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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: RALEIGHMarch 19, 2016Chris HoltmannRoosevelt JonesKellen DunhamAndrew ChrabasczRaleigh, North Carolina Butler - 69, Virginia - 77 THE MODERATOR: We're now ready to begin the Butler press conference. Coach Holtmann could you please give us an opening statement. CHRIS HOLTMANN: You know, give Virginia a lot of credit. I said that to Tony after the game. I thought they were exceptional, particularly in the second half, and it's a credit to them. I just can't say enough about, you know, our seniors. I just think they are absolute warriors, and so proud to coach them. So proud to coach them, and I've been proud every day to coach them. My biggest regret is that I'm not going to have a chance to coach them another day. So that's certainly incredibly disappointing and abrupt, as it is for everybody, but we certainly give Virginia credit for a hard-fought game and a win. Q. Andrew, can you talk about the highs and lows of your game. ANDREW CHRABASCZ: Basically, it was just them finding me in open areas. They hedge hard. They are up in your face on defense and stuff like that. So just open areas, Kellen and Rose free up so much space on the offensive end. So it was just open areas, them finding me in sweet spots. Luckily I was able to knock them in today, but was a little short. Q. What about the last 15 minutes? ANDREW CHRABASCZ: They started switching 1 through 4 on me. Brogdon was on me the most. He played a great defense. As I said, that opened up opportunities for other guys as well. But, yeah, like I said, the outcome obviously hurts a lot more. Q. Roosevelt, what was it that they were doing in the second half that allowed them to shoot such a higher percentage? They were 38% in the first half and over 70 in the second half. ROOSEVELT JONES: They started decking the ball to the basket and posting up more in the second half. They must have made that impact at halftime to make sure they drive us and get to the lane. And Brogdon, he got me a couple times -- a few times on back-to-back possessions. So that kind of freed them up and opened more space on offensive end. So I'll take blame for that, because I let Brogdon get going and it opened space up for everybody else on their team. Q. Andrew, obviously, you said it was a tough loss, but can you describe the experience of coming to the Big Dance for two straight years now? ANDREW CHRABASCZ: I mean, it's still bittersweet, obviously. Our seniors, they deserve another weekend. Obviously, we worked all year for this. We put ourself in an opportunity to win this game and just fell a little short. So it's obviously very bittersweet, just because we made it but we wanted another weekend out of this at least. Q. This is for Andrew: You mentioned Brogdon was playing great defense. What specifically was he doing that maybe the other UVA defenders who had previously guarded you hadn't been doing? ANDREW CHRABASCZ: I mean, they were switching 1 through 4 at that point. So every ball screen I was going into, there was someone in my lap the entire time. With Brogdon he's obviously very physical on the defensive end. So like I said, that actually opened up other opportunities for other players because the court was more open. But, yeah, his physicality and then him switching just made it more difficult. Q. Kellen, was there a point in the game when you felt like it was slipping away from you guys, or did you feel like you were, I guess, within striking distance all of the way to the end? KELLEN DUNHAM: Yeah. I think we pretty confident throughout. Just their style of play, they play with a really slow tempo. So they're going to grind it out, just like we try to do, and we always felt like we were definitely in striking distance, but obviously they're a fantastic team. Q. Roosevelt, you had the chase-down block opportunity with about a minute left, did you feel like you could get there and how close were you to getting that clean? ROOSEVELT JONES: You talking about the chase-down block I had? Q. Yeah. ROOSEVELT JONES: I think they showed the replay. I didn't touch him at all. But the ref called the foul. I can't do anything about that. This is the last -- could be potentially the last game, so I'm trying make sure I do whatever I can to try to get the block in. I felt that I got it clean. I didn't touch his body at all but the ref felt otherwise. There's nothing I can do about it now. Q. For any of you, does Virginia, do they resemble any other opponent that you play this season? KELLEN DUNHAM: No. I would say not anybody that we played in particular. You know, they're a very good team. I'm not going to say they're exactly like us. But they have a lot of similarities, I think, on defense, but they have a unique style of play, I think. Q. Kellen, were you surprised at all, they mostly guarded you with a smaller guy rather than one of their bigger wings? KELLEN DUNHAM: I don't know if I was necessarily surprised. I've kind of seen it all, so I was kind of ready for anything. I think I was just able to have the opportunities and I was able to make the most of them. Q. Kellen, when Andrew is going off early in the game, was that a situation where