DETROIT, Mich. -- Second-seeded and sixth-ranked Tennessee used a 21-4 run to start the second half and third-seeded and 11th-ranked Creighton's comeback fell just short as the Vols won 82-75 in action at the Midwest Regional Semifinal in Detroit late on Friday night.

The Volunteers (27-8) advance to Sunday's Regional Final against top-seeded Purdue (32-4), which beat Gonzaga 80-68 in the first game of the evening. Creighton finishes its season with a 25-10 mark, its most wins since also finishing 25-10 in 2016-17.

Baylor Scheierman led CU with 25 points in the final game of his standout career while adding six rebounds. He played all but the final five seconds, as did fellow senior Ryan Kalkbrenner (14 points, seven rebounds, two blocks). Also in double-figures for the Bluejays was Steven Ashworth (16) and Trey Alexander (13 points, seven rebounds, six assists). The Bluejays shot 44.8 percent for the game, including 47.8 percent from three-point range, and made 12-of-13 free throws (92.3 percent) to finish the year shooting a school-record 78.8 percent for the season.

First Team All-American Dalton Knecht paced Tennessee with 26 points, also contributing six rebounds and five assists. Zakai Zeigler never left the floor and finished with 18 points, six assists and four rebounds while drawing six fouls. Rounding out UT's double-figure trio was Josiah-Jordan James with 15. The Volunteers shot 41.8 percent from the field and hit 45.8 percent of its shots from downtown (11-24). UT won the rebound battle 36-34 and outscored CU 10-0 off turnovers, 18-5 in transition and 15-4 off the bench.

The first half was a good one. A deep three-pointer by Scheierman, followed by a thee-point play from Alexander, helped tie the score at 24-all with 5:06 left in the opening half. Ashworth then swished a three-pointer on the next trip as CU retook the lead at 27-26. After Knecht responded with a trey, Ashworth and Scheierman bombed consecutive triples as CU matched its largest lead at 33-29 and prompted a Tennessee timeout.

The teams exchanged the lead eight times in the first half, with Kalkbrenner's 75th slam of the season giving CU a 35-34 lead at the break. Scheierman led all players with 15 points in the first half, while Kalkbrenner added eight points and a game-high six rebounds before intermission. Knecht led the Vols with 10 points in the first half as UT shot 5-for-10 behind the line before the break after going 3-for-25 form downtown in a Second Round win vs. Texas.

Tennessee turned up the defense early in the second half, using a 18-0 run to take its largest lead at 55-39. That stretch started with two free throws from Knecht and would include four lay-ups in addition to a pair of three-pointers before a three-ball by Scheierman snapped the scoreless drought at just over five minutes.

The Bluejays battled back after falling behind by as much as 15, using a 9-2 run to halve the deficit to 62-55 with 8:10 remaining after Scheierman's traditional three-point play. A Kalkbrenner lay-up and two free throws made it a three-point game (62-59) with 6:02 left but Knecht drilled a contested three-pointer to halve the Bluejay momentum. Ashworth buried a three-pointer but again Knecht answered with a trey. A three-point play by Tobe Awaka with 1:39 left gave the Vols a 71-64 lead and UT converted at the line down the stretch to ice the game as CU never got any closer than five points in the final minute.

NOTES: The game was Creighton's 101st in a row to be televised ... Trey Alexander made his program-record ninth NCAA Tournament start and Ryan Kalkbrenner played in his program-record 11th NCAA Tournament game .. Baylor Scheierman has made a three-pointer in 23 straight games tied for the seventh-longest streak in program history ... Creighton made a three-pointer for the 1,020th straight game ... Baylor Scheierman had his 20th straight game with 10 points or more in a row ... Ryan Kalkbrenner's dunk that gave Creighton the lead at the end of the first half was his 75th slam of the season, the most in one year by a player under Greg McDermott at Creighton. The previous high of 74 was by Martin Krampelj in 2018-19 ..  Ryan Kalkbrenner had his 58th straight game of eight or more points and 22nd game in a row with 10 or more points ... Ryan Kalkbrenner joined Baylor Scheierman and Trey Alexander as the first trio in program history with 600 points in the same season ...  Baylor Scheierman and Ryan Kalkbrenner are the first duo in BIG EAST history to have at least 600 points and 250 rebounds in the same season ... Baylor Scheierman made his final 31 free throws, the fifth-longest streak in program history ...  Baylor Scheierman  tied Ethan Wragge's 110 for second-most three-pointers in Creighton single-season history.




