 |
| Browse by Sport |
|
|
| Find us on |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
March 19, 2015
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
CINCINNATI - 66
PURDUE - 65
COACH DAVIS: Obviously, unbelievable job by our guys of not giving in, not quitting, and doing what the Bearcats stand for, which is fight till the end, stay together, stay as a group. I want to give Purdue credit. Those guys played their hearts out, and it was a heck of a basketball game, and we were fortunate to come out on top at the end. But it's a testament to these guys on my left and their teammates that, once again, they never gave in. When it looked like it was over, they just didn't give in. In the huddle, there was no hesitation. One of the things I am most proud of, Troy missed the layup -- I can't remember exactly how much was on the clock -- and every one of his teammates as he came to the huddle said "It's over, forget it. We're still in it. We still have a chance to win." When you've got a team full of guys like that who pull for each other, you've got a chance. You've got a chance. I couldn't be prouder of the group and happier to be coaching the group.
Q. Troy, would you describe the layup. It looked as if it was on the rim long enough that you could stare at it and watch it go through.
TROY CAUPAIN: Yeah. It was wonderful. Coach says, "Gary comes to the hardball screen and attacks the rim, get it up on the rim and if they do close down, find the shooters in the corner. When I came off the screen, it was a wide-open lane, and I knew I had the opportunity to at least get it up on the rim. The big man wasn't by the basket and didn't stop my path. So I just wanted to get it up on the rim, and if it did come off then my teammates could attack the glass going forward and have a chance to rebound it. Once it was rolling around the rim, I stopped, I bent down a little bit, I looked up, and once it fell in the rim and the buzzer went off, I just smiled.
Q. Troy, I guess, contrast that with the feeling when you did miss the layup, and I did see the huddle scene where people were really trying to pick you up there. Can you describe that?
TROY CAUPAIN: It just shows that all of my teammates are here for the same thing. I did miss the layup, and I was down on myself because I'm not supposed to miss that layup, but all guys, and even the coaching staff came to me and said, "It's over. We're still here with you. We're not going to give up on you. We're still going to play this game and play hard, and we're going to get this stop." That's one thing I can count on them, being my brothers for life, and that's one thing I'll never give up on them because they didn't give up on me.
Q. What about the task of possibly facing Kentucky in the next round?
TROY CAUPAIN: It's just a basketball game. We're not going to go in there nervous. We're not going to go in there playing scared. It's a chance that -- not everybody gets a chance to do this, and we're just going to go out and leave it on the floor. Cincinnati basketball is never known to back down from anybody, and I don't think we should back down from them. We should give them a basketball game because that's what they play basketball for. Playing Kentucky is a blessing. It's fun. That's what we want to do is go out there and have fun and win a basketball game.
FARAD COBB: It's a big opportunity for us. We've been wanting something like this all year. We just want to go in there, play together, play hard, and see what happens.
Q. It did look grim there, though, down seven, 48 seconds or so to go. What suddenly started working for you there? I think you outscored them 10-3 to get it to overtime.
TROY CAUPAIN: Just attack the basket. We didn't need 3s at that point. The coaches did a good job to tell us to go get fouls, we're in the bonus. Also in a situation like that, you don't fold. When we practice, at the end of practice, we scrimmage. We play three-minute games, four-minute games, and one team will be down, 2 or 4 and you've got to find a way to fight with your five guys and come back and win the game as much as possible.
FARAD COBB: Like he said, we play a lot of those situations in practice. We've been down in real games before the season too, and we know it's not over until the clock says zero. We just play hard and make some plays, and luckily it worked out for us.
Q. In a basketball sense, guys, what do you think is the key to beating Kentucky?
TROY CAUPAIN: I'm going to say in transition, get their big men out of the paint, high ball screens, ball reversals. Making their big man play, get him away from the basket so we have the opportunity to attack the basket and get easy layups, also in transition. They do run a lot, but their big men are 7 feet. They don't run all day. That's the biggest thing is transition and getting the big men away from the basket. If they're in the basket, they clog the paint and block shots. If you get them out of the paint, get them away from the rim, and you have the opportunity to win.
FARAD COBB: If we take care of the ball and try to force turnovers on defense and protect the glass, I think we'll be able to make something happen.
Q. Larry, can you comment on the game that Coreontae played, especially after Octavius went out. He was able to stay out of foul trouble, and he made a layup in overtime underneath the basket that I'm not sure even he thought he was capable of. Could you just talk about his play tonight?
COACH DAVIS: Well, I'm going to tell you this about the layup, and you may not believe this or not, I've seen him do that this year at least ten times in practice. That's the truth. He's made that reverse layup throughout the year now. Again, I can't be prouder of a guy -- here's a guy that's played very limited minutes all year long, and when we need him the most, he was ready, and he came through. He's had an unbelievable attitude, guys, from the start. When he first got here, 6'9", 6'10", 270, how hard we play, the pace we play at was difficult for him. In the first month, he struggled. He really struggled. Then he began to come on, began to listen and take more coaching. He began to figure out that he had plenty of ability, but how hard you're going to play at all times. Again, he's kind of trained himself all year long, and in the last month of practice, he's had unbelievable practices. It's hard to take Octavius off the floor sometimes. Again, tonight, when the bell rang for him, he was ready, and he answered it, did a great job defensively and blocked some shots, and obviously made a big-time layup when we needed it most. How about the fast break? When he caught it -- blocked the shot or stole the ball on the sideline, went up the sideline and avoided the guard somehow and laid it in. That was more amazing to me than the reverse layup. I've seen the reverse layup a few times.
