Chattanooga at Marshall
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Huntington, W.V., Cam Henderson Center
Postgame Quotes

Lamont Paris, Head Coach
On trying to close out the game down the stretch.
"We did most of the things we needed to do to be where we wanted to be at the end of the game. We turned the ball over too many times and it came back to haunt us. They made some plays and we made some plays down the stretch. We didn't handle the situation after the missed free throw as well as we wanted to. At the end of the day, the things we did tonight just weren't done well enough."

On defensive effort.
"We were up six at half time, what's six points in basketball? We fought and played how we wanted to play. We competed and went about our business in the right way. I feel bad for our guys that we didn't end up on the right side of this. We defended them so well and that's a hard team to guard. I thought we did a good job overall defensively in taking away things they wanted to do."

On competing tough and progressing.
"We fought. If you compete, magically the numbers are going to be something you're willing to accept. We competed on the boards. It wasn't that we jumped higher or we were quicker. We just competed. We did specifically set that as something to make sure we were productive on. In my evaluation on our team, that is ultimately what I'm looking for. What you're seeing as a product is a result in what we're working towards."

On Marshall's 14-1 run early in the second half.
"It's basketball. They average 92 points a game. They made runs. It was at our expense because we missed three easy layups. The 14 points...I don't know how many possessions that was on. We turned the ball over and missed some easy layups. You make those and that run doesn't happen. It's basketball. Every team makes runs."

Nat Dixon, So.-F
On trying to turn close games into wins.
"We have to put it all together. One night it'll be this and the next night it'll be something different. We have to grow as a team and stick together as a team. The opponents we have been playing are good teams. We're not into moral victories. We have to dig deep. We have to figure out ways of pulling it out. Tonight was turnovers. We have to keep getting better."

On game plan coming in.
"They're a very good team offensively. We wanted to come in and try to limit them. The turnovers really got us tonight on offense, so we need to go back to the drawing board on that and get it fixed."

On defending Marshall.
"We harp on defense. We came in knowing they are a high powered offense. I think we did a good job in limiting them tonight. We have a set of principles that we want to stick to defensively and we did that tonight. Basketball is a game of runs. We wanted to roll with the punches and hang in there."

Makinde London, Jr.-F
On 25 point & 18 rebound performance.
"The team worked hard and put me in position to get great shots. That showed tonight. I really don't care about the stats. Just in the fact that we did it in a way together. This is going to bring us closer and it's a building moment. That's all we could ask for."

On close ending.
"One possession doesn't write the whole story. It's definitely a moment that I'll learn and grow from it. My teammates picked me up in a big way. They just showed me love when I need it. We preach about maturing and growing up. I was so proud of them tonight for getting to the opportunity we had tonight."

On out-rebounding Marshall 44-32.
"That showed how much fight and resiliency we have. It shows the character and foundation set up for this program. We work on it daily. We probably do more box out drills than any one in the country. We're growing. We're all growing and getting tougher."

On game plan against Marshall.
"They are a great team and can score the ball in many different ways. Coach [Paris] emphasized early that when we have the ball, we're in control. We just tried to approach the game like that. It was a great environment in here tonight. We wanted to come in and let people know we're for real. We all really put a lot of effort in tonight and I applaud the guys for that."