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

March 19, 2017

Sacramento, California

Oregon - 75, Rhode Island - 72

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the Rhode Island Rams, our student-athletes are Jared Terrell, E.C. Matthews, Hassan Martin, Kuran Iverson and head coach, Dan Hurley. Coach, would you start us off your overall impressions of a well-played game tonight?

COACH HURLEY: Obviously, I think two really good teams, obviously two pretty evenly-matched teams. Credit to those guys, especially Tyler Dorsey had an amazing game. Lost him on some rotations. Obviously, he hit the big three there at the end.

Couldn't be prouder obviously of these guys, what they've done for the great state of Rhode Island, our amazing fans. This program, these guys to my right took over or came in when we were not in such great shape and then took us to a possession away from getting to the Sweet 16. The men to my right and the guys in the locker room, couldn't be prouder of them, an amazing season, conference champions, the run we've been on, the heart that we showed today and the high level of play. I thought it was amazing. We lost the game probably on the offensive glass there, that sequence, not rebounding the free throw and then not rebounding the missed three and then they hit the three. It was obviously huge. So the offensive glass of a big thing and Tyler Dorsey.

Then obviously just getting outscored at the line the way we did, minus 12 at the line in a tight game like that in a 1-possession game is obviously a big factor, but obviously it was an exciting game. It was a game that's great for our program. Couldn't be more excited for our players and credit to those guys. They have a good team.

Q. Dan, can you talk about the bench play and particularly what Stanford Robinson was able to give you today?
COACH HURLEY: Yeah, we have a deep team. That's how we were able to keep our heads above water the whole year when the health was a mess for us. Stan was big-time. He's come such a long way as a player since he transferred in. This was a guy that I think he was changing from lefty to righty at one point in Indiana and now he's running around hitting jump shots. He was so aggressive and downhill.

Obviously Hassan was struggling physically out there. His knee has been a problem. His knee was a problem coming out of the A-10 Tournament. It was an issue that week that we tried not to talk about, but Cyril Langevine probably did not look much like a freshman. He was a man out there. We showed our depth and the strength of the program.

Q. Coach Dana Altman gave you guys a ton of credit on defense. He said you guys were one of the best defensive teams that they faced all year. Can you talk about going into the game was your intention to pressure their guards out front and how that set up the game?
COACH HURLEY: Yeah, I mean, the one-day prep is tough. We wish we could have gotten may be in the first game out here, because we did lose -- I thought we did a great job on Dillon. Tyler we did lose on rotations and the lack of prep time, plus, also, too, Dana Altman is a heck of a coach, heck of an offensive coach. I thought we contested their guards, forced them into uncharacteristic amount of turnovers.

We didn't do what we normally do in terms of guarding the three-point line tonight. I think that probably had a little bit more to do with the greatness of Tyler Dorsey today.

Q. Jared and E.C., you guys have had a couple games lately where you had to hold on to a lead. What was different today that allowed Oregon to overtake you?
JARED TERRELL: I don't know how to respond to that. I just think my guys came out and fought their hardest, left it all out there all season. We had our ups and downs. Today was no different. We put everything out there, fought as hard as we could, just ended up coming up short.

COACH HURLEY: The difference in the game there, Tyler Dorsey hit a contested three and we missed a contested three.

Q. Coach, what does a season like this do for the program going forward now?
COACH HURLEY: I think what it does, first of all it's amazing for our players. They get a chance to play in the national stage, showcase their talents, which is great, obviously for our players. The experience has been amazing not only for the coaches and players in making us even more determined to be back up here on podiums with police escorts and playing in huge games.

It drives that hunger more. I think at the university level, our fan base, I think it ignites a fire and a desire, you know, for this to be who we are every year and making that total commitment. I'm lucky to have an amazing Athletic Director and President in Thorr Bjorn and Dave Dooley that have gotten behind this program, and I imagine we are going to get behind it even more so this becomes more the normal for us.

Q. I imagine now you have a chance to think about the game. How hard is it to think about that possession when Dylan Ennis missed that second free throw and they get those offensive rebounds and they get that three to tie it up and you guys weren't able to gap that board there?
JARED TERRELL: We failed to box out, just have the will to go get it. We do box out drills every day. Something that we should have taken advantage of and got the rebound and it should have ended at that, but they were able to get a couple more rebounds and able to get two shots up.

COACH HURLEY: You know, I think that's what makes -- that's the fine line between winning and losing. You secure that rebound -- it's easier to play offense down the stretch of games when you have the ball and you're tied or if you have the ball and you're up three. Down three, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, there's a level of panic that sets in, especially when the team is switching everything with the type of athletes and length they have. We're going to look back on that as coaches, probably, on this plane ride home tonight and it's going to be -- probably that sequence probably cost us the Sweet 16. It's devastating.

Q. Dan, hindsight being what it is, what could you have done to save a timeout for the last minute and draw something up there? Could you take us into clock management with E.C. coming in and out with foul trouble?
COACH HURLEY: We talked about it as a staff. I think when you're playing somebody the quality of Oregon, excuse me, I've taken a lot of heat for the pronunciation this last couple of days. We need to use the timeouts against a team of that level just to be in the position that we were in.

Would we have loved to have saved a timeout in case we had the ball with 18 seconds left down 3? You're trying to, in the moment, you know, stay -- keep the lead or stop surges from those guys. We do something called winning time every day. We did it in the ballroom today. We did it yesterday in practice. We ran an action that we ran against Houston to get a three earlier in the year, but their switching screwed us up and they did a great job of taking away the three-point line.

Q. Dan, to follow up on what you were saying there, it seemed like their length and athleticism outside affected you guys a lot in the second half. Was that a factor of why you got bogged down there for a large portion of it?
COACH HURLEY: Yeah, we were 51% from the field against a pretty good defensive team. Pretty good overall. We were shooting 60% in the second half. A team of that caliber and length was going to make adjustments. They were switching back and forth between the 2-3 and the man, and then something where they switched with four and then flatten over with the five.

They did a good job of mixing up their defenses and I think what hurt us on the perimeter was -- and injury is not our excuse, but if we have a healthy Hassan today we could have put more pressure in the paint posting him up. Physically he just didn't have it. It was almost like I took him out of the game in the last five minutes because my heart broke for him because he couldn't really go.

Q. Dan, as you look back at this run what are you going to remember the most?
COACH HURLEY: I'm going to remember Kuran Iverson and the way he's grown since he transferred from Memphis, the way he's developed his character as a man and the way he's changed the way people view him. He's now a champion and a winner, and he's going to have an amazing, I think, career in basketball beyond now because he's developed great habits as a man.

I'm going to remember Hassan Martin who has been a rock of this program. You don't get a chance to coach a better person than him. You don't get a chance to play with a better person than him. I'm going to think about those guys. I'm going to think about the different points of this year where we had to fight back and show our resolve and resiliency and the strength of these men. It's a special group. These guys did so much for our program and couldn't be prouder. Couldn't be prouder.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen.

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