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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: DETROITMarch 18, 2018Jim BoehiemFrank HowardTyus BattleDetroit, Michigan Syracuse - 55, Michigan State - 53 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Syracuse. Coach, an opening statement. COACH BOEHEIM: Our defense has been good this whole tournament all the way. It's obviously been the key for us. We wanted to get to their shooters, and we did a great job of that. They made two bank shots, 3s and we were still able to persevere -- this team perseveres through no matter what happens. End of the first half, that's an impossible shot. And they bank one. The second half, I think they started out with three or four 3s in a row almost in the second half. And these guys just keep going, they keep battling. Frank fouls out, it doesn't faze them. They just keep going. And Tyus, he made the plays. With Frank out he's going to have the ball and we're going to go with what he can do. And he made all the big plays in the second half. Frank made some before he fouled out. But it was a great effort. I'm really, really -- it is very tough to play three games in five days at this level against the physicality. We knew they were going to get us on the boards. They really got us on the boards. These guys just battled the whole game. I'm very proud of them. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the players. Q. They went with a big lineup. How did you counteract that. I know they beat you on the boards, but you held them from scoring inside? FRANK HOWARD: Yeah, either way we still had a little size advantage on the perimeter with me, Tyus and Oshae and Miles probably the same size. But I think we just battled. We just kept battling. We knew they were going to punch us in the side a lot. And I think in some instances that kind of helped us a little bit, but it's just a fight, man. I think we just fought down the stretch and we came up when we needed to. Q. Tyus, going 8-for-8 in the second half with free throws, how were you able to keep your composure, not only just in front of a heavy Michigan State crowd but just a big game? TYUS BATTLE: I usually don't worry about the crowds and stuff like that. We play in front of big crowds all the time all throughout the year. So crowds today didn't bother me at all. Q. All year, one of your strengths has been rebounding from the guard spot and coming back down. How do you balance that when you know you're getting beat down on the boards down below but they're calling those fouls throughout the game? FRANK HOWARD: It's hard. Tried to stick my nose in there a few times, grab a few. Calls didn't go my way. But the guys picked me up -- the bigs, they fought hard, Braedon came in, stuck his nose in there, got a big rebound. Kudos to my teammates. They picked me up. A few of those I think they could have went our way, but they didn't. So we came out with the win. Q. Yesterday you guys had a lot of confidence. Coming into this game you kept fighting. Can you tell me about that? TYUS BATTLE: I mean, every time we step on the floor we don't care who is on the floor with us, we're expecting to win the game. So we have supreme confidence. I have supreme confidence in my teammates. Everyone steps up. Braedon came in, hadn't played much the entire year, stepped up and played some great defense. And it's just the heart of this team. It's amazing. It's amazing. Q. Tyus, talk about how much Coach stresses defense, because it was all D tonight. TYUS BATTLE: For us it's defense every night. We know we're a defensive-minded team, and we're only going to win games as long as our defense is moving. We're moving. We're talking, just making it tough on the opposing team to get up 3s and stuff like that. Q. Frank, I believe you're the only player on this team that went two years ago to the Final Four before losing to North Carolina. Has the rest of the team drew on your experience of being there through these three games against Arizona State, TCU and now Michigan State? FRANK HOWARD: I mean, off the court I try to let them experience it themselves. It's a special time of the year. This is what we all come to college for. So I try to let the young guys get their own experience. But on the court I just try to lead as much as I can, try to -- I'm a little hoarse right now, but lead with my voice, lead by example. And guys is doing a great job following up taking the initiative themselves. We've got a lot of fighters and a lot of talent. And with that combination, I think we can come up with some wins. Q. After Miles Bridges hit that thunderous dunk, MSU seemed to pull away at that point. The crowd was really into it. What changed with you guys after that that changed the complexity of the game? FRANK HOWARD: To be honest, nothing. Coach always stresses. COACH BOEHEIM: Calling a key timeout. FRANK HOWARD: I'm not giving him that one (laughter). But the timeout. Coach always stresses next play. But whatever happens on one end, we try to go down on the next end and try to get something good or hit a timeout, get ourselves together. But Coach has stressed poise all year. So that's what we try to do is stay poised. Q. It's obviously been a tough week for you guys winning three games in five days. Just put it in perspective what this win means to either one of you. TYUS BATTLE: It means a lot for us. I mean, we've just been fighting an entire year. We're constantly trying to prove ourselves in this tournament. And I think we've been doing a pretty good job with that so far. They're a very good Michigan State team, well-coached, very good players. And come out here, it's practically a home-court advantage, and to come out with a win is pretty impressive. Q. Frank, Jim mentioned yesterday that you couldn't take just one or two guys from Michigan State, you had to take away everybody. Was there any particular focus on defense that led you guys to the job you did? FRANK HOWARD: We just wanted to keep the ball out of the high post and keep the big out of the paint. They did a great job of finding open spots and having guys in and out. But I think our activity level and our length up top is tough for people. So, you know, when we can be big and clog those passing lanes, I think we can be successful. