Sharp shooting of Iowa State ends KU home-court winning streak

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Frank Mason III scored 32 points on a near-perfect shooting day but Iowa State countered with 18 3-pointers to snap No. 3 Kansas basketball’s home-court winning streak in overtime on Saturday afternoon, 92-89.

KU’s home-court winning streak ends at 54 games, including 51-straight victories inside Allen Fieldhouse. Iowa State wins in Lawrence for the first time since Feb. 19, 2005.

It is just the 10th time Kansas head coach Bill Self has lost in Allen Fieldhouse.

“As well as we played in the first half, we played as poorly in the second half,” said Self, whose record in Allen Fieldhouse is now 216-10. “Iowa State played with house money today. They came in and let it fly and played lights-out in the second half. They deserve what they got. We deserve what we got; we had plenty of opportunities.”

The Cyclones’ 18 3-pointers sets a record for treys made by an opponent in Allen Fieldhouse and ties an all-time KU opponent record of 18 3-pointers made by Nebraska in 2002.

Mason’s career-high 32 points came on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 at the free throw line in 41 minutes. Mason’s first miss from the field was a last-second shot at the end of regulation. Senior center Landen Lucas dominated the paint with a career-high 18 rebounds.

Despite the loss, Kansas (20-3, 8-2 Big 12) outrebounded Iowa State by 20 boards, 45-25, and held a 36-20 scoring advantage in the paint.

Iowa State (14-8, 6-4) was led by Deonte Burton and Nazareth Mitrou-Long, who combined to make 13 of the Cyclones’ 18 treys. Burton finished with 29 points with six steals, and Mitrou-Long ended with 22 points. Senior point guard Monte Morris chipped in 25 points with seven assists.

The Jayhawks rushed out to a 52-38 lead at halftime – reaching 50 points in the first half for the fourth time this season behind 14 points from Mason. Kansas grabbed 18 of the first 19 combined rebounds of the game and went into halftime with a 19-3 rebounding edge.

KU started to extend its lead to double-figure points as Lagerald Vick picked up a loose-ball on offense and dribbled down the baseline to finish with a high-flying dunk. Graham followed 3-pointer which gave Kansas an 11-point lead, 38-27, with 4:35 remaining in the first half.

Mason drained a 3-pointer with no time remaining on the shot clock to give Kansas its largest lead of the game, 50-35 with 43 seconds remaining in the first half. ISU’s Morris countered with a trey for the Cyclones. One second before halftime, Mason dished a pass to Lucas, who dunked it to give Kansas a 52-38 halftime lead.

Kansas shot 70 percent from the field in the first half on the way to a double-figure lead. But 36 a percent shooting performance in the second half, paired with 10 second-half turnovers and 10 second-half ISU 3-pointers, allowed the Cyclones to force overtime.

KU missed three field goals on its first offensive possession in overtime and fell behind by five points after ISU’s Morris made jumper and Burton made his seventh 3-pointer of the day, giving the Cyclones a 87-82 lead with 1:59 remaining.

Devonte’ Graham and Josh Jackson both went 1-of-2 in respective trips to the free throw line to bring KU within one, 86-87, with 53 seconds remaining in overtime. Donovan Jackson made the Cyclones’ 18th trey of the night with under 30 seconds remaining to give ISU a four-point lead, 90-86.

Graham answered with a 3-pointer for Kansas with 11 seconds remaining as the Jayhawks promptly fouled ISU’s Morris to stop the clock and send him to the free throw line. Morris made both of his free throws to give ISU a 92-89 lead. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk finished the day with 17 points and three 3-pointers, but missed the final 3-point attempt of the game as the clock turned to zero.

UP NEXT
Kansas will play its second of four ESPN Big Monday contests at Kansas State, Feb. 6, at 8 p.m.

GAME NOTES

KU STARTERS (CONSECUTIVE / SEASON / CAREER STARTS):
Sr. G Frank Mason III (97 / 23 / 100)
Jr. G Devonte’ Graham (30 / 23 / 59)
Jr. G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (13 / 13 / 19)
Fr. G Josh Jackson (23 / 23 / 23)
Sr. C Landen Lucas (12 / 17 / 50)

SERIES INFO
• Kansas leads the all-time series with Iowa State, 179-64. Bill Self is 24-8 against Iowa State.
• Iowa State wins for the first time in Lawrence since Feb. 19 2005, ending KU’s 11-game winning streak against the Cyclones inside Allen Fieldhouse.
• Iowa State is the first team to have two wins in Allen Fieldhouse in the Bill Self era.

