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March 17, 2015
DAYTON, OHIO
HAMPTON - 74
MANHATTAN - 64
THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the head coach Edward Joyner, Jr. and student-athletes Quinton Chievous and Brian Darden. Coach, if you would like, you can make an opening statement and then we'll open the floor for questions for Coach Joyner only.
COACH JOYNER: I thought the kids fought hard for 40 minutes. We ended up with 14 turnovers but I thought we handled the ball well. We didn't turn it over. We got a little shaky there at the end but luckily we made some big shots to kind of get some separation. So when we did make three or four of the turnovers we were able to withstand. Like I told them today I'm pretty sure they've read everything just like I've read everything. Okay everybody said Manhattan was a better team and that's fine but we had to be better. We were better for 40 minutes tonight.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for student-athletes.
Q. Quinton, as coach mentioned there was the line of talk about Manhattan supposedly the better team. How inspiring or motivating was that?
QUINTON CHIEVOUS: He inspired us a lot, but at the end of the day we came together as a team. We prayed up and we stayed humble and we came out with the win.
Q. Quinton, seemed like a pretty nasty fall there at the end. Can you update us on your ankle, your leg, really it seemed like a physical game. You were taking shots almost the whole night.
QUINTON CHIEVOUS: I sprained my ankle twice. The first time it wasn't that bad. The second time, it just really hurt. And I just couldn't go any more, and my team ended up pulling it out. Hopefully I can keep icing it, get treatment and be ready for Kentucky on Thursday.
Q. Quinton, if I could ask, you've played on the big stage before, the SEC tournament, playing in Tennessee. Could you talk about how this compared to some of the previous stages you've played on?
QUINTON CHIEVOUS: It was the same stage, only difference was I was probably on the bench more at Tennessee than I was here. So I really just got my opportunity and producing and ended up with a win, and hopefully I can keep going.
Q. Quinton and Brian, what's it like knowing now you're going to go against Kentucky, what are your first thoughts?
QUINTON CHIEVOUS: Really just going in with a great mindset. Not being intimidated. And just playing as hard as we can and knocking down all our shots, going hard, and just never giving up. When adversity hits us in the game, we can't get down on ourselves. We just gotta keep playing.
BRIAN DARDEN: Really I thought just making sure we focus on ourselves like a team, like a whole unit, making sure we're all on one accord and everybody's focused.
Q. Brian, talk about that second half surge, where they pulled within one. What was it that allowed you guys to stretch that lead back out?
BRIAN DARDEN: We all came together. We realized we had to pick it up. We had to pick it up on defense, rebounding, making sure everybody was talking. I feel like we did a great job.
Q. Quinton, talk about the press that Manhattan put on you guys. It seemed to cause trouble kind of throughout the game and how you guys were able to overcome the press.
QUINTON CHIEVOUS: It did. I feel like it helped when our center, Emmanuel, came up and caught the ball and then got to our guards. It was kind of hard in the beginning for our guards to get open. Then we got a couple of dumb charges that didn't go our way. But I feel like at the end of the game they really knuckled down and stayed calm and we got the win.
Q. What's up with the crisscross thing after the free throws?
QUINTON CHIEVOUS: I don't know. I guess it's just our swag. It's just something we do.
BRIAN DARDEN: I can't really explain it. That's just how we stay together as a family.
Q. Could you just talk about, Quinton, you guys are mainly a junior team, mainly a younger team. Quinton is one of the veterans on this team, graduating senior, could you talk about the role he plays as a leader?
DERON POWERS: As a leader he's very vocal. Very vocal. He comes hard every time, every day in practice, every game. He's just playing as hard as he can and can leave it all on the floor and therefore we all follow suit.
Q. Brian, how fun is it to be the underdog and going to be a big underdog on Thursday. Was it fun to come in --
BRIAN DARDEN: Definitely. We love that. We take that head on. That's our imagine. I take that.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach.
Q. Coach, can you give us an update on the two guys that did not play today. What their injuries are and what it said about you guys to pull it out without them?
COACH JOYNER: Phillip Reed [phonetic] is a backup center for us, about 6'10". He played sparingly but he had something dealing with his chest. Like I don't remember the name of it. But he will not play. Dwight Meikle, high ankle sprain, he's day to day. He's feeling a lot better every day. But we don't know what the status until really game time.
Q. A lot of fast paced back and forth, was that the style of play you were expecting or was it a reaction to how Manhattan was playing?
