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

March 14, 2018

Wichita, Kansas

THE MODERATOR: Before we start we're pleased to have with us senior Devin Davis and Rob Gray. Questions, please.

Q. Rob, maybe starting with you, I know the NCAA Tournament format, you're learning about these teams you don't see during the season very quickly on the fly, but San Diego State has this program-wide defensive reputation, but in the short window that you've tried to learn about them, what do you know about them offensively?
ROB GRAY: You know, they have Trey Kell, Malik Pope, Mitchell, some very good offensive players. I know they haven't been healthy all year, and they're rolling right now. They won nine in a row. They've been playing some really good basketball.

And it's a great quality first-round competition, and we're just looking forward to the chance to compete after losing in the championship game in Cincinnati by one point. We pride ourselves on defense and rebounding, and we know we'll have a good test coming out in the first round, and we'll get a chance to show everyone nationally what we've been working on all year and the pride that we have in our defense.

Q. Rob and Devin, by now you've probably heard that the last time this program, Houston, has won a NCAA Tournament game was 1984. What would that mean to get that first win under your belt, if you can win tomorrow night? And since it's been so long.
DEVIN DAVIS: It would mean a lot to the program and to the players. We've put in a lot of work since June and July to get to this moment, and we don't feel like we're done yet. So we're just going to play as hard as we can and just take it one game at a time.

ROB GRAY: Yeah. Exactly what he said. It'll mean a lot to the fan base, the alumni and everyone that's affiliated with Houston Cougar basketball program. We've been battling all year for them, and to make the tournament, I know they feel real good about that.

But we're looking to do a little bit more than that. We want to make a run, make some noise. And we believe in ourselves, and we're just thankful that we have this opportunity.

Q. For both of you, people talk about tournament experience being important this time of year. San Diego State has I think four guys who have played in it before. And I'm not sure you have anybody. Do you think that will be a factor, and if not, why not?
ROB GRAY: Did you play in a tournament, Dev?

DEVIN DAVIS: No.

ROB GRAY: We have a great leader, Coach Sampson. He's had a lot of tournament experience. He teaches us things every single day. He gives us the recipe to win. It's our job to listen and do our jobs and just compete as hard as we can. We understand we don't have any players who have played in the tournament, but we have a great leader we learn from each and every day.

And as far as San Diego State, that'll be an advantage that they have. They have players who have been in the tournament, and seen the competition level and understand what's at stake.

But we're pretty smart, even though we haven't been there. We listen to Coach Sampson. We watch film and we understand what's at stake, and we're just ready to go out and compete.

And in a sense it could be an advantage that we don't have anyone who's played in a tournament because we're all so excited to be here, and we're confident in our abilities and our energy, and our desperation is really going to help us with our competitive nature.

DEVIN DAVIS: We have a great head coach in Coach Sampson. We're going to buy in and listen to everything him and his staff have because they've put a lot of work into the scouts. So we're going to buy in to everything they're telling us.

We're excited. Nobody's played in this tournament. None of us have ever been here before, so we're excited. We're going to play as hard as we can, and we're going to play smart, too.

Q. For Devin, back on the thoughts about San Diego State offensively, Trey Kell scored 28 points in the Mountain West title game, and Malik Pope at points in his career has been talked about like an NBA guy. Watson is an experienced scorer. Jalen McDaniels has taken over games at times. When you try to scout a team like that, where do you start in terms of priorities defensively?
DEVIN DAVIS: Head of our defense, which would be our guards, and it's going to take all five defenders on the court to just guard, like to pick and roll, they're a heavy high pick and roll team. We know that. So it's going to take each and every player on the court to guard the ball. And we just have to stay focused all 40 minutes.

Q. Rob, after the Cincinnati game Coach Sampson was saying that playing so many games that weekend kind of caught up to you on Sunday, both teams, actually, in terms of fatigue. I think he gave you Monday off. How were the legs and how is the team's energy right now?
ROB GRAY: Well, you know, situations like this you can't afford to be tired at all. I feel great. I'm excited to be here. Those three games in three days is a little AAU-style format. I haven't played AAU in a long time.

So you could tell in that Cincinnati game it was very sluggish and ugly in the second half. Games like that, that's where we have to pride ourselves on the defensive and offensive rebound and be able to win. And those have been staples of our culture all year long. We just try to survive by any means. No matter if our legs are tired or not. It's all about mental toughness at this point.

Q. For both of you, does San Diego State remind you of anybody you've played this year that was on your schedule?
DEVIN DAVIS: With their length, I would say Wake Forest or when we scrimmaged against Baylor earlier in the year. They just have a lot of length in their front court. And talent-wise I would compare them to Wichita State. They have a lot of talent one through five.

