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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: DENVERMarch 19, 2016Chris BeardRoger WoodsJosh HaginsDenver, Colorado Iowa State - 78, Little Rock - 61 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Little Rock. Coach, just some comments on today's game. COACH BEARD: Congratulations to Iowa State. A well-coached, talented team. It's the best offensive team we played this year. Very, very difficult to guard. As good as advertised. And I thought their defense tonight was fantastic. Maybe a little bit better than we were expecting. But that's a team we have a lot of respect for. We've played a very tough schedule this year, so I think when I say something like that's the best team we played this year, hopefully that will bring a little merit. I think that's a team that can win the regional and play in Houston. I really believe that. So congratulations to them. Personally I'm proud to be the coach at Little Rock, proud to coach these guys. I think this is my 22nd year in coaching, and every year when the season ends, the locker room is always filed with tears. Myself included. I've cried every year. I didn't cry this year. I'm happy, man. I'm the happiest I've ever been in my coaching career because I just had a chance to coach these guys and we really had a special season. I'm appreciative of our players taking me on this ride. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student-athletes. Q. Josh, talk about the defense that Monte Morris played on you in this game, sort of how you maybe tried to adjust to it in the second half. JOSH HAGINS: I mean, he's a good defender. You know what I'm saying? He's not a slacker. He's not somebody you kind of pick on on offense, you know what I mean? He can really guard. They brought plenty of help side. They were always there. Even when I got by him, there was a 6'9" guy waiting on me. They put together a really good defensive game plan. They made me give it up. I couldn't get too many looks. That's all credit to them. Q. You were able to contain Purdue's frontline, but Niang really had a big game. What was the difference in matchup tonight? ROGER WOODS: Two different styles. You know, Purdue, they wanted to go inside. So we had a lot of people in the lane. Iowa State, they like to spread out, get a lot of spacing. It was kind of hard to clog it up because they had good shooters. THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student-athletes at this time. Thank you, men. We'll continue with questions for Coach Beard. Q. You said that was the best team you'd played. Where does Niang rank in his performance against you this season? COACH BEARD: Yeah, he's a pro. He's going to play on TNT. I think he'll play in the NBA. He's as good as advertised. Watching all of his clips, you know, we kind of had an idea that he might be better going right than left. So we were thinking about trying to force him left a little bit. But it's a lot harder to do than talk about. I was getting on the guys a little bit in the timeouts, Can we force him left? Roger and all these guys, Coach, there's so much space, he can go left, too. That's what pro players can do. There's no real weaknesses. I think he's a great ambassador for college basketball, too. He seems like a great guy. Good sportsmanship, the whole deal. Got a lot of respect for him. He's a super player. He's going to make some money next year. Q. What about this team meant no tears for you? COACH BEARD: I don't understand the question. Q. You said you didn't cry after this season is over for these guys. Why with this team versus teams you coached in the past? COACH BEARD: I don't know. It's kind of like a surreal feeling. Normally all the locker rooms are the same. Today walking off the floor, there's like a calmness. Because as a coach, you don't ask your team to win every single game, you don't ask every team to win the national championship. That's the goal, but you ask your team to give you everything they have every day. You ask your guys to go to class and be good citizens and represent the school and represent the city, and to practice hard every day. That's what these guys have done. That's why we're one of the best stories in college basketball this year. We won 30 games - 30 games. 30-5 was our record this year. We would have liked to have played better tonight. This was not one of our best games. But give Iowa State credit. They're the reason we didn't play well tonight. They were well-coached, focused. I think they were ready for us. I don't think they were taking us lightly. But, yeah, no tears, because almost like a happiness that I had the opportunity to coach these guys. I told them, I say, Hey, guys, think back last year when your season ended. Do you remember what your coach said? Of course, they don't. I said, Remember this, look at me, eye contact. I'll do anything in the world for you. I'll be at your wedding one day. I'll be at your kid's graduation. I pray to God you'll be at my funeral. I pray to God that you'll be at my funeral and I won't have to be at one of yours. That's my only wish and prayer that that happens. I just love those players. We got really good players and good people. I'm just proud to be their coach. Q. Did you feel like your team was the underdog going into this game? How did you play it up with the players? How did you sell it to them? Did you try to drive that home or was this more about, We deserve to be here? COACH BEARD: Yeah, a little of both. Obviously we were the underdog. It's Iowa State. Got pro players. A couple guys going to play in the NBA from that team. But on the other hand, we feel like we deserved to be here. There was a lot of talk about a couple weeks ago about whether we were going to be in this tournament if we didn't win the Sunbelt Conference championship. I'm not on the committee, that's not my job, but at the time we had the best record in college basketball, we had more road wins than anybody in college basketball. We had the number one ranked defense in college basketball. I always thought we were going to the tournament whether we won it or not. A couple guys kind of shook me and said, We better go ahead and win the deal in New Orleans. So we did that. I think kind of a combination of both. I think we deserved to be here. We expected to win the game tonight. But we also understand that it would have took our best 40 minutes. It would have took the best 40 minutes we played this year, and we just didn't get it done. THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time, coach. COACH BEARD: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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