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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 9, 2017Chris CollinsBryant McIntoshVic LawWashington, D.C. Northwestern - 83, Rutgers - 61 THE MODERATOR: We'll ask Coach Collins to make an opening statement, then go to questions. COACH COLLINS: Just really proud of my team tonight. We knew Rutgers was a hot team coming in. They won two in a row. They were playing with a lot of confidence, very physical team, very tough-minded, defensive team. I thought our energy to start the game was really good. We were connected on both ends. We obviously had that big run that kind of gave us the separation we needed. Thought we got contributions from a lot of guys, which is when we're at our best. Balanced scoring, a lot of assists. When we do that, we're a pretty good team. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the students. Q. Vic, last game against Rutgers, you struggled. What was different in this game? VIC LAW: I think I was driving the ball a lot more, getting to the free-throw line. I think when I was going through the slump, I settled for a lot of jump shots, been off balance a little bit. Tonight I got off to a good start, attacking the rim the first ball. Q. Bryant, you've been in some tough battles with Maryland over the past few years. How excited are you to get another opportunity to go at them again tomorrow? BRYANT McINTOSH: Yeah, it's a great opportunity. First off, you're basically playing them in their home gym. To get another shot at them, I feel like we played tired the last time we played them at home. It's just a great opportunity when you get to play for a chance to go to the Final Four, the Big Ten tournament. It's just a wonderful opportunity. I think all of us are excited for it. Q. You went on a 31-0 run in the first half. What is it like when you're going on a run like that? VIC LAW: I think it's an awesome feeling. It felt like we were clicking on all cylinders tonight. We've been in some tough games the last two games against Michigan and Purdue. Purdue, we couldn't make plays down the stretch. To come out tonight, to be as efficient and effective as we were offensively, on the defensive end, to match Rutgers' physicality on the glass, it was a fun night to play. Everything seemed to be working. Glad everybody was able to contribute. BRYANT McINTOSH: I was just really happy with how we defended in that segment. Coming out in the game, we weren't exactly happy with our energy defensively. We didn't feel we were executing the game plan. We finally spoke it, spoke about it. Coach got on us a little bit. We responded, finally executed the game plan. Got things going in transition. Our wings really excel in that. Q. Vic, you were asked about your personal breaking out of that slump a little bit. Team-wide, how contagious is it when everybody starts hitting shots? VIC LAW: I mean, I just think tonight everybody was ready to play. I don't think it was as much about me not being able to shoot the ball good or bad. I just think everybody was prepared to play. We were really executing on offense. We got a lot of good shots. Really driving the ball. I'm happy with me tonight. I think this is a team where anybody can shoot the ball well. Q. Can either of you describe the reaction when Nate made the three at the end instead of kicking the ball to Charlie in the corner? There was celebration, awkward faces on the bench. BRYANT McINTOSH: Yeah, I think we were a little upset just because Charlie is a guy that comes in every day, does his job. It's a role that is hard to accept. You're not really a big part. You don't get to enjoy the fun things that we do as far as playing in games. When we get him in, we'd like to see if we can get him a shot, get him involved in the game. I think some of us were a little upset with Tap. We're glad he hit the shot, but we would have liked to get the ball to Charlie. Q. Vic, after a game like Purdue where you struggled, do you do anything differently leading up to the next game? VIC LAW: After the Purdue game, like I said earlier, when I watched the film with some coaches, I thought I took a lot of off-balance shots, a lot of contested shots, played into their hands defensively. Coming into this game, be a lot more aggressive, attacking the rim, try to shoot free throws. I don't think it takes away my confidence at all when you have a game like that. I think you just have to be just as aggressive, be another key factor for your team, help your team win in whatever way possible. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, fellas. We'll take questions for Coach Collins. Q. In years past, even this year, you haven't necessarily had the firepower. Tonight we saw a lot of offensive firepower. I'm guessing it's something you have known you were capable of. COACH COLLINS: You guys know earlier in the year when we were clicking on all cylinders, our two wings was averaging about 30 a game. Scotti was averaging 16. Vic was averaging 14. That was when we were at our best. When we didn't have to put everything on Bryant to be a scorer, we could just play and use each other. If you look at our balance tonight, that's what I love seeing. The two wings both getting 16, Pardon getting 13, McIntosh 13, Lumpkin getting 9, Skelly and Taphorn and Brown giving us production off the bench. When we move the ball, get assists, that's when we're at our best. I think you saw that tonight. Q. A lot of the key players in the locker room said when you were recruiting them, you sold them on