ROB GRAY: Yeah. Same as he said, Baylor, Wake Forest, those long teams with the maybe seven-footers or six-ten guys coming off the bench. But we're a very small team. We understand that. I think we're about 318th out of all 351 schools when it comes to height. But we rarely get outrebounded and we pride ourselves on our hardness and toughness. We're not looking to make any excuses, just looking to go out here and get the job done no matter what it takes.

Q. The San Diego coach has been talking the last few days just about how physical you guys are. Obviously, as you just said, you're not the tallest team in the world. But do you think you're the most physical team in the country?
ROB GRAY: I'm not sure if we're exactly the most physical in the country, but I think we're in the conversation. I know we're Top 10 offensive rebounding team. We have a tendency to foul a lot, one of the higher fouling teams in the country. But it's just part of our effort and part of our nature to not back down and box out, make hustle plays and just bring it to the competition.

So we're definitely going to stick to our style. We're going to try to impose our will and just win in defensive rebounding, offensive rebounding battle, and that's been the key to our success all year. So don't need to change anything now.

DEVIN DAVIS: Yeah, we're a team full of little small guys, little height. But we all have big hearts and a lot of pride, and we're going to buy into the coaches and we're going to play as hard as we can.

Q. Rob, on the fouls, this time of year, do you have to change that approach in terms of not fouling as much as maybe you would in the regular season just because of the opportunities, the free chances to go to the line for the other teams and just the stakes are raised at this point?
ROB GRAY: Yeah. Well, Coach Sampson doesn't change no matter what it is. It could be a scrimmage versus a D-II team. He's been on us all year about fouling and just gift wrapping the other team two points. It's just something that comes with playing hard and being extra physical, blocking out and pursuing offensive rebounds.

So we're going to try to balance playing hard and playing smart as good as we can, but there's going to be mistakes. We're all human. So we just gotta try to do anything we can to win. And we definitely need to limit the fouls. We don't want to give them any free points.

Q. I know you all don't get to play West Coast teams that often, but West Coast kind of has a growing reputation for being I don't want to say soft, but more finesseful, the type of guys you see on San Diego's roster, long, really lean, like Jalen McDaniels and Malik Pope. But you don't see the thick guys like you guys have on your roster. Do you agree with that? And when you go play a West Coast team, do you feel like we want to show them how we play basketball over here?
DEVIN DAVIS: We don't see a difference in West Coast, East Coast. We just see an opponent and we have to be the best we can be, play the best that we can be. It doesn't matter who we're playing against. We just have to play to our culture, play to our style of play.

ROB GRAY: Yeah. I don't know if we've played any West Coast teams this year.

DEVIN DAVIS: No. No.

ROB GRAY: I will say, though, watching film on San Diego State in the Mountain West in the tournament, it is a little different, you know, as far as like the ball pressure and denial. It's just kind of like, you know, more finesse, it's like an offensive shoot-out, even though San Diego does have a high ranked defensive team on KenPom. I think they're 36 right now.

It may be finesse, but obviously they're doing a good job in matchups and limiting opponents scoring per possession. We can't really focus on East Coast-West Coast. Just gotta focus on the opponent, stick to our style and just try to impose our will and win the game in the small areas.

Q. You look at your roster. You don't have a lot of guys who were five-star All-American, McDonald's All-Americans, bunch of JC guys, a couple of transfers from mid major or low major schools. Is that an accurate assessment, and does that kind of bind you together and make you the team that you are because it seems like everybody's got a chip on their shoulder?
ROB GRAY: Extremely accurate. I know half of our team went to junior college. Me and Devin both went to junior college. No All-Americans, no five-stars, just a bunch of junkyard dogs, and that's how we gotta win. We pride ourselves on not being the most pretty and just getting the job done, and it's been working so far, and it's something Coach Sampson sticks to each and every day in practice.

And our toughness is what has to get us over the hump, whereas other teams may have height, length or athleticism. So we understand what we're capable of and what we're up against and we're going to stick to our game plan, and I'm very confident in my teammates.

DEVIN DAVIS: We don't mind being the underdog. It kind of makes us hungrier, I would say. Like Rob said, we just have to outwork our I guess less talent or less length that we have and just play to our culture.

ROB GRAY: And similar in the preseason, we were picked sixth in the American Athletic Conference, and they were going off five stars, length, all that. So we don't pay attention to that. We just let it fuel the fire, and I'm pretty sure there will be similar assessments here in the tournament.

So we just gotta kind of ignore that. If anything, just let it fuel us and get ready to go out there and compete.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, gentlemen. Best of luck tomorrow.

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