Wednesday’s Quotes for 2019 Myrtle Beach Invitational

Nick McDevitt, Middle Tennessee – “We have athletic guys and we try to look for guys with versatility and guys who can guard multiple positions on offense. We’re without what we thought would be three of our best post players. They’re all hurt right now. It’s good for us we already have a game here under our belts so hopefully that pays dividends. You need all the help you can get when you play team of this caliber (Villanova).”

Ben Howland, Mississippi State on the difficultly about playing at a neutral site tournament? – “It’s different, but the toughest part is playing three games in four days. We’ll have played four in eight when you consider playing on Sunday. That’s a lot of games all scrunched together. That’s the challenge for us. We’re playing, really, eight guys, and those guys are playing a lot of minutes. I’m really happy it’s not the end of the year tournament like the SEC [Tournament] where there’s no day in between. I think that day off on Saturday really helps all teams. I think it helps for the health and safety of the players honestly.”

Jay Wright, Villanova – “For us, the whole preseason is a learning process because we don’t really have those established guys and the guy who is established (guard Collin Gillespie) has been out. We have a lot of question marks, kind of starting over. This teams got to build its own personality; this team must incorporate our core values. That doesn’t happen overnight. All of other teams were built over years and years of consistency and leadership and we just don’t have that.”

Cliff Ellis, Coastal Carolina – “They (Utah) are bigger than we are and I think what we’ve got to do is a lot of draw-and-kick, lot of pump fakes and I call the ‘HORSE’ shots – if you’ve got it, take it, just don’t take bad shots.” (On the win over Middle Tennessee): “A very good team. I think our defense was the key because we’re a team that likes to run. If the defense isn’t getting stops, you’re going to get it done.”

Ron Hunter, Tulane – “Because we got kids who have won before. These aren’t guys we just picked up off the street, these are guys who have been in the NCAA Tournament, conference championships where they and they just wanted a fresh start, like they’re new coach. We’re all in this together. It’s been tremendous and part of it is as a head coach, we spend more time working on the unity part, the team functions and chemistry. That was probably the biggest surprise for me, how quickly this group meshed.”

Larry Krystkowiak, Utah – “We just have a lot of teaching that’s going on. It’s a lot of new for a lot of different guys, it’s exciting. That’s probably the biggest thing, and finding some consistency, understanding how hard this is and if you have a good day, to back it up. Every game will present a different situation. Certainly, when you have three games in four days we’re going to have to tap into some guys and depends on who makes differences in the tournament. Maybe there some guys who are not on the scouting report who can step up and make some plays.”

Scott Drew, Baylor – “Experience always gives you an advantage because anytime you play in one of these ESPN tournaments, it means you have quality competition, which means close games and that experience definitely helps in situations like Depth also is critical with three games in four days. I know in the Big 12 you have a lot of one-possession games, and I see a lot of opportunity for us to get better. In these close games you find out who your team is going to lean on.”

Jeff Boals, Ohio – “We are excited to participate in the Myrtle Beach Invitational. We are grateful for an opportunity to play a top 20 Baylor team. They are well coached and have great players. Our team is getting better. We have had three tough road games to start the season. We’ve said all along we have a growth mindset for the non-conference schedule. Baylor will be another great challenge for us.”