Quotes: Marshall vs. Memphis

Jan. 12, 2008

Marshall Head Coach

Donnie Jones

On the game:

"We did a good job in the first half. At halftime we talked about the things we needed to do. To their credit, they wore us out physically. Our guys got tired. We had a couple of guys cramp up. We struggle when we play big guys. We struggle to score against a big athletic team. We had chances to get the ball in the paint but we couldn't score. Their length really affected us. The thing we can't do is let this beat us twice. We have East Carolina on Wednesday. We have to regroup. It was great to have a basketball team of this caliber come into this building. The fans were terrific. Glad to have everybody here and I wish we could have given a better showing, but we wore out at the end. Give Memphis credit for that. They wore us out. I'm proud of our guys. We're going to get better. That's what we've done after each game that we've lost."

On the opportunity to host one of the nation's top teams:

"I think its great, especially to have them in our building. I think our guys found out it's easy to come out and compete for a half, but you've got to go out and compete for 40 minutes. You can't have 19 turnovers. You've got to be able to score to stay in the game. I thought our guys definitely exerted a lot of energy in the first half trying to keep it close."

On coaching against John Calipari:

"It's great. I knew it was going to be a great challenge for our team. I have a lot of respect for Cal. He has always been very nice when I've met him in person. I have respect for his teams and how hard he works. I like the way he recruits. It's great for out team. That's where we have to get. It's not going to happen overnight. We didn't get to where we're at right now overnight. It's going to take some time to change. We've got to keep working and understanding that we want to compete. That's probably the most disappointing thing. We want to win."

On Memphis guard Derrick Rose:

"He's really a big time talent. He's going to have a lot of opportunities come his way after this season. Cal does such a great job somebody else will probably just step in and they won't miss a beat."

On the play of Tirrell Baines:

"Tonight he played against size. He's got to understand how to score against size. He's been to overpower some of the team's we've played so far. When you play bigger, stronger athletes you can't overpower them. You've got to use skill. That's part of the growing process."

Memphis Head Coach

John Calipari

On the game:

"What a great crowd. I was just excited when I walked in the building and I saw that atmosphere, and I looked at my team and I said `isn't this what you want; to have these kinds of places with these kind of fans'. The fans here are very basketball savvy and they want to see great basketball and they have a history of seeing great basketball. Hopefully today they had fun and it's like you know what, I like our team. And so for Marshall, whoever walks into their building sees what I saw today. What people don't realize is that the fans have as much to do with building a program as anything. You have to buy into some blind faith."

On physicality of game:

"That game was physical. That was one of the most physical teams we've played. I can't believe we didn't shoot more fouls. It's a good thing because every team we play, they have to come after us that way. We need to have lessons and figure out that you have to play through bumps and pushes."

On Donnie Jones:

"My hats off to Donnie. To walk into this situation and begin to change the culture and to play young guys and have a great structure and understand how they're trying to play and score. They did a great job of getting the ball inside. They scored in the post on us, and we're one of the top shot blocking teams in the country. My hats off to him."

Marshall Forward

Markel Humphrey

On Physicality of game:

"It was real physical and with a team like Memphis, of course the game is going to be physical. The refs were letting us play out there. You just have to play through the fouls. They crashed the boards and were real physical down low."

On importance of ever possession:

"They played great defensively and offensively. They got great one-on-one players which are hard to stop. All around they're just a great team."

On free throws:

"I don't think we were concentrating. We work on free throws all the time in practice. We have a practice just for free throw shooting. It's all about focus. I think we were more focused on what Memphis was doing rather than our free throws."

On the crowd:

"The crowd played a big part. The other half is us. Memphis went on their runs and we couldn't contain them at times, but the crowd kept cheering for us. The big thing that stood out to me was that after the game they stood up and cheered for us. That's what we need as a team to keep us motivated."

Marshall University Athletics

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Tirrell Baines

Markel Humphrey

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