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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 10, 2017Bob McKillopPeyton AldridgeJack GibbsPittsburgh, Pennsylvania DAVIDSON 73, Dayton 67 BOB McKILLOP: Two big plays there down the stretch by Jack Gibbs, no surprise, four years of big plays from Jack Gibbs. And yet the team defensive thought was extraordinary. We got stops. The rebounding was off the charts, and a game that we fought for 40 minutes. This is a very good Dayton team, a team that I think is dangerous as heck in the NCAA Tournament. So we are very pleased to have a victory in this quarterfinal round of the A-10 tournament. Q. Jack, talk about especially that last shot where you stepped back on Davis and hit it and just kind of what you were thinking and how you set it up? JACK GIBBS: Well, I just kind of wanted the ball in my hand at the end of the game, try to make a play. Tried to get some separation on the shot and luckily it went in. Q. Jack, you guys were in this position before against Dayton. You were up by 13 with 7:42 left. What allowed you to finish this game and why is the outcome different than the last one? JACK GIBBS: I think down the stretch of the season, we had a lot of close games, lost a couple in overtime. I think just learning how to finish a game off, I know in the past, we let teams speed us up and forced us into turnovers and bad shots and that gives them run-outs on the other side of the court, so I think just kind of stay poised under pressure. I know Dayton is a good team. We knew they were going it make a run towards the end and just kind of keep your cool and make the plays that we need to make down the stretch. I think we definitely learned from past games. I guess it paid dividends here. Q. Jack being what happened on that sequence, maybe a two-minute stretch and you threw your mask and there was a bit of dialogue with the referees? JACK GIBBS: It's March basketball. Things are going to get heated and I mean, it's just, I mean, it was a hard-fought game and it was a battle. So that's all I really have to say about that. Q. Peyton, you guys led most of the way, and then they get the three point lead late, first off, how is the team feeling at that point, and then kind of comment on Jack's two shots. PEYTON ALDRIGE: Yeah, we were fighting the whole game. We thought we had control of the whole game, so we wanted to -- they made a run and we now they were going to make a run so we wanted to stay poised and stay under control. I mean, he's unbelievable. He wanted the ball in his hands and he made two big shots for us. Q. Drew was just telling us, Peyton broke the building's scoring record yesterday and you broke it today. The coach was saying yesterday that you guys like the city, the venue so far, but I guess you're really settling in. JACK GIBBS: I couldn't let him have that for too long (laughing) no, but it's a great place to play. I mean, we're shooting the ball pretty well right now and we're excited about the outcomes of our last two games and we're looking forward to tomorrow's game. Q. At the end of the press conference said, you talked about what Dayton would do, wanting to speed everything up and make everything a challenge. How do you feel your team did in terms of execution in that area? BOB McKILLOP: I thought we were very good in the first half and that's how we built our lead. Early on we set the tone with Jack shooting two layups on curl plays. Peyton got a great backdoor cut coming out of a time-out. So we opened up the court and got cuts, and in the second half, they made our cuts difficult. And that's the great talent of the Dayton defensive team. I think they are a tremendous defensive team, and that's why I think they can be a dangerous out in the NCAA Tournament, because they defend, they certainly can shoot it, and they can attack you at five positions. Q. Jack, one of four now, to get 2,000 career points. Maybe how would you define his journey to get to this point and what he's been able to do to be one of those four? BOB McKILLOP: Well, I'm just delighted there's still time left on the clock for him. You coach a long period of time and you get an opportunity to coach some very special talents and young men. I've had that great gift given to me, and Jack has just been an extraordinary young man, as well as a great talent for me. Q. What did you see on the play when he ws knocked to the floor? BOB McKILLOP: You know, that's why I'm not a referee. I saw the body go down, the mask come up and I saw him setting a screen. Usually that play is someone maybe hits him above the shoulders, and the tape clearly revealed that it was not above the shoulder. It was below the shoulders. Q. You guys had a 12-point lead at halftime but they missed a lot of close looks. How helpful is it for you to have a guy like Gibbs, who has been big in those moments and can hit those big shots? BOB McKILLOP: You know, we saw that yesterday with Peyton Aldridge, and today we saw that with Jack Gibbs. Boy, there was some Dayton shots that rolled in and rolled out, especially down that stretch when we were able to maintain the lead. They were so close to going in, and just fell off the rim. In our loss to Rhode Island and our loss to Dayton earlier, within the past two or three weeks, we were in that same situation where those shots, those loose balls rolled off our fingerer and rolled off the rim. It came in our direction today. Q. Two-part question. What's key now in getting the guys ready as far as physically for tomorrow, and do you feel like things -- I mean, you guys are playing well at the right time? BOB McKILLOP: You know, we pride ourselves in being a team that learns its lessons because there is focus and there is a sense of care about listening to what they are told, following the script. And I thought today and yesterday were perfect examples of what we learned from the Dayton overtime loss and the Rhode Island overtime loss. We were in this same position last year. We had beaten La Salle and Bonaventure, emotional upset overtime game. So now we're almost in the same situation. Let's see if we have been able to learn from that and put that to good use as we prepare for whoever we play tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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