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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: JACKSONVILLEMarch 19, 2015Remy AbellJames FarrChris MackMatt StainbrookJACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA XAVIER - 76 Q. Matt, you talked after the last game about how you felt a lot of pressure as a senior to play well in the NCAA Tournament. Talk about today how you were able to exploit their defense and score 20 points. MATT STAINBROOK: Yeah, I think we did a good job sort of pounding the ball inside to begin with, and when we can do that and establish inside, then it really opens up the outside, and Dee and a couple other guys, J.P. were hitting some big shots outside to keep the floor stretched. They did look a little tired and they had to play that game, but over all they were a really tough team. They never stopped playing they're very handsy, and I'm just glad we came out with a win. Q. Matt, could you share with us the conversation you had before the technical, what kind of transpired there? MATT STAINBROOK: It was something like, hey, I like your shoes, and he's like, oh, I also like your shoes, and that's just pretty much what happened. Q. That was one of those situations where they made four points out of it. You got your third foul, that was a point where things could have collapsed, but -- MATT STAINBROOK: Yeah, it was a mistake by me. He dunked the ball on me and had a couple words for me and then I knew to come back was stupid. The second guy always gets noticed, so it was dumb on my part and disappointing. But yeah, it's something where once they made those two free throws and got the ball, I knew I couldn't let my team down like that. I tried to talk to my guys, don't let that be a turning point for them. We saw that in Georgetown when we got a technical and they rallied from that. I'm just -- that won't happen again. There won't be any other technicals from me. Q. Chris, you've talked all year in these big games about guys stepping up who maybe don't usually have big games. How key was that tonight to have some of those guys do that? COACH CHRIS MACK: I thought our bench played really well. J.P. hit a ton of -- a couple shots that I thought gave us some momentum. He also took a couple shots that I felt like strangled him. But sometimes -- the good with the bad with J.P., he's a freshman, he hasn't been in that situation before, but I thought all of our bench guys did a good job. Jalen didn't shoot very well from the field, I thought he was rushed, but Jalen is a much better player than that. Myles hit that three at the end. James who hasn't been a starter are year for us, to go 13 rebounds against that front line of Ole Miss, says something about the type of rebounder he is. He's made the most of his opportunity, and just fortunate to advance. Q. I think it might have been when Remy got the and-one, at some point you kind of pumped your fist. Is it more of a sense of a relief for you at this point of the year to advance? Do you celebrate it? COACH CHRIS MACK: Sure, these guys celebrate it. We're excited. This is the best time of the year. This is what you work for the entire off-season. We've gotten better as the year has gone on, especially on the defensive end. They shoot 32 percent from the field, 22 percent from the three, they only shoot five free throws. Our guys have gotten a lot better defensively as the year has gone on. I've told them that the teams that advance in tournament play are the ones that can get stops and defend, and I think this team is finally starting to realize that. Defensively we've been here over the last three or four weeks as good as we've been all year. Q. Dee, you tied a season high with 17 points today and were able to get some three-pointers off. Did you have good looks today, or did you feel like they were maybe emphasizing other parts of their scouting report and giving you options to do that? DEE DAVIS: Yeah, I thought I had a couple pretty wide open shots. I was just being ready to shoot when Matt would pass me the ball, and I just took advantage of the opportunity. Q. Remy and James, Mississippi had a lot of emotion from that victory and came with a little momentum. Going to get the same thing maybe out of Georgia State. They're going to come in with a lot of emotion, a lot of momentum. You guys were very, very businesslike out there. In situations like this, do you just worry about yourself, worry about what you do, and kind of put aside what the other team may or may not have done in the previous game? REMY ABELL: I mean, Coach does a great job of preparing us for the games, and we do a good job of locking in and scouting the other team, so we do a great job of applying that out on the court. But at the end of the day, we worry about what we need to do, and we feel like if we take care of what we have to do on the offensive end and defensive end, then everything will take care of itself. Q. James, can you talk about your three-pointer with about 13 minutes left? I think Matt was out of the game, you're open there beyond the arc. Did you think that one was going in and did you have any doubts at that point? JAMES FARR: No, I didn't have any doubts. I would say I just shot it with confidence. I haven't shot well from the three-point this year, so I mean, I just stepped up and shot it with confidence. I've been working on it every day in practice. I would have regretted it if I didn't take that shot and we didn't get the outcome that we wanted to get, so I just stepped up and took it. Q. Were you able to watch the end of the Georgia State game as you were waiting in the tunnel or anything and did you have any impressions of them in that win? DEE DAVIS: Me personally, I didn't see the shot. I mean, I kind of heard the crowd go crazy. R.J. Hunter is a good friend of mine. I was telling my teammates through the whole game that he was going to make a shot because he wasn't shooting well through the game. Me personally, yeah, I mean, I don't know if anybody else saw the end of the game. JAMES FARR: I saw it in the locker room. He was pretty far out when he hit it. I mean, he's known as a shooter, seems like he's a pretty good shooter. We have more scouting to do on him, but we'll see him this weekend. Q. Chris, could you address that thing also where Mississippi had some emotion and some momentum, same thing with Georgia State? What do you do to get these kids to concentrate on what they've got to do as opposed to what the team you're playing might have done? COACH CHRIS MACK: Yeah, with all due respect to any opponent we're playing, we cannot worry nor do we about the mindset of the other team. Whether they're coming off -- Ole Miss before the BYU game had lost four of the last five, but it's irrelevant when we tip it off against them. Georgia State's outcome against Baylor, great game, terrific shot at the end by an NBA prospect in R.J. Hunter, but at the end of the day, we just have to prepare our guys, and we will as best we can and take the floor ready to play. I think our guys have done a great job, like Remy said, of locking in on the details, understanding the scouting report, being excited to play and playing for one another, and that's really all we can control. Q. Remy, they cut the deficit to ten points down the stretch and then had the turnover that led to Jalen passing the ball to you for the run-out. Can you talk about that play and how it changed the complexion for you guys down the stretch? REMY ABELL: Yeah, we got the steal and Jalen did a good job of looking up, and I just wanted to finish with my teammates, and that was really about it. They made a run, but we did a great job of staying together. Like Coach said, they're going to make runs, stay together through the good and the bad. We did a great job of sticking together as a team, and that's what we have to do. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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