March 16, 2009

Morehead State Head Coach Donnie Tyndall
"Well, we're certainly very excited to be here. It's an opportunity of a lifetime for our young men. So far, the University of Dayton and their staff have been very accommodating, and we're looking forward to playing against a very good team tomorrow night."

"Well, we certainly aren't complacent. We feel like this is a great opportunity. Alabama State brings a daunting task. They are a physical team and have very good guards, they are well coached, the right players take the right shots on their team, which is always a good indication of their discipline, and they certainly are. With that being said, tomorrow night is a big challenge, but our team is excited and ready to play. As always, I think we'll play very hard, and be competitive. A huge key will be eliminating our turnovers, and if we do that, we'll give ourselves a chance to win and advance."

"Brandon Shingles has been a huge part of our season turn around. As most of you probably know, we started the season 0-6, and Demonte Harper who is a very good player for us was playing point guard, and he's really a 2 guard. Having him try to play that position, he struggled some early, particularly turning the ball over. Brandon, he came out over the semester break, and not only improved our team because Brandon's a good player, but it allowed Demonte to go back to his natural position, where he was able to flourish and have a great sophomore season. So, Brandon is the proto-typical point guard. He's not a great scorer, although he can score the ball some. He's not a great shooter but he'll make an occasional three to keep the defense honest. He's just a tough guy and the quarterback of our team, his assisted turnover ratio is the best in our club, and he makes his teammates better. Our guys have a lot of confidence with Brandon, he brings a little swagger to the floor, and tomorrow night the match up between him and Brooks - who I think is just fantastic - will be a big key to this game."

"Well, we like to pride ourselves as a team as being a defending and rebounding mentality team. We led in defensive field goal percentage, we led in the rebounding margin. When you look across the country, teams that we've gone to and coaches I look up to, or teams that we like to emulate - Michigan State, Pittsburgh - tough, physical, almost football playing type of teams, is how we've tried to play, being very physical and aggressive, our team is seventh in the nation in the rebounding margin, which is incredible considering the schedule we played out of conference games. So, we pride ourselves on being a physical team. We're going to play and transition at opportune times. Turnovers and misses - when we don't have those times, I think we're pretty efficient. Our team emphasizes on Buchanan, our power forward and Faried, our center, so we make sure those guys touch the ball as much as they can."

On what being in the NCAA means to the team
Steve Peterson
"To me, it's like a lifetime dream. I never thought I'd be playing in this, and it's going to be a good feeling to step out there tomorrow and play. I'm just thankful to be here."

Demonte Harper
"To me, it's a great feeling. I used the watch the NCAA tournament as a kid - never really thought I'd be playing in one, but hey, here I am. It's a great feeling and I'm happy to be here."

Leon Buchanan
"Like Demonte Harper said, it's a great feeling to be here. It's something you work hard for, like in middle school when you start learning the game of basketball. It's like a dream come true, and with me being a senior - it's the best feeling in the world."

Brandon Shingles
"I feel like all my childhood dreams came true. I used to dream of being the back court, like `dude, I'm playing North Carolina, taking the last shot.' It's all worth it."

Kenneth Faried
"Like they said, it's a dream come true. I'm just feeling good and I'm excited to be here."

Maze Stallworth
"Like they all said, it's a dream come true. I've been at Morehead State for three years, and this feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity to be here. This has always been one of my childhood dreams."

Leon Buchanan on being the leader of the team
"Like you said, I'm the leader on the team. I also try to lead by example, I try to get the guys into doing good things. I'm like the momentum guy for the team, always the guy that's going hard in practice, always the guy that's picking guys up when they're down. But leadership doesn't just come from me, it comes from my teammates. No one's perfect in life, when I'm down I need my teammates to pick me up also. So, I think we are mature as a team and leadership has developed in our team throughout everyone."

On Brandon Shingles returning to the team this semester
Leon Buchanan
"Brandon and I, we've played on different teams together, so we've been together for quite some time. I think with him, there comes a lot of leadership. I mean, he's a vocal guy on the floor, and he's just brought the momentum to our team that we needed - both on the offensive end and the defensive end. He's just a natural leader at the point guard spot."

Demonte Harper
"I also wanted to say, Brandon has been tremendous coming into the point guard spot. The first half of the season when I was the point guard, it seemed like I was a turnover machine. Once he came in, we were taking care of the ball much better than we were before. It was hard for me to transition from the guard spot to the point guard spot, but I stuck with it and when he came in, we just moved back to the way things were and that made things a lot better. We've done what we've done because of him."

Brandon Shingles
"I'm just happy that Coach Tyndall and my teammates gave me the opportunity to lead this team. I'm just overwhelmed with it. All I can do is smile, I'm just full of smiles." -

Leon Buchanan on the ten day layoff between games
"Personally, I don't think it will be that big of a factor because we go so hard in practice. We all push each other in practice, so practice can be very competitive. We try to push each other, so I don't think the layoff will be a big factor or anything. But, since we haven't played in a real game, it might be in the first couple minutes of game. It won't be a big factor though."