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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: DETROITMarch 16, 2018LaVall JordanKamar BaldwinKelan MartinSean McDermottDetroit, Michigan Butler - 79, Arkansas - 62 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Butler. Coach Jordan, an opening statement. COACH JORDAN: First, I want to say congratulations to Coach Anderson. It's a great year. That's a really good basketball team. He's doing a heck of a job with their program. We knew today was going to be a fight, obviously, with their ability to press and extend the floor and apply pressure. We knew we had to handle that. I thought our guys responded. I was really proud of our effort on the glass because they're a heck of a rebounding team as well with their length and athleticism. It was all about response, and really proud of our seniors for stepping up, owning our huddles and making plays when we needed them. So we just talked about survive and advance. That's the nature of March. We knew it was going to be a 40-minute game. We got up big early. And we knew they had a run in them and we knew we had to hold on and get it back. But guys had a really good demeanor about them and we made good decisions late when it mattered. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Sean McDermott, Kelan Martin or Kamar Baldwin. Q. Sean, a lot of games have runs in them, but these were two absolute extreme runs -- 21-2 on your part, 27-6 countered by them. What's going through your mind and your emotions after they've put that 27-6 run on you guys and they take the lead after you guys were up so big? SEAN MCDERMOTT: Yeah, we were just moving on, focused on the next play, just next-possession mindset, try to get a stop if we're on defense, or if we're on offense try to get a bucket to get ourselves going again. But like Coach said, they're a heck of a team. So we knew they would have a run in them. Q. Kelan and Kamar, you guys combined for 61 points. Arkansas' big scorers, Barford and Macon, they didn't have anywhere near, they had 27. How did you feel outscoring their top scorers 61 to 27? KELAN MARTIN: I think Kamar and Aaron did a tremendous job on Barford and Macon. But they just did a tremendous job. I seen them watching film with the coaches last night, and they were just locked in on personnel. So give them credit. But those two are great players. KAMAR BALDWIN: To go off that, it was a team effort. It took all of us out there to shrink the court, and that's what we did. We just made them take tough 2s and limited their touches. So it was a team effort tonight. Q. I know Sean just referenced the next-play mentality you guys had. But, Kelan, there was a possession with about nine minutes to go when you miss a 3, long rebound, Arkansas went on a 2-on-1 break, and your freshman guard got a great stop and you came right back and answered with a 3. Big swing. Talk us through what your mentality was and how big of a play it was for you guys? KELAN MARTIN: It was a great play that Aaron made for us, and he found me again, just told me to keep shooting. I just knocked it in. Coach always says if you're open shoot it. Just don't pass up open shots. Q. Kamar, obviously you guys advanced to play Purdue, a team you're very familiar with, close by, you've already played this year, and they beat you guys handily in the first game. I know in conference play there are times you have to bounce back from defeats to other teams. Is it the same mindset going against Purdue that Sunday will be a different game, that what happened in December has nothing to do with what happens on Sunday? KAMAR BALDWIN: Can you repeat the question? Q. Facing Purdue again. They beat you badly the first time, two months ago. They beat you badly. How do you bounce back from that? KAMAR BALDWIN: We're just going to play Butler basketball, just stick with our system and just play together as a team like we always do. Q. Any of the players, you guys held them to 4-of-18 3-point shooting. They'd been shooting 40 percent. What was the key to holding them to 4-of-18? KELAN MARTIN: Just try and run them off the line. We talked about it in pregame. Just run them off the line and make them make tough twos, and I think we did a great job of that. And they missed some open shots as well. They were good looks, but just give credit to our defense. We were just locked in on the scouting report and the game plan. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach. Q. I want to start with the next round. I don't know if you've heard yet, but Isaac Haas has fractured his elbow, will be out for the next game. I wanted your thoughts on that. COACH JORDAN: They told me in the locker room there as we headed down here. Obviously the first thought goes out to Isaac and his family and Purdue and their program. You hate that for anybody, but especially a senior and his last run for that to take him out when they had a really good team, a really good chance to make a deep run. So I think our mentality doesn't change. It's not like they're going to play four guys. They have other players that are really good. We've got to be prepared for them. Q. What was your thoughts on holding them to 4-of-18 on 3s? And they made the big run at you, took the lead, then you guys then regained the lead at halftime and held it the rest of the game. How big was that run you made at the end of the first half to get the lead back up to five? COACH JORDAN: In regards to the 3-point line, that was a heavy discussion point throughout the week. We actually shot more 3s than them on the year by about five. And they shoot a high percentage, so when they take them they make them. We had to get them off the line. They do a good job in their motion offense, setting screens. I thought guys did a good job chasing them. We were good off the ball, which was a big emphasis. And then transition was the other part, where we gave up maybe two in transition, but we found them as they were flying up the court because we know that they play with pace. And so that was a big deal. And then the other, we got up big and I didn't expect to beat them by 20. Like I said, they've got firepower and some offensive weapons that can get you back in the game. I thought our guys just had a really good response when they came back to the huddle they made the run. It was all about the next play, as Sean said. So that mentality helped us keep a poise about us, even when they made a big run. Q. With Purdue, obviously a 7'2" guy goes out. They'll replace him with a 7'3" guy. Is it pretty much the same scouting report or is there some different strategies that you'll need to use on Sunday? COACH JORDAN: Yeah, I think offensively it changes things for them because Haas is such a factor on the offensive end of the court. Obviously the freshman, a big kid, he's a defender, shot-blocker, very mobile. So they had kind of a double-edged sword there where they can do a little offense/defense, and they're both 7-feet tall. Now you know the Edwards guys and the other players will get more aggressive because the points have to come from somewhere. We have to do a really good job with personnel. Matt's a great coach and they run really good stuff. And we've got to guard anything they throw at us. They've got veteran players, and they'll be ready. Q. Two-parter: You guys seemed like you did a nice job on Gafford. He was 2-of-9, kept him from going crazy. What was the key to that? And I think Butler is 11-1 in openers since 2001. I think you're the fifth coach in that run. So obviously you guys are all doing a pretty good job. What do you think about 11-1 and being the latest guy to win that first game? COACH JORDAN: 11-1 is because we've got pretty good players. And they've got a lot of pride in the program. So our seniors weren't satisfied with just getting here and getting to the tournament. Obviously we had to earn that. But they got bigger goals in mind. And so that's been the case the past two decades. And I think that -- you can feel that. You can see it. I think we worked with that mindset every day. And these guys have done a heck of a job this season. And what was your first question again? Q. About Gafford, holding Gafford. COACH JORDAN: The big fellow, obviously he presents a problem. He's big, long, athletic. We just wanted to keep him away from if basket. We got caught a couple times fronting a little bit too high and they threw it over the top and he was able to use his length. We wanted to stay between him and the basket and make it hard for him to score and give him no angles. So I thought Tyler and Nate did a great job. And we kept him off the glass. He had zero offensive rebounds -- or he got two. So it wasn't a big factor because we know that's part of his ability to help them is going to rebound and get putbacks. Q. I know this was your first tournament victory; congratulates on that. Was there any advice you had gotten leading up to this week of preparation that kind of prepared you for this moment, being your first time in the tournament as a head coach? COACH JORDAN: You know, I reached out to a couple of mentors just on prepping for the week, because you have Selection Sunday and then game's on Friday, so what to do with the four days in between. And outside of that, you just have a mindset of trying to do your best for these guys. They deserve it. You know they're going to work. You know they're going to pay attention to the game plan. So just making sure we're really clear on what we were asking of them, so that they can come out and play with big hearts and execute. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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