KANSAS NOTES
• KU’s loss ended the nation’s longest active home court winning streak at 54 games, including 51-straight in Allen Fieldhouse. KU is 11-1 in Allen Fieldhouse this season, 217-10 under Bill Self, and 755-110 all-time.
• Kansas came out of the gate on fire, hitting 70.4 percent of its shots in the opening 20 minutes (19-of-27). The last time KU shot 70 percent or better in a half was Dec. 9, 2015 against Holy Cross with an exact same 70.4 (19-of-27) clip.
• The Jayhawks’ 52 points in the first half marked the third time this season Kansas has put up 50 or more points in the opening portion of play (52 against Kansas State Jan. 3, 54 against Nebraska Dec. 10 and 51 against UMKC Dec. 6).
• Kansas’ 21 turnovers were the most in a game this season and the most lost possessions by the Jayhawks since giving the ball away 22 times at West Virginia on Jan. 12, 2016.
• Kansas head coach Bill Self only used seven players in the loss to Iowa State, in fact, Self used just a 7-man rotation in a 76-72 win over the Cyclones on Jan. 16 inside Hilton Coliseum.
Iowa State’s victory marked just the first time this season the Jayhawks out-rebounded an opponent and lost the game. Kansas is now 315-37 in the Bill Self era when winning the rebound margin.
• Kansas’ 15-point lead with 43 seconds remaining in the first half was the largest blown lead the Jayhawks have recorded since surrendering a 17-point advantage to Iowa State in a 70-66 Cyclone victory on March 14, 2015 in the Big 12 Championship.
• Kansas has now shot 27 free throws in consecutive games (19-of-27 against Iowa State) and (20-of-27 against Baylor).

OPPONENT NOTES
• The Cyclones three rebounds in the first half were the fewest by an opponent with records dating back to 1988-89.
• Three Cyclone players had 20 or more points, the first time since Eron Harris, Juwan Staten and Devin Williams had 28, 24 and 22 respectively in 92-86 win in Morgantown on March 8th, 2014.
• Iowa State’s 92 points marked the first time an opponent scored more than 90 in Allen Fieldhouse since Oklahoma’s 106 in a triple-overtime thriller on Jan. 4, 2016.
• Iowa State’s 92 points were also the most points given up by a Bill Self coached Kansas team in a loss inside Allen Fieldhouse. Self has been at the program’s helm since 2003-04.
• Iowa State’s 18 made 3-pointers marked the most of any opponent this season and tied a Kansas opponent record set by Nebraska on Feb. 24th, 2002 in Lincoln.
• The Cyclones’ 34 3-point attempts were the most since the 2013 edition of Iowa State launched 41 3-pointers on Feb. 25, 2013.
• Senior guard Deonte Burton’s seven 3-point field goals marked the most of any opponent this season and the first time an opponent has hit 7 or more 3-pointers since Buddy Hield of Oklahoma nailed eight on Jan. 4, 2016.
• The Cyclones 12 steals marked the most by an opponent this season and the most since West Virginia’s 14 swipes on March 12, 2016 in the Big 12 tournament.
• Burton’s six steals were the most of any opponent this year and the most since Chasson Randle of Stanford also had six on March 23, 2014 in the NCAA tournament.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

SENIOR G FRANK MASON III
• With his new career-high 32 points, Mason moved passed Tyshawn Taylor (1,580) and Wayne Simien (1,593) to 14th on KU’s all-time scoring list with 1,601 career points.
• Mason added four 3-pointers, to shoot past Kevin Pritchard (154) and to tie Jerod Haase on KU’s all-time treys list with 156.
• Mason’s four 3-pointers also marked the 21st-consecutive game he as tallied at least one 3-point field goal.
• Mason’s 32 points were the most by a Jayhawk since Wayne Selden Jr., dropped in 33 against Kentucky on Jan. 30, 2016.
• Mason’s 32 points were the most points from a Jayhawk in a loss since Andrew Wiggins’ 41 points against West Virginia on March 8th 2014.
• Mason connected on 18-straight free throws dating back to a 12-of-12 effort against Baylor on Feb. 1. Mason registered one more than former teammate Brannen Greene who made 17-straight in the 2014-15 season to rank eighth in KU’s record book since 1988-89.

