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MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 16, 2019

Las Vegas, Nevada

Utah State - 64, San Diego State - 57

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher and student-athletes Jeremy Hemsley, Jalen McDaniels and Devin Watson. Coach, an opening statement.

COACH DUTCHER: Well, congratulations to Craig Smith and Utah State. Got a really good basketball team, obviously. That's an understatement, having won 17 of the last 18 games. The only blemish was the Aztecs, seems like a month ago. They have a good basketball team.

With that being said, I love my team. I love my seniors. Jeremy and Devin, they know what it's like to cut nets down. But it's not always cutting nets down. It's the hard losses too, and lessons to be learned in everything. And I know they're disappointed because they wanted to cut them down again. They wanted to hang another banner.

But when they come back to Viejas some day. And I know they're not thinking about it. When they have kids of their own they can come back look in the rafters and show their kids the banners they hung. So I'm proud of both of them.

Jalen, obviously, has been a key player for us all year. And he couldn't get any to fall tonight, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't compete at a high level every time he's out there. So proud of how hard he competed.

And, you know, we them sneak out on us in the second half, and I took an early timeout. I just felt they had a little momentum going right away. And we couldn't stem it early. They got out ahead of us -- I don't know what it was. But to our credit, these guys' credit, they never gave in. They fought to the bitter end. Had we had a 3 maybe fall and make it a two-possession game. But to Utah State's credit they didn't let that happen.

And I'm disappointed. I love this team. I love how hard they play and I love how hard they play for San Diego tonight, not for themselves but for their university. So thank you, guys.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Jeremy, I noticed in the first half the kind of defense you played on Merrill. You forced him into that front-court timeout and chased him sideline to sideline. And he was really struggling and working to try to score early on. Could you just talk about that first half, what you were trying to do. And I know when you forced that timeout you were pretty emotional and knew you were being effective on that end?
JEREMY HEMSLEY: I was just trying to use my length to my advantage. He's a player that doesn't stop moving. So you've got to frustrate him when he has the ball in his hands. And that's what I tried to do. I just tried to frustrate him.

Q. Jeremy, at the end when you fouled out, it seemed a few minutes before you were frustrated with the call -- I saw almost like pull up your jersey on a call on Sam Merrill towards the end. But it seems like at the end you walked over a little bit more calm, and just I saw you hug a bunch of your teammates, coaches. What were those last moments like just knowing this was the final game?
JEREMY HEMSLEY: It just -- it's just crazy to think how fast it goes by. But, yeah, I hugged my teammates because I knew I won't be on the court with them again. And I have my family here. I have my mom, my dad, my little sister and little brother. And this is the first time they got to see me play in a conference tournament.

So of course I was emotional. I wanted to win that game really bad. Going to the tournament is something you dream about as a kid. That's something that I've dreamt about since I've picked up a basketball. So sometimes it doesn't always go your way. There's worse things that can happen in life than losing a basketball game.

So emotions are just me realizing that it's over with; I'm not playing with these guys that I love anymore. And that's just what it is. And that's okay.

Q. Devin, in those last five minutes with Jalen out they really put their defensive focus on you. I know you were grinding it out to try to get a good look, and you were able to hit a couple of big 3s late. Just take us through the last five minutes, what was going in your head, how you were trying to get a shot and will your team back.
DEVIN WATSON: I don't know. Just five minutes left. I was seeing if we could keep chipping it down. I was trying to pick and choose my moments where I could get my shot off or my teammate could get a shot off. But, really, it was just trying to keep the game close, make shots.

Q. I know you guys set a very high standard of reaching the NCAA Tournament. The program's been there seven of the previous nine years. How do you look at this season? Obviously you're not going to the NCAA Tournament but you played great basketball down the stretch. And you got to the championship game. You're 20 minutes away from getting there. Do you look at this as a positive season? Is it a disappointing season? How do you balance that?
DEVIN WATSON: I mean, during the season there were a lot of ups and downs, but I felt we overcame a lot. A lot of young guys, new guys, guys who have been here before. And we made it to the championship. And we just -- we wanted to win that game so bad and it got away from us a little bit. But I'm proud of my teammates and how far we came and getting to the last game.

JALEN MCDANIELS: To go off of what Dev said, we had ups and downs. Proud of the young guys for stepping up, AG and Nate, our freshman. First time playing college basketball at this stage. I respect them for stepping up. And my two seniors right here, they've been playing their heart out every game. And it's just disappointing.

Q. Devin, could you just kind of explain to people who don't see him as much as you saw him every single day what kind of a defender Jeremy has been during this time at San Diego go state?
DEVIN WATSON: Jeremy has been doing that ever since I've known him even in practice, that's what he takes pride in defense if it's locking me up in practice, anybody. So I knew every time we went out there I knew Jeremy was going to be the best player and he was going to give the dude a run for his money that's what he does. And his defense gets the offense going I'm proud of what Jeremy has done all year, guarding the best players, how many games we've played and he does it with a smile on his face and a chip on his shoulder.

