Liberty’s season came to an end on Friday night with a 69-60 loss against Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament from Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana. Shortly following the loss, the Flames’ head coach Ritchie McKay fielded questions from the media. Here’s everything he said beginning with his opening statement.
“Congratulations to Oklahoma State,” McKay said. “That’s a really good basketball team, with a special player. And they did a great job of making it really hard for us. But really proud of our group, the way they represent our program, our university, and tonight just wasn’t quite our night.”
Season high in turnovers today, 18 of them, and there was a point there in the second half where as you guys were trying to claw back into it miscue after miscue allowed Oklahoma State to build that lead back up. How pivotal was that in the way they were able to speed you guys up forcing turnovers and capitalized with some points?
“It was a difference in the game. That’s uncharacteristic. We average nine turnovers a year. We led the nation in fewest turnovers last year. The game was extremely physical, and you can just look at those two stats, the turnovers and how many free throw attempts they had. I think we’re like the 15th fewest fouling team in the country, but they really just put their head down, they drove it and they initiated the, where they were the aggressor and we obviously got in foul trouble, had to rest Darius and Kyle a little bit and took us out of rhythm when most nights we do a pretty good job of staying out of foul trouble. Tonight wasn’t one of them.”
Coming into this game a lot of attention was on Cunningham. Can you talk about your approach to trying to slow him down tonight?
“Yeah, he’s a great player, so I’m not sure how much you’re going to control him. Our defense is our defense. We didn’t do anything differently than in our preparation for him than we would anyone in our league or anyone else we played. That’s just our defense. And he got in foul trouble in the first half, which made him a little less aggressive. But if you haven’t noticed, in the second half he’s a takeover-type player. So we anticipated that and he got to the line, he saw it go in a little bit and made a big three there and led them to victory, which he’s done a multitude of times this season.”
In what was probably the swan song for Elijah Cuffee, can you talk to how well he played on both the offensive end and the defensive end and trying to will this team to keep its season alive?
“Yeah, you’ve seen nearly every game we’ve have played. Elijah Cuffee’s so special on the court. We can talk about his accomplishments and his career leading win total, we can talk about his defensive prowess, but what I love about him is his person. He’s really become an exceptional leader. Our team wouldn’t be where we are programmatically without the selfless investment that Elijah has made and we’re going to miss him. I’m going to miss coaching him, but at the same time, I’m so happy for him that, he had a career that was worthy of remembrance.”
Can you talk a little bit about what this week has been like in the bubble as leading up to this game?
“Yeah, it’s just been terrific, just to have the opportunity to play. A lot of sacrifices around the country by student-athletes, athletic department staffs, medical personnel. And the NCAA’s organization of this controlled environment has been spectacular. I think Dan Gavitt, his staff, the tournament selection committee, Mitch Barnhart, the chair, I think they should all be praised for their intentionality to make this student-athlete experience, while still protecting them, special. And we were privileged to be a part. Sad we’re not moving on and advancing, but it was an honor to be a part of the NCAA tournament.”
Two part question. First, there’s not many nights where Darius and Chris both shoot as poorly as they did. What did you see in Oklahoma State’s defense in forcing them into taking more contested shots; and then secondly, what does an experience like this do for a team that returns all but two players who are in the rotation this year?
“I think they were incredibly physical with those two guys. Obviously they’re smaller guards. Their length, athleticism, and physicality bothered them. And whereas we are usually a very patient team offensively, we sped up and the credit goes to Oklahoma State and I’ll take the blame for the lack of execution. It’s hard to simulate in practice what they were doing. We hadn’t played in 13 days and haven’t played a team like that since probably Missouri. But our league prepared us well to get here and I thought we did a better job in the first half of our shot selection and taking care of the ball.
“But as far as next year, it’s a little too soon on the turn. But I love our program, I love the direction that it’s going. These are young men that we as coaches are really privileged to be a part of their lives. They’re special. And I know a lot of coaches use those words, but for me they’re not just words out of my mouth or words on a screen or words on a paper or on the computer that you’ll read. These young men, they’re inspirational in the way they really try and make someone else’s life better. They have really invested in being a part of something that’s bigger than themselves.”
Can you elaborate on that? When you look back at this year, as crazy as it was, given everything that happened, and what was supposed to be kind of a quote/unquote rebuilding year given what you lost, can you just put in perspective what this particular group accomplished, knowing that this group won’t play together again as it was?
“I think what they accomplished is just a culture enhancement that started years ago. Guys invested in trying to be a program that is a championship caliber program. So again, it stings right now, but for the group to win however many games that we won, and do it in a fashion that was reflective of great representation, I’m pleased. Again, I’m blessed to be a part of this family. But that being said, we’re going to go back to work once we give them some time off and see if we can’t continue to elevate our basketball program, because we have got some foundational pieces that I think makes our future bright.”