JUNIOR G DEVONTE’ GRAHAM
• With two 3-pointers, Graham moved passed Elijah Johnson (147 3-pointers) to 15th on KU’s all-time made 3-pointers list with 148 career 3-pointers.

FRESHMAN G JOSH JACKSON
• Jackson posted his third-straight double-double with a 15-point and 10-rebound effort. He needs one more double-double to rank in the Kansas all-time consecutive double-double list with four.
• Jackson’s layup in the first minute of play marks the 12th time this season the freshman has scored KU’s first points.

JUNIOR G SVIATOSLAV MYKHAILIUK
• Mykhailiuk was 3-of-7 from 3-point range, marking the 17th time the junior has converted on multiple three-point attempts.

SENIOR C LANDEN LUCAS
• Lucas pulled down a career high 18 rebounds marking the eighth time in the Jayhawks’ 10 conference games he has tallied double-digit rebounds.
• Lucas’ 18 rebounds were the most by a Jayhawk since Andrew Wiggins snatched 19 boards at Iowa State on Jan. 13, 2014.

QUOTES

QUOTES

KANSAS HEAD COACH BILL SELF
On the team’s 21 turnovers versus Iowa State’s 18 3-point baskets:
“I think a lot of it (was our) inability to handle the ball or getting stripped. I don’t know how many of them led to 3s, but I would say five or six probably lead to it. I don’t know how many times we got the ball under the basket and they ripped it away and that leads to numbers. But the one that sticks out to me is when we had an almost uncontested lob and we threw it almost over the backboard and they make a 3 on the other end. That’s a five-point swing right there, that cut it to four when it could’ve been nine right there. Give them credit; I mean it isn’t easy, even if you’re open, you’ve got to make the shots. Most of their shots weren’t open, but a couple of them were. We did a poor job obviously of guarding the arc.”

On the final turnover by Josh Jackson leading to a four-point lead for Iowa State:
“I’ll go back and watch it, but we were ball watching. They do a really good job when they drive it down hill. If you’re a ball watcher, they get you to turn your head. But that’s an automatic; when a guy drives baseline or drives middle and has a ball on the baseline, you always fill the corners. I mean that was an automatic. And certainty we were ball watching and didn’t get there.”

On Frank Mason III’s final shot at the end of regulation:
“Frank’s was fine, he got a decent look. It wasn’t a great execution but he got a decent look and he got it on his own. If you’ve got seven seconds left and you’ve got to get a 3 (pointer), not very often do you get that good of look. It was deep, but it was an uncontested look. But obviously, he just shot it short.”

On how he was feeling heading into overtime:
“I felt fine. They played a lot of guys a lot of minutes too, but I think that we were pretty spent. I thought we had five good minutes left and we had two bad possessions to start it. And, you know, we played from behind the entire overtime. We were fine going into OT.”

On how it feels to have a long winning streak come to an end:
“I can’t remember how I felt last week. I’ll be honest, last week I could remember how I felt last week, but a month ago I couldn’t remember how I felt. So yeah, it sucks. It doesn’t suck because it’s the end of the winning streak, I could care less about that. I just care about our team and obviously performing better. We actually played pretty good the first half, but they played with house money today and I’m sure that Steve (Prohm, Iowa State head coach) would say the same thing. They played with a free mind. We try and tell our guys, they’re going to come in and let it fly. That’s their chance to make a lot of 3s and we didn’t defend it.

On sensing Iowa State getting more comfortable with shooting 3s after the half:
“I think that’s just common sense. They’re down 14 at half and you’ve got Monte (Morris), Naz (Nazareth Mitrou-Long), Matt (Thomas) and (Deonte) Burton. Of course they’re going play with a free mind. They went in there and said, ‘Hey, let’s just go.’ And they did. They got off to a good start and got it to nine (point lead) pretty quickly and got a little confidence. Then, obviously, we didn’t respond the way that I hoped we would. We shot our free throws well early and then very poorly late and that ended up hurting us as well.”

On the lack of ball movement inside:
“Yeah, we didn’t get much inside today. You talk about points in the paint, you’ve got 36, which is a lot of points in the paint, but a lot of it was by guards driving. We didn’t get much low-post presence today. Not because it was anyone’s fault, I think they did a different job of defending us than they did last time.”

