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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: OKLAHOMA

March 17, 2016

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by the UNI Panthers, our student-athletes, Paul Jesperson, Matt Bohannon, and Wes Washpun. Gentlemen, we'll take questions from the floor.

Q. Matt, now that you've had a chance to look at Texas a little more closely, what stands out about them?
MATT BOHANNON: They're playing good basketball as well. Obviously made the tournament, so they're a good basketball team. Lot of athleticism, 1 through 5. And they're big, 4 and 5, so we're going to have to do a really good job of limiting them to one shot and just staying strong with our defensive principles.

It's going to be an exciting match-up. They've got a couple good guards too, and we feel like we match-up pretty well against them.

Q. Paul, in match-ups you've had in the past with teams like Evansville, bigger teams, Wichita State, is there anything you can learn from that experience and draw upon that might help you tomorrow night?
PAUL JESPERSON: There's a couple things, but Texas plays a lot different than both of those teams. The 4 man for Texas can shoot it a lot better than their 4s can. But they like to crash the glass, just like Wichita State did and Evansville, for that matter. So we're going to stay on our blockouts, and like Matt said, we'll have to stay true to our defensive principles and do a good job in that aspect. But offensively they are different than those teams.

Q. Wes, what about Texas' guards? What impresses you about Felix and Taylor?
WES WASHPUN: Yeah, extremely talented offensive players. They get pretty much wherever they want on the court, from what I've seen so far from watching film. So, yeah, it's going to be a tough match-up, but I think me and Jeremy are going to be up for the task.

Q. Is the feeling a lot different now, any one of you guys, a lot different than it was a year ago first round game or is it about the same?
MATT BOHANNON: Yeah, I mean, yes and no. I mean, last year we were playing really good basketball as well, just like we are this year. But at the end of the day, we understood last year that once you were in, it didn't matter what seed you were or what your record was, as long as you were in, things were good.

So we're taking the same approach as we did last year, and the guys to the right and left of me, and myself have been through it, so we know what it's going to take. It's going to take a 40-minute effort, and it's going to be a lot of fun come tomorrow night.

Q. You played against some big guys this year. When you look at the size of Texas, do you think of some of the other big guys you've had to go up against this year, whether it was North Carolina, Iowa State? How did that help prepare you for what you'll see tomorrow night?
PAUL JESPERSON: Yeah, I mean, we definitely played bigs, like you said, against Carolina, Iowa State, so we're used to playing against their size. I think the biggest thing, answering the question I did earlier, is with our box outs. That's going to be our biggest thing.

Offensively, though, like I said earlier as well, their 4 man is a little bit different than the 4s and 5s we've played for Iowa State and Carolina, because they've got the stretch 4 who can really shoot it. So we're going to have to keep an eye on him. But, yeah, that size, I think we're used to playing now.

Q. How good does it feel to be playing somebody that you haven't seen all year? You just came off a conference tournament where you saw teams that knew you really well. I guess I'm thinking of where it was hard to get shots off. Is this refreshing to play somebody that doesn't know you that well?
MATT BOHANNON: I hope so. I hope that seeing us for the first time won't be the same as what we had to deal with two weeks ago. But at the end of the day, they know who we are. We've shown throughout the season what we're capable of, so they're going to do their scout just like we're going to do ours. At the end of the day, it's just going to be who wants it more and who is going to play tougher for 40 minutes. Like I said before, it's going to be a lot of fun and we're excited for it.

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Coach Jacobson. Coach, your thoughts about tomorrow's game?

COACH JACOBSON: Our guys have played great. We've had about six weeks here where we have played really good basketball. Our defense has gotten a lot better. Our rebounding has improved. Our offense has been pretty good all year. We just really like the way that we're playing.

Obviously, now, with studying Texas, we know we've got our hands full tomorrow. Their back court is really, really good, big up front, huge at that center position. The guys that play that center position give you some different looks and some versatility there with what they can do with their lineup. Then they test you in a lot of ways. You're going to have to handle the press, they're going to trap you some.

They're just different than a lot of games that you play during the course of the year in that they try to find ways to force you to play different than you practice. You just don't see that all the time. So we've got a lot on our plate.

But like I said, our guys are playing great basketball. Our guys have got a lot of confidence in who we are and what we do, so we're looking forward to it.

Q. Coach, you've had about five days to prepare for them. As you really study them, do they resemble anybody that you've played during the regular season whether it was in the Valley or in non-conference play?
COACH JACOBSON: Yeah, in the league, Wichita State would be the most similar. And Wichita State, they aren't known as a full-court press, trap type of team, although they do free throws, dead ball. They are going to press you and they are going to trap you and they're going to force you to have to handle that and do some different things. So you see some of that against Wichita State.

