MBI Quotes – Furman 89, Coastal Carolina 80
Furman Coach Bob Richey – “First of all, really proud of our team. Thoughts and prayers to [Guard] Ben VanderWal. We found out just before the game that he had to get evaluated. It was literally when we got to the arena. [Forward] Tyrese [Hughey] went down the day before our first game Thursday. [Forward] Alex Williams is out and now Ben VanderWal out, and to find out basically an hour before tip. A team that’s accustomed to playing nine or ten, to go out there with seven and to get the job done, and for guys to step up, it makes you proud to be their coach. It wasn’t easy. They [Coastal Carolina] went out and banged three or four threes immediately. Then, there were guys that were getting winded and we just had to keep our tempo, we had to keep to our identity. Carter Whitt, to have the performance that he had was just incredible. I’m a believer in hard work and I’m a believer in guys understanding that you don’t always know when that hard work is gonna pay off, but if you just stick to it, and you keep consistency and you keep working, your time is gonna come. Marcus [Foster] has learned that lesson through a couple of years. He’s obviously learning to become a feature guy and goes for 30 again tonight. For Carter to make the shots that he made in critical moments. I knew this day was coming, I just didn’t know when.” (On the support from the fans and on only playing seven guys) “I told them before the game, we got seven, you guys should be happy as heck. Nobody’s gonna play less than 20 minutes. I don’t have to worry about anybody being upset about how many minutes they played tonight. I said we’re gonna go five 30-minute starters and two guys play 25 and everybody’s happy. Our crowd and our fan support has grown. It’s been part of this build of the brand. For years, man, we used to have sparse gyms and people in Greenville didn’t come to games. Through the building of this program, what these players have built and through their work, there are more people that have been interested in what we’re doing…. This is a program that you look at seven or eight years ago, in the 300s of RPI. It was just a little school with a vision and we built it brick by brick day by day. We try to play in a way that inspires people through our connectivity, how our guys share the ball, how we move. We’re not always perfect but we try to do it, and we try to play in a way so that people want to watch us. To see how many people came down to Myrtle Beach, just regular fans, it’s something we want to continue to build. We’re in an unbelievable city with an unbelievable degree. We’ve got a great program and we’ve got more to go.”
Furman Guard Carter Whitt – Missing them [the injured players] we definitely need other guys to step up. I felt like they kind of went to that funky zone and I missed some shots. I missed my first three threes I think. I just knew that I’d worked on this and I just have to keep shooting with confidence. I felt like we needed somebody to step up and I just took advantage of the opportunity.”
Furman Guard Marcus Foster – (On his first dribble going towards the basket) “That’s Coach [Bob] Richey and the staff. That’s what we work on. We work on that everyday in skill, coming off handoffs, making sure the angles are right. He’s always on me making sure everything is perfect and exactly how he wants it. Just to hear you say that, lets me know I’m doing the right thing and I just got to continue to work on that. I like to think of myself as an aggressive player always looking for my shot, and if that’s not there, trying to get all the way to the basket. I was fortunate to do that today.” (On his back-to-back 30-point games) “I’m not worried about that. I’m just really happy we got the win. That’s most important. Yesterday I wasn’t really too impressed with the 30 because we lost and it was a pretty embarrassing loss. Today, I’m much more happy because we got the win and everybody else played good, too. It was much more fun today.”