March 23, 2006

Wichita State Center Paul Miller

On what makes George Mason a good team
"They have an offensive threat of an inside outside presence. They have guards that can really get it up and down the floor fast. They are a good transition team and they really get after you on defense."

Wichita State Guard P.J. Couisnard

On what it feels like to be in the national spotlight
"It feels great just to be able to be here and perform at the level that we're doing. Just as a team getting to this spot is great. Your family back home gets to see you play, they haven't seen you play for the whole year probably. It's all fun."

On how closely the team was watching the other games
"I'm a huge college basketball fan anyway. I've been especially watching Bradley and seeing what they are doing. Since they're in our conference I guess I'll root for them. And I've been watching Texas. I got some friends on Texas. I haven't really looked at our bracket."

On what it means to be successful as a "Mid-Major" school
"It's been real huge. Playing on a school that's so-called Mid-Major you want to win games so that people can just throw that out the window. There ain't no such thing as Mid-Major. We're just trying to win games and help that cause. I'm glad to see the Mid-Majors doing great."

On the keys to victory tomorrow "We just need to play as a team and don't let them do what they do better than we do. That and just taking care of the ball because they were trapping us at our place too, are the two keys."

On how the team deals with the different obstacles of the NCAA Tournament "We're just happy to be playing basketball at this time right now. I don't think our team is bothered by the travel at all. We're just out here having fun."

Wichita State Guard Ryan Martin
On playing George Mason in Washington
"We just need to take care of ourselves. We can't worry about them or the fans because when we do that, we'll lose track of what we need to be doing. We just need to focus on what we need to do on the court."

On the matchup of mid-majors
"This game is really special. It doesn't happen very often, so we are really looking forward to it. This is a special group of guys in this locker room, so we know how good we can be."

Wichita State Guard Matt Braeuer

On facing George Mason a second time "We're both underdogs coming into this game, so I don't think that there is any pressure on either one of us. That's why I think it should be such a good game - it will just be fun. I don't look back much on our first game with them. We're both playing our best basketball right now. I just hope it's us that comes out on top."

On pregame rituals
"I don't have much that I do. I just try to enjoy every game, and remind myself to smile. I know that I have to enjoy this, because it is the best time of my life and I don't know how many opportunities like this I'm going to get."

On the trip to Washington D.C.
"It's been good. It's been relaxing. We don't think about the game until tomorrow so we're just enjoying it. It was a long flight, but we saw a little bit of downtown on the way over here and we get to go to the ESPN Zone tonight to eat so it will be a lot of fun."

On how long it took to get back to business after the win over Tennessee
"We had Sunday off so we enjoyed it Sunday, but we came back Monday to practice and practiced really well - Monday, Tuesday and yesterday. That's kind of been the whole motto of the team. Not to get too high on a win or too low on a loss."

On George Mason's guard play in the first matchup
"It was a little bit of them hitting shots. But it was also that we never played them and we didn't know what to expect from their guards. We knew they were good players, but I think we maybe just didn't know how good they were. Skinn, Lamar Butler and Campbell are all really good. I think our approach will be a little different this time, but we're just going to go out and play our best and hopefully come out the winners."

On the team's keys to victory
"I think the main thing is going to be limiting turnovers, fast break points and whoever wins the rebounding. Whoever wins the rebound will have a great advantage."

Wichita State Guard Karon Bradley

On his 17-point performance in the first game
"I just came out with a lot of energy like I normally do. Shots were falling for me. They were doubling down on Paul a lot and I got some good kick outs from him and I was knocking down shots."

On what to expect from him tomorrow night
"I'm going to come out with same intensity, same energy. Nothing is going to change. I'm going to be aggressive on both ends of the floor."

On the first matchup and shutting down George Mason's outside shooting "I think it was more of them just knocking down shots. They came in our building and were on fire. They hit everything. We doubled down quite a bit and they got some kick-outs and they were swinging the ball and hitting shots. It is important for us to get out to shooters quicker and contest the shots better."

On the element of George Mason playing at "home"
"I don't think it will have an effect at all. We've played on the road all year and performed great in tough atmospheres. They played us on our home court so I guess they're calling this a home court advantage for them. I guess it's only right."

On what the coaching staff advised them heading into the game
"He just told us to keep the same level of focus that we have all year and keep playing together."

On the keys to victory tomorrow
"We just got to come out and play hard and play as a team and play how we've been playing all year."

Wichita State Forward David King

On the team's mindset coming into the game
"We're real down to the brass tax. We're real focused. We want to win as much as anybody. We should be having a lot of fun here."

On finding out the team was facing George Mason
"A bunch of the guys were happy because it's a rematch. Some of us wanted to play North Carolina just because it's North Carolina, but we're more than happy with George Mason."