|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA MEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: LOUISVILLEMarch 24, 2016Kamari MurphySheldon McClellanAngel RodriguezTonye JekiriLouisville, Kentucky Villanova - 92, Miami - 69. Q. Talk about when you shot 60 percent. And it just seemed like every time you did something, they responded with something a little bit better. Just talk about, I mean, it wasn't a bad effort from you guys. KAMARI MURPHY: We just had a hard time. We know they're a great shooting team. They showed that tonight. Any defense we played, they had an answer for. And we couldn't get any stops like we wanted to. We didn't rebound like we were supposed to. So tip my hat to them. Best of luck to them. Q. Is their defense better than what it is on film because they switch and kind of try to confuse you? Is it better than maybe you can see that it is on film? KAMARI MURPHY: I mean, if we shot 50 percent, 50 percent from the three, it's not great neither, but, I mean, they just got more stops than we did and they made more shots. It may look like their defense is better, but when they're shooting 60 percent from the field and 60 percent from the three, you're not going to beat no team playing like that. Q. The run, just talk about what it's been for you guys. It's been a pretty good season for you guys. Didn't want to end here, but -- KAMARI MURPHY: Overall, I'm not satisfied, but the team we have, I feel like we could have went at least two more games into the tournament. But, I mean, we made it this far. We're fortunate. A lot of teams don't make it this far. A lot of people didn't think that we would make it this far. So I am pleased with that. But then again, I'm not satisfied with just losing in the Sweet 16. So we've got more work to do. We're losing a lot of guys. We've got guys coming in. So we've just got to prepare for the next season. Q. (Indiscernible)? TONYE JEKIRI: It's a great tournament. Now it's the last of our college career. Q. How hard is it going to be to take off that jersey for the last time? TONYE JEKIRI: It's really going to be difficult. We never pictured this to end this way, and we all had so much fun last night, talking and planning for this game. And before the game, we played music and we had so much fun. Nobody ever thinks this will be the last. It's just so difficult. Q. Was there a point in the game, Tonye, where you felt momentum kind of swing? Were you guys just battling the whole time against them? TONYE JEKIRI: Yeah. I mean, the second half, the whole momentum changed and moved on to them, and we battled a lot and we tried to fight back. And we did a pretty good job of bringing it down to eight late. It was just a great team, shooting the ball pretty good. We contested every shot, and they took so many difficult shots, and they made it. They have so many calls, too, going their way. So everything was just going towards that way. We couldn't do nothing about it. Q. As a senior, how are you going to look at this? Put this whole season into perspective at this point. Is this just about this game? Are you proud of what you guys did this year? TONYE JEKIRI: Yeah, I'm really proud. We've done so much for this program and we're proud of it. The coaches are proud of it. Our fans are really proud of it. We just felt like we should have done more. Just felt like we should have done more because we were having so much fun with each other in this trip. So we didn't really picture this as the last. So I just think to put it -- I think we did a good job and we're proud of it ourselves as a team. And I'd say we're ambassadors, representing the University of Miami. I think we did a pretty good job of it. Q. They went to you with the lob coming out of halftime. It seemed like nothing was able to get going inside the whole game. I know that was part of your game plan. Why was that not able to kind of come together? TONYE JEKIRI: It was just a miscue of not finishing. But that wasn't the case. I mean, we just wanted to get Mac and Angel going, because they've been the guys on fire, and if we can get them going, then more room we're looking for me and the other guys. And that was our game plan. But every time there's a ball screen, they tried the ball screen and they kind of like put two guys on the ball and make it difficult so that they couldn't give up the ball. So the coaching staff and the rest of the team was just trying to make sure that we try to get a good shot and could get it going. But it was so difficult. Q. (Indiscernible)? ANGEL RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, it's going to suck, but you know what? Like I said, I'm proud. I'm proud more than anything. I'm very hurt, but I'm very -- two times more proud than hurt. And it's been a pleasure playing for the University of Miami. Q. Them shooting 60 percent, you shot 57 percent. It wasn't like you guys lost it (indiscernible). ANGEL RODRIGUEZ: I don't think the percentages were an issue. We shot great percentages too. I just think the difference was they wanted it more than us, period. I mean, you can't convince me to think differently. Every loose ball, they got there before us. Any 50/50 rebound, they got it. And it probably doesn't add up, certain things in the stat sheet. But at the end of the day, they mean a lot, and they changed the game. Q. Early on, you're noticing your teammates are not doing what you're talking about, getting those hustle plays. How do you pull your team out of that? ANGEL RODRIGUEZ: I was very surprised we came out like that, including myself. I had two turnovers in the first couple of minutes. I'm not blaming anybody because, like I said, I started with two turnovers as well. I probably could have gotten a couple more loose balls. Who knows? But it's hard to stay together when a team comes out like that, but we did. We battled and we got into the game and we made a comeback. But we just didn't -- at that time we didn't get the stops we needed to get in order for us to take the lead or even tie the game. We'd punch them back after they'd punch us. Again, they made their run right after that. So I give a lot of credit to them. I'm not a sore loser. Q. Angel, at the under 12, second half, there was a loose ball that went out of bounds. Coach L seemed like he was pretty upset. What did he say to you guys at that point? ANGEL RODRIGUEZ: He was telling us like how the heck is the ball bouncing and bouncing and we look at it and they just get there before us. But that's the story of the game. They outplayed us. Q. Angel, you and Mac were both kind of able to get going, but nothing was able to really get going inside off of that. How do you account for that? ANGEL RODRIGUEZ: Well, they played a lot of zone too. It's hard to post and things like that. I felt like we attacked the paint and kicked it out for a lot of threes. So we got the ball to the paint like that. But as far as posting, I don't even think Tonye got a single touch. And so, obviously, they were getting a lot of touches in the paint. So we didn't involve our bigs how we should have and we didn't do a lot of things that we should have done, period. Q. (Indiscernible)? SHELDON MCCLELLAN: To have a great season, we definitely built winning ways on Miami basketball. It's definite the school should have a great season next year. Q. What did you see there when you all made your 16-2 run and it felt like you were getting back into the game and felt it was going to be possible to get back in it and win it? SHELDON MCCLELLAN: I feel like we made a great run in the first half and the second half. But throughout the second half, we didn't get those consecutive stops that we normally get. We always preach three stops in a row. We didn't get those today. And they shot a great percentage from three and two. So, I mean, they just out-hustled us, all the loose balls and things like that. So it just wasn't a good day for us. Q. Kris Jenkins, talk about his game and how difficult he was to defend. SHELDON MCCLELLAN: It was very difficult. Stretched far. He does a lot of picking and popping involving our big man so we have to switch. He had some tough shots. He hit a long NBA three with the shot clock winding down. So, I mean, they played great offensively so there's nothing we can do about that. Like I said, we just didn't get those consecutive stops that we needed. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|