The back court, with Fred and with Ron, one of the best back courts that we've had in our league, I think one of the better back courts in the country. And Felix and Taylor are really, really good players in the back court for Texas.

Then within our league, Wichita's got the most size in our league as well, the most athleticism in the middle of their lineup and the most size up front. And Wichita -- Texas has both of those things. That would be the team that is most similar.

Q. Coach, how does this NCAA Tournament appearance compare in the sense that in other years you kind of had guys you had built for it a little bit. This year you came in and were missing your point guard, Deon, from last year. How did this compare? Not that you didn't expect success, but to be here at this point.
COACH JACOBSON: The biggest difference in terms of our lineup with this year's team and our team last year, our team in 2010 is really the experience and the depth. Last year we had five seniors and the juniors, of course, that are seniors this year. In 2010, we had five seniors and I think we had four juniors maybe on that team. Then we were playing more nine, ten guys on both those teams. This year we're playing seven. Ted's playing a little bit. So those would be the two biggest differences.

Outside of that, in terms of the leadership we're getting from Bo and from Wes and from Paul, it's every bit as good as the leadership we were getting last year from Seth, and Deon, and Marv and Nate and Max, and the same with the 2010 team. So they're doing all of the same things and doing them at a high level. We just don't have as many of them.

Q. In general, your defense is built on the ability to double down and then rotate back. How much will you tweak that in a situation like this facing a team as big as Texas might be?
COACH JACOBSON: Yeah, that's going to be one of the challenges tomorrow. There is no question. Some may or -- really, I don't know if it will depend a whole lot on whether Ridley plays or he doesn't play, simply because we're going to have to find some ways to defend the low block. If he does play, it gives them their best low block offensive guy. When he has been healthy and he has played, he's been a really hard guy to handle. So that would present one more challenge. If he doesn't play, the two guys that are playing there are both really good as well. So, again, I think either way, whether he's healthy enough to play a lot or not, we're going to have to find some ways to do that.

We changed it about four, five weeks ago. We changed a little bit in terms of how we defend the post and where we help from. So we're going to continue to play the way we have and let Jeremy, maybe let another defender roam around and try to make some plays in the post. If that isn't effective for us, then we're going to have to go to some other things.

Q. Following up a little, do you think this team -- last year's team was ranked all year and got a lot of attention. Do you think this year's team is appreciated maybe as much for what they've accomplished because people see it as kind of a Cinderella run?
COACH JACOBSON: Oh, I don't know, I guess, with how it's necessarily perceived. I would say when you fall to 2-6 in your league, the national attention goes away, as it should. If you're going to be known nationally and you're going to have people talking about you on ESPN and everywhere else around the country, you have to win games and you have to be in a position where people should talk about you. So that obviously is different from a year ago.

But I do think because of what we did in the non-conference with our game against North Carolina, with our game against Iowa State, that obviously put us out there again in terms of the national media. Then winning 12 of 13, and the way we finished and winning our league tournament, I think it was easy to put us right back there in terms of the national attention and national media simply because of what we did last year in the game against Carolina and the game against Iowa State.

Now, they're certainly different because we took a couple weeks off, so there is a little different feeling. But in terms of how that's perceived, I don't know. I think the best thing about it, I think our guys really don't pay any attention to it.

Q. Couple days ago you said that you've talked to your players a lot about expectations or at least occasionally at the beginning of the year or going into the spring. Before a game, do you remind them of the moment and the fact that you guys have come here and won games in dramatic fashion? Have you talked about that at all?
COACH JACOBSON: When we get this close to it, that isn't something that I talk with the guys about. Again, those conversations about our expectations and our goals, that happens more when we get started in the summer, as I've talked about, when we get started with practice. It may come up once or twice during the course of the year, depending on what's happening with our team, but at this point it's what we do talk about each and every day, and that is you're going to play one possession at a time as hard as you can play. When that play's done, you're going to play the next play as hard as you can play. When that play's done, you're going to do it again.

We're at that point now, and this team has gotten really good at that. We weren't very good at it. Even non-league, we were okay at it. We weren't very good at it early January, and these guys have really grown in that area. The ability to -- if they miss a shot or they don't make a great play, it just doesn't bother them anymore, and it used to. So now it's much more about depth.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: OKLAHOMA

March 17, 2016

Paul Jesperson

Matt Bohannon

Wes Washpun

Ben Jacobson