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

March 20, 2016

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Oklahoma-85, VCU-81

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by the Oklahoma Sooners, Head Coach Lon Kruger, his student-athletes Jordan Woodard, Buddy Hield and Isaiah Cousins. Coach, your thoughts about this evening's game.

COACH KRUGER: I thought the game obviously I thought VCU did a terrific job of getting right back into it early in the second half. I thought they came out with real good energy and made some threes there early.

I thought our guys opened the ball game great, and we had good attack the first half. Then we got a little bit on our heels when they made their run in the second half, then responded great down the stretch. I mean, obviously these three guys made big plays. Buddy made huge shots, Jordan, Isaiah as well. Very proud of them. Very proud of them.

And great crowd. The crowd was fantastic. Certainly made a difference down the stretch, no doubt about that.

But congrats to VCU. I thought they were great and Will does a great job. Happy for our guys.

Q. Buddy and Jordan, could you describe the impact the crowd did have, Coach just talked about? One of the players said he likes hearing the crowd silent, and when they came back he kind of silenced them a little bit. He actually said they kind of thrived off of it a little bit.
BUDDY HIELD: The crowd helped us a lot. Even when we didn't -- when VCU came out and they ran their run, I know their crowd had the momentum going on. And I felt like Jordan carried us a little bit. For the first five minutes, he was able to make plays for us and get the crowd back involved. The crowd was there all night, and us making shots and them being there helped us build up momentum and keep us to keep going.

JORDAN WOODARD: It was great being able to play in Oklahoma City. The fans came out and they were strong down the stretch when we made our run. Buddy hit some big shots down the stretch and that got the crowd in the game. So playing in Oklahoma, it was great to finish it off strong.

Q. Isaiah and Buddy, Isaiah you can start, they made a great run and they took the lead. You guys have been through this a lot throughout your careers. I'm just curious how much that experience really helped you in this game and this game you guys seemed to handle it. Could you talk about how you got through that?
ISAIAH COUSINS: As a team we just held our composure and just moved on to the next play whatever happens. The last possession, whether it was a turnover or a bad shot, we just had to get it back the next possession and keep fighting through adversity. Because we knew if we get on a run with the crowd, the crowd was amazing. We'd just feed off that energy, so we just had to keep our composure up.

BUDDY HIELD: Yeah, like Isaiah said, just keep our composure and just play together for each other. I feel like we made a lot of good players for each other early in the game, passing some lobs to Khadeem and Jordan, and finding Khadeem at the rim. Everybody just played together as a group, and looked like ourselves back in early November, December.

Q. Lon, Buddy's Mr. Nice Guy in the basketball world, but when it's crunch time have you ever seen a guy with as much killer instinct than Buddy? Can you just talk about what it was to hear that chant ringing through the arena towards the end of the game?
COACH KRUGER: He's got really great focus at that moment when the shot needed to be made or a play needed to be made. He's done it so many times for us throughout his career and especially this year and again today. It seemed like every shot that he had that we needed, he stepped up and made it. And it's not that easy to do, especially with the defense leaning on you and targeting you. Buddy has been terrific with that at that moment, those moments all year long.

BUDDY HIELD: I just heard my name and stuff. It was special, but I couldn't do it all without my teammates. They find me in good spots. They were respecting and giving me the ball when Coach said give me the ball. We all did our parts. So hearing my name is special, but I'm just glad that we get to close out on a good note in front of OKC, with me, Ryan and Isaiah, especially our last game here. It's fun that we get to close out on a good note.

Q. Buddy, you've had a lot of big games over the last four months. Where does this rank?
BUDDY HIELD: I think this is the best one because it means a lot, because it's the NCAA Tournament, big stage, win or go home. And you don't get these moments back every time. Everybody's watching, so just relishing these type of moments is special.

Q. Buddy, you didn't get your first bucket until 9:28 of the first half. Are you aware of that? And what changed from the first half with 7 points to 29 in the second half? Were you aggressive, what happened?
BUDDY HIELD: I wasn't aware of it, because I feel like when my teammates were scoring, I was scoring because the energy in the arena was so loud and everybody was just making plays for each other. So even when I scored, I didn't really feel like it. I just know we had a big lead. Our objective was to keep on increasing the lead and making it grow.

Scoring 29 points, I didn't know I had that, but I just knew I was scoring the ball a lot. Just glad that we got the win.

Q. Lon, the bigs on the inside did a great job guarding the paint. I don't think Mo Cox had anything in the first half. What did you guys do there? And what did you see with the lob game that was working? And Jordan, the flip side on that, offensively for you, what did you see that you were able to get to the hole and make shots there?
COACH KRUGER: Well, Alie-Cox is really tough inside. I thought Khadeem opened the game battling him pretty well. I thought the other guys on the perimeter had good awareness and were helping when they needed to. Didn't have a shot attempt in the first half, so we felt good about that.

Second half he got away a little bit, got loose a little bit. But he's such a good player you know he's going to fight and do different things in the second half.

But I thought our guys battled it pretty well. Then the guys made good plays at the rim for each other with regard to the lobs. They attacked and drew the attention of the defender and made the play to the teammates. So guys made a lot of good plays with that.

JORDAN WOODARD: To answer your question, it was good. Early on, we got a lot of lobs and the bigs were patrolling the paint, so it was easier for me to attack and get to the rim because the bigs were really worried about them getting dunks. I just wanted to get to the hole and not settle for jump shots.