 

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Regional Semifinal - Creighton vs Tennessee

Friday, March 29, 2024

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Little Caesars Arena

Creighton Bluejays

Greg McDermott

Steven Ashworth

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Baylor Scheierman

Francisco Farabello

Sweet 16 Postgame Media Conference

 

Tennessee - 82, Creighton - 75

GREG McDERMOTT: Congrats to Tennessee. They've got a heck of a team. They played really well tonight, really shot the basketball well. I've known Coach Barnes a long time. There's a lot of good people in this business, but you'd have a hard time finding one better than him.

While I'm disappointed that this journey has come to an end, I'm excited for him and his program. He's a first-class person and coach. He's what's right about this business.

I'm really proud of what we've accomplished this year to get back on this stage. These guys have been selfless every step of the way. They've been absolutely a joy to coach.

You hate for that to be over, and I hope, once the hurt subsides, they can look in the mirror and understand what they've accomplished. Sometimes in sport the hardest thing to do is what you're supposed to do.

Baylor, Trey, Bello, and Kalk have been here two years, Steven this year. We've been preseason top 10 two years. We've had to carry the weight of that expectation on our shoulders for two straight years, and they've handled it like champions. That's leadership. That's focus and understanding who we are and staying connected.

These guys, from a leadership standpoint, the four up here and Trey, they've been incredible, and they've been a great example to the young guys in our program. I've learned a lot from them, having the opportunity to be around them every day. It's sad that it's over, but, man, was it fun while it happened.

THE MODERATOR: We're also joined by Francisco Farabello.

Q. Steven, can you talk about their defense from logo to rim, just how relentless it is.

STEVEN ASHWORTH: Yeah, they're a very talented defensive team. In the first half, I felt like we struggled to get in the paint and then kick it out for three-point shots and find other ways to facilitate. I think, as the game went on, Kalk did a great job of setting high ball screens. We were also able to release the pressure by throwing it in to him and let him go to work.

Throughout the game, I felt like we got it more and more figured out, but they're a very talented defensive team.

Q. Either Ryan or Baylor, please, I guess the rub with this event is that 67 teams are kind of going to experience what you experienced. What's going through your minds right now as you try to encapsulate all you've done?

RYAN KALKBRENNER: Yeah, you go into this tournament with high expectations, and you want to make it as far as you can. After a loss like this, the loss hurts. You wanted to go further, but you take a step back and look at the journey you've been able to go on with the team and people you've had on your team. It's hard to do that right now. The further we get away from this game, the more and more I'll appreciate it because it's a very, very special group, players, staff, everyone involved. It's just a special, special group to be a part of.

Even though it didn't end the way we wanted it to, we're going to look back on this year, team, group, and for me personally, I'm just grateful to be a part of it.

BAYLOR SCHEIERMAN: Kind of going off what Kalk said, obviously disappointed that we lost. We had big goals going into the year, and we didn't necessarily accomplish everything we set out to do. I think obviously, like I said, disappointed in the loss, but more sad about the fact that I'll never be able to put on this Creighton uniform again. I'll never be able to play with this group of guys, and I'll never be able to play for Coach Mac again.

Really what's going through my mind right now is the reality that it's over for me. It's just been an absolute blessing to be able put on this uniform and play for Coach Mac and play for these guys.

