Matt Cross, Kario Oquendo talk SMU win over Alabama State

SMU forward Matt Cross and guard Kario Oquendo spoke with the media after the Mustangs beat Alabama State, 101-72.

Cross, Oquendo on offensive success for SMU: “I wouldn’t say I’m surprised just because we have so many offensive threats and we have a lot of older guys and one of the good things coming with these experiences, just knowing how to play. We have a lot of guys who have reached big milestones over their careers. We have a lot of scorers and a lot of offensive threats that, I mean, you could just go on and on, even guys that don’t always show it. We just got like… anybody on any given night could kind of go off on offense. So it’s not really surprising to me.” 

“Piggy back what he said, got a bunch of older guys. I said it in an interview on the court, when you got older guys, you kind of know how to play and you know the game a lot. So like he said, anybody can go off at any given time, any night. So I think we’re just starting to learn how to share the ball a lot. And knowing that your brother is gonna give back, if you make one more pass, you might get it back, so.” 

Kario on his hot streak: “Yeah, I definitely would have liked to just keep getting them up. But I think after that, I got a little bit tired and I didn’t wanna just start just throwing stuff up, so. It was good to get hot for the time it was, and it was good for the team, got our energy up.” 

Kario on his “mamba mode”: “I like to think so, but I don’t wanna…”

Cross on his health after returning to SMU lineup: “Yeah, I’m feeling good. It’s more been just conditioning for me, to get my conditioning back. But coaches make sure to keep me in practice and we get up and down a lot. And so I think I feel like I’m kind of getting where I should be.” 

On growth since game 1: Kario: “I was there from game one and we had a bunch of new guys and new coaches and just a new program, I think it’s finally starting to get to the point where we were figuring out how to play as a team. And now I think it’s like, you can kind of see it from game to game. Realizing that we’re getting better, every practice we’re getting better, moving the ball along with each other. So I would say that’s really just it, the more games you play together, the more it starts springing together.” 

On SMU’s defense vs Alabama St: Cross: “I think that we definitely have to get better. Our three point defense, they did get up a lot, but we got to get out on those. That’s kind of something that we’ve been trying to emphasize as late here in the season. But I think overall, we’re getting better. The more we get to know each other, same kind of answer that he gave for the offense is kind of similar to the defense. The more you get to know each other, all sides of the ball kind of start to click, you start to have each other’s back. You know guys’ tendencies. When he gets beat here, when to rotate, and that’s just all coming together, getting to know each other.”

Cross on switching from 3 to 4: “Yeah, definitely. I mean, with Enfield’s offense, everything can be kind of interchangeable, depending on what we’re doing. But, yeah, I would say so because, you know, defensively you’re guarding a big now. And, you know, you’re not necessarily on the wing on offense. You kind of dribble handoffs and some screens and stuff like that. So I think so. But I try to just, either way, keep the mentality of, you know, play as a team and try to play aggressive in terms of, you know, just hunt rebounds whether on the four or the three. And because we had the three, four, and five always crash. So I kind of try to keep the same mentality. But, you know, every play is different.” 

Kario on his confidence level: “It’s been pretty high, I think, mostly cuz we had a conversation after, I think, one of our games and he was just kinda telling me that I’m a good player. And the offense is gonna come eventually. So just… he wanted me to go out there and focus on my defense, focus on the things that I would say that I needed to work on. And I think with that, that kinda gave me a lot more confidence to start making more offensive plays and defensive plays as well. So I would say it’s pretty hard right now, try to keep it at a good standpoint.”

Kario on his defensive development at SMU:

“Mostly just being in the right spot. Sometimes – like as a defender, you can get caught up in guarding your guy. I think the last couple of games I’ve been in the right spot, like helping my teammate out or getting to the rim, things like that. Just trying to give a little bit more effort on that end. All that defense, all it is really effort. I think you can be the best defender in the gym, even if you’re not the best athlete in the gym, just by trying harder than the next guy.” 

Kario on his leadership, experience in big conferences:

“Um, like, yeah, definitely. Like you said, like trying to just kind of tell the guys like we’re gonna be in these big games and you got to kind of come in with a different mindset. Like you got to come in with the same mindset, but you got to be different because you’re gonna play every other game we play now we might play some NBA guys or some playing like Duke and things like that in North Carolina. You got to be prepared to go in, margin of error is very small in those games, so just come in and try to tell the guys that. And I think once you get a couple games in and you kind of see how it is, I think it’ll be good for us.”