On Iowa State’s Deonte Burton:
“I would say he was the best player in the game (today), but you’ve got Monte (Morris) too, and Naz (Mitrou-Long) had a good game too. I thought they had three MVPs today. But he was great. I could be wrong on this, but I think he had made 18 (3s) coming in and he made seven today, so obviously it was a big day for him.”

On Frank Mason III’s performance today and this season:
“Well I could care less about an MVP, I mean nobody gets an MVP if you lose. But Frank obviously played well, I think that he was without question the one guy from our team that had the best day. I thought Lagerald played pretty well off the bench, but everybody else was just okay at best. We had the lead at halftime; I felt pretty good and I think the team did too. But then we came out the second half, get fouled on the first possession and miss two free throws. They got a layup the next possession and then we fumbled the ball and the next thing you know, we gave them confidence.”

On how to get the team to play with a clear head with all of the controversy and pressure surrounding them:
“I think that’s a great question. I’ll be honest, I think we’ve done just about as good as we can do. But it’s not easy, I mean the kids are tired. I thought that we looked a little fatigued the second half and that’s more mental than physical. We talk a lot about eliminating them (distractions) and letting the basketball court be your place where you don’t think about anything other than what you love to do. But I think that’s also easier said than done.”

On playing another tough game at K-State in just two days:
“When you’re playing six guys, I think short turnarounds are hard, to be honest with you. So I can’t say that it’s good, but I’m not going say that it’s bad either. We will see how we react going over to Manhattan, which I’m sure will be a good atmosphere, but today we didn’t handle it. We had control of the game and gave them confidence and then down the stretch they really, really performed well.”

On what practice will look like during the team’s one day off:
“You can’t work tomorrow when you’ve got four guys that play over 40 minutes. There’s no way we practice tomorrow. We may shoot, we may walk over something, but there’s no way you can keep them on their feet tomorrow. And if it was a win where everyone played 20 minutes, it would be 45-minute practice. Tomorrow will just be a preparation day, it won’t be an effort day. As much as I would like to get us to guard the ball and keep it in front of us, it won’t be one of those days.”

KANSAS SENIOR GUARD FRANK MASON III
On Iowa State’s scorching shooting in the second half:
“I haven’t (seen anything like that). Especially in The Fieldhouse. I think it was a bad job on (players’ part) on the scouting report, knowing personnel and things like that.”

On KU’s fatigue level turning around and playing Saturday after a contest with Baylor on Wednesday:
“I felt pretty good on the court. I think all the guys were (okay) on the court. I’m not really sure if anyone is fatigued or anything like that. I think everybody’s bodies are feeling good.”

On his performance:
“I was just taking whatever the defense gave me, but what I did doesn’t really matter. I’m just focused on our overall performance as a team and it wasn’t good.”

On KU’s 21 turnovers:
“Most of our turnovers we didn’t meet the ball with two hands like Coach Self tells us all the time. Don’t catch the ball with one hand. Go meet it in the air with two. Get good position and things like that. Some of them were Iowa State being in the right spots and doing a good job on the defensive end.”

On his last shot to potentially win the game in regulation:
“I was pretty confident. I was having a good time, I just missed the shot. It was good defense by Naz Mitrou-Long and that is it.”

KANSAS SENIOR CENTER LANDEN LUCAS
On learning from the loss:
“We don’t lose at home. It’s just something you have to digest, but at the same time you have to look at the bigger picture. You are going to lose some and you just have to learn from them, so while it’s tough, we just have to make sure we are a better team after this.”

On the improvements the team needs to make:
“We need to know scouting reports a little bit better. We need to get stops when it matters which is game-to-game, and we need to get more consistent at that. Offensively we need to execute. It could be a lot of different things, but really it is a combination of all of them. We need to focus when it matters. We have been a pretty good team at doing that. We had a slip up today so if we can learn anything from that it’s just to not have that slip up.”

On Frank Mason III’s play today:
“He was fantastic. He carried the team and that was big time for him. He kept us in the game and that is on us to make sure that we help him out and get the win. He definitely did his part.”

On fatigue level:
“Bodies are feeling good. If anything, you could get a little mentally fatigued throughout the season, and that is going to happen in the Big 12 Conference and the big games that we play. We have to make sure that we don’t let that happen and not let one game become two.”