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach. Q. Overall game plan, heading into this, we know you're a great defensive-oriented team. Were there any one, two or three players that you specifically -- COACH BOEHEIM: Yeah, we didn't want Nairn -- we didn't want Langford and McQuaid to shoot the ball. We tried to get on them. When you get on a guy from the beginning, when they do finally get a shot later, then they're not ready. So I thought we did a good job of getting on them. I've never won a game when a team made -- banked two 3s against us. It would have been bad sitting up here if we lost by one and say we lost because we were unlucky. The first bank was the hardest and luckiest bank I've ever seen in my life. The second one was just a bank. But they made 8-for-37 and banked two shots for 3s. We did a good job covering those guys. It's hard to keep it out of the high post. We tried. They didn't -- we know that people go there, and we react to that, to the shooters so they can't get it out. We try to force that guy to do something there. And a couple of guys they had in there were trying to throw it out when it wasn't open. I think it really helped that Jackson didn't have a good game. I was most concerned about him in there, because he can make the play and score. And when guys miss a couple of foul line jump shots, everybody thinks that's where you should go and that's the shot. It's a hard shot. There aren't that many guys that turn and make that shot. In my 42 years, teams in that high post are shooting 22 percent. I don't know, but they don't shoot well there. But I was really concerned about him. We were concerned about the boards. They're physical. They're strong. They've got guys running at it. We've got to somehow find a way to sneak some out. And the game would have been lost on the boards if it came down to that. They got second-chance points in the paint there -- 21, that's a lot. But we kept them off their spots. And our problem was -- at the halftime was offense. That was our problem. Should have been tied at the half and we did nothing on offense. Tyus had one point. Frank had a couple. They struggled the last two games and we were able to win. I told them at halftime, we can't win without you two guys; you've got to go. Tyus, you've got to go. And FRANK made a couple of really tough shots when they were in those runs there, and then Tyus started well and then he finished. We tried to go to him at the end of the game with the lead. I thought he was going to make the 3 then he makes the pull-up to give us separation. We couldn't hang on to the ball down there twice. They had to foul. We just had to hang on the ball. So we made the end of the game more interesting. We're always going to foul in those situations. And it's always worked for us. I've seen too many games where a guy throws in a 3 and you go to overtime. So players are -- they deserve a lot of credit. Michigan State is a really, really good team. I think one thing that happens, it happened one year to us, the home court is a great thing, the advantage. But when you're in a close game at the end you feel like, we're home, we need to win this game. You start to feel that a little bit. And the last couple of jump shots they threw up, they weren't in the ballpark. Bridges is a great player, but we wanted to make him shoot from the outside. Q. You mentioned the five days, the three games in them, depth being a concern against a team like Michigan State, how do you come into this third and final game with rotations and minutes? COACH BOEHEIM: (Indiscernible) but we don't have rotations in minutes. It's easy to coach. I don't put anybody in. It's not like I'm thinking, I've got to get this guy in or that guy in. I just worry about our offense and our defense. We make desperation subbing. When Paschall gets in foul trouble, Bourama goes in. When one of the forward gets in trouble, Matt goes in. The guards don't come out. I get mad at them. I'm upset with them but they're not coming out. But we're pretty resilient. We're in good condition. Everybody says, pick up the pace, run. You can't run. If you run, we're going to beat you bad because we're going to get back and get set, and you're running and taking a quick shot. That's going to help us. You play against a team that gets their defense set -- they made two or three shots at the end of the shot clock. Shots we want -- the first shot of the second half, we wanted him to take that shot. He's six feet out, the shot clock is going and he makes it. Then they bank one. These guys just keep playing. They don't worry about that. They just don't worry about that. They just keep playing and we want to control it. We would like to run, but we don't ever get a rebound really to run off of. I think we got one fastbreak, and I think we might have scored. I'm not even sure now. But we're not getting fast breaks. And we can't exert energy running up and down the court. We need to save our energy. And in the half court set our guards work pretty hard. Our other guys are not doing a lot. They're setting screens and rolling; they're not doing a lot. But Oshae has been really good in this tournament. He's just a freshman, but he doesn't play like a freshman. He makes big plays. He's going against a great defensive player. He made great plays. But our guards have not played well on offense, and we need them moving forward. We've got to get them to play better offensively. There's some teams you can't stop. And you get in those situations in this tournament where you have to score. And today we got away with it, but that won't happen again. Q. How did things change offensively when Frank fouled out? COACH BOEHEIM: We just gave the ball to Tyus and opened it up. That's it. It doesn't really change, it really doesn't hurt our offense. For a short period of time it might help our offense. He's our best player. He's got the ball. So it hurts us on the defensive end a little bit but Braedon is a tough kid. He did a good job out there. He was good. I liked what he did. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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