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

March 16, 2017

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Middle Tennessee - 81, Minnesota - 72

THE MODERATOR: Joined by Middle Tennessee student-athletes, Reggie Upshaw and JaCorey Williams, and Middle Tennessee Head Coach Kermit Davis, who will make an opening statement, and then questions for the student-athletes.

Coach, congratulations. Go ahead.

COACH DAVIS: Thank you. I'd like to compliment Minnesota and Richard. He's a good friend of mine, and the turnaround they had this year was terrific. We beat a really physical, tough Big Ten, the team that had won at Purdue, won at Maryland. I thought our team, you know, we got out 0-7 but we're getting balls where we wanted. Lynch kind of intimidated us earlier. Minnesota made a great run. Reggie really made some great plays for us in a 4, 5-minute stretch. Balanced scoring and the key today was 37-24 rebounding. So plus 13 for us is a big part of the win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes, please.

Q. Reggie, Coach just mentioned that the plays that you made when Minnesota was making that run, what's going through your head and what were you doing during that stretch?
REGGIE UPSHAW: During the timeout, you know, we were confident that we would be able to weather the storm of their run, but, you know, in my head I was just thinking I'm a senior leader so, you know, JaCorey was having a rough night so I just -- Giddy was in foul trouble. I felt like this was the perfect time for me to kind of step up and, you know, kind of shoulder the offense and try to get everybody else going.

Q. JaCorey, talk about Brandon's play there in the first half, especially when you guys got down 7-0 and how he was able to kind of give you guys some energy off the bench.
JACOREY WILLIAMS: I think Brandon took it as a challenge to come in and affect the game. He came in and immediately did that. He gave us a great spark, got a couple nice buckets, got a couple blocked shots off the bench. Rebounding the ball and we had to match up with Reggie Lynch, so he was the perfect guy to put in the game at the time.

Q. Reggie, how big was Aldonis Foote today, he's an energy guy and plays at the front, 1-3-1. How big was he today?
REGGIE UPSHAW: Anytime you can get like Aldonis to come off the bench and provide a spark when the starters kind of go out, that's always big, and today was a prime example of how our bench is a key to our success.

Q. Both you guys, what was it like today seeing Lynch in person and also the 1-3-1, how much do you think that bothered them today when you switched it out in the first half?
REGGIE UPSHAW: Well, seeing him in person, it reminded me of our center when I was a freshman. They had the same kind of similar build as far as just really long arms and really athletic. I feel like the 13 was probably the reason we won today. It kind of threw their guards off it, definitely threw off Mason. He's used to just kind of coming down the court and creating mismatches off ball screens, so when we were able go to our 13, back to our double fist, it threw him off. He wasn't able to get in the paint and make plays for others.

JACOREY WILLIAMS: I think --

Q. Go ahead.
JACOREY WILLIAMS: I think Reggie Lynch really started the game off with a great impact for their team. He's real big, hard to kind of play with him inside, he was blocking shots, rebounding. Kind of changed the game a little bit, went to the 1-3-1, like Reggie said, it's really our bread and butter, kind of helped the whole team guard everybody on the court.

Q. Reggie, second year in a row you guys have beat a Big Ten team in the first round. How did this feel different tonight, or did it feel different tonight from the game last year?
REGGIE UPSHAW: It's really the same. The only difference was last year we were a major underdog, and this year everybody kind of had us either winning by 2 or losing by 2. Pretty much even matchup. But, you know, we still kept the same mindset coming into the game. We just played our game, you know, we would be able to walk away with a win.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for the student-athletes? Thanks, guys.

Questions for Coach, please.

Q. Coach, you guys took care of the ball really well again today. Talk about how you were able to keep possession.
COACH DAVIS: We're one of the top 15 teams in the country in assist to turnovers, and tonight, 19-8, Minnesota is one of the best defensive teams in the Big Ten. So it was a key part and they did a good job, too. Even as much as we were trying to be active in our 13, they only turned it 8. It was kind a well-played game by both teams taking care of it.

Q. Coach, at this point in the year, how big is that all-hands-on-deck mentality where everyone comes to play, everyone contributes in their own way, how big is that this time of the year?
COACH DAVIS: I thought if we had any kind of advantage, I thought the depth, you know, we're going to play ten guys and thought all ten guys made a contribution. You know, we got to their bench a little bit and it is. It's what made us good. You can't win the number of games we've won, you know, with people getting nicked up, fighting foul trouble, in and out of different games unless you've got a strong bench. We got down 7-0. I thought Foote and Brandon Walters, Antwain Johnson settled us back in to get in the flow of the game right.