you start really looking for him on almost every possession? KELLEN DUNHAM: Yeah. For sure. We felt like we had a matchup that we liked, and of course we're going to exploit it to try to win the game. He's such a fantastic player that he draws so much when he gets going, the 4-for-4 on threes. Like when he's hitting shots, he's almost unstoppable. So we try to go through him when he's really feeling it like that, and it was a joy to play with him out there for the last hour. THE MODERATOR: All right. Gentlemen, you're excused. Thank you very much. Q. This team's been knocked out of the Tournament the past two years by Michigan State playing a very physical half-court style, a team that was willing to play them the way they play. How cognizant of that were you? And was that sort of the idea to kind of beat them at their own game? CHRIS HOLTMANN: Yeah. This time of year you are who you are. So you're going try to play to your strengths and your style of play and not necessarily deviate from that. So, I don't know that -- I certainly was aware of the fact that they lost to Michigan State, but there's no question that we needed to play more physical than what we had at various times. I think we did that at times, particularly in the first half defensively, not as much in the second half. Q. Virginia goes 2-for-10 on three-pointers; had been shooting three-pointers very well. How much of a focus was that on your part? And did you have to give up something to defend them that well? CHRIS HOLTMANN: I think you're obviously aware of Brogdon and Perrantes. And they put great pressure on you with their ability to make shots and they really make contested shots at a really high level. You know, I think what hurt us was decking the ball and they isolated us in the second half. 4 isolated us on one side of the floor and drove us when we went a little bit smaller. They just put their head down and started decking it. We had trouble, as we have throughout various times. Give them credit. They made plays, made tough shots really in the second half. Q. Chris, what made Malcolm so effective on Andrew when they made the defensive switch? CHRIS HOLTMANN: I think he's Defensive Player of the Year in the league, isn't he? He's a terrific defender. He's smart, he's physical, he's strong. He doesn't give you angles or bail you out. You know, I think we posted him and got him, you know, Drew got to the foul line a couple times when Brogdon switched on him. They fouled him a couple times. There was a critical one where he didn't foul, he rolled up, at least that's what was called. And I think he's got a great feel for how to defend. He moves his feet well. He's tough. Q. Coach, you haven't had much time to reflect but given what Butler was in late January, do you leave Raleigh at least feeling you got as much out of the Bulldogs as anyone could have expected? CHRIS HOLTMANN: Yeah, it's obviously incredibly difficult, you know, as it is in every locker room. It was really emotional. But, listen, when you think about our seniors and just the transition they've had in the last couple years, and then our 3-6 start, and then obviously, you know, people we love and care about, in our basketball family that, you know, our whole program went through some things this year. So I can't say enough about our seniors, and their ability to lead us through some -- help us navigate through some difficult times. I think they've made an unbelievable impression on Butler, and I know Butler has made a real impression on them. So I'm really, really, really proud of this group and I'm really, really sad that I don't get to coach them another day. Q. Coach, as far as Virginia's rest of the season tournament, what quality do you like about them to carry them the rest of the way especially consider Michigan State is not in their path anymore? CHRIS HOLTMANN: You know, I think they are who they are. They're really physical and tough. They make it difficult for you to score. They're smart and intelligent in how they play. You know, I'm not certainly going to put any more undue pressure on Tony or Virginia than is already there. They've got the No. 1 seed by their name. But I think they're poised to have a very good tournament, and we have a great appreciation for how they play. Q. Chris, they used Perrantes a lot to shadow Dunham. Looked like he had a hard time getting open looks. Was that the reason why you finally moved him off the ball and paired him with Lewis? CHRIS HOLTMANN: I think that they didn't guard necessary -- we knew they were going to give Kellen a lot of attention. And a lot of people have played smaller, quicker guys on Kellen, tried to get up underneath him. That's been a recipe for a lot of people but, you know, they're detailed. It's not necessarily how big or small you are, it's how detailed you are. Perrantes did a good job. He's a highly detailed kid. I think there was a couple times where Kellen might have been able to get free and snap one off, but, you know, he commanded a lot of attention tonight, and deservedly so. THE MODERATOR: All right, Coach. Thank you very much. CHRIS HOLTMANN: All right. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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