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

March 17, 2017

Greenville, South Carolina

Duke - 87, Troy - 65

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Troy head coach Phil Cunningham and student-athletes Jordon Varnado and Wesley Person.

COACH CUNNINGHAM: I thought we fought today. And that was the one thing we wanted to make sure we did was play without fear. And these guys didn't. They didn't play with no fear.

We didn't start the game off very well getting down 16-4. And we thought we'd have the jitters and we did. And we played like that. We fought back, cut it to eight and second half cut it to nine.

They were good today. Duke was really good. They did a terrific job defensively. But we fought. And just so proud of our guys, just their mentality all week and showing no fear whatsoever. And when you go into a game like this, that's the first thing you want is the mentality to be right, and they were ready to play.

Q. Wesley, we talked in a feature story what it would take for you guys to come up here and shock the world and do that. You guys played tough, like Coach said. What was it -- you guys didn't come out firing, dropping 3s, like you normally do. You put them up, just wouldn't go down. What was it tonight that things just wouldn't go for you?
WESLEY PERSON: I guess it was just one of those nights. Shots just weren't falling for us. But we did some other things on offense good tonight like driving the ball. But I thought -- felt like we could have cut down on turnovers early and kept it close. Maybe we would have altered the outcome a little bit.

Q. For both players, you started out you all looked like you might have had the jitters coming out, then you all settled down midway second half. Talk about the mentality you got in this game, how you got settled and how that mentality manifested itself throughout the game?
JORDON VARNADO: Like you said, we had jitters coming out at the first, but we could settle down and calm down and tried to run the offense, try to cut down on our turnovers. At first we had a lot of turnovers in the first half. We just had to calm down and just try to play basketball.

WESLEY PERSON: I knew coming in there would be some nerves, first round of the tournament playing Duke. But I guess as the game went on and we calmed down a little bit, we cut back into their lead and got it back down to about eight late in the first half. And we just couldn't ever go on that one more big run to cut it a little bit closer.

Q. For both players, talking about the first half, seemed like every time in the first half you'd fight your way back, they'd hit a 3. I think they were 10-for-17 from 3. Any frustration as that was going on? Did you say, man, these guys, what do we have to do to stop them?
JORDON VARNADO: At first it was, because we kept giving them offensive rebounds and second-chance points and that's how they was hitting the 3s and transition buckets. We wasn't getting back to our mans and they were hitting wide open treys.

But we just had to realize the it's a game of runs and we just had to keep fighting, pushing on. And stuff like that.

WESLEY PERSON: And we knew coming in that they're a good shooting team. And our turnovers and breakdown in transition led to some open looks. Once they got it going, they just kept it going throughout the game.

Q. Both you guys scored in double digits today. How do you hope you can use this game and propel you guys to really just like another successful season next year?
WESLEY PERSON: Well, it was a good learning opportunity having a chance to come here and play in the tournament. And we have a lot coming back. We are losing three seniors. But we're a pretty deep team, and we got some guys ready to step into those roles. And it was just a good opportunity for us to play on the big stage.

JORDON VARNADO: Like Wesley said, we have a lot of guys coming back, but before this game it was a good feeling. We gotta use this as motivation and this fire that we have before this game and just try to come back hard and work during the offseason and just try to push on.

Q. Guys, outside of tonight's, the ending, the outcome tonight, how much has basketball been for you guys the last month, month and a half?
WESLEY PERSON: Oh, it's been a fun year. Whenever you have the opportunity to finally start winning some games, it just makes it a whole lot better and a whole lot more to enjoy.

JORDON VARNADO: Like Wesley said, it's been a fun year, a great year. But when the conference tournament started we know we had to stay focused. But also we enjoyed the ride we had during the conference tournament and the regular season. And especially when we got here, it's been a great journey this year.

Q. Wes, you and Alex both had some pretty awesome dunks in that game. Got the crowd going, the Troy fans going. Talk about the support that y'all had way out here in South Carolina?
WESLEY PERSON: Our support today was unbelievable. A lot of Troy fans made the trip here to South Carolina to support us, and they've been with us throughout the whole year. And they just kept believing in us, and I'm just glad to see so many Troy fans here in Greenville.

