Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus #2 St. Thomas on March 5, 2026 , Loss , 67, to, 80
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FINAL
Men's Basketball
67
vs #2 St. Thomas
80
South Dakota State University Athletics
0309 MBB Quotes vs. Oakland
3/11/2009 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
Scot Nagy, Head Coach
Opening Statement
“I'm not sure we have ever had a worse night to have so many players have tough games. We just had a lot of guys that didn't play well at the same time. The first 10 minutes defensively were fine, we just put so much pressure on our defense because we absolutely couldn't score. We had one guy that really got anything done offensively and that was Anthony. I can't believe we shot 41 percent after all of that, it amazes me. There are so many reasons Saturday night, there was so much going on, the emotions of that night for so many reasons. It was just too hard for us to come back from. It was like someone just let the air out of the balloon.”
On being down early in the game
“It's hard. It's not like you can just explain all those things. Sometimes kids have tough starts and are able to bounce back from it, sometimes they are not. It wasn't like we weren't trying to get them there. Even at half time, it's not like we went in there and ripped them. We just went in and talked about the fact that the only way to get back into this game was from a defensive standpoint. Offensively we were better in the second half but we had given them confidence. We just couldn't gain any ground. We finally played loosened up but we couldn't gain any ground because defensively we weren't like we needed to be.”
On packing the arena two nights in a row
“It was nice to have the fans here. In a situation like this you feel like you have let everybody down. The players feel that way and the coaching staff feels that way. We are thrilled to have gotten a victory but that can't be enough. It felt like it ended up being enough. That's the attitude that has to change, that's what we have to change. We have made some great strides this year, we really have. After you go through it, it's easy to say, it feels like one of the most up and down rollercoaster seasons I've ever had. I just don't want winning one game to be enough.”
Garrett Callahan
On his emotions after Saturday's game
“Obviously we came out flat. I don't know why but like coach said, Saturday was really emotional. You can tell we were ready for that game but tonight we just came out flat and weren't ready to go.”
On Oakland's perimeter defense
“Every other team does it. You just have to make shots.”
Anthony Cordova
On his emotions from Saturday in comparison to today
“I thought after Saturday's game we would come out and play hard for the rest of the season. Seeing how we came out today was so surprising and disappointing. I wasn't ready at all. I thought the coaches had prepared us but they can't get on the floor and play for us. We have to do everything, we have to execute.”
On his feelings about losing to Oakland after defeating defending champion ORU
“I think it was a missed opportunity. We are so much better than what our record showed this year. I feel we could have gone far.”
OAKLAND
Greg Kampe, Head Coach
Opening Statement
“I thought we defended them as well as we could defend someone. They had to be feeling really good about themselves after getting what had to be the biggest win in their school history. And we established right from the start that they were not going to get an easy shot. The loss at South Dakota State (earlier this year) changed our season. We thought we could outscore people. (From that point on) we started to win with defense. Since that day we've won nine in a row. We believe Keith Benson can protect the basket and we've gone out and pressured the ball. We lost who I think is the best player in the league (an injured redshirt freshman Derick Nelson) If Nelson's not the MVP, he's right there with him (NDSU's Ben Woodside, the conference's actual player of the year). It took us time to develop a defensive stopper.”
On NDSU's Mike Nelson
“Nelson's playing really, really well. He's playing possessed. He's playing like a senior that doesn't want to lose.”
On his team's defensive strategy vs. SDSU
“If (SDSU's Anthony) Cordova gets 40, we're going to win because they're only going to score 50. We had to make sure we took away the three-pointer.”
On Erik Kangas' ankle sprain from Sunday night
“We honestly did not know if he was going to be playing. It's a Degree 2 sprain. It's swollen. Our trainer did a tremendous job. They worked all day. I did not tell people he was going to play. When we walked over here I didn't believe he was going to play. He was limping. I think the adrenaline (took over).”
On playing three games in three days
“Two days ago I would have said yes (it could be a problem). But I was able to rest JJ (Johnathon Jones) yesterday. He got in foul trouble. He averages 39 minutes a game, he played 30, and was able to rest him today. He's the key. He's the one that's going all the time.”
On his team's experience
“This is our third final in five years. These key players know what's going on. We've lost one at the buzzer. We've won at the buzzer. We've experienced it all.”
On Tuesday's Championship game expectations
“It will be an epic battle. I think it's going to be great for our conference.”
On tournament experience
“I really believe you don't know how they (the Bison) are going to react. I look at (Brett) Winkelman, I'd love to coach that kid. He looks like the toughest guy I've ever seen. He may just say the heck with nerves and take over. I'm talking about all our experience but we've played nine guys the last two nights. Four of them are freshmen, two sophomores, one junior and two seniors.”
On Brett Winkelman
“We have to make him guard us. That's what happened at their place. He got a couple quick fouls on him and he can't score from the bench. You can't let him hang around and rest on defense. He never stops moving on offense and he kills you. Every loose ball he gets. The key is we have to guard them as a team and if we can keep them in the 50s or 60s, we probably have a good chance to win.”
On Johnathon Jones
“Johnathon Jones is a great player on offense but what people don't look at is he's a great defensive player. We probably guard that pick and roll better than anybody else. It's not our scheme. It's we've got Johnathon Jones.”
Erik Kangas
On the significance of getting an early lead
“Biggest thing was taking the crowd out of the game. That was the most important thing.”
On Oakland's nine-game winning streak
“It starts with defense. That translates into a lot of wins.”
Players Mentioned
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