March 1, 2017
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SAN DIEGO -
Air Force-San Diego State Postgame Quotes
SDSU head coach Steve Fisher
Opening statement:
"I've got a thought and I'm hoping that I can make it stay this way the whole time I'm here. I'm going to accent all the good things we did here. We guard and we guarded tonight. We had 14 offensive rebounds to their five (offensive rebounds). We played at their pace. They out-rebounded us, 14-5, on their end. We had nine turnovers to their 15 (turnovers). Trey Kell had 12 defensive rebounds. So I'm talking about the good things we did. Our seniors deserved to go out with a victory. I think we've won 11 or 12 senior day games now. I thought, in particular, with the senior's play, D'Erryl Williams who had the first start of his career and had a wonderful article written about him that was in the (San Diego) Union-Tribune today, he played. He played really, really good. He played like a future doctor should play: thoughtful, smart, making the right read and play. We've found a way to get ourselves a much-needed win. We're in that locker room with smiles on our faces and that's the way we want it to be. Proud of our team, determined that we'll go to Albuquerque on Saturday and fight like crazy on their senior day. That's the next step, but this was a good win for us."
On previous low-scoring performances against Air Force:
"When we played at Air Force in the first game, I honestly thought we were going to score 80 points. We had 34 points with four-and-a-half minutes to go in the first half. Then, we went dry on our shooting. Kind of like how we did tonight. With 14 minutes and 22 seconds to go, I believe we were six or eight points ahead when Malik (Pope) went down and did not play. We've had games where we've scored against Air Force in the past. We had one half where we did score 34 points. We could have had 44. It's all about making the shot when you get it and we had a lot of good shots there (the last time we played Air Force) that we didn't get in. We had more good shots tonight. I'll take the results tonight than from last time where we did have one half where we really played well and shot the ball offensively."
On Trey Kell's 12 defensive rebounds:
"He's got a feel on how to play. We put our six bullet points up and normally I put turnovers as number one. Today I said, `You can shake them up in any order, but the top three we have to rebound the ball. We have to rebound the ball, we have to guard them and not let them make more than five threes and we have to take care of the ball.' And we did a much better job in all of those categories and that was critical for us to be successful. Trey got a lot of balls that looked like they might get and he came swooping in, coming from off the ball and got them. At least half of the ones he got did not come right to him. He went and got the ball. So, point well-taken. Twelve rebounds for one of your guards is a pretty good night's work. And he probably could've had 12 assists if we could have made a couple more of those baskets that he set up for us."
SDSU senior guard D'Erryl Williams
On finishing last home game:
"For me, it still feels like we have one more. I think it will hit me when I get home and am taking a shower. I'll just sit down and say, `Man, it's my last one.' Right now it still hasn't hit me as hard as I thought it would."
On missing shots tonight:
"I know we missed a lot of shots out there. In the end, it's just as important to find a way to get the win no matter how ugly it is or how many shots we missed--as long as we find a way to get the win. That's what matters."
On tonight's win:
"I think Coach Fisher said it was 11 straight games we have won on senior night. We didn't want to end that. So whatever Matt (Shrigley), Valentine (Izundu), Dakarai (Allen), and I had to do to get this win, we came together as a team and as one."
On what the program means to them as a player:
"Ever since the beginning, it has felt like a family. Even back when X (Xavier Thames), J.J. (O'Brien), and all the other guys, back then. It was just a family. In the beginning of my career a lot of people were telling me to leave and get out of here. But I just couldn't leave, because it feels like home here. I'm going to be an Aztec for life, and I always will be."
On the next road game at New Mexico:
"It's the last one. We control our own destiny from now on. We just have to find a way to win, that's what it comes down to. I believe, and Matt (Shrigley) believes that we can win every game from here on out. We have to come in with that mind set and get it done as a team."
SDSU senior forward Matt Shrigley
On playing his last game at Viejas Arena:
"Initially, I was like, `we'd better win this game when it was 27-27 and I was on the bench.' But as we pulled away at the end, we could kind of take a deep breath and relax. It was just a sense of happiness and accomplishment and we got the win."
On the many missed shots:
"I mean, it happens. We missed shots and we were lucky we were able to defend them pretty well. They missed some shots, too, and it allowed us to get a little momentum going in the second half and finish. But it happens; It's part of the game, you miss shots. It's important to stay composed and keep pushing."
On what the program means to him:
"Outside of basketball, this school has helped me a lot. From 18 to 23 now it's been a huge piece of my life every single day. Summer school, I'm in three units now, one more class, endless counselors and stuff like that. It's a big piece of my life, you know. It will be interesting to see where that fulfillment comes from when it's gone. But this school has been a huge plus for me."
On the showdown at The Pit against New Mexico on Saturday:
"That's one heck of an arena to go into and play on the road. It's going to be their senior night too, so they'll have their juices flowing, their crowd going, and their guys ready. So we just have to get into the film session and see what we have to do."
Air Force head coach Dave Pilipovich
On his team's performance vs SDSU:
"We made it an ugly game. What I mean by that is, we guarded. I thought we defended, we forced them into opportunities they didn't want, we pushed them away. [They were] 4-27 from three, we guarded the arc. But on the other end, we were equal with our shooting percentages. We talked about two things that we had to do if we're going to keep it an ugly game, defend and grind it, we've got to limit our turnovers--I believe we had 15, that's too many--and we can't get them second opportunities. I believe we gave up 14 offensive rebounds for 10 points. So if you take those two and minimize that, you're right there at the end."
On Air Force's struggle with SDSU's size:
"Their length and their width bothered us. Obviously, our shooters couldn't get free and we started to go side to side instead of attacking the rim. They pushed us out, they kept us away. We were able to get some inside to (junior center) Frank (Tooey) and he scored some [as well as freshman forward] Lavelle Scottie, and we didn't get many open shots. Even their guards were long on us. They switched down, their reach pushed us away from the basket and we couldn't get any momentum to the rim."