COACH JOYNER: I think it's a little bit of both. We actually like to play a fast pace. When we start playing half court a lot, sometimes we overthink. So we like to try to speed it up and especially if we, with teams that press us, I teach to attack the press. I don't like to hold it back. We're going to attack it and we're going to try to score. So, yes, that's the way we wanted to play. We didn't mind playing that way. We just didn't want -- but also we wanted to make sure that we made the right decisions. We wanted to be quick but not in a hurry. I thought we did that and I thought Deron Powers handled it well and picked them apart in certain situations. Even though he may not have gotten the assist, he was part of the reason we were able to break the defense down.
Q. Earlier in the week Reggie Miller said it would take an act of God for someone to beat Kentucky. How big of a mountain do you guys have to climb on Thursday?
COACH JOYNER: Hold on, I told you all I had Jesus on speed dial. (Laughter) Hey, Jesus, first of all, you can't play so I ain't worried about you being hot. They want to know how much of a mountain and what our odds are. Hello? Hello? (Laughter) I guess he'll get back to me I'll get back to you. It's heck of a mountain, you know what I'm saying? We know that. We're going to go try to play. We're going to go compete. And let the chips fall where they may. They're a great team and we know that. But, hey, it is where it is. We're happy to be here and we're going to go fight tooth and nail. You can believe that.
Q. A lot of America got to know Quinton Chievous for the first time tonight. You've obviously got to know him over the years. You know him a lot better if you could tell us a little bit what you've seen not just tonight but throughout his time at Hampton?
COACH JOYNER: It's not over the years, it's over really the month. He just got to us. This summer. Hardworking kid. He's a warrior. A hard-playing young man. I'm happy now that, obviously he didn't get the opportunities that he wanted at Tennessee. It's not for me to say whether he deserved them or not. But I think coming here he knew he would get those opportunities. I'm proud of him because we started bringing him off the bench after about 21 or 22 games and people really thought that that was something negative. But I didn't. We wanted to have a different sort of rotation. And he's one of those guys that can actually play four positions for us, from 2 through 5. And he took that role. He relished in it. I mean, his contributions went up and down some nights because it's hard. I understand that. But he's a stand-up guy. And I'm so proud that now everybody's really getting to see the player that he is. And I hate that Dwight went down, but Quinton sacrificed for this moment. And I'm happy for him.
Q. Early on, Reggie came out and was on fire early. And then Quinton kind of picked up. Talk about those two, their night mixed together as teammates.
COACH JOYNER: Reggie came to us second semester last year. We really didn't get him until second semester this year. Same thing. We all knew what kind of player that he would be. One thing that, they're both from Chicago. Ironically I have a sister Michigan king that's from Chicago we were blessed to get those guys through him. One thing we talked about those guys ironically is this moment. What we didn't expect was how bumpy the road was going to be to get here. We knew Reggie would be able to make shots for us at some point. Now that he's played 15, maybe 16 to 20 games he's gotten his legs up under him. And for real, Quinton is our heart and soul. Deron Powers is our engine but Reggie is our calming factor, if you understand what I mean. When he gets the ball the game calms down for us. That's huge. You need that.
Q. Would you agree that Quinton is an SEC athlete and how helpful is it that he's played against SEC teams, maybe he's seen Kentucky in the flesh and won't be awed in that sense?
COACH JOYNER: I hope he won't be awed. We definitely don't need him to be. But I think it could be huge for us because he can talk to the guys about how to understand the moment. That's the one thing that made me nervous tonight. Not the fact that I didn't think that we could compete with Manhattan. I didn't know that we would be able to understand the moment. And for the last four, five ball games they've understood each night what we needed to do to win. Now, to beat Kentucky, I don't know that even Quinton understands that moment is enough but we'll definitely find out.
Q. When you guys were 8-14 could you have imagined anything like this, now you're moving on in the NCAA Tournament. Obviously it's been quite the reversal for you?
COACH JOYNER: Believe it or not as a team we never stopped believing. I've got to credit them for that. They never stopped believing. They worked hard every day. We've heard everything. They've heard everything. When we were at that point. But they never stopped. So, yeah, it's a heck of a reversal for us. It's one for me. I had aspirations that my hair would grow back, but I don't think it's going to happen after that stretch we went on right there. So but we're happy where we are and sometimes you gotta go through adversity to get to where you are. We went through that adversity and we're here. One thing I told them before the ballgame, relish the moment, because everybody here deserves it because you had to win your tournament. People talk about that maybe your conference champion should go. You know what, everybody in every conference, big or small, if you win your tournament, I don't care if you're in the ACC and you're the last place team, if you win you go to the tournament. The one thing that a lot of smaller conferences don't like is we only get one bid. But, hey, you know that going in. So it is what it is. So we turned this season around. I'm happy for them. Before the game I told them tough times don't last. Tough people do. And they're lasting right now.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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