Fresno State 85, Nevada 63
1/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Rodney Terry, Fresno State Head Coach
On the focus of the team tonight…
"I thought our guys had good carry over from the practice and preparation the last two days. We came back in and had to watch the tape from Saturday's game and had to talk about the things we needed to fix as a team. I thought our guys really worked hard toward that. We did some things defensively with our posts and guards to work on getting better and we're going to do that all year long to continue getting better. I thought the guys played with urgency tonight. We're trying to emphasize to the guys that this time of year they have to play with urgency on every possession and I thought we set the tone with that tonight from the very beginning."
"We knew we had a good team coming in tonight. Nevada has done well; they have a 9-6 record right now. They are a team coming off of a win at home. There's a lot of talent in that ball club. Marques Coleman is playing really well for their team, as an older player he understands what this time of the year is about. We knew we had a team coming in that was ready to play so we had to be ready to play."
"Whether you're at home or on the road you have to come play every night in this league. It's not enough to be at home. You have to come earn a win in this league."
On having 85 points against a Division I team…
"We had 21 assists, that's the second most we've had this year. Anytime you have 21 assists in a ball game then the ball isn't sticking, it's moving. The ball stuck a lot in our last game. I thought we did a better job moving the ball, attacking the gaps, and getting the ball to where we wanted it to finish. The difference in this game tonight was our defense."
On Cezar Guererro making perimeter shots…
"We need Cezar to make shots for us. He works really hard on his shots. He puts in a lot of time. On Saturday he got a couple of really good looks and they didn't go down for him, but he's a guy that works and his work pays off for him."
"There are going to be nights where we don't shoot the ball well but we know we can guard every night. We can't guarantee our shots are going to fall every night but we'd like to think we put the work in to make more than we miss."
On their post advantage…
"Coach Wainwright and Coach Jones have been doing a really good job with our position big guys. We got into the paint 22 times against New Mexico; we just didn't do a good job of finishing. We had really good shots around the basket that didn't go in for us. We are working with our guys to get better at scoring through contact and around contact. We were able to score pretty well around a shot blocking team. Nevada is one of the best shot blocking teams in the country."
"Our posts worked really hard the last couple days in terms of their preparation. I think they had good carry over tonight. Those guys work hard to make each other better and they are all pulling for each other.
On this game compared to past games against Nevada…
"We haven't had too many games that didn't come down to the wire. Since I've been here these games have been possession ball games. We expected that kind of fight tonight. Nevada came ready to play off of a big win. I just think our guys came out and knew that this time of year you have to come out and play with unbelievable urgency on every possession. I think we really set the tone from a defensive standpoint and let the offense come to us. They had really good communication, they were engaged, and I thought they played really hard defensively."
On Karachi Edo…
"He puts a lot of time in. He was making 15-foot shots a year ago. I think he's a guy that will the time he put in he'll be a guy that can make threes. With the work he put in he'll feel comfortable taking three-point shots. I thought of recruiting him and having him at that point right now, and saying he'll be able to make a three before he leaves, you have to give him a lot of credit on his work ethic. He's gotten better and better, but he works at it. He's been a really good kid to coach."
On playing Boise…
"The last couple of trips to Boise they've brought the fight to us early in the game, and we've let the game get away from us. We didn't have the chance to fight the way we are accustomed to fighting. It's going to be really important that we set the tone defensively from the start of the game and then attack on our terms. It's going to be really important that we stay together and have good chemistry when we go over there."
Junior forward Cullen Russo
On the role coming off the bench…
"I accept whatever role Coach Terry gives me and I do whatever we can to win. It does not matter if I come off the bench or start, whatever I can do to help the team win, and I will do.
On starting off fast…
"When Cezar hit the 3-pointer to start the game, I think that was the first time we scored on the first possession all year. We had a chance to get off to a good start and we did."
On the Fresno State-Nevada rivalry…
"I did not know very much about the rivalry. I knew they were a gritty team and would come in here and grind. I knew they would come in here and knew we would have to play and expect this to be an easy game."
