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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 13, 2019Chris MooneyJacob GilyardNathan CayoWashington, D.C. Richmond 52, Fordham 50 COACH CHRIS MOONEY: Obviously I'm pleased with the win. Those games can be difficult sometimes and challenging. But I thought that we hung in there. We missed a ton of shots. You know, we finished with 18 assists, five turnovers, 14 offensive rebounds. Those are great numbers, but we missed so many shots and when they played zone, it's tough to -- it's tough to just continue to score two-point baskets as the zone shrinks. But I thought we were resilient, and continued to fight and probably played one of our best defensive games of the year. Proud of our group and look forward to playing tomorrow. Q. Nathan, take me through what was going through your head toward the end of that game, two free throws, to tie the game up, ball is in your hands, two seconds to go. What's going through your head at that point? NATHAN CAYO: The ball was in Gily's hand. He just beat everyone on the court and he usually gets that pass to me down near the basket, so I was trying to get ready trying to shoot as quickly as I can. Q. What's it like being back here in the East Coast, or at least in the northeast? You come back here; you grew up in the Philadelphia area. To be able to be around your family and of course, to get a win today, and to play tomorrow, what's that feeling like? COACH CHRIS MOONEY: Well, it feels great to win. We're so concerned with our preparation and how we're trying to play the game that we focus on those things, but it's great to be here. I think that the A-10 has us here and Brooklyn has been a great host and most importantly we're excited about playing tomorrow. Q. You didn't have any time-outs obviously. What was your thought as you were coming down the court? JACOB GILYARD: Just to get a shot off, obviously. We couldn't turn it over -- we couldn't afford a turnover right there. We just had to get something going towards the cup because hour threes weren't falling, so just trying to make sure we could get a shot off. Q. Did you think that guy was going to be there? JACOB GILYARD: I assumed he was going to be there naturally. He's usually floating around down there somewhere. So just found him, luckily. Q. This was a physical basketball game from start to finish. Did you ever picture yourself to be, I guess, in this type of moment? Were you thinking to yourself, you know, this is what I signed up for, watching these games as a kid, and then now you're the guy that takes that last shot and wins it pretty much with no time left? NATHAN CAYO: I mean, I'm always ready to play any game. COACH CHRIS MOONEY: Short and sweet, man. (Laughter). Q. What do you do to keep things moving when the shots aren't falling like they are. How do you keep the faith going? JACOB GILYARD: You want to answer this one? NATHAN CAYO: You go for it. JACOB GILYARD: You just have to grind it out. Usually this whole year, when we've scored -- when we haven't scored a lot or shots haven't been falling, we've been coming up short in those games. That's probably just because we don't get stops. So today, we just had to grind it out and try to get stops on the defensive end, and it worked out for us today. Q. Quick turnaround between the game tonight and tomorrow. Obviously a lot of preparation for getting ready for Saint Louis, so what will your night be like and what will your morning be like? COACH CHRIS MOONEY: One thing that's pretty good is we're in the late game tomorrow so we're pleased with that. At least we'll have some time, not quite a day off, but we'll have some time. And then we'll probably meet maybe three times during the course of the day tomorrow. So we'll be together tonight, start to introduce scouting report and Saint Louis and things like that and then probably breakfast midday and pregame meal tomorrow, we'll meet. We considered maybe going to a gym to do a walk-through but it takes a long time to get to the gym from the hotel. So I think we'll stay in the hotel, use the ballroom and probably have three meetings during the course of the day tomorrow. Q. You mentioned that Grant has been your leading scorer. I think you said this to me at Media Day that you were really counting on Grant. Today was an up-and-down type day. What are the things you're expecting out of him against Saint Louis tomorrow? COACH CHRIS MOONEY: Well, you know, Grant's a great player. He's already passed a thousand points in his sophomore season. I think in-conference game, he's finished fifth in assists which is incredible for a 6-10 guy, and today he had seven assists and no turnovers. Played a good defensive game. No, he didn't make shots like the rest of us, but he played a great game tonight, and we'll expect him to be great tomorrow because we certainly need him to be. Q. Obviously playing in a first-round game is not ideal foremost coaches but to be able to kind of have that upper hand when you win a game to sort of be a little bit more comfortable on that court tomorrow where Saint Louis is getting their first run at it, do you feel like there's a big difference when it comes to that kind of situation? COACH CHRIS MOONEY: Well, I think there is a little bit of an advantage. We've played and we've been in there. Tomorrow will be much more normal for us, recovery, meeting, talking about the game, maybe a little bit more familiar when we take the court but I don't think that lasts very long. It's a good thing for our mindset and a good thing to look forward to but I don't think it will last very long. We're going to have to execute and play well against a very good, tough Saint Louis team. Q. I know this isn't the first time you've addressed free throws after a game this year, but what's it do for your team and what do you try to communicate here on a short turnaround to get that going for tomorrow? COACH CHRIS MOONEY: Well, it's been something that has really plagued us. We have not shot great from the free throw line, and it has cost us in some games and almost cost us today. So you know, you go back and forth between stressing it, emphasizing it, practicing it and then sometimes, you know, kind of ignoring it or, you know, knowing that it will get better or hoping that it will get better and giving the guys confidence. But it's -- you know, that's not a good -- there weren't many free throws tonight and to only convert 4-of-11, that's a recipe for not doing too well. Q. During the last time-out, did you set up something? Did you just give the ball to Jacob and just let him go? COACH CHRIS MOONEY: That's what I should have done. But we had called a play in the previous time-out that we didn't get to run because they missed the foul shot and Grant got fouled. So we decided to run the same play which was to try to give Jacob a little bit of an opening in the zone and have the guy who sets a screen flare out. But he was able to just get through there. He's incredibly quick and a great passer and made a great pass to Nate. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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