Gilstrap, Brackins Speak on Exhibition Win

Iowa State defeated Black Hills State 96-47 on Monday night in Hilton Coliseum. The two men who have gathered all of the ink in the offseason, Marquis Gilstrap and Craig Brackins did not disappoint.

Both players scored 14 points in the win. The pair met with reporters after the game. Here’s what went down.

Marquis…talk about your first game in Hilton.

MG: I was very excited. I think that I was kind of too excited because I got kind of winded real quick from all of the excitement.

Where do you need to pick up your game a little bit?

MG: On the defensive end, I need to keep working on my defense and being in the right position at the right time.

Craig, what do you think of his showing?

CB: I think that he did well. He was attacking the basket strong. He was rebounding. Like he said, he got a little winded. I think that we all did. I think that he tried a little too hard. I was tired too. I think that everybody did well as a team. We played everybody. Everybody played hard. I’m really excited about the team.

You guys really made a lot of shots.

CB: We shot the ball really well. I think that pays off with the new facility. Everybody is in there all of the time getting shots up. Everybody did an unbelievable job of shooting.

You shot the 3-ball well early on. Can you tell at the beginning of a game if you’re going to have a big night?

CB: No. Coach Mac doesn’t like that much. He wants us to try to establish the inside. They were packing the middle, a lot. I saw my teammates outside open a lot. I was trying to get a feel for everything, trying to get my rhythm back with all of the plays that we have. I think that we had a lot of fun out there. We have some chemistry.

Marquis, what do you do best? You showed a lot of really positive things tonight.

MG: I just play really. I think that I play better down low because I have a lot of size. Like tonight, the guy who was guarding me was like 6-foot-3. It depends on whoever is guarding me, the way that I play.

Did it feel good to get that first dunk down?

MG: Yes, I had to get one down because I’ve been dunking a lot in practice. If I wouldn’t have dunked, I would have heard it all week from my teammates.