Q. Wes, you guys got within single digits a couple times throughout the entire game. But what kind of stopped you from even going further than that?
WESLEY PERSON: They play well offensively and defensively as well. Whenever we would try to go on those runs, a turnover or something would lead to some easy opportunities for them in transition. And it's hard to fight back whenever you turn the ball over.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach.

Q. 365 days ago, if you can remember back, what was going through your mind now, and what's going through your mind now -- what was going through your mind then, and what's going through your mind now and where your program is?
COACH CUNNINGHAM: Well, we had a tough ending to the year last year. And but what we did is we signed three guys in the spring that we knew could help push this team over the edge. We had eight of our top nine guys coming back. We signed those three guys.

They're probably, outside our office and outside our locker room, there's probably more hope than faith. And I understand why, but we signed those three guys. And once they got here, particularly DeVon Walker and what he added in terms of leadership that we kind of had a void of that until we got him, we felt like we had the ingredients to make a run like this.

And we probably thought it was a year away, a year ahead of schedule, but to just get to where we are today, from where we are last year, not only is it amazing for the team, but it shows the craziness of coaching right now, too, and how things can change.

Q. The nation definitely recognized Troy today, just being out there and all year with the football team and everything. Talk about what's next for the entire athletic program.
COACH CUNNINGHAM: Well, our athletic program right now is just enjoying unprecedented success. I mean, the run that we're on, as you mentioned in football and men's and women's basketball, it's unheard of for a school like this. And I just think it just builds momentum.

We were probably at a stage where we needed a year like this. We had the North End Zone project, needed to get that pushed. Football took care of that. And men's and women's basketball, we've been to a point where we need to try to get people regularly coming to the Trojan Arena more.

We needed something like this. You can do all the marketing and promotions you want, but nothing affects it like winning and having success.

So we've got to push, like these guys were talking, push on to that next level. But this run and what's going on right now in the athletic department is really, we're in a really good spot.

Q. Obviously a little bit slow coming out of the gate for y'all. Seemed like they couldn't miss from 3-point range at all throughout the game, especially in that first half. Talk about how you kept the squad together.
COACH CUNNINGHAM: Well, we were concerned about two things from a strategic standpoint: Their shooting, their ability to shoot the ball. If you look at their numbers, they've shot almost 40 percent as a team. And to play in the ACC, I guess the kind of defense they play against, that's phenomenal to shoot as a team. So we knew they were capable of doing what they did today.

The other thing we were concerned about was their length defensively. And it's ironic that I think both of those concerns came out to be true, because we really struggled to make shots against their length. We're 5-for-23 on 3s. Then you turn around and they're 13-for-28.

The third concern we had was they've been here, we haven't been there. How are our nerves going to be? And sure enough, we get down 16-4. So we just kept talking about chip away, chip away, and get back in this thing. And we did to our guys credit.

Because that's one of those things when you you're down 16-4, it can get away in a hurry against a talented team like that. We didn't allow it to happen even in the second half. We got it down to 9, but never got it to the point where we made the pressure mount on them. A bucket here or there and it kind of would have flipped the other way, and they would have had all the pressure on them as a higher seed.

Q. There at the end of the ballgame you made a point to empty the bench, so everyone could get the experience. But especially Whit and draining that free throw. Just talk about him and what he's done as a walk-on guy?
COACH CUNNINGHAM: When Whit joined the team, we didn't know a whole lot about him, just knew he was a pretty good player, pretty good walk-on. And what he's added to the team, he's got an infectious personality. You see our fans love him, but our players love him, too.

And he's done a good job. And it was -- we had to make sure we got everybody in the game there, because this is an incredible experience. And it worked out good because as a coach you worry about let's don't get -- make sure we get everybody in and not get beat by 30 at the same time. And we kept fighting and that allowed us to get all those guys in and keep the score where it was.

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