Q. Baylor or Steven, could you kind of reflect on what happened during that 18-0 run that they had early in the second half. And what does it say about you guys that you were able to cut it to three but you had to work so hard to kind of get back?

STEVEN ASHWORTH: They came out in the second half, a lot of energy. We also ignited that fire, I think, with a few mistakes to add on top of that, that allowed them to get out in transition and get their rhythm going. It's always hard to come back from a run like that, but basketball is a game of runs.

I think the biggest thing about this team that I've just learned the whole year being a part of this group is that it's a team with a lot of grit and a team with a lot of experience.

So to be able to answer that run possession by possession, we understand there's no 16-point play, so you have to approach it that way. It was obviously exciting and proud of this group to fight back the way that we did. We were very close to turning that on them, but they made some plays down the stretch to answer our run as well.

Q. For Bello, Mac and the guys have talked over these last two years about how hard your job has been to come in from a different school and take on a role that isn't necessarily star studded. How hard was that to do in terms of the challenge of doing it every day, and what has it meant to you to embrace that and accomplish what you guys have accomplished?

FRANCISCO FARABELLO: I guess it's hard from the confidence standpoint because it's just the nature of the role I had, but coaching staff and players made it way easier than what it should be, especially because we're such a close group of guys that all we want to do is win and win at the highest level. Just being able to contribute to that with the things I could bring to the table made it a lot easier.

Q. Steven, obviously basketball is a five-on-five game, but you and Zeigler are real emotional guys and like to lead the line a little bit and go back and forth. How much did you enjoy that matchup tonight?

STEVEN ASHWORTH: He's a very talented player. Honestly watching his film, it was fun to learn a few things from him and see how he defends and how he just does his role for his team. It was a fun experience and atmosphere tonight.

Just so grateful to my family, my friends, and Bluejay Nation for coming out the way they did. It's what makes college basketball so special because you don't get crowds like that anywhere else.

So it was definitely fun. Obviously when you're put in position to be the point guard, there's a vocal leadership that needs to come through, and he does a great job leading his team. Obviously I take pride in the ability to hopefully communicate what Coach Mac is wanting for the team to do as well.

Q. You played, I think it was triangle and two for quite a while. What did you see there that was effective and allowed you to make that comeback?

GREG McDERMOTT: It's called desperation, I think. We went to zone for one possession when Knecht was out, and we got a stop. Then he came back in, and obviously I didn't feel comfortable with the potential of letting him stand.

We practiced triangle and two a fair amount in practice, we hadn't used it all year. We didn't have anything to lose at that point. And I thought our guys executed to perfection. It gave ourselves a chance to come back and win the game.

Obviously that 18-0 run was -- we really haven't had anybody do that to us this year. I think it was less than five minutes. It seemed like a long time. But we haven't had to overcome something like that. We had to pull something out of our hat that we hadn't used.

Q. Mac, you've talked all season about how much of a joy this group has been to coach. What's going through your mind right now that it's over?

GREG McDERMOTT: Yeah, just glancing at the stat sheet and looking at the names, a lot of these guys aren't going to be back. It's tough, yet it's been such an honor to coach them.

Francisco Farabello, when I hugged him after the game coming off the floor, he apologized to me. I was like, really? But that's what he's about. He's about giving everything he can to this team and doing everything he can to try to help us win. In that moment, he's blaming himself. Obviously there's no place for that.

Baylor Scheierman comes here. He guarded 4 man once in a while in the Summit League. A lot of times he didn't guard anybody. And tonight he guards Dalton Knecht. Talk about progress and talk about understanding, after going through the Big East last year one time, like I've got to get better at some stuff, and then going to work and doing it. He's just been a pleasure to coach.

Trey's gotten better every single year. It's been fun to watch. He's hurting right now, but we're not here without him. Or where we were last year without him or the year before that without him.

