2018-19 UTSA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Steve Henson Radio Show Quotes
Jan. 28, 2019 | Online: bit.ly/2HD1DD1
The SandBox – San Antonio
Head Coach Steve Henson
On the excitement after the win ….
"It's been pretty exciting. A lot of activity and text messages. It's been fun for our students and fans and certainly for our players as well."
On the comeback win …
"On one hand it happened so quickly. We chipped away it obviously with some 3-pointers but the stuff that went down those last three possessions was just crazy and the kind of deal that is not going to happen very often. It's the second-largest comeback in NCAA history with under five minutes left. Our guys just believed. With four and a half minutes we decided to trap them one time, see if we could turn them over and put a dent in this lead, which was commanding at this point. They are not the type of team that you expect to turn it over or miss free throws. But we trapped them the first time, got a turnover and we came down and hit a 3. They scored then we came down and made a 3. Then they missed a few free throws, we looked up and it went from 11 to nine and it wasn't that out of hand. Then it was five and I knew we had a chance."
On scoring 25 points in four minutes …
"The end was just crazy. You have to do something a little different at that point, you have to have some franticness to it and have to have terrific pace on the offensive end. You might have to gamble a little more out of your traps. Jhivvan had one of those, if he had fouled that guy it wouldn't have been the worst play in the world but we were down nine with a minute to go so he reached his hand in there and slapped it away and we got fouled and hit free throws. We had to pick up the pace there and having different weapons was a real luxury down the stretch. Nick Allen started off the 3-pointers with back to back 3's, then Jhivvan hit back to back 3's, then we got Byron Frohnen involved – and Byron is such a different type of weapon, he's like a guard but you have to guard him with a forward so we allow him to inbound it, we pitch it back to him and he makes plays for people, including a great back door pass to Jhivvan. Several different guys stepped up there."
On the mindset during the comeback …
"It felt like there were several different portions there. We were down so many at that 4:29 timeout that at that point you are just trying to make it respectable. Then we hit some 3's and the crowd did a great job of staying in it, stayed with us and got into it. Then the pressure became a little bit of a factor. They are a very, very veteran team and they threw it to a young guy in a position that maybe he hadn't been in before, so it all just snowballed, the crowd got into it and our confidence went up. The guys believed they could keep coming down and making 3's."
On Old Dominion …
"Those guys are really good. They defend at a high level. They are very straight forward. You know what is coming, they are just going to execute it. Here's the play, are you going to be good enough to stop it? They are going to play mostly man-to-man, are you going to be good enough to get the shots that you want? The first half, we had a lot of good offensive possessions, in the second half we didn't. In addition to being good in the half-court they had a stretch where they were attacking us off the dribble and they are a good team. We have a ton of respect for them. We were just very fortunate to find a way there. For about 16 minutes in the second half, they dominated the game."
On a big week on the road …
"It is a very, very similar situation to what we had two weeks ago. We had just won four in a row at home. People were excited, talking about the best start we've had in years, we had just beaten North Texas. We were riding high, feeling good, 4-0 in league. Then we went on the road and saw how difficult it is at Middle Tennessee and UAB. So we come back home and do it again, had a great game on Thursday and a great finish on Saturday and now people are talking about us and patting us on the back but we know what is looming. Western Kentucky is an extremely talented team. They have one of the best home-court environments in our league. Marshall is one of the best offensive teams in the league. Our guys understand that. I didn't want to temper Old Dominion until the last three or four minutes so we practiced the right way today, got better and will try to come back and do it the next two days. We've talked about our team's maturity all year long and we try not to get too high if we win a game and try not to get too low if we lose a game. I thought we did that last week. We lost two in a row, handled that and played great on Thursday."
On the strength of C-USA …
"The parody this year is the best I've seen in the three years I've been here. Anybody on any night, anywhere can play well and win. That is our message to our guys right now. We love the position we are in. But we know these next six games - if we play great, we should win all six, if we play just well we have a chance to win but if we're anything below that then we won't win. That is what we hope for. Great parody. This league is getting better. The teams at the bottom are getting better, the teams that are in rebuilding mode. It is hard to win on the road, that is for sure. Now there are teams that are really getting identities. Some teams are walking up the court. Some teams are flying up the court. There are teams trying to do things different. There for a while we were talking about how Middle Tennessee was having success and teams were copying their 1-3-1 zone, playing copycat to what the leaders were doing. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out but every game, every night."
On Keaton Wallace's development as more than a scorer …
"That has been amazing, it all of a sudden just happened midway through the season in terms of him being much more above the rim. We talked about him heading into the season that he was ready to have the biggest jump. For a good player to be the most improved player is pretty impressive. He worked really hard to get stronger in the weight room. We saw the advantages of that when he was driving into the paint, absorbing contact. We saw the strength factor impact him right away but we didn't see the blocked shots, the rebounds above the rim until partway through the season. We love it. He's taking great steps for us. Making a ton of progress. Adding that element of athleticism above the rim had been terrific."