COACH DUTCHER: I remember Jeremy, first scrimmage at UCLA. We finished and he said, I don't know what just happened. It seems like it was just yesterday; four years later. Here we sit and he knows everything that's going on on the floor. Such a great teammate, such a great captain. And such a great young man.

Q. Jalen, when you fouled out with I think it was five minutes left, what did you see from the team? It seemed like Matt Mitchell had a bunch of open looks. AG had wide-open 3s, where you guys had an opportunity to come back, what did you see those five minutes from the bench?
JALEN MCDANIELS: Thought we were trying to compete at the highest level possible. We had some opportunities. Obviously we didn't convert. I mean, that's the game of basketball. You're not going to make them all.

Q. What were your thoughts when you walked to the bench after fouling out not knowing this might be your final game at San Diego State? And what's the process going to be for you going forward I know it's early what's the process going to be?
JALEN MCDANIELS: I just had belief in my teammates that they were going to get it done. I was on the bench cheering, doing whatever I could, being in the huddle, being there for them even though I was out. Not really focused on that right now. Just have to see what happened.

Q. What does Queta mean to Utah State and what do you see of his development?
COACH DUTCHER: He's a high level big man. Protects the rim so you can make mistakes on the perimeter. You can extend your defense and pressure knowing he's protecting the rim. He's a gifted passer for a young big.

Nobody doubles him because if you do you're giving up a three instead of a tough two. So I think the first time we played him we kind of wrote the script on that -- stay extended, don't double Queta; make him earn what he gets. He's gotten better since then. He's used to that coverage now and he takes his time. He's an elite big man. So they're very fortunate to have him and we're fortunate in the Mountain West to have a quality big man in our league.

Q. A lot was made this year where the conference is nationally ranked and the lowest ever and yet. And as disappointed as you are you'll have two teams in it that appeared to at least prove themselves the best teams in the league this year. Is it right these are the two that will represent?
COACH DUTCHER: No question. You know, they tied for the conference title. Both of them were red hot. Nevada lost four games all year. Two of them to us. Utah State hasn't lost since we beat them seems like two months ago. There's, what, 16 of the last 17 or 17 of 18. They're playing incredible basketball. So two really good teams.

If we could have found a little magic at the end maybe we would have been a three-bid league again and everybody wouldn't be talking about it. But that didn't happen and I think anybody who sees these two teams in the tournament should be very concerned.

Q. Jeremy's defense in the first half, I don't know how much you were keyed in doing all the things defensively as you were monitoring the whole game, but he really did frustrate Merrill for long stretches and made him work. For a pure scorer what did you notice about what he did in that first half and what does it say about the kind of defender he's always been at San Diego State?
COACH DUTCHER: Jeremy has always stepped up to the task, no matter who it is. He guards the best player on the other team -- every night, every night. He knows that. We take comfort in that, saying this guy may score but it's going to be the hardest points he's ever earned.

And our defensive game plan was very good. I think they averaging close to 80 a game. And we extended our pressure -- everybody with the ball we pressured, so we could maybe disrupt their timing a little bit. And they're such good passers, we want to be up on them so the passes would be as easy.

And we didn't give Jeremy much help. He had to really defend them on his own. Down the stretch I wished we maybe helped him a little more, maybe from the perimeter. We knew Queta rolling to the basket was always dangerous. But we leave Jeremy on an island and we just say, get it done. It's a tough job, and he does it as well as anybody in the country.

Q. Utah State had the last bye in the conference season, went nine days in the tournament without playing. Your last bye was mid January and played 14 straight games without a break. You would expect tired legs to show up in the second half. Your team fell behind in the second half. How much do you think that might have been a factor? And they look pretty fresh out there, didn't they?
COACH DUTCHER: Fresh and good. Yeah, the time off they obviously took advantage of. They put a couple wrinkles into set plays they run all year, so they had some counters. We saw them ahead of time; they didn't just spring them on us. Obviously the first couple opponents in the Mountain West saw them. But they put that time to good use. They added some stuff offensively. They have been solid defensively all year. And they're hard to score on. And we found that out.

And that's by and large because Queta's back there. They don't have to help on the perimeter. They just stay extended on the perimeter and say if it gets inside, Queta, you take care of it, and we'll stay extended everywhere else.

So having Skylar Spencer at Ohio State, the all-time leading shot blocker in conference history, we know what that is. I think Nathan has a chance to get there some day. He's not there as a young freshman. Queta is a better shot blocker right now. He makes all the difference in the world.

I think they used the time off wisely. We played banged up. Devin is banged up. Nathan is banged up. Adam Seiko played today on a wrist where he said, I can't take a shot but I'll play, just so he could guard and give us a couple of minutes. But we knew he couldn't shoot because of his wrist. So it's -- that's this time of the year and most teams are dealing with it and we're one of them.