And Kalk's just been the gentle giant. He doesn't like the spotlight. He just goes to work, and he does things that impact the game in so many ways.

They've been an absolute pleasure to coach. Like I said, I've learned a lot, and I've become better because I've had the opportunity to be around him.

Q. You're certainly known for being able to get guys shots, get them open with schemes and all the things you do. How hard was that tonight?

GREG McDERMOTT: It was more difficult because Tennessee does a good job of upsetting your rhythm. Zeigler is such an elite on-ball defender that it upsets your timing of what you're trying to do. As you saw, we tried to have some other guys initiate offense at times. While they had a guy not play, that put Mashack in the game more, and he disrupts things much like Zeigler does.

So he ended up on Trey to start the game, Zeigler on Steven, and it was hard to really initiate any offense.

I thought, once we settled in, we got some decent shots. We got it to Kalk 12 times down there. He missed a few he normally makes. It's a make shot, miss shot game. Tennessee late in the year against Mississippi State in the conference tournament didn't shoot it well. They didn't shoot it well against Texas. They made shots tonight. That's what it comes down to.

We were going to have to make more three-point shots than Tennessee to win this game, and the fact that we still had a chance when those numbers were even is a credit to our guys.

Q. You touched on it, but how tough is it to deal with Jahmai Mashack doing the dirty work for Tennessee?

GREG McDERMOTT: He's talented. He impacts the game so much by not really scoring that much. He doesn't have to shoot. He rebounds it. He was at the receiving end of some of those offensive rebounds during that stretch. I think we're up 39-37. We got our first shot defense was pretty good, and he goes and knocks out a couple rebounds, kicks it out, they hit threes. He forced a few turnovers.

He's really talented. Rick does a great job of using him and putting him in spots where he can be successful.

Q. Just on Baylor, it seemed like he was the head of the snake on both ends of the floor, guarding a first team All-American, dropping 25, giving you guys a chance. What went into that performance, and how special do you think it was, even in a loss?

GREG McDERMOTT: To exert the energy he had to exert to guard Knecht, it's incredible. Dalton wasn't guarding him. So Baylor had to -- he had double duty because we needed him to be a presence offensively for us, and we needed him to try to slow him down, and he did a great job.

He hit one three in transition where he got loose. He hit one on the triangle and two cutting left. And the other I think he hit it on Trey along the baseline. Baylor didn't give up a three to a first team All-American. It was clear there were two All-Americans tonight on the floor.

Q. You finished second in the Big East, Sweet 16. You had three or four guys playing almost all the minutes all year. Jasen Green was not available for a lot of it. Did this group get as much out of the season as they could?

GREG McDERMOTT: Yes and no. You know, it's hard to get to this point. It's hard to play in the Sweet 16. A lot of things have to happen during the year. The Big East absolutely prepares you for everything you're going to see.

Like down 16 to one of the best defensive teams in the country, you don't come back and give yourself a chance unless you've been battle tested. There's such good coaching and such elite programs in the Big East that we have the belief that we've played against UConn, we've played against Marquette, we've played against Providence and Villanova and Seton Hall, a lot of really good basketball teams, and we can do this one step at a time.

But our guys developed as the year's gone on. Mason's gotten better. Jasen's gotten better. We're excited about some of the guys in our program, and obviously we've got to hit the recruiting trail, and that's a little easier than it used to be with the transfer portal.

It's been an incredible four-year run that Kalk is the one guy that's been part of that all four years. Our program is in a position, and we're supported by the institution and our department in a way that we need to continue to be successful.

We tell our guys to move to the next play all the time. While we're going to be disappointed about this loss, my staff and I are going to get to work and try to put together a group that can get back to this point.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
_{142829-3-4096 2024-03-30 05:17:00 GMT}

NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Regional Semifinal - Creighton vs Tennessee

Friday, March 29, 2024

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Little Caesars Arena

Tennessee Volunteers

Rick Barnes

Zakai Zeigler

Jahmai Mashack

Josiah-Jordan James

Sweet 16 Postgame Media Conference

 

Tennessee - 82, Creighton - 75

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the Tennessee Volunteers, 82-75 winners over the Creighton Blue Jays this evening to advance to the Midwest final against Purdue on Sunday.

