February 5, 2025 • 8 mins
Coach Murray on the work the guys put in on and off the court to get ready
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're back on the Yukon Men's Basketball Coaches Show. The
Huskies nineteenth ranked in the country after their win at
Marquette on the road in Milwaukee in front of the
biggest crowd Ha's ever watched Marquette basketball game. What an atmosphere.
As Luke Murray joins us, again, You've been in a
lot of big places, right, You've been in Houston, You've
(00:20):
been in Phoenix sixty thousand plus, playing for national championships,
that's the ultimate. But I think for you know, a
regular season Big East game, that was one of the
biggest environments that you kind has faced here in the
last three years.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, I mean that was a great environment to play in.
You know, I remember playing at National Marquet Day once
before when I was at Xavier and we got drilled.
You know, it just felt like they couldn't miss a shot.
And so, you know, I think going into the game,
we have a great respect level for their program and
for their fan base, you know, and we tried to
prepare our guys as best we could, you know, for
the environment and the enthusiasm of the crowd and of
(00:58):
the team, and I thought our guys fonded in a
huge huge way. You know, Jalen got us off to
a great start, and you know, guys were able to
kind of build off of that. But yeah, I mean
tremendous respect for Marquette, you know, and Marquette and Creighton,
Providence Xavier some great home court environments when we go
out there on the road.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
So it's been great to go out there the last
couple of years and get.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
A w How much do you think did Cam Spencer
and Andre Jackson being on the site, being at the
ballgame affect things. I ran into Spencer in the locker
room before the game, and he had a big smile.
He really was happy to be around the team. I
think it looked like anyway that there was an impact
(01:40):
there that those guys made.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
I really think it did. You know.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I said to each of them after the game that
I don't think we would have won without them being there.
You know, for me personally, those two Cam and Andre
are as special to me as any players I've ever coached,
and they're the there's no better competitor, uh than Andre
Jackson and camp Spence, Camp Spencer, So you know, to
(02:04):
have them there I think made it made a great
deal to our to our coaches to our players, and
you know when you need to when you need to
really display some fortitude and some toughness and win a
big game on the road. Uh, you know, those are
the kind of guys that you want in your corner.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Now.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
You had the scouting portion for Marquette and I went
to the shooter on. I watched, I listened to what
you were telling guys, And one thing you can't do, though,
in those sessions is generate the urgency, the energy, the
level of intensity that you need to come out and
play with when you're on the road. And I thought
(02:44):
the Huskies maybe were as high level as far as
their intensity and their urgency, especially on the defensive end,
to start that game against Marquette. How did you view that? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I agree, I agree, And you know, we talked about
it a lot in the days leading up to Marquette,
you know, as I mentioned, I mean, we have a
tremendous respect level for their team, their program, their coaches,
and so we knew we had our hands full, you know,
going out there, and that it was gonna, you know,
require us to be at our best. You know, honestly, Mike,
like I didn't love our shoot around. I didn't think
we had a great vibe in the shoot around. You know,
(03:20):
I texted the guys on the team. I reminded him,
you know, I did, John Wooden. Competitive greatness is being
at your best when your best is required, you know,
And I said, like tonight, it's required. And I thought
the guys really responded, you know, on the on the
floor when the ball went up. And it was great
to see because again, you know, I know Coach Hurley's
talked about it a good deal. You know, we we
(03:43):
really haven't shown that to the degree that we need
to at some times this year, and it was great
to see our guys, you know, put forth that.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Kind of effort. You know, you mentioned defensively, it's been
a struggle for us most of the year.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
You know. We had a little bit of a different
game plan in terms of the way that we wanted
to guard to Marquette, and I thought buying large, I
guys did a really.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Nice child with it.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And I understand the couple practices before you left campus.
We're not a level either, so you had to be
worried a little bit coming into that ball game because
here's Marquette. They're sitting you know, a half game out
of first place. They're on a roll, They've won a
bunch of games. They can't wait to play you guys,
because you have had their number a little bit. How
(04:26):
do you explain it? I mean, I've been doing this
for forty years and I can't explain anything. But that's
why you're here to try to explain to me how
that all happened, because I didn't see it coming. But Wow,
what a performance.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, I mean, I think it speaks to what we're
capable of, you know, and we really haven't. You know,
we've had some great wins. I mean, you think back
to our our win at the Garden against Gonzaga. You know,
Alex did not play well that game. The win that
we had against Baylor, Alex didn't play in it. You know,
a lot of these games recently that we've been playing
without Liam, you know, so we have it necessarily been
(05:01):
at full strength. And I still think we've we've shown
some impressive things. It's just a matter of trying to
piece it all together on the same night. And so,
you know, I don't necessarily know you know, what it was,
but I think our guys understood the significance of the game,
you know, and the urgency that was required to be
at our best.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
And you know, it shows what I know.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I mean, I talked to the guys at length about,
you know, winning the turnover battle, and that that was
going to be the most important thing, not not to
win it necessarily, but to try to keep it close.
