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March 20, 2015
OMAHA, NEBRASKA
KANSAS - 75
NEW MEXICO STATE - 56
THE MODERATOR: The Aggies are with us and we're going to have Head Coach Marvin Menzies open up with a statement. We would like to have Marvin open up with a statement on the game. We will have questions at the ready. Coach?
COACH MENZIES: Thanks, Joe. Let me begin by saying how proud I am of these four guys up here. My whole team actually, but these four specific players have given me all they've got and more. We're a family; we have had some ups and downs, arguments and disagreements and hugs and crying and a lot of emotions in their tenure with me. D.K. came here as a junior college transfer and had a chance to play in two NCAA Tournaments. All four are going to graduate, and the other three were able to experience more success, a longer amount of success. As far as the game is concerned, tonight I just want to say that we ran into the real Kansas Jayhawks tonight, and I know they sputtered there in the tournament, made more threes tonight than they did in the whole conference tournament. But I knew Bill would have his guys ready, I knew they wouldn't take us for granted. That's what good staffs and good players do. They made shots. I mean nine threes, 9 for 13, we do a phenomenal job guarding the three-point line, but they were able to penetrate the interior, make good passes and get finishes; got to the free-throw line relatively well as well and shot it well when they got there. So just overall statistically, as you look down at the stat sheet you go, well, they just outplayed us. And they did. But I'm really really proud of my guys. I'm proud of the season we had. We were already winners before we played tonight, and all four of these guys will exit as winners.
Q. Remi, the first start of the game it was 11-4 at the first TV time-out. Did that start rattle you guys, do you think?
REMI BARRY: I don't think so. We are used to that; we're used to like starting a little slow. We just couldn't catch up. That's what it is. They was making some tough shots. We didn't shoot the ball well, I didn't shoot the ball well, personally. Yeah.
Q. Tshilidzi, seemed like they were really double-teaming you guys down low. What were they doing, forcing you guys to take outside shots?
TSHILIDZI NEPHAWE: They were coming right on the catch, so as soon as I catch the ball. They were doubling from post-to-post. It was kind of a little hard to go to Pascal, so I just had to get out of there. That's why I couldn't really do much, because I had a double-team right away.
COACH MENZIES: Mark, their length bothered us on their double. We had seen doubles all year long, but their length was different double than the double you had seen in conference, and it made it difficult to get accurate passes out of it, and we had a few turnovers out of it. So that double bothered us, and we weren't able to get that reversal and get it back into the back side like we had done all year long in conference so gotta give them credit for their execution.
Q. You were hitting shots coming off the bench today. What was working well for you?
D.K. ELDRIDGE: Really just trying to being aggressive. I knew my guys needed me out there, especially the seniors. Just tried to pull it together, play as a team, just took the open shots. They was going in.
Q. Tshilidzi, you played in your 136th game. I think that's a school record. Talk about the -- nobody has ever played more games in a New Mexico State's Jersey than you. Was that something you were aware of?
TSHILIDZI NEPHAWE: No, I didn't even know. But you know, it's special. I know I missed a few games when I was injured and stuff, I didn't even know I played that much games. I was like number one on those games played.
COACH MENZIES: I didn't know that, either.
Q. Marvin, this is probably ancient history for you, but you started the season with Wichita State, and I just wonder what you can recall about the Shockers, and we don't know if they are going to play Kansas yet or not, but is there anything you see in that match-up that would be pertinent to it?
COACH MENZIES: We weren't full strength when we played them, but I remember their athleticism, their strength. I don't think people realized how athletic they are. I was watching them do shootarounds the other day. Their walk-ons were getting up and dunking it pretty convincingly. So that was one thing. Their overall athleticism is I think is a little bit underrated. Obviously the two key guards and what they bring to the table in terms of controlling the rhythm and the tempo of the game. They have a great environment at home and on the road, in neutral court. That would be a heck of a match-up if they do meet Kansas, but they will have their hands full with Indiana. But as far as going into too many specifics, I couldn't recall.
