March 13, 2008

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LAS VEGAS - Thursday, March 13, 2008
Thomas & Mack Center; Las Vegas, Nev.

Final Score: San Diego State 53, Air Force 49

San Diego State Postgame News Conference

THE MODERATOR: Coach, you can begin with just some general comments on the game.
COACH FISHER: We have played them (Air Force) three times, and each of the games have been hard fought, hard to score, and close. And today was another one. And you win if you are able to make plays, and then make important plays down the stretch, and we were able to do that. We got beat 46-43 on Saturday and we were 9-for-18 from the free throw line. Today we were 20-for-22 and made them all down the stretch and that is the difference between moving on and going home. So we were able to make plays against a team that's hard to score on, and we feel good about ourselves that we're going on but know that we were fortunate in some areas to win. Lorrenzo (Wade) was 10-for-11 from the line, made every play down the stretch. (Ryan) Amoroso was 9-for-10 from the free throw line and Richie (Williams), ran the team for us. So it was a good victory for us and one that allows us to take a deep breath and feel good about ourselves for 30 seconds.

Q. Is there such a thing as a 'bad win'?
COACH FISHER: Absolutely not, there's no such thing as a 'bad win'. I would agree with that 100%.

THE MODERATOR: All right thanks, coach. For the next few minutes we'll have questions directed to the student athletes.

Q. 20 seconds left, you got the charge call, you put on the press. How surprised were you when they broke the press that they took it all the way to the hole instead of maybe backing out and looking for a last shot?
Lorrenzo Wade: Well, with 20 seconds left in the game, there wasn't very much more they could do. I guess they could have brought it out and tried to run an offense. But any basketball player who has an open lane in that situation is going to attack the basket. So we weren't surprised.

Q. How confident were you at the end of the game with the free throw line because you went there a lot?
Lorrenzo Wade: I was pretty confident. I don't want to go back to San Diego tonight or tomorrow morning. So I knew I had to try to do whatever I could to help us win the basketball game. I wasn't getting very many open looks in the game. So I knew that I had to try to get some contact to get to the free throw line and have some confidence in myself when I get there that I would make it.

Q. Ryan, have you ever been part of a game where you've scored four baskets in one half and won?
Ryan Amoroso: Well, it's the fourth time I've played Air Force throughout my career. If it was going happen against any team, it would probably be Air Force. Because it's pretty much a grinding game. To me that's really no surprise that we only scored four field goals in a half against the team. Down the stretch we did what we had to do to win.

Q. What was your health situation like before this game? I heard you were a little ill.
Ryan Amoroso: My health?
Q. Yeah.
Ryan Amoroso: My health over the past couple, three, four days hasn't been too good. But when it came down to it I just really had to put all that behind me because I knew that my teammates needed me, to, you know, come out here and perform at 100%. You know, that's just what I tried to do tonight. And fortunately we came out with a victory.

Q. Richie, during that 14 minute stretch where you guys weren't able to get a basket, how frustrated did that Air Force defense have you guys at that time?
Richie Williams: It was kind of frustrating because one of our emphasis was not letting them dictate the pace of the game. They're a really good team in what they do which is dictating and slowing it up and running 35 seconds of offense. So when you can't get a basket, it kind of converts to being real sluggish on defense, and that's what we didn't want to do.

Q. Is it pretty tough to keep your cool when things are going like that? And how were you guys really able to hold it together?
Richie Williams: Not at all. We got a lot of team comradery, so when one guy's down, we have another guy to pick him up. We have to stay positive.

Q. Lorrenzo, down the stretch did you kind of realize that you need to put this team on your shoulders?
Lorrenzo Wade: During conference play there are a couple games I can think back on, UNLV at home, also Air Force at Air Force, TCU at TCU, and those were games that I didn't really perform the way that I should have to help my team out. I knew that this was do or die. It was win or go home. So I did, like I said, whatever I possibly could to help us win the basketball game, either try to pass the ball or try to rebound the ball. But, no, I didn't put us on my shoulders. These guys did a great job all game long. I just tried to kick in at the end of the game.

Q. How hard is it to play these guys?
Lorrenzo Wade: Realistically, Air Force is going to be the most difficult game on your schedule. You are not accustom to scoring 17 points in a half, and maybe 30, 40 points in a game, but that's their style of play. That's what they do. It's very difficult to play against them, especially because you are playing defense for so long. They try to fatigue you mentally. I think we had a bit of an advantage this time because we just played them a week ago so we understood what we were facing and it didn't catch us off guard or by surprise.

Q. Lorrenzo, obviously BYU is a team you guys had a couple of pretty good games with this year even though you split. How confident do you guys go into this game with them?
Lorrenzo Wade: You know, we're on to our third season. I've always preached, like coach has told us, we play three seasons. The non-conference play, you have conference play and you have post season play. We're just as confident as anybody else here in this tournament. We've played them close at their place. We beat them at our place. And now we're on a neutral site.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thanks, guys. We'll let you go. You guys can take off. Questions now for Coach Fisher.