Because Marquette is top ten in the country in fewest
turnovers and top twenty in the country in forcing turnovers.
So I said, like, hey, listen, we're not a team
that forces a whole lot of turnovers. We've got to
try to force a couple more than usual. But we
(05:41):
got to take care of this ball. And we turned
it over twenty five times, and we gave up seventeen
offensive rebounds. But luckily, you know, I think they only
had eight second chance points, so as much as they
were getting the offensive rebounds, they weren't really converting on them.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
And you know, our guys stepped up and made some
big shots.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
You know, you're talking about turnovers because obviously that was
a significant stat and one you don't want to have
to look at. But I felt like, as I'm calling
the game, some of it was inexperienced by our guys.
I mean the sophomores, the guys that haven't really handled
road pressure all that often. Hassandi are as, you know,
a point guard this year really for the first time
(06:21):
full time. A lot of stuff I think goes into
those numbers. And I felt like the Huskies literally threw
the ball away ten times in the game where they
really weren't forced into things, and that was disturbing. But
as you say, you overcame it, and I think in
totality on the bottom line, that might be one of
(06:41):
the significant developments of what happened the other night in Milwaukee.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Yeah, I mean, I think a couple different factors. You know. Obviously,
you know, Hassan has been really.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Hobbled and limited in terms of what he's been able
to do in game in.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Practice, and honestly, I think Marquette was even a step forward.
Paul he was really struggling. Xavier, he was really struggling.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
So you know, we tried to take some of the
minutes away from him and kind of lessen his burden.
You know, Aiden got off to a rough start out there,
and so we had Jalen Stewart and Alex and solo
guys that are not naturally in those positions a whole lot,
you know, taking on greater ball handling responsibilities. But like
you mentioned, I mean I think there were two or
(07:25):
three that we just didn't handle well. You know, passes
that were dropped, we had two illegal screens, we had
a shot clock violation, we stepped out of bounds, you know,
So they were probably ten or so that were unforced.
And then Marquette does a great job of forcing turnovers.
I mean, that's what they're really good at. And Stevie
Mitchell and Chase Ross are really good individual defenders. So
(07:45):
you know, hopefully with the return of Liam with Hassan,
you know, looking to feel a little bit better here
in the in the days to come, you know, we'll
be better against Saint John's because obviously they do a
great job of defending as well.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, Saint John's at home Creton next week on the road.
That's a big one too. We're going to back to
ramp up the show with Luke Murray as we continue.
This is the Yukon Men's Basketball Coaches Show on Learfield
We're back on the Yukon Men's Basketball Coaches Show. The
Huskies nineteenth ranked in the country after their win at
Marquette on the road in Milwaukee in front of the
biggest crowd Ha's ever watched Marquette basketball game. What an atmosphere.
As Luke Murray joins us, again, You've been in a
lot of big places, right, You've been in Houston, You've
(00:20):
been in Phoenix sixty thousand plus, playing for national championships,
that's the ultimate. But I think for you know, a
regular season Big East game, that was one of the
biggest environments that you kind has faced here in the
last three years.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Yeah, I mean that was a great environment to play in.
You know, I remember playing at National Marquet Day once
before when I was at Xavier and we got drilled.
You know, it just felt like they couldn't miss a shot.
And so, you know, I think going into the game,
we have a great respect level for their program and
for their fan base, you know, and we tried to
prepare our guys as best we could, you know, for
the environment and the enthusiasm of the crowd and of
(00:58):
the team, and I thought our guys fonded in a
huge huge way. You know, Jalen got us off to
a great start, and you know, guys were able to
kind of build off of that. But yeah, I mean
tremendous respect for Marquette, you know, and Marquette and Creighton,
Providence Xavier some great home court environments when we go
out there on the road.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
So it's been great to go out there the last
couple of years and get.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
A w How much do you think did Cam Spencer
and Andre Jackson being on the site, being at the
ballgame affect things. I ran into Spencer in the locker
room before the game, and he had a big smile.
He really was happy to be around the team. I
think it looked like anyway that there was an impact
(01:40):
there that those guys made.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
I really think it did. You know.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I said to each of them after the game that
I don't think we would have won without them being there.