being the first to make history. How does it feel to finally be in position to follow through on that? COACH COLLINS: Yeah, it feels great. We got an opportunity tomorrow playing in a game against Maryland, have the opportunity to go to the Final Four, the semifinals. I don't think we've ever done that as a program in the conference tournament. It's going to be a great opportunity. We're not even talking about what happens after this tournament. We came here to try to compete for a championship. I love the development of our program. I love the steps we've taken year in and year out, the development of our players. You're seeing a lot of guys out there that played a lot as young players, took some lumps, won some games, lost a lot of games, got in the gym, got better, got tougher, got together. Now, they believe. That's what's really cool for me as a coach. We come in believing we're supposed to play with these teams, believing we're going to win these games. That was a big step for us this year that I've really seen. Q. Dererk Pardon limped off. How is he feeling now? COACH COLLINS: He said he just twisted his ankle slightly. He was okay. Not a knee or anything. Said he rolled over on his ankle. I don't anticipate that being a problem for tomorrow. We'll get him some treatment. Should be ready to go tomorrow night. Q. Obviously your dad has been watching. What has your communication been like? COACH COLLINS: He wasn't able to be here this weekend. He's been working. They got him doing some games this week. I talked to him before the game. He's a dad. We don't really talk too much strategy. We don't really talk X's and O's. He loves our players. He's around a lot. He loves their relationship that he has as a mentor. At the end of the day, he's my dad, so he's boosting me up as my dad. He's wishing me luck, pumping me up, giving me well wishes. It's been great. It's been great. Unfortunately he's not here, but a lot of my family is, which makes it fun. Q. When you signed this year's class of juniors back in 2013, you talked about how they could be a big factor. What do they mean for the team? COACH COLLINS: I think they mean everything. Those were the first guys. Sanjay and Taphorn were freshmen. They're seniors now. They're my guys. They believed since day one. The group of four juniors, they were the first group of guys that believed in me and believed in us before there was a me and there was an us. I was never a head coach. I was a rookie coach trying to sell them on a dream, sell them on a vision, what this could mean for them if we could do something like this, how excited people would be about it. To see that come to fruition for them makes me proud because those are things we talked about when they were in high school. All they've done is come into our program and worked hard, figured it out, led others, brought others with them that are younger than them. I'm just so happy that that core of juniors and seniors are going to be the guys to do this and to make the history and do a lot of firsts we did in this program this year. Q. Last two games you played Maryland in College Park, down to the wire. You're still in the general region. Something that brings out the best in you guys, the best in them? COACH COLLINS: I just respect their program so much. For me, I've had an opportunity to compete against Maryland for a long time, long before I even came to Northwestern. The battles that I've been a part of in playing Maryland throughout the years with Coach Williams, now Coach Turgeon, who has become a very good friend of mine, someone I look up to. He's an outstanding coach. The way he runs his program, the way his kids play, I have an amazing amount of respect for how they do things. We've had some good games against them here the last couple years. At our place, they've kind of kicked our butts. They did that last month. We need to get rested, study up on those guys, watch the tape. We know there's going to be a lot of red in here. It's going to be a pro Maryland crowd. I love seeing the purple. I love seeing the contingent. Our people are going to be cheering loud. For all intents and purposes, it's going to be like a road game, against an NCAA tournament team, has as good a player in Melo Trimble as there is. I think it's a great opportunity for our team and our program. Q. You talk a lot about staying in the moment, focusing on the task at hand. How often do you think about the beginning of when you got here? COACH COLLINS: There were moments this year that I thought about it, when I came out into the crowd in Welsh-Ryan, it was packed. I thought a lot about it at the Purdue game last Sunday, when I came out and saw that crowd, I saw that energy. I just thought back to when we first started, what it looked like, how we had to work, grind, go through tough times, get our brains beat in, learn how to figure it out and just fight, just fight. There have been reflective moments for me this year certainly. I like to do that because we have worked incredibly hard. That being said, this isn't an end game. To me it's just a beginning. I want to strive for greater heights with this program. I want to be in the mix for conference championships in the regular season, in the tournament. To do that we have to continue to get better in a lot of ways. That's what we're going to keep striving for. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. COACH COLLINS: Thank you. See you tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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