Q. Will said that when Khadeem -- if Khadeem stays on the floor for you guys, you can win it all. His impact? He stayed on the floor today, and I think maybe we saw his impact. Can you describe that as well?
COACH KRUGER: Even though Khadeem didn't block a lot of shots I think he still affects shots in the paint, and I think Will mentioned that after the ball game. Yeah, he's got a good knack. He's long and rangy in there, and any time a guy's going to the paint, they've at least got Khadeem on their mind a little bit. Even if he doesn't block the shot, he may change it a bit.

Q. Jordan, I'm curious, in the second half, when the offense got stagnant, you provided it by going to the hoop and taking them off the dribble and the guys kind of followed suit. Could you talk about the ability of your team today to get to the rim, and you were hitting those floaters banking them off. So talk about that a little bit, that shot.
JORDAN WOODARD: Yeah, just I felt like the glass was my friend, so I just wanted to get to the hole and try to make some plays and not settle for jump shots, like I said. But we've got a lot of play makers, so it's hard for the defense. They're just focused on taking away Buddy, so Isaiah's going to make plays. So it was easier for me to get to the hole.

Q. Isaiah, how critical was it in the first half when Buddy gets that second foul that you guys were actually able to extend the lead a little bit?
ISAIAH COUSINS: It was critical because at that point Buddy, like you said, he got fouled and he had around 6 points. So we all know, when the next half was going to come, Buddy was going to get hot as he did. So we just wanted to keep the pressure on them and then have something special coming for them in the second half.

Q. First, do you like Will's prediction that this team can win a National Championship with him on the floor?
COACH KRUGER: Well, after today, the Sixteen, they can. We're proud to be one of them. The guys understand what lies ahead and how tough the challenge is. I know they'll work hard in preparation and regardless who wins this ball game, we know the next opponent's going to be really tough.

Q. Buddy and Jordan, at one point you guys got out to a quick lead, got a big lead early. At one point your starters had 7 points, 7 points, 6 points, 6 points and 5 points, incredible balance. Melvin Johnson said that was a little demoralizing because he knew Buddy was eventually going to score. Can you maybe describe how the game changes when there is that much balance from your starting lineup?
BUDDY HIELD: It's good because that means we're sharing the ball and everybody's getting good shots. That means whatever we're doing, the defense is having a hard time rotating and trying to pick their poison, who to pick on, because everyone's finding an opening.

Our teammates did a great job. I thought Isaiah getting down, driving and kicking in the paint, Jordan making plays, Khadeem catching lobs, everybody did what they needed to do to get open and get easy shots and good shots for us.

Q. Khadeem gets into foul trouble the first couple of games, but he's also a very aggressive player. How do you keep him out of foul trouble but also allow him to be as aggressive as he has been this whole year?
COACH KRUGER: Khadeem has impact on the game, so we're just talking to him all the time about not picking up maybe that silly foul, that reach-in foul. When he keeps his hands up and he attacks up high, I think he avoids fouls pretty well. Sometimes when his hands get down low and he's going for steals -- on Friday, I think he fouled someone at 25 feet out, at the top of the key. Those type of fouls are the ones we're talking to him about trying to avoid. Because he's going to get some. Shot blockers are going to get some fouls. But we want him to be legit and not pick up those ones that aren't necessary.

Q. Buddy and Isaiah, playing for Oklahoma City was a big deal for you guys this year. Did we see why that was so important today? Do you feel like you're spring boarding a little bit to Anaheim, the way these two games went for you guys?
ISAIAH COUSINS: Just playing at Oklahoma City was a big -- it helped us a lot because of the fans. We kept saying just being here and not traveling so we have fresh legs and we have a lot of energy and be fresh as soon as we play in Oklahoma. So it just helped us a lot because we had a lot of things that we were able to take care of in front of the fans. And just being able to play two more games at Oklahoma, I felt it was fun.

BUDDY HIELD: Yeah, for sure, just what Isaiah said. Just being here in Oklahoma City is a blessing, and that's what we worked for all year, all season. Coach told us before the game, we're going to start off the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City. We worked so hard, and having the home crowd here helped us a lot.

Like Isaiah said, it helped us with traveling and helped us win games like this for us to advance to the next round. We've just got to keep building off that now.

Q. Could you talk about Ryan's play? The first half especially, his board work, I think you guys outrebound him by 12 or 13, whatever. Just what that does for your team, the extra possessions he gave you?
COACH KRUGER: Exactly that. Ryan kept the ball live on the offensive boards. Tapped out two or three misses and we got an extra shot on, extra possession. Ryan's going to work like that. Guys respect that. They know it's going to be Ryan every day, and didn't surprise anyone that he did that today. It was much needed.

Q. Buddy, you guys are back in the Sweet Sixteen, which is not where you want to end the season, which is where you ended the season last year. What lessons did you learn from last year to advance past this round?
BUDDY HIELD: Oh, last year we got beat by Michigan State, so they just outtoughed us on the board and we took plays off that we shouldn't. I took plays off that I shouldn't have taken off. So watching that film from last year, it hurts to see the things that we could have done to win the game.

So I'm just ready and glad we get the opportunity to redeem ourselves and to compete to go to the Elite Eight and potentially the Final Four.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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