From your left to your right, we are joined by head coach Rick Barnes, Zakai Zeigler, Jahmai Mashack, and Josiah-Jordan James.

RICK BARNES: I really thought both teams played their hearts out, played really hard is what you would expect obviously this time of year. The stuff that Coach McDermott does with his team, they're an extremely, extremely hard team to guard.

Really proud of the effort defensively. Again, they do a lot of things that are really difficult. Also, we made a run, and this time of year you expect them to make a run, which they did. But really proud of the way our guys stayed with each other, did what we had to do.

Great win for our program. These guys up here, I just thought they were terrific with a mindset coming in and continuing with it throughout the game.

Q. Josiah, just as a senior, a guy who's been around here for so long, what's the personal significance for you being part of a team going to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history?

JOSIAH-JORDAN JAMES: It's a blessing just to be here. We've put in so much work, for me for five years, and every guy up here since they've been here. They're great leaders. This is the best group I've ever been around.

Just to have this moment with these guys making history. We're not done yet, we know that. We're so happy to be one step closer to our end goal. It's amazing to see all our hard work finally pay off.

Q. Coach Barnes, over the last few decades, you've coached some incredibly talented teams. Off the court there's qualities that help a team make the run to the Elite Eight, like this team. What about the character of this team on and off the court make them so great?

RICK BARNES: If you were with us every day, I think you'd understand why I love coaching so much because what you see these guys do tonight, I watch them do it every day.

They would tell you that, we do, we go at it probably sometimes too hard. They've embraced it. Each one of these guys in their own way has brought something to our program when we recruited them.

It's their effort. Again, they demand it from each other. Only the days when they're a little tired, maybe I get on them, but otherwise they do a pretty good job pushing themselves and coaching themselves, knowing what it takes to win at this level.

Q. Josiah, how big was what Jahmai gave you in all facets of the game without Santi?

JOSIAH-JORDAN JAMES: Jahmai is huge. He's the cornerstone of this team. The effort he brings to the floor, it doesn't show up in the stat sheet all the time, but we know, the guys in the locker room know what he brings, not many in the country could do. These two are the best defenders in the country for sure. They can guard 1 through 5. Two of the toughest guys I've ever been around.

What Jahmai brings, it's hard to put into words, and it doesn't show up every night in the stat sheet. It's something he's done his whole life, and it's gotten him to this point right now.

Q. Jahmai, when did you find out that you were going to be inserted into the starting lineup? Then to get this win for Santi and to give him a chance to play on Sunday, what does that do for you guys, and how important was that?

JAHMAI MASHACK: I didn't know until I think probably shootaround earlier today. I kind of had a feeling, but I just wasn't sure.

I've been raised to prosper in tough situations, and when my name is called to rise up to that occasion. I wouldn't be doing my job right now as a Christian if I didn't thank God for everything that He's done for me individually and with this team.

Ever since last year, I've been fighting to try to get past the Sweet 16, not just for me, but for my teammates, for Coach Barnes, just to see how much he puts into the team, and he doesn't want the publicity for it. That's something that I just love about our program, about my coach and my teammates.

God has gotten me here. God has given me the ability to just go into any situation and try to make the best out of it. My whole goal on this team is to impact winning. If that means I've got to start, I haven't started in a minute, but if that means I've got to start and come in and do what I've got to do, that's what I'm going to do.

I'm hurting. My back hurts. I'm tired. But it's anything to win, man. It's anything to win. I just love this team, and I love how much we fought and how much we came together in times of adversity through that game. It just shows how much our character is going into play in this tournament.

