lot of good teams. I know we have to play either my friend Kevin Keatts from North Carolina State or Lipscomb -- do they play tomorrow? We'll be able to watch that. We'll be able to schedule some time to watch that game and view our upcoming opponent. There's still TCU, there's Creighton, who else is left, two more -- Colorado, who I watched last night and one more, Texas.
And Colorado was there the last time we were there and Tad Boyle used to be an assistant coach at Wichita State.
Doesn't matter. We've got a chance, and at this point in the season on the 26th of March, this team is still playing and we're going to be playing into April, and that's unbelievable from where we started.
Q. In the locker room they were playing "New York, New York" --
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: I love that song. We had it blaring on the speakers in could he can a Ryania, old blue eyes, I think when Lynn and I got married, there was another Frank Sinatra song that we danced to the very first time and he's one of the greatest. That's a tremendous song, and says in there somewhere, "I'm King of the Hill, top of the heap: And at least now, we're at the heap but to be the King of the Hill, we've got to win two more.
So cutting down those nets in Madison Square Garden is pretty cool, and to end the season on a win. If you're counting the CBI and the CIT, there's only four teams that get to do it along with the eventual national champion. I've done it once and I'd like to do it again, and it would be great to get to 24 wins and an NIT Championship with this bunch.
Q. How much better -- you mentioned the patrol, the chess match, giving what the defense takes you, how much better has this team got, the kick-outs to the corner, the roll-up guy, how much better has this team got?
COACH GREGG MARSHALL: A lot. And I've gone to it more because they have really improved as the season's gone on. Early in the year, man, maybe should I have gone to it earlier but we just threw the ball to the other team too much. We didn't read the play. We just kind of predetermined what we were going to do, and that's not a good idea.
You can't do that in basketball. You have to let the game come to you and however the defense guards you, there's some way -- they can't guard you 360 degrees unless you're a fifth grader and you're playing against LeBron James. He can shut you down 360 degrees. But there's always got to be a way to cut, a way to move, to free yourself, okay, against one man, unless he's just far and away superior to you athletically.
We've got especially so much better at using those ball screens and reading the situation, and then making the right play.
All right. Thank you, guys. See you in New York.
Players Mentioned
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