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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: WICHITAMarch 17, 2018Rob GrayGalen Robinson, Jr.Kelvin SampsonWichita, Kansas Michigan - 64, Houston - 63 MODERATOR: At this time we'll start the news conference with Coach's opening comments on this game. Tough match, Coach. Very difficult loss. 17 lead changes and 12 ties. COACH SAMPSON: Really proud of my team. You know, sports is a great metaphor for life sometimes. You know, it's not always fair. I thought our team deserved to win that game for 39 minutes and 57 seconds I thought we were the better team. You know, credit the kid for hitting a big shot. That was a big, big shot he hit. When you look at how that last -- those last possessions unfolded, you know, we had every chance to put the game away, but we didn't. And then that kid hit a huge shot. But really, really proud of my team. Congratulations to John and his group. They get to advance. Nothing but sportsmanship from our side. A lot of respect for John and his program. A lot of respect for my kids and how hard they fought, from the time we got together in June until tonight. These kids have done nothing but fight their hearts out. It's a team that was picked to finish sixth in their league. They were fighting tonight. We're a free-throw or missed shot away from going to the Sweet 16. That's how close it was. You know, and the biggest disappointment was I don't get to coach these kids another day. That's what I'm most disappointed about. I don't get to coach Rob and Devin, Wes and another day. That's really disappointing. But hopefully there are some lessons that they've learned that they can utilize in their life and move on and be better men, be better husbands, be better fathers. There's always lessons to be learned. But this was a tough one. MODERATOR: At this time we'll take questions for our student-athletes. Q. Rob, I know it's difficult, but can you describe from being three seconds away from going to the Sweet 16 to what eventually unfolded? ROB GRAY: Man, it's hard to put into words. You know, I feel like we had the game won, gave ourselves a chance. But you know, I try to view things from an optimistic standpoint. I'm just thankful God let us get this far. And losing in the NIT the first round the last two years and to pushing the UH brand to where it's at now, I'm just thankful that we got to be here. Of course, I wish we would be going to Los Angeles next week and practicing tomorrow, but you know, everything happens for a reason. And I'm just thankful to be here. Q. Galen, can you describe what you saw from your position on the court and what unfolded on that last play? GALEN ROBINSON, JR.: He passed it to Rahkman, tried to cut him off, make him pass it. You know, he hits Poole. I'm at the top of the key. Corey gives a good contest, and he just makes a tremendous shot. So hats off to him. Q. Rob, I know it's hard to process just now, but can you kind of reflect on what this program -- when you were there, what you were able to do or help bring this program back into the tournament and set it in motion for the years to come? ROB GRAY: Yeah, you know. That's the vision Coach Sampson recruited me on. It just means a lot to push the UH brand to a national attention and just show that we can compete with anyone no matter the conference. Like I said, I'm just thankful to be here. It's March Madness, you know. It's bigger than basketball, and you know, those guys in the locker room, I'm super proud of them. And we're all brothers for life, so I support all of them and I'm just thankful that we had this opportunity to come play in March. MODERATOR: Thanks a lot, guys. Rob, great college career. Thank you very much. At this time we'll take questions for Coach, please. Q. Coach, you mentioned about how close this team is. Can you share just what you told them after the game and the fact like you said that you will not be able to coach these four seniors again? COACH SAMPSON: Yeah. You know, we base everything we do on -- we have to play together. You know, we're -- we have -- other teams have things that we don't have, but we have some things other teams don't have. I think we -- I think our team does a good job of maximizing our strengths. And I told them I was proud of them for staying together, for fighting together. You know, we had a good game plan going in. I don't know if we could have executed it any better. We held that team to 35 percent from the field. We out-rebounded them. You know, we made -- the kid made a hell of a shot. He really did. But yeah, you know, coaches -- you're not always in it for the wins and the losses, you know. There's personal development, player development, you know, watching boys become men, watching them grow, watching them come together, be a team, you know, play for something bigger than themselves, all the life lessons. Every day is a lesson. But for this team to win 27 games this year and be that close to -- that ball had hit the rim somewhere, Houston would be getting on a plane next week flying to Los Angeles and Michigan would be giving their press conference second. That's how fine the line is between winning and losing. I want to say something about Devin Davis. Devin Davis grew as much as anybody in our program. Where he came from to where he was tonight, that play he made on the baseline where we run this little set we call brush. We got it on the baseline, drove. And he was a man, finished that play, got the end one. That was three points. The rebounds. You know, we were playing 6-1, 6 foot, 6 foot, 6-2 and 6-5, almost the entire last five minutes, and Devin was our center. And he was battling those 6-10, 6-11 kids as hard as he could. So there is no way -- there is no way we were even in the game without Devin. There was one huge play there that I wished could have been -- we were up 51-46 and they got a five-point play. That was a big play. That was a big play. Q. Coach, can you share what your defensive maneuvering and intent was when they inbounded the ball with three-plus seconds? COACH SAMPSON: Yeah. Well, you're not going to take -- I mean, they're going to get a shot. You just hope you contest it. You know, Corey, they swung it to a guy from 32 feet. He caught it, Corey contested it and they made it. MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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