Q. Larry, when do you anticipate talking to Mick (Cronin), and what do you think the conversation will be like?
COACH DAVIS: I've already talked to him. I went in the locker room, and our guys tricked me and got me in the middle and doused me. They all had cups of water ready, and they soaked me. As soon as I got done talking with them, I went back in the coaches' locker room, and Mick texted me, and I called him right away. He's obviously so excited for our guys, proud of our guys. We wouldn't be here, where we're at, without Coach Cronin. He built this program, and I was there along the way, and all along this year he's been there. He can't be on the court, can't be at practice much, but he's been there helping us at every scout, counseling me, supporting me, helping me, telling me you can do it, trust yourself. He's not only a great young coach, he's a great friend. He's been a big part of this and our success. I know he's really proud of our guys and the effort. I'm glad we didn't let him down.
Q. First, where did Mick watch the game? He said yesterday in the locker room he wasn't sure where he'd be watching tonight. Secondly, you coach these guys and get them into this situation, but to see them actually come back and execute and pull it off, how does that feel as a coach?
COACH DAVIS: Well, I'm going to be honest with you, I think he watched it at the hotel. I'm not 100 percent sure because he was kind of undecided where he was going to do it. I know he wanted to be in this arena, but he can't be. I'm surprised he didn't sneak in. But to answer your question on seeing him do it, Farad and Troy alluded to it, these last few weeks of practice particularly, we've been doing some situation stuff at the end. We put one team up or down so the other team has to try to come back, the other team has to try to hold the lead. And you practice stuff. You practice stuff all the time. But to see those guys take what you did in practice -- the last play that we got Troy the ball and got him, we put that in about three weeks ago. Really hadn't run it before now, but we had no time-outs, and when it came down to it, we executed the play and got Troy free and got a shot. A long time ago, when I coached at Minnesota with Coach Haskins, that's one of the things I learned from him. He always prepared his team for late-clock situations when there were no time-outs. I always carried that as a coach. I've been very lucky. I've been an assistant under a lot of great coaches, and I've gotten something from all of them. I learned that from him. I'll have to call him and tell him, "Hey, Coach, what I learned there and being always prepared when you don't have a time-out because we didn't have one, it got us a shot, and Troy made the play." It's a very gratifying feeling as a coach when your guys execute things that you worked on and the things that you've taught them throughout the year.
Q. Coach, the players were asked about playing Kentucky next. What do you think about the opportunity playing the Number 1 team, and what would you say are the keys to what you have to do to compete with them or beat them?
COACH DAVIS: The NCAA Tournament is a tournament that everybody wants to get into, and you work all year long to get this honor and this privilege to play because this is one of the greatest sporting events, in my estimation, there is, the most followed. And to get the opportunity to play a team like Kentucky who's undefeated, got a lot of people around them saying they're one of the greatest teams to play college basketball. A lot of people are saying, they could play in the NBA. I've watched them play a few times casually, and they're very, very good. Coach Calipari is an excellent coach. But it's a great opportunity for us. It's a great opportunity for our kids. Watching them play, they've got tremendous size, tremendous athleticism, it will be a battle of can our guys keep them off the glass? And can we figure out a way to score on them? You can't turn the ball over against them and let them get out in transition. It's going to be hard enough to stop them in the half-court. You can't give them easy baskets. If we can do that, if we can keep them out of transition and we can keep them off the backboard, then we'll have a chance. They're a team this year that's had some close games. Nobody's beaten them, but some teams have played them close. The one thing about our guys I know is they'll go into the game not afraid. I do know that. And Kentucky's obviously a tremendous opponent, and I'm not going to sit up here and say whatever. I know this, our guys will be ready to play on Saturday, and they'll go out there and give it everything they've got. If Kentucky's not ready to play or if we can accomplish our goals we want to do defensively and those things and don't turn it over and get shots, who knows what can happen? Two No. 14 seeds beat 3s today. It's not like an 8 or 9 has never upset a 1. I'm not focused on the hype. I'm focused on getting back to the hotel, looking at as much tape, and giving our guys the best chance they can. I know the effort will be there for them, and that's all we can do and hopefully put ourselves in position to have a chance to win.
Q. Coach, were you a Kentucky fan as a kid?
COACH DAVIS: My father -- I was born in Kentucky, and my father was a huge, huge basketball fan, loved Kentucky. I grew up -- I did grow up a Kentucky fan. I ended up moving to Indiana. So I was born in Kentucky, grew up in Indiana. I had no choice but to be a basketball coach. My dad took me to my first high school game when I was 6 years old. We used to listen to Kentucky on the radio. So your whole life, you grow up as a coach, and you either want to coach at Kentucky or you want to beat them. I'm getting the chance. When you're a guy from Kentucky, I should say that, when you're born in Kentucky as a kid, that's something you think about. So I got the latter. I'm happy. That's all I can say. I will say this. One last thing. I couldn't be happier to be coaching the University of Cincinnati. I couldn't be happier to be in there, I can tell you that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
|
|
