Fresno State Athletics
QUOTES: Fresno State 71, Pacific 52
12/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Rodney Terry, Fresno State Head Coach
On the consistency of their performance tonight…
This was one of our more complete games. We played on both ends of the floor. I thought our guys played really hard for us defensively. I thought they also played really hard for us offensively. In tonight's game they really did what we practice and they did it at a high level.
On their defensive performance tonight…
We've done really well in the steal category all year long. We had eight steals tonight. We held them to a 33% field goal percentage. Pacific was a pretty good shooting team. We had to come in with really good shooter defense, with our hands up. I thought our guys did a really good job of shooter defense, not allowing separation for the other team to get their shots off.
I really like what we tonight defensively. Our guys really tried not to give up separation. This was a game where we were going to be challenged from a shooting standpoint, because all of their guys can really shoot the ball. One of their big guys came off the bench and we knew all of their big guys were capable shooters. He came off the bench and had two threes in the first half. That was a good offensive team. They run a really hard offense with hard cuts and they know what their looking for. We knew going in they were going to challenge us defensively.
On their offensive performance tonight…
"They stayed in zone the whole game. We didn't settle tonight. Our guys really played within themselves. We did a really good job of attacking on our terms. We're getting better.
On Lionel Ellison's performance tonight after his performance in Arizona…
"I thought he had a great attitude and approach following the loss in Arizona. I thought he came back and was focused and wasn't deterred by not playing well on the road. He came back and was really good in practice. I had no doubt in my mind that he was going to come with a good mindset in terms of running our team. He's a very unselfish guy and a guy that we want to be a little more aggressive offensively. He's growing into his role for us.
On Cezar Guerrero's performances the last couple of games…
"We got back from Cal Poly and I wasn't happy with our play offensively. He got the chance to come back and practice really hard. The guy who sets the pace for the offense is the point guard. He has to play with pace. I think against Arizona he did a really nice job for us to turn that around. Tonight he did a good job controlling the pace against their zone. Those guys are learning how fast we want to move on that side of the floor."
On Julien Lewis tonight…
"He made a lot of really good cuts tonight to keep the offense flowing. He played within himself. I think Julien is a really good midrange player. I think that he's really playing to his strengths right now. He's attacking the paint; he's doing exactly what we're telling him to do. We tell him to attack the paint either for yourself or kick it out to someone else. I think he's one of the best midrange players in college basketball. When he works from the inside out he's one of our more efficient players.
On Marvelle Harris not scoring in double figures tonight…
"He's an unselfish player. Marvelle and a majority of our team are about winning. They understand the process. On any given night he could be our leading scorer or someone else could be our leading scorer, and I think that our guys are okay with that. We have to have balance. People who have scouting reports are going to guard Marvelle hard. He's a guy that has lead us in assists the last two years. He creates some things for himself and he's just as happy to create it for someone else."
On Bakersfield…
They had the big guy inside a year ago that we had no answer for. We escaped from their place last year. Rod's a really good coach; his teams always play extremely hard defensively. They make it really hard to get good looks. It'll be a battle. Being at home is not enough; you have to play at a high level."