Q. Just what is the overall health situation on your team right now? Obviously, you know, you got a few guys sick and Billy couldn't start today.
COACH FISHER: Nobody wants to hear somebody else's problems, and when you give them, they're excuses. (Ryan) Amoroso went to the emergency room Sunday night because he thought he was, I don't know what he thought he was having. He couldn't breathe and he was in the emergency room three hours on Sunday night and didn't practice Monday and Tuesday. D.J. didn't practice Monday and Tuesday. Billy didn't practice Wednesday. But everybody has those issues. So you deal with them and you do not want to use them as excuses. I was comfortable that we would attempt to do that. Hopefully we'll be better physically and hopefully we'll play better tomorrow. But everybody gets sick, and you can't harp on it. You play, and if you play well enough, you still have a chance. And we did that today.,p>

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach.

Air Force Postgame News Conference

THE MODERATOR: Coach, if you want to just take a minute or two and give us some opening comments about the game, we'd appreciate it.
COACH REYNOLDS: I thought our kids really battled in the second half. I thought the game could have went either way. You know, unfortunately, we didn't make a couple of shots, but really proud of our kids' effort. Just never quit attitude and had a chance to win it down the stretch.

THE MODERATOR: All right, thanks, coach. For the next few minutes we'll just have questions directed to Andrew or Tim.

Q. Tim, how did you guys change the game and come back in the second half?
TIM ANDERSON: I think we just had to bring more effort to our offense and defense. San Diego State's a good team and they jumped out on us. But we had to, you know, wake up and answer the call.

Q. Hey, Tim, did you ever think that you'd be involved in a game where the team would score four baskets in the second half and win?
TIM ANDERSON: I didn't know that fact. But, I mean, that just is a testament to how tough of a game it was. It was a struggle on both ends of the court. And so, it was a battle and it could have gone either way.

Q. Tim, can you take us through what happened on the, I think, 15 seconds left Anwar went up for the lay up and looks like you had a chance for the tip. How good was the chance? If you can just take us through that sequence what you saw.
TIM ANDERSON: I saw Anwar driving in there strong. It came off and there was an opportunity for a tip back. But there was another player there that tipped it away as well. So it was just a scramble play. They got a break and we missed an opportunity.

Q. Andrew, how do you feel about the team, you know, looking ahead? You'll be the leader next year.
ANDREW HENKE: I don't think too many of us are focused on next year right now. We played our hearts out tonight. And every guy in that locker room contributed to this whole season and to this game even though we lost. But I think a lot of us are keeping our heads up and hoping we play another game.

Q. Tim, this is I guess you guys still haven't won a conference game. Was this the toughest for you just the way the game kind of went down at the end of the game?
TIM ANDERSON: I think every year conference tournament is a tough game. I can't really say this is the toughest one because in the past few years we've had some close games as well. And so this was definitely a battle. And I mean, I'm blessed with these great teammates and great coaching staff because they kept us in the game most of the game. And it was a battle and I'm just happy to be on a team like this.

Q. Hey, Andrew, can you talk a little bit about the first half because they seem to hurt you guys a little bit with Amoroso around the rim then you really shut that off in the second half. What were you doing differently there?
ANDREW HENKE: I think in the second half we took care of the ball a little bit better. We had 11 turnovers in the first half and that led to some easy buckets. Amoroso got a couple as well at the end of the shot clock and they were hitting shots at the end of the shot clock too. So we gave them a lot of credit that they hit some tough shots when they needed to and they made plays.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Tim or Andrew?

Q. Tim, Andrew mentioned hoping it was your guys' last game this season. What do you think the chances are for a post season tournament?
TIM ANDERSON: As far as I understand it, there's two tournaments that we have a possibility to get into right now. And so we're hoping for a bid. And hopefully our conference was strong enough this year to prove that we deserve a spot.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thanks, guys. Tim and Andrew, we'll let you guys leave. Good job. Questions for Coach Reynolds.

Q. Can you just kind of take us through the last 20 seconds. You get the charge call. They put on the press. Anwar breaks the press. Were you hoping he'd pull up, maybe look for a last shot, call timeout or were you glad he saw the opening and got aggressive and went for it? It was his first shot of the game.
COACH REYNOLDS: No, we encouraged him to drive the basketball. In that situation we knew they were not going to foul. They didn't want to foul. And unfortunately, he got all the way to the rim and had an opportunity at a layup and it just didn't go in the hole. But we didn't want to call timeout. And we had went over those, the opportunity situations in practice, and just didn't bounce our way.

Q. It was an interesting game in that you guys it's not unusual for you guys to go stretches without scoring or without scoring a lot of points anyway, but you went without scoring for four minutes in the first half. And you had eight points midway through the first half. What was going on there? Why weren't you more effective offensively early in the game?
COACH REYNOLDS: I thought San Diego played some solid defense. I thought they did a nice job of challenging our shots. I thought we had a couple of shots that went in, just didn't go in, that were open. But I thought San Diego State really pushed us away from the basket. They did a really good job with their post defense. You know, and we weren't able to get anything generated off of our defense to get any easy shots.

Q. Coach, in the second half, did you feel like your guys expended so much energy coming back that maybe they didn't have enough left in the tank at the end or how did you see that at the end of the game?
COACH REYNOLDS: No, I didn't see that. I thought our effort was superb in the second half all the way to the end of the game.
THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for Coach Reynolds?

Q. Coach, again, thoughts on chances for a post season tournament for you guys?
COACH REYNOLDS: Well, we certainly hope that we get some consideration. That's out of our hands right now. The you know, what we have told the kids that we'll meet on Sunday, and proceed accordingly.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thanks, coach. Good luck.