UTSA Head Coach Brooks Thompson
Opening statement ...
"I think our guys came out today and played as hard as they could. I don’t think they feel they played as well as they could. You have to give credit to Stephen F. Austin. They did some nice things and as a senior-laden basketball team they are very experienced. We’ve got a bunch of new guys that we look forward to the future with. Our shots didn’t quite fall for us like they did the first two nights. I think these guys this season and especially the last couple nights have given everything they have to our program to try to win this tournament. I think they came as close as they could, but just came up a little short. I’m very proud of our basketball team. You’ve got a young man, Devin Gibson here, who was an all-tournament team member. You’ve got Travis and Joey, our two seniors. You hate to see them go out like this, but we are excited about the future of the program.”
On the lull they had before halftime and their game plan coming into the second half ...
"Our game plan didn’t change that much. I think the problem was that we got away from our game plan in the last few minutes of the first half. I think that definitely affected what we did offensively. I think we were letting them score and breaking down and thinking a little too much and then I think offensively we got a little stagnant after that.”
On using the full-court press in the second half ...
"We like to press a lot after free throws to get organized. We didn’t shoot a lot of free throws in the first half so it was hard for us to press very much. We planned on doing that most of the game because we usually are a team that gets calls because we drive the ball so hard. We couldn’t get to the free-throw line in the first half. I think it did some stuff for us there in the second half. It let us speed the game up a little. They play very slow and very methodical and very disciplined. I think for us to have the best chance to win, we needed to get the ball up and down the court a little bit and get some stops and get the game going at our pace.”
On his seniors ...
"Thus far, they have meant everything to this program. If you look back three years ago, when Travis came in and hurt his foot and had to sit out that first year. You talk about the three years that we’ve had together and then the two years with Joey. What they’ve been through. This being a team that we inherited two scholarship players our first year. Then we brought Travis in and a few more junior college guys. Joey and Travis have seen the bottom of what we took over to almost what the pinnacle is right now. We are very close to where we want to be. I thought this year we would do it. I knew it would be hard with Travis and Joey being the only two seniors. To watch our program where we’ve gone from seven wins to 13 to 19. They’ve seen the lows and then almost the pinnacle. They’ve meant so much. You talk about winning and losing games, but it’s about more. You heard what Devin said about Travis and Joey being the first two guys he met on campus from a recruiting standpoint. As far as building this program into what we want, they’ve been the rocks of this program.”
On what this means to the future of UTSA basketball ...
"I think it’s huge. It’s such a hard building process. They always say, ?Rome wasn't built in a day.’ That sounds clich?, but to build a program the way that you want to and to do it the right way, it says a lot for the young men that are sitting in our locker room over there. It says a lot of what type of people they are and how we’ve grown with so many new guys this year. Some guys kind of having to step aside. As you recruit, they always think they’re all going to be starters. As a coach, obviously you can’t promise them that. For them to step aside and some of the guys take some lesser roles and the guys that are in that locker room right now that will be seniors playing their last year of college basketball. You have a floor leader like Devin Gibson going into his junior year. It’s an exciting time. We have a couple scholarships available to mix in the right type of people. It’s going to be an exciting time and we’re excited about our future.”
On playing in a post-season tournament ...
"I guess I can politic for it right now. I think we deserve it. I would love to. I will definitely politic for it with the CBI and the NIT being there. It would probably be tough, but we would definitely like to continue our season if we had that opportunity. We have a bunch of warriors and competitors in there that like to play.”
Devin Gibson, So., G
On what they did differently since the first time they played them a week ago ...
"Defensively, I couldn’t really tell that they were doing anything different except hedging a little bit harder on ball screens and face-guarding Joey.”
On his emotional level during this game and during the tournament ...
"It meant a lot to me today. Coming in as a freshman, the first two guys that I met on campus were our two seniors, Travis and Joey. Getting a win for them and making sure they go out right for their senior year would have meant a lot to me. I guess the emotions showed on the court.”
Travis Gabbidon, Sr., F
On whether he feels he left it all out on the court today ...
"I believe I left it all out there. As a team I think we did also. Am I satisfied? Our goal was to get the victory. I’m not fully satisfied because we didn’t get the victory. As a team and along with our coach, we gave it all we had. Like Coach said, shots didn’t fall like the first two games.”
On his experience and where he’s leaving the program ...
"It’s been great ever since day one. I met a bunch of great people. The first year was tough, but as Coach got more of his recruits in and his scholarship players, the second year was getting better. You saw it come together. You saw Omar and Devin grow up. They stepped up a lot last year, and now this year it’s just been a great year. We brought a lot of fans into UTSA. We got the community behind us. It’s just been a great year. For us to get here and nobody else thinking we would be here playing on Sunday is great. I’m happy. They’ve got eight seniors next year, so I told them they have to come back and get it next year.”