On KU’s feeling going into halftime up by 14:
“At halftime we felt pretty good about the position we were in. Coach Self called it. He said they were going to come out and play with a free mind and let it fly and that is exactly what they did. When you play against a team that is going out there and shooting the ball and having fun and you let them get comfortable, you are in for a game and that is what we let happen. Once we let them back in it, it was anybody’s game.”

On a combination of bad defense and Iowa State’s shooting:
“It would be both. We let them get shots up. Some open looks, especially in key moments they got some open looks, but they had to do a good job and knock the shots down and that is what they did. All it took was for them to miss a couple of those, and they didn’t. That is what a veteran team like them is supposed to do and props to them for hitting those shots.”

IOWA STATE HEAD COACH STEVE PROHM
Opening Statement:
“God is good. This is a special win, a special day for these guys. I’m just happy for these guys. We lost to Gonzaga, Florida and down the stretch to the No. 1 team, to Baylor, the same kind of way and Cincinnati. I’m just happy for these guys, they deserve it. Obviously this program has a standard. It’s what you want to be. This is a great environment. Coach Self and the Jayhawks have an unbelievable tradition. I’m just really happy for these guys and for this moment.”

On Kansas’ Frank Mason III:
“He’s really good. I watched him play Duke earlier in the year. He made that shot against Duke up in the Garden (Madison Square Garden). He’s terrific. I love his game. He’s an A to B guy, he doesn’t mess around with the ball. He can really get down hill. I didn’t realize he had 32 (points) and that he made a bunch of threes, too many open threes early in the second half. He’s so good at drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line. Obviously, he’s had an exceptional career here. Our team; Monte (Morris), myself, everyone, has a lot of respect for him and what he’s been able to do.”

On the message at half time:
“(We were) Frustrated, disappointed, because we scored right around 40 (points) so that should be good enough, but we weren’t defending or playing with any toughness. They were just beating us off the dribble, killing us on the drive and scoring layups. These guys have responded. These guys go through a lot because they’re under a microscope. We all are, everything we do. These guys have responded to that. There’s no better place in America than here, Allen Fieldhouse. These guys have responded as a team and we’re one of their rivals.”

On the expectations for the game:
“I came in expecting to reverse the ball side to side, three times. I thought we did that. I thought we missed a bunch of good open looks early. Matt Thomas went 0-for-6 from good looks. That’s what I expected to do. I expected to come in and run offense and get back on defense, keep them out of transition. We gave them too many open threes early. When we shoot the three, that obviously gives us the best chance to win. We are what we are, we’re a perimeter oriented team. Your stars have to play like stars in big games. I haven’t looked at the stat sheet until now and you look at Monte (Morris), Naz (Nazareth Mitrou-Long) and Deonte (Burton) from 3-point arc, 16-for-26 and then look at (our games versus) West Virginia and Vandy and it’s like 5-for-26. Credit those guys for being resilient. These players, it’s awesome to see those guys be that happy. The way the league is win or lose, you’ve got to move on to the next game because we’ve got a tough road game Tuesday.”

On Soloman (Young):
“He was great. His toughness level was great. (He got) Six rebounds in 32 minutes; maybe he could have gotten a couple more, but he just physically competed and guarded ball screens. He should be fully submitted in rotation now. He was terrific today and just competed. I think that was the opportunity he was waiting for. You look at this game and the Texas Tech game, those are the two games he’s been in extended minutes and played. I’ve got to do a good job of sticking with him and play who I feel is getting things done.”

On going with the same lineup as of late:
“I thought we were playing well. That was the biggest thing. Funny thing is, you get so many people on your staff at this level, you’ve got about nine different things everybody tells you. You just have to keep focus on what’s important and Donovan (Jackson), man, what a big shot he had. You’re thinking, ‘Should we take him out because of size and guarding the dribble?’ That group had gotten us back in the game and they were playing well so we just went with those guys. Obviously we need Matt (Thomas) to be good, we need (Nick Weiler-Babb) Babb, Merrill (Holden) has to bounce back because it could be anybody. I expect Matt (Thomas) to be ready to bounce back at Texas and shoot the ball well. You just kind of go with your gut there and I bet they were out there for a long time. I don’t know how many minutes straight, but it was a pretty good bit.”