Q. Zakai, what was the plan of attack for the mid-range on offense tonight?

ZAKAI ZEIGLER: We knew Trey Alexander going into the game is a very good mid-range shooter. Good players, they're going to get the ball and get to their spots, but we've got to do whatever we do to stop them from making the shot really.

I feel like we went into the game with the right game plan, and everybody was locked in.

Q. Josiah, the second half you guys just hit them with defense, rebounding, kind of staples of what you guys have been about. Can you kind of walk through that effort you put in to take control of the game?

JOSIAH-JORDAN JAMES: You don't rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your preparation. That's something, if you come to watch us, 365 days of the year, those are the staples of our team, something we do each and every day.

So on the biggest stage of college basketball, we're going to fall back to our habits, and those are our habits. Defensive rebounding is something you can take, whether you're making shots, playing well on offense, being able to rebound the ball and guard people is instrumental, especially in a tournament like this when shots may not be falling. Just having those as our backbone is huge.

Q. For any of the players, can you reflect on your logo-to-rim defense that just really made the difference?

JAHMAI MASHACK: I think that's just what we do. It's what we do. I think it separates us as a team because guys think that early pressure is going to happen. It just happens with basketball. But to sustain that for as long as we do, it wears on teams. That wears on teams, trust me.

When you have a guy like Zakai pressuring the ball and trying to get at it, and you've got to worry about him stealing the ball, him tipping passes, it's hard to run your offense. It's hard to get into your offense. That is something that can't be replaced or -- you know, it's something that we need on the court.

It's great that we pressure the ball and that we're able to do that, but for as long as we do it, that's what separates us from every other team, we sustain it.

Q. Zakai, for you, you've been through so much adversity off the court to get to where you are today. You play with so much heart. If you could reflect on the journey that it's taken to get to where you are right now, what can you say about that? If you could even go back and tell yourself, when you were going through adversity, one thing, what would you say?

ZAKAI ZEIGLER: I would just say as of right now, I would just say God is great. He's given me these opportunities, and I've just taken as much advantage as I can of them.

Me and Coach G, we had a long talk when I was going through the rehab process, and he was just saying there's going to be dark days, there's going to be ups and downs. I've just got to keep my head down and work. I felt throughout that whole time I kept doing that, and I'm just thankful to be in the position I'm in today.

Q. If you can just speak to the way that 18-0 run shaped the outcome of the game. Because you guys were at that point able to give yourselves some cushion and able to absorb their comeback.

ZAKAI ZEIGLER: We just kept telling ourselves just to be relentless. We were saying that before the game, just keep being relentless. We understand that basketball is a game of runs, going to be ups, going to be downs.

We went on our run, but going back to the huddle we just kept telling ourselves, hey, we've got to stay within the game. Get back on defense and do what we do. I felt like we did exactly that.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. You can head back to the locker room.

We'll continue here with Coach Barnes.

Q. That was a great game win. What do you tell the players to turn the page quickly so you can face a really tough Purdue team in a really tough environment?

RICK BARNES: I wanted them to enjoy this one. I thought it was really an all around team win. We had two freshmen that we started telling today spend extra time in the film room. You're going to play at some point in time.

I thought Freddie had a great assist and got a three. Cam went in and got a possession for us and knocked down a three. I thought those were huge plays.

We played Purdue earlier in the year. It was a loaded field in Maui, Honolulu. Hard-fought game, it really was. We'll get back at it with them.

I thought we were playing Friday, Sunday, right? It's already Saturday, and we're really playing Saturday, Sunday. The fact is I just heard we got the early game.

Right now it's a mental prep, and we know that. Again, we obviously have great respect for Purdue, and we've played them. But they're much better, and I'd like to think we are too.

Q. Tobe didn't have a big stat line, but how important was he for you guys tonight, especially in the second half?

RICK BARNES: I thought Tobe and Jahmai, even -- I guarantee when I watch the tape, some of those tip-out rebounds Josiah got his hand on it. But those extra possessions are huge, especially there at the end.

