Final: WKU 59, Bowling Green 52

Comments from Ken McDonald following the win:

“I think as a program overall we’re not happy with how we played. It’s important to learn this lesson even though we won, let’s not get complacent and act immature because we really dodged a bullet tonight.

“It could’ve gone the other way, and if you’re playing Saturday against Southern Illinois it will go the other way. … We’ve got to expect more from ourselves.”

“It was just careless. Too many jump passes, too many quick passes, not making 100 percent smart plays. We dribbled the ball too much, picked up our dribble and got extended. It’s fundamental basketball that we have to get better at.”

“We were aggressive, we were defending hard and we did throughout the game on the defensive end. Our help defense was as good as its been – but when you turn it over like that, you lose a lot of confidence on the offensive end.
“They made some shots, and we didn’t react. We’ve got to get better.”

“A lot of it is mental. You have to keep maturing as a team and that’s important. I think we’re putting the time in, the effort is there from a physical standpoint.
“The mental part is big, and we’ve got to get over that hurdle. That comes with toughness and pride and we’ve got to keep working as a team and start executing.”

“Let’s be happy that we won this game, but that we also learned a lesson. It didn’t have to be that hard.
“But now let’s start a streak of our own. We had a 17-point lead and had multiple chances to put them away. You get a team down 17, you keep it on them. We unfortunately went the other way, but we found a way to finish.”

On why Sergio Kerusch only played six minutes:

“He just has to bring it more. I expect more mental focus from him. I want him totally locked in to what he has to do as a player individually and as a team setting – he wasn’t going to play much at all tonight, regardless of the outcome.
“I’m not asking for much, he’s got to be more mentally focused.”

“Hopefully that’s a lesson for him. Hopefully he’ll turn it around. But he’s in charge of that, not me.
“I’m confident he will, but hopefully sooner rather than later because we need him. I want him to come in ready to practice (today) and get ready to get back after it.”