Q. Daniel, was there anything specific that they were doing on the perimeter to get open to knock down threes?
DANIEL MULLINGS: A lot of penetration. They were getting into the middle a little bit, and they were converging in the middle, which was opening up the perimeter shots. I think they crashed pretty hard, so they were getting a lot of second-chance opportunities and that's where a lot of their long-distance shots came from.
Q. Daniel, there was a moment at the end of the game where it was the four of you standing there with your arms around each other. What was that like, the four seniors, just standing there kind of at the end of your time in New Mexico State?
DANIEL MULLINGS: It was just special, just all four of us connecting for that last time on the court together. For Remi and Tshilidzi and I, we all came here at the same time, we all redshirted a year in our careers, and D.K. as well; he joined us last year, so we formed a brotherhood, especially between us four, and we kept ourselves together, tried to pick each other up.
Q. Coach, they doubled Pascal every time he got the ball. You mentioned earlier their length bothered you. Did you expect them to double as much as they did, and did you expect them to be as effective as they were?
COACH MENZIES: Yes, we did expect them to double, but you don't realize how long they are, and they do a really good job of doubling without fouling. I thought we had a couple opportunities where we went strong early and quick, might have got hit or not hit. It was really irrelevant; they outplayed us overall, but I did think their doubling bothered us, as far as our game plan. We really wanted to play and get inside touches, so we expected to get a double and then get it reversed and then come back inside or get a penetration or catch a cutter coming across, and we got a couple pretty clean executions off the double, but for the most part I think their length we just didn't realize, they may have been 6'7, 6'8, but it seemed like we were getting doubled by two 7-footers.
Q. Coach, another thing about the freshman, Tanveer, he was able to get out there, play a little bit, scored a couple of buckets. I know he was injured and not much a part of the rotation this year, but as far as him going forward next year, do you think he will be an impact player?
COACH MENZIES: Tanveer? Right? Yeah, I mean, Tanveer's future is very bright. He's got a really good basketball IQ. Obviously legitimate size, and as he continues to improve he will be a factor for us. Actually, next year he's going to have to play a lot of minutes, and he's got to get in great shape, have a great off-season. Hopefully this experience will be some fuel into the off-season because obviously you know the cliches, the players are made in the off-season. We have a certain amount of hours that we can spend with him, but the extra time and the concentration on all of the things, from taking care of your body to your diet to your conditioning to your skill development, all of those are going to have to be paid close attention to, and if we can do those things, I think he will come back for a very, very productive sophomore year.
Q. Coach, you mentioned the 3-pointers that Kansas had. They have been cold for quite a while coming into this game. Was there a surprise element to that, the way they hit from that range?
COACH MENZIES: Them shooting the ball so deep, from so deep? Yeah, it was, as we look at the scouts we look at who is shooting it well, not just the overall stat sheet for the season but the last five, six, seven games. So we came into the game under the assumption that certain guys were going to get guarded certain ways and they made shots, so we made adjustments, but they were rolling a little bit and kept it going. Oubre and Mason, all those guys, you play them maybe as a what we call a 2, which is a guy that can really dribble it and shoot it, but they actually all played like 1s, which we consider a peer shooter, so you gotta give them credit. They knocked down the shots on the big stage when they needed to, and they did win, whatever it is, 11 times in a row, you know, something ridiculous; so there is a reason that they're able to step up and play at the level that they did.
Q. Tshilidzi, your career now, you guys are probably one of most successful senior classes in NMSU history. How great of a run was it getting here four straight times to the Tournament?
TSHILIDZI NEPHAWE: It was special, you know, it's special, because nobody has ever done it, like no seniors have ever went four times in a row. I just think it's really -- I think it's a special thing, and I had a special time at NMSU, and I really appreciate that, and I love all my teammates to death and I just really think it was special.
THE MODERATOR: Anything else for New Mexico State. Gentlemen, congratulations on a fine season.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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