Big three-point play. We went to an empty ball screen on the side. Z made the right read. That was a big play for us. It was his effort getting on the glass.

I thought, again, both Shack and, when we switched off a few times on the big fella, they did a good job holding their ground there. Again, Tobe has gotten better and better and better. If you really think about it, he and Zakai come out of the same AAU program. Neither one of them were highly recruited, but they both play with a lot of heart. We're just blessed and fortunate to have them.

Q. You hear Jahmai say that we've been working all year to get past the Sweet 16, and having not been past this point with Tennessee yet, do you take a moment to sit and enjoy this and see what this team is capable of?

RICK BARNES: I'm not sure I'll be able to do it until we're finished. A year ago we felt we had a really good team, a team that could do some damage. I'm as proud of that team a year ago because, when Zakai went down, we had to totally remake ourselves.

I'm not sure Shack has started since -- he was our starting point guard once Zakai went down. We got to the Sweet 16, and from the time they came back, they've talked about it that they wanted to get better, wanted to go further.

They're a close knit group of guys. I really felt like in the last -- after the SEC Tournament, they've done just an incredible job of getting after each other and holding each other to a higher level, higher standard. I do my -- I think I do my job getting after them, but it's a whole lot easier when they start getting at each other.

It happened the other night in the game. Where Dalton was struggling a little bit, and they snapped at him to snap him out of it a bit, and they talked to him. When you get teams that care that much and can take coaching from each other, that's a good thing. I can tell you, that's where the loss in the SEC Tournament helped us.

Q. Dalton at the beginning of the that second half, he had like six points, four assists. Creighton called two timeouts. Can you reflect on his play in particular during that stretch?

RICK BARNES: Again, I thought tonight he did more. He was trying to rebound the ball. I thought he really got back to -- I thought he was really engaged defensively. Not just thinking I've got to score, score, score. When he gets that look and he's going with it -- I actually told him, when you're in a ball screen, they're coming, you're going to have to let Z have some shots at it, and Z made a couple of them.

But he's highly competitive. When he gets out -- our defense broke that game open early for us. We got deflections and got out and ran.

You look at them, and they're such an excellent position basketball team defensively. They don't foul, as much as I was asking them to be called. They do a great job at poking at the ball.

But during that stretch, he got it going. Obviously our guys have seen it when they do that, they're going to try to play to him.

Q. You mentioned that three-point play near the end of the game, just under two minutes left. You guys didn't seem to have any fear of Kalkbrenner and his size. Is that something that was part of the game plan to go right after him? You blocked him a couple times on the defensive end. I know it's obviously early, but do you think that will carry over to the Purdue matchup with Edey?

RICK BARNES: Every team is different, and it will be a different something, again, once we go back and start digging into it.

We worked really hard on drop coverage, where they drop it, because we knew we were going to get shots, and we had to decide, did we want to pull up behind and shoot the three? Did we want to get inside? All I ask them to do, if you're open behind a screen, we expected those two guys to shoot it, Zakai and Dalton.

If not, I said get inside the 15-foot area to engage them, and from there you've got to make the right decision, whether it's a floater or whatever it is, you've got to shoot it with confidence. Then Tobe got a couple where we said the post guy's got to get to the rim.

Then defensively, we weren't going to double-team him. I thought they were really well prepared at the start of the game. We wanted to try to get after them. Very first play of the game, and we had talked about doubling the ball, and they came off us, boom, boom, boom, and they were so good at it. We're not going to be able to do that.

We adjusted to it, and they're so hard to guard because Greg is such a great basketball coach, and he puts them in position. We also wanted pace. We wanted a high-tempo game we felt, because they had been playing a lot of guys 40 minutes, and we did, we wanted to try to early get up and down the floor and get it into a high-possession game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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