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NCAA MEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: OMAHA

March 25, 2018

Omaha, Nebraska

Kansas - 85, Duke - 81

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and student-athletes Grayson Allen and Marvin Bagley. Coach, an opening statement.

COACH KRZYZEWSKI: Well, it's an honor to play in this game. They have a storied program and so do we. And I think the game showed that. I think both teams were deserving of winning, and that's why it came down to a possession right at the end of the game and went into overtime.

I want to congratulate Kansas. They're superb, superbly coached, and they're as quick a team as we've played all year. And I want to congratulate my guys. You know, they've gotten better throughout, and they played winning basketball today. And I feel badly for them because I thought they were deserving of winning, too.

And when you have a great game, usually you have two teams that are deserving of winning but only one wins. And so again congratulations to them.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Marvin and Grayson, can you talk about the emotions and what's going on through your mind right now?
MARVIN BAGLEY III: It hurts. You know, we've been through a lot this year as a team. We have gotten closer throughout the year and to make it this far, to have a chance at winning it and moving on and not being able to do it, it hurts a lot.

And you never want to lose, especially with this team. We've got a lot of competitors on this team and this feeling is not the best feeling. We played a great team tonight and they just got it done.

GRAYSON ALLEN: Yeah, it hurts, like he said. We wanted to be the team at the end of the year winning. No one wants to end with a loss like that. It's so abrupt. The end of the game comes and it's over. So it hurts. You can't say much more than that.

Q. Grayson, could you just kind of take us through the last shot there in regulation that came so close to going in but didn't?
GRAYSON ALLEN: It came really close to going in and it didn't. You know, I was trying to drive right, he cut me off, went back left, and their big stepped up to help. And I had to get a shot up over him and tried to bank it in and it was right there, rolled out.

Q. Can you describe the last play of regulation, what you wanted to see and how your guys had to respond to that in overtime?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: Yeah, it's the same thing we did to take the lead. I didn't want to call timeout because that play was working. And we went to the free-throw line a few times. And it also gave Marvin a chance, if they didn't double team him, to get the ball inside. I'm okay with it, I mean, almost went in.

One of our really good -- I wanted either Grayson to get it or if we could post Marvin, but they double- and triple-teamed him so much. And it's in and out. So that's one of the tough things. I thought our guys did a good job with it.

Q. Coach, Wendell Carter gets the three fouls in the first half, then he's playing in foul trouble in the second half. What challenges does that present to you with Wendell being in foul trouble all night?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: Well, it's the way the game is. Obviously you have a kid that's averaged a double-double the whole year and he just wasn't able to play his game. I'm not blaming the referees or anything. But it's just -- it's disruptive.

And I thought Marques helped us for a little bit, and then Javin did a really good job. But right towards the end, when we got the ball to Wendell a couple times, Grayson was able to hit him because -- one thing throughout the game, they were just, anytime Marvin either had the ball or before he got the ball, they were just smothering him. It was very difficult to get him the ball.

And Wendell responded. And usually if he's in the ball game, they work well off one another. And so it's something different. But that's the way the game is. But obviously it hurts us. You'd rather have him in the game for 30-something minutes.

Q. Grayson, I guess this weekend didn't seem like the shot was going at a high clip obviously, but was the feel just off? And how frustrating was it at that point when you realized the looks you probably would take every day, but the result wasn't what you wanted?
GRAYSON ALLEN: Yeah, I mean, it's the same thing, I still shoot the same shots. Expect them to go in. A lot of them hit the rim twice. Bounced around. But, I mean, I'm still going to take the open shots. That's our offense. That's a Duke shot, when I take an open 3.

And obviously I'm disappointed they didn't go in. I would have liked to have made them, but that's not how it goes all the time.

Q. Mike, Grayson's obviously had a pretty darned good career, up and down a little bit over the four years. What does he mean to you and what does his Duke career --
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: His career has been up, a little injury-plagued especially his junior year. But he's a 2,000-point scorer. He's a national champion. He's been our leader this year. He's one of the outstanding players to have ever played in our program.

And he did a great job of interacting with this young group and helped the young group grow. And I especially thought the relationship that he has with Marvin was the key for us getting as good as we were. And you're a shot away, a roll away from being in the Final Four, and so much of it has to do with their relationship and his leadership.

Q. Marvin, like Coach just said, Grayson has meant a great deal to you. Could you kind of give us your take on that, just what Grayson has meant to you in your year here?
MARVIN BAGLEY III: To go off what Coach just said, I came in kind of late in the beginning of the year. I wasn't here in the summer. And when I got here, Grayson was the one kind of talking to me about a lot of the, about how things go around, how the workouts out, just showing me different things and just telling me his experiences that he's experienced while he was here as well.

And not only me, he's been doing that to everybody. And I think that's why we built this relationship with everyone and how we got so close, especially coming into March and how we wanted to fight and try to win every single game. So Grayson was a big part of us getting this far. We try to follow him. And it hurts that we couldn't get it done for him.

Q. Coach and Grayson, Malik Newman went for 32 points tonight. What did he do so well to where it was hard to stop him defensively?
GRAYSON ALLEN: He made a lot of tough shots a lot of timely shots for them. A lot them -- obviously the game was close the whole game -- but a lot of them it just felt like, right when we felt like we were about to get a run he hit one.

So it was tough. And he obviously did a really great job attacking the basket, getting fouled, shooting 12 free throws. So when you got your 3-point shot going and that going, it's tough to defend.

COACH KRZYZEWSKI: Well, he's been their hottest player. He basically continued to do what he does. But their four perimeter players, it's very difficult to concentrate on stopping one. There's -- Graham in the first half was the guy. And that's why they're as good as they are.

They've got four really good options. But he's been really hot. He's been playing at an extremely high level and he did that especially in the second half. He's a great kid and he's a good player.

Q. Marvin, what were some of the most important lessons you learned this year?
MARVIN BAGLEY III: I learned a lot of things, not only on the court but off the court. Seeing the amount of work that has to be put into this, you know, preparation-wise, studying the teams that we played all year.

I just learned how to take care of my body, just a lot of small things that I kind of didn't really know about coming into college, and just this year helped me a lot. And I just thank everybody, man, for just allowing me to be myself and just to be part of something so special.

And, like I said before, it hurts that we couldn't go further than what we did. But I'm still proud of what we did this year and just gotta keep our heads up.

Q. Grayson, what's going to stand out to you when you look back on your career? Even though it didn't end the senior year how you wanted it to, what are you going to remember the most about your time at Duke?
GRAYSON ALLEN: Not just one thing. Obviously there's that big moment starting off freshman year with a national championship win and how much joy that brings. But I'm so happy, so happy I made that choice to come here, so happy that they asked me -- they asked me to come here and gave me a scholarship.

I've learned so much in my four years here, coming out a completely different person and for the better. And the relationships I've built with Coach, the coaches. Some of my teammates who are guys I call my brothers now, those will last for a really long time. And that's one of the things I'll cherish. Those don't go away.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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NCAA MEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: OMAHA

March 25, 2018

Mike Krzyzewski

Grayson Allen

Marvin Bagley III