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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: ST. LOUIS

March 17, 2016

Randy Rahe

St. Louis, Missouri

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Randy Rahe. Opening statement, Coach.

RANDY RAHE: First of all, we're obviously very excited to be here. I think our team definitely earned it with what we had to go through, winning the Big Sky Tournament, three games, and I think by an average amount of maybe three points per game or something like that. So our kids showed absolutely terrific resiliency and toughness in winning the Big Sky Tournament. And it was always tough. We had a target on our back the whole way through, and we got everybody's best effort. So for them to come through it in the way they did, I was very, very proud of them. And we're excited to be here. We're ready to go out and fight and see what happens.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. After having a chance to study Xavier, what do you see as the biggest challenges for you guys in tomorrow's game?
RANDY RAHE: Just one or you want 20? I can give you 20. No, I think, obviously, they're exceptional. They're one of the best teams in the country, but the thing that you look at or you see from them is their size, their athletic ability, and then their physicalness and their toughness. It's kind of their DNA. That's kind of been who they've always been. That poses the first problem, obviously, is to match that.

But I really see their rebounding is outstanding, they're one of the better rebounders in the country. The best rebounding team in the Big East. And it's because of that physicality and toughness that they're at the top of their league. So we've got to be able to rebound with them. We've got to match their physicality. We like to play that way, too. Maybe not quite the same bodies, but we still like to play that way. So we've got to do a great job there.

And transition defense, getting back in transition against this team is going to be critical. Because they can spurt on you like no team we've played this year. They can go on a 20-0 run in a heartbeat. So you've gotta make sure that you get back on defense. So rebounding and defense and making sure we match their physicality and their toughness is going to be really important.

Q. I asked this of your players. You've won 26 games. Do you feel like an underdog?
RANDY RAHE: I don't know if we feel like one but we are one. I mean, I don't think these kids ever feel like -- we don't go into any game -- it's not in our DNA to think that we can't win a game. And it doesn't matter who we play, when, where. That's not the way we think. So these kids going into this game tomorrow night, they're going to go in like we have all year long. We expect to win the game. That's what we do. You can't go in any other way. And these kids believe that and I want them to believe that and that's kind of who we are.

So we're definitely an underdog. There's no question about it. But it's kind of nice, this will be the first time -- when we started conference play, we were picked to win the league -- this will be the first game since we started our first conference game that we will be an underdog. We've been favored in every game, even home and road, in conference play. So maybe we ought to embrace it a little bit. It's kind of nice. But we'll be ready to go tomorrow. The kids will be ready.

Q. To follow up, did you see Yale won today, and with less than a minute to play in double overtime, Little Rock's up by four over Purdue. When you see scores like that, does a part of you say, why not us?
RANDY RAHE: No question. No question. And I love when our kids are watching that, too, and they're following it. All the talk before the tournament starts and all the talk before the game and you're this big an underdog and all that big an underdog. Once they tip that ball up there's two teams playing basketball. And anything can happen. We know that, and everybody knows that. And so tip it up. It's five-on-five, let's go.

Q. For the Xavier side that maybe hasn't seen Joel play as much, what makes him such a special player and where does he particularly excel?
RANDY RAHE: Rebounding, he's a high level rebounder. I think he ended up, what was it, third in the country in rebounding this year. It's just something he's always been able to do. He's always had a knack. Even when the rest of his game wasn't as polished as it is now when we first got him, he could always rebound. That takes toughness. It takes determination and he's got a great sense for it. And then you add the fact that he's 6'9", 230, and he's very, very athletic, with good hands. That also makes him one of the best rebounders in the country and he's a hard-working kid. He understands his strengths. He pays attention to those strengths and he takes great pride in it.

Q. I've talked to you over the years about scheduling. The fact that you have a hard time getting big schools to play you, impossible almost to come to Ogden, does that make this game a little more fun for you and your players?
RANDY RAHE: Yeah, we've always liked this challenge. We always play a really difficult preseason schedule. And so we try to schedule as many BCS schools as we can along the way. And we're having a harder time getting them to play wherever. So anytime you get an opportunity to play a BCS school, especially in the NCAA Tournament, it makes it that much more special. So these kids are going to embrace it and relish it and go out and obviously play really hard and fight like crazy and see what happens. So that just adds to the excitement. And you add the fact that Xavier is a No. 2 seed. They are ranked, what, ninth in the country now, I think. They've been even higher than that, too. That's even more of a challenge, but a fun, exciting challenge that we look forward to.

Q. What have you learned in your previous trips to the NCAA Tournament that you think will help you going forward tomorrow?
RANDY RAHE: I think when you first get here the first time, there's a lot of different distractions going on and everything. And I think what's helped me is how to help the kids not get caught up in all that stuff. Because we've got some kids on the team that have played in the tournament, obviously, but we've got more that haven't. And so I think it's helped me going through it, with the itineraries and the schedules. And then talking to our veterans that have been there before to kind of help these younger kids say, okay, we're going to have some fun.

I want these kids to enjoy every minute of it until it's time to get locked in and prepare. And our veterans have done a really good job helping the young kids so far, when we've gotten to practice they've had that laser focus and they're talking to those young kids, hey, it's time, let's get going. But it's helped me to kind of help prepare the team for what to expect and kind of handle it, to be honest.

Q. Just coming out of the locker room now the team seems really relaxed and confident. Is that kind of the mentality you want at this point?
RANDY RAHE: Yeah, we want to be loose. That was the challenge we had before going into the tournament. I want them to not be relaxed, but more loose and not worried. We don't play worried. We want to play confident. And there's a big difference. But I want them to be that way a little bit. I want them to be relaxed. I want them to be loose. They're going to be ready to play. And I would rather have a team like that than too uptight. Uptight doesn't work very well. So you've got to have the balance. You've got to have the focus. You've got to have the right mindset, but then you've also got to be relaxed. And I think where you get the relaxed part of it or the loose part of it is confidence. And I think these kids have been confident all year long.

Q. You mentioned at the outset all the close games in the conference tournament. Can that have any benefit moving forward just to know that you can win those nail biters?
RANDY RAHE: Yeah, it just wasn't the conference tournament. We go back about three weeks, every game we played. Bolomboy was out for a while. We had to play three games without him. We had three absolute nail-biter games that went down to the wire. But the last three weeks, I think the average margin of victory was somewhere around six points. And so we've been in a bunch of them, and I think it gives us great confidence. We've got a little motto going that we've had with our team: We're going to grind like crazy and we're going to go find a way at the end. That's kind of what we've done. And this team has grinded it out and find a way to make plays at the end when they needed to. And when you do that, I think you gain confidence.

I'd like to be winning by 20, believe me. It's just not the nature of our team. But when you can find a way to win close games, I think that adds a bunch of confidence to your team and your mentality that you're never out of it, that you can always find a way. And I think it's a good mentality to have. And these kids have been really, really resilient and very tough winning those close games.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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