Q. Kermit, how much did the experience last year help you guys tonight? Very much looked like a veteran team, a NCAA Tournament veteran team out there.
COACH DAVIS: I don't think there's any question. Our team has had that the whole year. You have Giddy and Reggie who were the two leading scorers in the win a year ago. Four other guys played.

So, our team, we're a loose team, we have a lot of fun, but when you blow the whistle, that team is a focused group, great practice team. Today at game day practice right on point, and there was no doubt in their mind that they thought they were going to win the game.

Q. Kermit, in particular the Reggie 3 from the wing, I think they had cut the lead to 4. How big was that particular shot and what did you see from him in that stretch when he kind took the game over?
COACH DAVIS: He made that shot. Made one at UAB a couple weeks ago, Joe, as you know, and then we just started trying to call some set things for him. And even when you call set things for him, Minnesota is so good you still have to go make plays over people. The step-back kind of the old school, 1950, you know, off the wrong foot shot about 15 feet was really a big shot, and he just done that, Joe. He's winning better than any player in the history of our school. He made big shot, big play, you know, for the last two, three years.

Q. Kermit, was your plan to try to attack them early and get them in foul trouble, get their bigs in foul trouble? Was -- even though you're down 0-7, you're starting to get some fouls on them.
COACH DAVIS: No question. Walters is a big guy. You look at how JaCorey and Reggie play, it's really about 17, 18 feet downhill off the dribble. Lot of things we do offensively is not sitting a guy on the post with them, but it's driving the ball. And so really we've had a lot of success whoever we've played, being able to spread the floor and drive their bigs, because they're good defensive guys.

And so that was the plan, and they did a good job early, Lynch did, but I thought it affected the game as it went on.

Q. Kermit, obviously the mismatch in the seeding, 5 versus 12, should this be called an upset, especially given what you guys did last year and what you looked like tonight?
COACH DAVIS: I don't think so at all. I don't. We have a lot of respect for Minnesota. Our record speaks for itself and kind of what we've done all year long. And I think just Reggie said, it's about a pick'em game, and it was a good team and -- but I know our players don't think it was an upset by any means.

Q. Kermit, what about Tyrik tonight, a couple moments in the second half you weren't especially happy with a couple things. He also made a lot of plays for you guys. What did you see from him --
COACH DAVIS: About the first thing he kind of said back, "It was only my first turnover." I said, "Well, you're right, Tyrik, that's pretty good."

So he really had a great floor game, 5 assists, 1 turnover, a big 3 on a set play. He doesn't play like a freshman. Got great toughness. He's kind of the stability of our team.

Q. Coach, could you talk a little bit what your game plan was to keep Minnesota off the rebounds? You held them to only 4 offensive rebounds today.
COACH DAVIS: We're just a rebounding team. Obviously, it's an emphasis every time we play, especially when you play Minnesota. I think the changing of defenses, it kind of gets people to stand at times. And so when we go from our 1-3-1 to 2-3 zone, back to some man-to-man, and so teams don't get in a great rhythm of offense. I think when teams get in a better rhythm of offense, they become a better rebounding team. I think some of those changes probably affected that.

Q. How much better equipped do you think this team is to turn this around two days later and try to win a big game?
COACH DAVIS: Yeah. I think we're totally different than we were last year. I loved our team last year. I just think with our depth and our experience and the amount of games we've won, the teams that we've beaten on our schedule, Joe, Butler, I've got -- I took this program over 15 years ago. My biggest goal was trying to get our program to be like Butler, the stability, what they've done, you know, all those things are things that are important.

I have a ton of respect for their program. But I think it's going to be a heck of a basketball game. I think it's going to be two really good teams, and should be kind of a game like this one tonight, I bet.

Q. Do you expect Saturday's game to be rather low scoring?
COACH DAVIS: It's two good defensive teams. It is. You beat Villanova twice, you've got to be a heck of a defensive team. I watched about 10, 12 minutes live. We've done a lot of scouting on them. It's always been one of the best positioned defenses in the country, you know, so we have to have great ball movement.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach? Thank you. Congratulations.

COACH DAVIS: Thanks, guys. Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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