OPPONENT HEAD COACH TJ OTZELBERGER
Opening statement:
“Obviously, for our program, we strive to continue to move forward. To have the opportunity to play against such an amazingly well-coached program and come in here and be tested in a very tough environment is something we knew how it was going to be. We give a lot of credit to their program, to the Jayhawks and to Coach (Bill) Self. They’re coming off a big game in Chicago on Tuesday night and to turn it around and play with such great energy and toughness is something for our program, as we move forward, to learn. Coach Self has been a mentor and someone I’ve looked up to. We will look to learn from some of those lessons, and as we move our program forward, hopefully we can continue to move in a direction where we can exude some of those same qualities that they had tonight.”
On the opening three minutes of the game:
“They came out and they were hungry. We told our guys coming into an environment like this you have to be able to throw punches right from the jump. We needed to try and back them up a little bit and they were the more aggressive team. They got the 50/50 balls, they did a great job valuing the ball, and they knocked down the shots they had early. It gave them that cushion and that comfort zone right from the start. We knew that was something we couldn’t let happen if we were going to be able to compete and stay in the game.”
On KU’s efficiency:
“I thought on film that Devonte’ Graham is a phenomenal player and unbelievable passer. (He is) A tremendous passer on the move, (a) leader and (a) winner. I’ve coached at Iowa State, coached against him in the past and what he’s done to develop his game and lead this program (is admirable). A big part of the assists tonight, and ball security, is a credit to Devonte’.”
On treating this game just like any other:
“To be honest, I don’t think we did a very good job of it. We talked about it in practice and we treated it like the same game we play every night. A lot of people said, ‘Shock the world and don’t turn it over by the first media timeout.’ I thought, more than anything, they came out and they were the more aggressive team. They were the team that was more stubborn in doing what they wanted. They set the tone early and they put it on us. We’ve got to try and adjust so that when we go into a tough environment, we aren’t shell-shocked or intimated. We (have to) get out of the blocks quick because we’ve got a few more really challenging games on the schedule that we need to get ready for.”
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JUNIOR FORWARD MIKE DAUM
On Kansas’ tough opening stretch:
“Yeah, they came out and were definitely the more aggressive team first, right away, and that was kind of our goal to start, we knew we were coming into a hostile territory, and we knew we needed to be the ones to hit them right away and we didn’t do that.”
On surprised by walk-on’s playing:
“Yeah, it is surprising. We figured they were going to have a five-man guarding me on that, but obviously they have all that stuff going on with them not having very many guys eligible right now. So we knew they were going to do some other stuff on defense for us.”
On hostile/historic environment and playing in a place with the history Kansas does:
“I mean, honestly, it’s no different than any other game for us. We look at all the games as the same. Kansas has great success in the past, and obviously that success keeps rolling. For us, it’s a mindset that it’s just another game, the court is the same size as any other court in America.”
On Udoka Azubuike and comparing to how he played in the summer:
“It’s pretty similar to what I saw in the summer. He’s great down low with his back to the basket, a big physical guy. You just have to keep him off the boards and keep him from getting those energy plays, dunks and stuff.”
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE FRESHMAN GUARD TEVIN KING
On hostile/historic environment and playing in a place with the history of Kansas:
“Obviously they hold a lot of memories here, winning and success. To us, it’s just to come here and play our game that was the mindset.”
Opening statement:
“Obviously, for our program, we strive to continue to move forward. To have the opportunity to play against such an amazingly well-coached program and come in here and be tested in a very tough environment is something we knew how it was going to be. We give a lot of credit to their program, to the Jayhawks and to Coach (Bill) Self. They’re coming off a big game in Chicago on Tuesday night and to turn it around and play with such great energy and toughness is something for our program, as we move forward, to learn. Coach Self has been a mentor and someone I’ve looked up to. We will look to learn from some of those lessons, and as we move our program forward, hopefully we can continue to move in a direction where we can exude some of those same qualities that they had tonight.”
On the opening three minutes of the game:
“They came out and they were hungry. We told our guys coming into an environment like this you have to be able to throw punches right from the jump. We needed to try and back them up a little bit and they were the more aggressive team. They got the 50/50 balls, they did a great job valuing the ball, and they knocked down the shots they had early. It gave them that cushion and that comfort zone right from the start. We knew that was something we couldn’t let happen if we were going to be able to compete and stay in the game.”
On KU’s efficiency:
“I thought on film that Devonte’ Graham is a phenomenal player and unbelievable passer. (He is) A tremendous passer on the move, (a) leader and (a) winner. I’ve coached at Iowa State, coached against him in the past and what he’s done to develop his game and lead this program (is admirable). A big part of the assists tonight, and ball security, is a credit to Devonte’.”
On treating this game just like any other:
“To be honest, I don’t think we did a very good job of it. We talked about it in practice and we treated it like the same game we play every night. A lot of people said, ‘Shock the world and don’t turn it over by the first media timeout.’ I thought, more than anything, they came out and they were the more aggressive team. They were the team that was more stubborn in doing what they wanted. They set the tone early and they put it on us. We’ve got to try and adjust so that when we go into a tough environment, we aren’t shell-shocked or intimated. We (have to) get out of the blocks quick because we’ve got a few more really challenging games on the schedule that we need to get ready for.”
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JUNIOR FORWARD MIKE DAUM
On Kansas’ tough opening stretch:
“Yeah, they came out and were definitely the more aggressive team first, right away, and that was kind of our goal to start, we knew we were coming into a hostile territory, and we knew we needed to be the ones to hit them right away and we didn’t do that.”
On surprised by walk-on’s playing:
“Yeah, it is surprising. We figured they were going to have a five-man guarding me on that, but obviously they have all that stuff going on with them not having very many guys eligible right now. So we knew they were going to do some other stuff on defense for us.”
On hostile/historic environment and playing in a place with the history Kansas does:
“I mean, honestly, it’s no different than any other game for us. We look at all the games as the same. Kansas has great success in the past, and obviously that success keeps rolling. For us, it’s a mindset that it’s just another game, the court is the same size as any other court in America.”
On Udoka Azubuike and comparing to how he played in the summer:
“It’s pretty similar to what I saw in the summer. He’s great down low with his back to the basket, a big physical guy. You just have to keep him off the boards and keep him from getting those energy plays, dunks and stuff.”
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE FRESHMAN GUARD TEVIN KING
On hostile/historic environment and playing in a place with the history of Kansas:
“Obviously they hold a lot of memories here, winning and success. To us, it’s just to come here and play our game that was the mindset.”
