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PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 13, 2019

Las Vegas, Nevada

Colorado - 56, California - 51

TAD BOYLE: Well, that was the epitome of winning ugly, I think. Probably an understatement. But our program, I told these guys in the locker room, our program is built on defense and rebounding for a reason. It's for days like this, games like this, when the offense is not functioning the way we want it to function, that we find a way to win a game, by guarding, by rebounding.

We did a tremendous job, and that's why we won today. Not necessarily because we deserved to win, played well enough to win offensively, because we didn't, turning the ball over 23 times.

I did a bad job offensively in the second half overcoaching these guys and almost halting plays. I've got to let them play. These guys are good players. They know how to play, and we've got to make plays for each other, and I've got to back off a little bit. We can run some plays here and there, but I've got to let these guys go.

I thought McKinley made some big-time plays for us. D'Shawn made big threes. We played well enough to eek out a victory, and I'm sorry you guys had to sit through it.

Q. It's not often we see Tyler really struggle like he did tonight, getting a lot of turnovers early on. Of course he did get a lot of rebounds, but as a coach, what do you feel like you need to say to him to get him geared up for the next game, or do you not have to say anything?
TAD BOYLE: The big thing with Tyler, I've got to stay positive with him. He puts a lot of pressure on himself. There's nobody that expects more of himself than Tyler does. I saw the old Tyler Bey come out tonight because he was so frustrated and the body language started to reappear that we've kind of tried to fight off.

So I think we talked about mental toughness a lot and what you have to do this time of year is you have to take a game like this where Tyler was not at his best, and he's got to put it behind him. I'm going to be positive with him. I try to be positive with all of our guys. They know what they're capable of doing. I don't know if it's being back in his hometown. These guys don't need to put any pressure on themselves. We've just got to go play and play free.

That doesn't mean play loose, maybe a little too loose with the ball tonight, but not put as much pressure on himself. And Tyler puts a lot of pressure on himself. Hopefully he can bounce back tomorrow.

Q. What was their defense maybe doing to frustrate you guys? The shooting percentage wasn't terrible, but the turnovers seemed like you had to work hard.
MCKINLEY WRIGHT IV: It was nothing they were doing. We've seen a lot of zone all year. I think we were rushing a lot of things tonight. We were anxious to go out and play the first round of the tournament. And to make 23 turnovers was too much. We're happy to get out with a win. We'll be better tomorrow, especially taking care of the ball.

Q. How does it set up for you, playing seven guys, and five of them went 29 minutes? Do you see your guys being able to bounce back? What do you do in the next 24 hours to manage day two?
TAD BOYLE: These guys will get treatment, off their feet. They're young and in great shape and have big hearts. I'm not worried about fatigue being a factor. We've done it before. We know we can do it again in terms of bouncing back. One of the reasons you play in these tournaments. We played in the Hawaii tournament over Christmas, which was three games in four days. And so you're used to this back-to-back little bit. But these guys will be fine. I'm not worried about that.

Q. Did you have to pull D'Shawn's leg a little bit to shoot the ball in the second half?
MCKINLEY WRIGHT IV: I did. I told him he's too good of a shooter to be passing up looks like that. I've been trying to tell him that for a while. Before the game I told him he's got to get up at least five threes. He passed up some open ones tonight, but down the stretch he told me he was going to make some big ones, and he did just that. I'm happy for him and just have him keep shooting.

Q. You mentioned that 23 turnovers. Obviously not a situation where you've got a couple of days to iron out the kinks, but what does this squad need to do?
MCKINLEY WRIGHT IV: I think we're fine. Like I said, we're anxious to get out and play. And Cal, unlike other teams, their guards come from behind when our bigs catch it in the high post, and that's something that we weren't used to. Tyler put the ball above his head a couple of times.

I think we'll be fine. Tomorrow we'll be ready to go.

Q. McKinley, you played 35 minutes. Talk about Hawaii, you've done this. What do you do to get yourself ready to go in less than 24 hours?
MCKINLEY WRIGHT IV: I feel great. Get some treatment on my shoulder, and I'll be ready to go tomorrow for another 35 minutes.

Q. Coach, survive and advance. It's a big turnaround. Talk about the challenge, the game tomorrow night and what you have to do.
TAD BOYLE: These guys have proven, even last year, when McKinley and D'Shawn were freshmen, we played in the Paradise Jam in Lynchburg, and we played three games in three days. They did a good job as freshmen of taking the game plan and digesting it.

We don't have time to shoot around, watch films. These guys are smart. It's that time of year where you have to adjust quickly. And this team and these guys have proven that they can do that.

So I'm not worried about it. Our staff does a great job of putting together game plans, and these guys have done a good job of executing those game plans. We've got a group of guys that are smart, know what it takes to win, and we are going to have to go out and play like it.

So but it is quick turnaround. Again, like McKinley said, I've got to take care of their bodies, hydrate and be ready to go at 2:30 tomorrow.

Q. You guys were down 9-3 in the first four minutes of the game, and I think it was a 20 to 5 run over the next 11 minutes. Tightened up defensively. What was your message to the guys during that stretch?
TAD BOYLE: Take care of the ball. I think six of those nine points that Cal started out with were as a result of our turnovers, they hit a three. They're going to make some of those. But the whole thing was in timeout, if I said it once, I said it a hundred times: Take care of the ball. I hate to state the obvious. There are times when you have answers for your guys, and sometimes you don't.

This wasn't an X and O type game. Again, we tried to run some plays, and probably ran too many of them. But I've got a lot of confidence in these buys, I really do. Like McKinley said, maybe there were some jitters, like let's get this first game out of the way.

But Cal, I'll say this about Cal, they're much more active in their zone. I think their zone has gotten better since we played them in Berkeley. They do shoot gaps. They get their hands on balls. They're very active in the zone. We didn't really react as well as we needed to.

But hopefully that will help us tomorrow. I think Oregon State will play us some zone, especially if you watch this game, I'm sure they were scouting it. But we've really played well against the zone down the stretch. And so today I think it's more of an aberration. We've had games where we've had nine turnovers. But we had too many today, obviously.

Q. Another 21 season, you've done that six times at the helm.
TAD BOYLE: 20 is a big number. That's something before the season starts I look at the schedule and say, okay, can we get 20. I thought we'd get north of that, and we've got the opportunity to do that tomorrow. But that 20 win -- used to be in college basketball you hit 20 wins, and you're in the Power 5 Conference and you're in the tournament. It's not like that anymore.

But I'm proud of these guys, and they've shown great progress through the year. And I know they are hungry. They're not satisfied with where we are right now. We just have to continue to get better, and we'll do that tomorrow.

Q. D'Shawn, what did you do to finally pull the trigger on some of those threes?
D'SHAWN SCHWARTZ: First off, thank you for your question. I just think, with our guys, needed shots. I think I could step up and help us when needed. McKinley and other guys were -- after passing up some shots on the first half.

TAD BOYLE: I'll say this about D'Shawn, sometimes he's so coachable, and I think McKinley knows this, there's times he'll just shut the coaches' words out of your mind and just go play.

But we want to get paint touches before we got threes. And D'Shawn passed up some really good looks in the first half, especially, where he could have pulled the trigger. But he's doing what I asked him to do, so I appreciate that.

But there are times he needs to go make a play or make a shot. And that's what good players do. That's what McKinley did, and D'Shawn, Shane did it. We've got multiple guys that need to go make a play.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 13, 2019

Tad Boyle

D'Shawn Schwartz

McKinley Wright IV