On the statement that winning this game made:
“I don’t know if it’s a statement. This program has been a high-level program since Fred’s (Hoiberg) second year here. He got the program back to relevancy. It’s probably one of the best road wins this program’s had, but this program has been really good and it’s my job to maintain this level of excellence that it expects. The seniors hadn’t won here before and you’re just happy for those guys. Monte (Morris), for him to be in the situation where he has to make two free throws to put us in the situation where they have to make the three. I couldn’t ask for anything better than that. He responded. You hear so many different things when you’re going through ups and downs and these guys responded. They did what we asked them to do today and sometimes when things break down, that’s when you’ve got to go make a play and that’s why you have to recruit well and have good players.”

On practice this week:
“Yesterday was a terrible practice.”

On if bad practices equal big games:
“We beat Citadel after a bad practice and we practiced terrible going to Vandy. You just have to be locked in and engaged everyday, but they understood what we needed to do here. We could have folded. We were down 30 to nine at Oklahoma and 14 at half here. Say what you want, you can say anything about me or anything else, but this group of kids is resilient and they’ve got character to be able to fight through adversity on the road. This is a huge win for us. Now we have to go and try to get Tuesday.”

On the emotion in his opening statement:
“It’s a tough business. Also, we had come so close so many times this year. You want to see your kids be happy. For Monte (Morris) and Naz (Nazareth Mitrou-Long) and those guys, you just don’t want to let them down. They’ve had a great run here.”

IOWA STATE SENIOR GUARD MONTE MORRIS
On getting the win:
“Perseverance and trusting each other. At halftime, we got hit with adversity and Coach (Steve Prohm) said, ‘Respond to adversity.’ We’ve got 13 men on our roster and we stuck together. This week wasn’t the prettiest week, we had a few down practices but like you said, God is great and we’re fortunate to be successful today, but we need to get ready for a good Texas team also.”

On the blocking out the environment:
“It’s hard to say, I just trust in my mechanics and trust in my form and block out everything else. Luckily, the ball went in for me and we were able to get this victory.”

On passing the ball to Donovan Jackson for a 3-pointer:
“That’s just trust, if anybody else was open, everybody out there was able to make a shot and I knew I couldn’t finish at the rim so I had to pass the ball to my roommate and he stepped up. He told me to find him late in the game. It’s just the trust I have in all of my guys to step up and make big shots.”

On Frank Mason III’s chances of hitting the last shot of regulation:
“Definitely, it was 50/50. Naz [Nazareth Mitrou-Long] has some good length on him, which would make it tough but Frank was hot, he only missed two shots the whole game. Luckily he missed and give us an opportunity to take it (the game) to OT and finish the job there.”

On Nazareth Mitrou-Long’s leadership today:
“Naz does a lot of that. He does a lot of that behind the scenes also when the light is on; he breaks our huddles and he leads. He always believes, even when we were down to Iowa by 15 with about 59 seconds left, he was bringing us in and bringing us together. So we lean on him to see how he’s feeling and how he’s reacting and he does a great job.”

On winning in Allen Fieldhouse:
“It was amazing. Like I said, we were just the fortunate team tonight. It was a great game and it could have gone either way. They made a few shots, we missed some, and vice versa. But today was amazing. (It was a) Very emotional day both for myself and for my senior teammates, because along the way we came up short every year. When Hallice [Cooke] had the shot in the corner last year, it was the same shot, same look and we didn’t make it. This year we were blessed enough to be in the same opportunity and Donovan [Jackson] stepped up.”

IOWA STATE SENIOR GUARD DEONTE BURTON
On the team after halftime:
“We wanted to win. We’ve had very close games and we know we’re always capable of winning, we just haven’t always played like that. We wanted to start today, to keep going forward and keep playing the way we did today.”

On getting in to the game:
“There wasn’t really a key, I just kept making shots, but I shoot the same shots. They were going in today.”

On winning today after this season:
“It’s good, but I just want to put this game behind me and get ready for the next.”

On earning shots outside:
“(In the) Offseason, I put in a lot of work on my jump shot. Coach saw that and he trusted me.”

On the team’s lack of rebounds:
“We weren’t focused on boxing out. We weren’t making those tough plays we should have and we made those plays in the second half.”

On Nazareth Mitrou-Long’s leadership today:
“He’s a natural leader. He’s a natural vocal leader and he shows it through his play. He plays hard every possession and makes us play hard.”

On having patience during opposition’s runs:
“Patience is big because if we don’t have patience, we’ll start taking very quick shots and we won’t get out defensive schemes right. Being patient it really big for us.”

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