You know, for me personally, those two Cam and Andre
are as special to me as any players I've ever coached,
and they're the there's no better competitor, uh than Andre
Jackson and camp Spence, Camp Spencer, So you know, to
(02:04):
have them there I think made it made a great
deal to our to our coaches to our players, and
you know when you need to when you need to
really display some fortitude and some toughness and win a
big game on the road. Uh, you know, those are
the kind of guys that you want in your corner.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Now.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
You had the scouting portion for Marquette and I went
to the shooter on. I watched, I listened to what
you were telling guys, And one thing you can't do, though,
in those sessions is generate the urgency, the energy, the
level of intensity that you need to come out and
play with when you're on the road. And I thought
(02:44):
the Huskies maybe were as high level as far as
their intensity and their urgency, especially on the defensive end,
to start that game against Marquette. How did you view that? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
I agree, I agree, And you know, we talked about
it a lot in the days leading up to Marquette,
you know, as I mentioned, I mean, we have a
tremendous respect level for their team, their program, their coaches,
and so we knew we had our hands full, you know,
going out there, and that it was gonna, you know,
require us to be at our best. You know, honestly, Mike,
like I didn't love our shoot around. I didn't think
we had a great vibe in the shoot around. You know,
(03:20):
I texted the guys on the team. I reminded him,
you know, I did, John Wooden. Competitive greatness is being
at your best when your best is required, you know,
And I said, like tonight, it's required. And I thought
the guys really responded, you know, on the on the
floor when the ball went up. And it was great
to see because again, you know, I know Coach Hurley's
talked about it a good deal. You know, we we
(03:43):
really haven't shown that to the degree that we need
to at some times this year, and it was great
to see our guys, you know, put forth that.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Kind of effort. You know, you mentioned defensively, it's been
a struggle for us most of the year.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
You know. We had a little bit of a different
game plan in terms of the way that we wanted
to guard to Marquette, and I thought buying large, I
guys did a really.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Nice child with it.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And I understand the couple practices before you left campus.
We're not a level either, so you had to be
worried a little bit coming into that ball game because
here's Marquette. They're sitting you know, a half game out
of first place. They're on a roll, They've won a
bunch of games. They can't wait to play you guys,
because you have had their number a little bit. How
(04:26):
do you explain it? I mean, I've been doing this
for forty years and I can't explain anything. But that's
why you're here to try to explain to me how
that all happened, because I didn't see it coming. But Wow,
what a performance.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, I mean, I think it speaks to what we're
capable of, you know, and we really haven't. You know,
we've had some great wins. I mean, you think back
to our our win at the Garden against Gonzaga. You know,
Alex did not play well that game. The win that
we had against Baylor, Alex didn't play in it. You know,
a lot of these games recently that we've been playing
without Liam, you know, so we have it necessarily been
(05:01):
at full strength. And I still think we've we've shown
some impressive things. It's just a matter of trying to
piece it all together on the same night. And so,
you know, I don't necessarily know you know, what it was,
but I think our guys understood the significance of the game,
you know, and the urgency that was required to be
at our best.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
And you know, it shows what I know.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I mean, I talked to the guys at length about,
you know, winning the turnover battle, and that that was
going to be the most important thing, not not to
win it necessarily, but to try to keep it close.
Because Marquette is top ten in the country in fewest
turnovers and top twenty in the country in forcing turnovers.
So I said, like, hey, listen, we're not a team
that forces a whole lot of turnovers. We've got to
try to force a couple more than usual. But we
(05:41):
got to take care of this ball. And we turned
it over twenty five times, and we gave up seventeen
offensive rebounds. But luckily, you know, I think they only
had eight second chance points, so as much as they
were getting the offensive rebounds, they weren't really converting on them.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
And you know, our guys stepped up and made some
big shots.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
You know, you're talking about turnovers because obviously that was
a significant stat and one you don't want to have
to look at. But I felt like, as I'm calling
the game, some of it was inexperienced by our guys.
I mean the sophomores, the guys that haven't really handled
road pressure all that often. Hassandi are as, you know,
a point guard this year really for the first time
(06:21):
full time. A lot of stuff I think goes into
those numbers. And I felt like the Huskies literally threw
the ball away ten times in the game where they
really weren't forced into things, and that was disturbing. But
as you say, you overcame it, and I think in
totality on the bottom line, that might be one of
(06:41):
the significant developments of what happened the other night in Milwaukee.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Yeah, I mean, I think a couple different factors. You know. Obviously,
you know, Hassan has been really.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Hobbled and limited in terms of what he's been able
to do in game in.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Practice, and honestly, I think Marquette was even a step forward.
Paul he was really struggling. Xavier, he was really struggling.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
So you know, we tried to take some of the
minutes away from him and kind of lessen his burden.
You know, Aiden got off to a rough start out there,
and so we had Jalen Stewart and Alex and solo
guys that are not naturally in those positions a whole lot,
you know, taking on greater ball handling responsibilities. But like
you mentioned, I mean I think there were two or
(07:25):
three that we just didn't handle well. You know, passes
that were dropped, we had two illegal screens, we had
a shot clock violation, we stepped out of bounds, you know,
So they were probably ten or so that were unforced.
And then Marquette does a great job of forcing turnovers.
I mean, that's what they're really good at. And Stevie
Mitchell and Chase Ross are really good individual defenders. So
(07:45):
you know, hopefully with the return of Liam with Hassan,
you know, looking to feel a little bit better here
in the in the days to come, you know, we'll
be better against Saint John's because obviously they do a
great job of defending as well.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, Saint John's at home Creton next week on the road.
That's a big one too. We're going to back to
ramp up the show with Luke Murray as we continue.
This is the Yukon Men's Basketball Coaches Show on Learfield
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