RUSTON – Louisiana Tech men's basketball head coach Eric Konkol and women's basketball head coach Brooke Stoehr spoke with the media Tuesday as part of their weekly press conference.  The Bulldogs and Lady Techsters head to Frisco, Texas to take part in the 2020-21 C-USA Basketball Championships.
 
Eric Konkol quotes
 
On the team's prep over the last week:
 
"We have an exciting group.  Playing last week's game on Wednesday was helpful to us.  It has felt like a long layoff.  But, we have had a chance to regroup and recover and also have great anticipation.  Friday, we found out we were the West Division champions and the number one seed in the west.  We had great cause for celebration and then got back to practice on Saturday, worked on some things that we have been aiming to get better at, special situations, skill development.  We really started our game prep for both Florida Atlantic and UTEP today before we take off for Frisco."
 
On preparing for FAU and UTEP:
 
"With Florida Atlantic in particular, having not played them and really have not seen them on film all that much, it has been important for us to really watch a good bit of video and take a look at their tendencies both offensively and defensively. We have looked at some things we have worked on all season long, but we have not done much of.  We add wrinkles to certain actions and set plays.  I think it is good to have some things in your back pocket for the conference tournament."
 
On there being any pressure with being a one seed:
 
"We do not talk about the pressure of it at all.  Everybody that goes to the tournament has high aspirations and expectations.  You always want to play and try to win a championship.  For us, we are just trying to play our best basketball this time of year.  We really do not talk much about those things.  We just want to control what we can control every day and try to play our best basketball each time out."
 
On playing with balance on offense:
 
"I think it has been one of our strengths all season long because of the different things that you can do to take out a good player.  We do not really see that.  Having that type of balance has really been one of our strong suits, not just in number, but in variety from inside and outside."
 
Brooke Stoehr quotes
 
On the team's mindset going into conference tournament:
 
"We are excited.  I think we are in a good place.  You break down the season from preseason to non-conference, then you go to conference play.  It is exciting because everybody's zero and zero and you know who you have and what your team is made of and how you need to play in order to be successful.  I think we have had two really good workouts the last two days and were excited to get on the bus yesterday.  It was a great send off from our administration and staff.  We got here and you have that postseason conference feel so we are excited to go compete."
 
What can be taken away from Marshall series back in January:
 
"I think if you talk to Marshall's head coach and myself, you would say we are both very different teams than we were when we played in early January.  You look at who they are playing now compared to who they were playing at that point in the season and same for us.  They had only played two non-conference games when we played them, so it was almost like playing non-conference games.  They have really figured out who needs to get shots when they need to get shots and where they need to get them from.  I think they are playing their best basketball of the year.  They are very confident.  Those kids are playing loose and they understand what it takes to win. 
 
Mood of the team coming off Rice series:
 
"We coaches tend to stew over a loss or a disappointing outing more than 18-22 year olds.  They are on to the next thing pretty quickly.  They understand we can compete.  It was a three-point game with three minutes to go there in the third quarter both days, but we just could not score.  I think we are in a good place.  Our seniors understand what it means to play in postseason.  They had success here last year before the tournament ended."
 
On the 10-day layoff:
 
"Marshall is not going to get a practice in the arena either.  It is postseason.  You show up and you play.  It is 94 feet, the rims are 10 feet tall.  It is the same measurements.  We will be prepared.  Our players will show up and be ready.  They have shot the ball well over the last couple of days.  I hope that translates into Wednesday's game."
 
On playing back-to-back games during conference helping for tournament:
 
"I think for the players, we are not worried about back-to-backs.  We are worried about Wednesday and just focusing on how we can go out and compete and get to Thursday.  I said it earlier, they are 18 to 22.  They have bounced back.  They are resilient and have faced a lot of different things this year and they have rolled with it.  We played back to backs seven straight weeks.  Our players are going to be ready.  They are fired up."