Q. You guys had 15 offensive rebounds against a team that's one of the best in the country of keeping the offensive glass clean. I was wondering if that was a focus coming in and is it frustrating when you get those many offensive boards but you can't turn them into second-chance points?
COACH DUTCHER: Obviously rebounding was the number one key to the. They outrebound their opponents eight in the conference by eight a game. Last five games they've been outrebounded by 10 a game.

Even though we didn't win the rebound battle, it was 39-37. We kept it respectable. We got a lot of offensive rebounds. And I think obviously the biggest one, we have a steal and we had a couple looks inside. Devin, a couple of layups late in the game, that could have maybe kept a little more heat on them.

But to their credit they didn't let us score on a lot of the second-chance opportunities, it didn't appear. I'd have to look back to see exactly. But even we got the rebounds, they did a good job of getting back on shooters and not letting us score on putbacks.

Q. During the five minutes when he fouled out, what did you see from the court? Did you see missed opportunities, just open shots not falling in?
COACH DUTCHER: Obviously, you know, we went small down the stretch. We were playing Nate and Nolan, and we just said we're down eight, nine, ten points. Let's go small. Let's pick and pop. Let's give Matt some 3s. Let's give AG a couple looks at open 3 because we knew they weren't switching.

So we got those looks and we didn't make them. Matt got I don't know how many open looks in the last three or four minutes. And all by design. We were screening stepping him out. And maybe that's tired legs as much as anything. Three games in three days. Matt's a pretty good shooter. He got looks we wanted but we didn't make enough of those down the stretch. We felt we had to go small in order to get back in the game. Press, go small. Try to spread them out a little bit more. Move Queta away from the basket.

You can't play that way all game because he's so big and strong in there. It's hard for Matt or anybody that size to guard him. But we thought to try to get back in the game we'd try go small, try to spread them out a little bit more. We gave ourselves an opportunity; we didn't take advantage of it.

Q. Could you talk about how Devin, when Jalen went out, just how he kind of seemed like he willed your team to stay alive in this game with his 3-point shooting?
COACH DUTCHER: Devin? He's a warrior. Devin was -- I mean we came in the locker room, and I'm trying to basically put the wrap on a season, and he was still mad as a hornet. He's mad.

If we told him he could play five more minutes, he would go play five more minutes. He's a hard competitor. We took the loss very hard and he was extremely frustrated. But good players are supposed to be frustrated. So Devin is a high-level competitor.

And I think you saw him blossom. I mean, Devin's always been a scoring point guard. But, my goodness, some of the plays he made in these last two or three games and the leadership he showed, it just shows you stay with it, you stay with it and you can get better from season to season. You can get better during the season.

You can get better game to game. And I thought Devin was just -- he was the best I've ever seen him these last two or three games, as far as leading the team, playing the right way, making really hard shots and obviously you'd like to cap that off with a conference title. But it didn't happen. But it doesn't take away for how hard and how well he played down the stretch for us.

Q. You yourself set a very high bar for a mid-major, which is make the NCAA Tournament every single year. You've come close but you don't; how do you look at this season? Do you consider it a success? Do you consider it a disappointment because you didn't make the tournament?
COACH DUTCHER: It's always a fine line, because our goal is to make the tournament. So if we don't make the tournament, then we're disappointed and it's not a success. But it's a success at other levels because the team worked, got better all year. Competed at a high level. They played together. They played the right way. So at the end of the day when you go to the tournament seven of nine years and you don't go this year then it's a disappointing season because that's what we wanted to do.

But it doesn't take away from the work they put in so they shouldn't be disappointed in their effort. They shouldn't be disappointed in how hard they played. They shouldn't be disappointed in their teammates or what they put into this year.

But obviously if you don't make the ultimate step and there will be teams next at the end of this month talking about. Was it disappointing you didn't make the Final Four. Yes. Was it disappointing you lost in the national championship game?

So everybody is going to be disappointed at some level. And you have to take whatever satisfaction you can with the work you put into it. And I always tell them hard work's always rewarded.

Maybe not at the time but in the long run for the rest of your life, for our season from now or whatever it is, hard work will be rewarded. So were we rewarded with a trip to the tournament? No. But they were rewarded with being the right people that played the right way and hung together with a bunch of young kids.

I mean, I know no one wants to hear but when you're playing with eight of top 11 are freshmen and sophomores, there's a lot of work that goes into it. I thought we got better and I think it bodes well for the future of San Diego State.

Q. Two years at the helm since Coach Fisher retired. Your thoughts of the program and the general direction you guys are going into.
COACH DUTCHER: That's what Coach Fisher always said we're not a one-hit wonder. We have a program at San Diego State. So we're disappointed we didn't go this year. But we'll be back here fighting and trying to put ourselves in a position to be back in the tournament next year.

I mean, I think everybody knows -- I'm not trying to Bragg -- we have more conference titles than anybody in the Mountain West. More conference tournament titles. So we have a high standard for our performance.

So when we fall short of that, we fall short of our standard. And so am I disappointed? Yes. But do I think the future is bright and will continue to be bright at San Diego State, yes, because we're about the right things.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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