After a disappointing end to a hard-fought battle against Santa Clara, the men's basketball team came out strong at San Francisco and left with its first conference road win. Junior guard Amadi Udenyi was one of five players to score in double-figures with a season-high 10 points. It's been a tough road for Udenyi, who suffered injuries both his freshman and sophomore years -- but since being cleared earlier than expected and with guards Shawn Olden and Atif Russell out for the season, he's stepping up for his team. Udenyi commented on how important this win was for them, what adjustments made the difference and how they are changing their approach moving forward to Thursday's game versus San Diego.
Q: How big was this road win for the team?
A: Being that we haven't beat San Francisco in several years, that was really big in itself. Getting our first road win was just a boost in our confidence because we go to BYU during our next road trip, which is a hostile place to play, so getting the road win will help going into that.
Q: After a tough loss to Santa Clara, how were you and the other players able to shake off that game and prepare for San Francisco?
A: With Santa Clara we came out kind of flat and didn't have as much energy, so that was our main focus, and it really translated against San Francisco because we scored a season-high 98 points in that game and had 51 at halftime. We came out with energy and focus to start the game because we didn't want to be in another predicament where we ended up losing with a last-minute shot.
Q: Did starting off the game with more focus and energy differentiate this road game from previous ones?
A: Yes, definitely. The key was how well we came out and how focused we were to the game plan. We dominated from the start instead of letting them dictate the pace -- that's how we were able to come out with the win.
Q: With fellow guards Shawn Olden and Atif Russell out for the season, have you seen your role on the team change?
A: Definitely. Shawn and Atif were both scorers for us last year, so sometimes I have to take more of an aggressive approach on offense just to pick up the slack because we don't have those guys subbing in and producing like they did last year.
Q: How are you preparing for the next home games against San Diego and BYU?
A: These last few practices have been really competitive. Coach is splitting up the teams evenly --having Stacy go against Jett and me against Jeremy -- just to keep our competitive edge up. We changed our practice to where it's more competitive and uplifting than our past ones so that when it comes to the games, it's actually a slower pace that what we had practiced.
