MBI Quotes – Wyoming 67, College of Charleston 60

Wyoming Coach Jeff Linder – “It was one of those games. We knew it was gonna be a fist fight. [College of Charleston Head] coach [Pat] Kelsey and his program, there’s a reason why they’ve won a lot of games. We knew that they were gonna come out, especially after a loss, and play at the standard that they play at. For us going in at half the big thing was can we learn from the Saint Louis game? In the second half against Saint Louis, our defense faltered a little bit. With our collective effort and toughness, we knew we had to exceed Charleston’s to have a chance to beat them. To kind of have some adversity in terms of turning the ball over 22 times, which we gotta figure out a way to cut that in half. Then, to give up 23 offensive rebounds after we gave up 22 the night before. To find a way to win that game, the only way you can do it is by getting stops and I thought our guys just did a tremendous job on a team that’s really hard to guard. They got a lot of guys that can space the floor and shoot it. We found a way. It’s a make or miss game. That’s a team that’s going to shoot the ball well over the course of the season, but for right now for whatever reason their balls are not going in. I know Coach Kelsey, he’ll figure that out and that’s a good team that we just beat.” (On playing in a tight game) “That’s what happens when you play good teams in a tournament like this, it prepares you for league play. That’s what Charleston does, the grit, the toughness. You gotta find a way on a quick turnaround, which for us, I was a little concerned, just with being a new team with younger guys. Can you in a 24 hour period forget about what just happened against Saint Louis and then have the maturity and the concentration to put forth. I thought our guys did a really good job of that.” (On the play of Sam Griffin) “I challenged Sam last night in terms of being a guy that goes from being someone that scores baskets to being a guy that can help a team win games.I thought he really stepped up. He just had that right look. I’ve been around Sam long enough now to know when he has a certain look in his eye, it’s a good thing. I thought he really responded well to the last game… For us just to see some different things against a team like Saint Louis and a team like Charleston, that we maybe don’t see in practice from an athleticism and size standpoint, it’s only going to help us moving forward.”