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NCAA MEN'S FIRST FOUR: DAYTON

March 20, 2019

Dayton, Ohio

North Dakota State - 78, NC Central - 74

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by North Dakota State head coach David Richman and student-athletes Vinnie Shahid, Sam Griesel, Jared Samuelson and Tyson Ward. David, an opening statement.

COACH RICHMAN: Thank you. Obviously a ton of credit to Coach Moton and his staff. They came out. They had a great game plan. And we got up 13 and they never quit.

And it's March. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. And they certainly didn't let it be easy for us, too. But extremely proud of our guys' resolve. It's March and we're excited to keep dancing.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Vinnie, how much do you think the schedule that you guys played this year and the situations you've been in helped you when they made that run in the second half to kind of keep your poise?
VINNIE SHAHID: It helped us a lot. Early in the season we played a lot of teams that pressured like that, a lot of teams they had some athletes like that. And earlier in the year, when teams made a run, they were athletic and pressured like that, we kind of crumbled. As you can see we've grown up a little bit. And I think that playing those teams early on helped us a lot.

Q. Tyson, you had eight of your 23 in the last four minutes or so. What did you see? Did you feel like you had something going there?
TYSON WARD: My teammates found me in the right spot in the block area, and we've had some success in the passing with me in that spot. And my teammates did a great job of getting me the ball and just letting me create.

Q. Sam, about 3:56 left, you knocked down that big 3 to tie the game. What did you see on that play and talk about it?
SAM GRIESEL: Tyson got it in the post and my defender was helping off pretty far. And Tyson gave me a perfect pass, and I just stroked it.

Q. Tyson, on that spin move, had you been setting him up on that? Take us through the play on the baseline.
TYSON WARD: I kind of don't think when I play. It just happens. I just felt him and felt like doing the move.

Q. Jared, can you just talk about the grit and what it took to get the second ever win in NCAA Tournament history and just close out this game at the free-throw line as well?
JARED SAMUELSON: First and foremost, I want to thank God. This is a great opportunity and blessing and all from him. But I mean it's just a team effort. And these guys, we've really come together this season through ups and downs. Like Coach said, it's March. Anything can happen. It takes toughness to get those wins. We got it done.

Q. Now you can talk about Duke. Your thoughts on playing a team like Duke?
JARED SAMUELSON: Obviously a good team. We're ready for the challenge, ready to go compete. We're going to enjoy this one for a little bit. But we're ready to go get 'em.

Q. They hit the glass a lot. How difficult was it to keep them off the backboard, and do you think the game started to change there in the second half when they started getting some offensive rebounds?
SAM GRIESEL: Yeah, like you said, they're a really physical and athletic team. And at times we struggled with getting some defensive rebounds. But down the stretch we came up with some big ones. And that was key for us to get this win.

Q. Vinnie, can you just talk about the unselfishness of this team, how it continued from the regular season, here in the summer league tournament, now to Dayton, how this team has kind of grown from day one?
VINNIE SHAHID: We talk about it a lot. One of the things that Coach says all the time is it's amazing what happens when no one cares or takes the credit. And you can see that throughout this team. We share the ball so well, and our teammates' success leads to our happiness.

If Tyson does something well, you see everybody on the bench smiling and it's vice versa for everybody. And I think it's really good and very contagious on our team.

Q. For any of you, start with Vinnie, at this time now 16 versus 1. Does what UMBC did last year mean anything to you guys? Is it something you keep in mind as you get ready to play the next game?
VINNIE SHAHID: We really don't think about that too much. 16 versus 1, 2 versus 3, doesn't really matter to us. We're going out there to compete.

SAM GRIESEL: I mean, he hit the spot with that one. And I would agree completely.

JARED SAMUELSON: I mean, whoever we play, whenever we play them, wherever we play, we've just got to go compete and be ready to go.

TYSON WARD: What Jared said and what Vinnie said.

Q. Are you guys excited to play a Duke, a team like that, a program like that?
TYSON WARD: Absolutely. Just -- I mean, it's a great team. You always want to play the best. So chalk it up and we'll see what happens.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach.

Q. Can you maybe expound on the impact Vinnie's had on your program this year?
COACH RICHMAN: I don't know if I have enough time. You guys saw how talented a player he is for 40 minutes. What you don't see is the infectious personality he has in the locker room. At the 6.00 a.m. lifting sessions, he is a -- he's why you coach, he really is -- and when you can say some things and he can take it and spin it into a player's perspective for me, he's been an absolute pleasure and a breath of fresh air for me. And he's what's right about the game.

And so much of it isn't because of any shot he makes or pass he makes or stop he gets; it's just his lease on life and the joy and spirit that he comes every day with.

Q. Was he named a captain before he ever played a game?
COACH RICHMAN: It was maybe like six weeks on campus.

Q. Was that just based on offseason workouts?
COACH RICHMAN: Absolutely. Didn't surprise any of us. Really didn't. And it's great, too. You've got Jared, who doesn't say boo. Leads by example. And you've got Vinnie. There's times you've got to tell him to shut up. It's a great balance.

And you're right. You just think about that. The kid walked into campus and two months later his teammates are naming him captain. Again to my point -- he hadn't even played a game. You saw the talent. You don't see what goes on behind the scenes with him.

Q. You mentioned at the summer league tournament that earlier in the year the Bison don't find a way to win games like this. And now with the summer league tournament and tonight, what is it about these guys where something changed and they've been able to put it together and come away with wins in games like this?
COACH RICHMAN: Yeah, the game that keeps going back to my head is at Denver. We're up six at half. We score out of the half. We're up eight. And then we just couldn't hang on. We didn't have the poise at that time.

And I think the biggest thing with this group -- I've said it countless times -- is experience. And you can talk to this group about things. You can show this group about things, and it just never really resonates until they actually go through it.

And if you look at the course of on your season, every experience that we've had -- good, bad or indifferent -- they've learned from it, they've grown from it and they're better for it.

Q. How are you feeling about Duke and game planning for those guys on about 48 hours notice?
COACH RICHMAN: We're excited. To the guys' point, we're excited it's Duke. We're excited to be playing. Whoever it was. This is March. And just like North Carolina Central, there's really good teams in the NCAA Tournament. And Duke is a really good team. And we've got to turn our guys around enjoy this for a little bit and prepare for Friday night.

Q. On the same realm, not only are you playing a great program, but you're going to be in the national spotlight, CBS, all that. What does that exposure mean for your program?
COACH RICHMAN: We talk in our program all the time about servant leadership. And this is a great example for us to, when you make others better around you, which we have an opportunity to showcase our great university, our excellent community, just the people of the Red River Valley and the upper Midwest and North Dakota. It's a great stage.

And we get that opportunity to represent them. And I know our kids will do it in the right way. They'll compete and they'll fight to the bitter end.

Q. What does this second win in the NCAA Tournament represent for this squad, on the NCAA Tournament in school history, just coming to Dayton here and picking up the second one?
COACH RICHMAN: It's really neat. It's really cool. You think about it in so many ways. This is the 11th year of Division I eligibility. We're still in so many ways in our infancy. And to have the success, to be (indiscernible), to now have two wins in the NCAA Tournament, it's a credit to a great bunch of guys, a terrific leadership, administration.

When we made the jump, it wasn't about just switching a Roman numeral. It was about to continue to compete for championships. And we were able to do that. And our leadership now understands that. They continue to build facilities and resources and those things.

And there's expectations at North Dakota State, but it's a great place. When you have those expectations and people support you, you can do these things in March.

Q. You played Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament a couple years ago in Seattle. Played them pretty close. What do you tell these guys, a really young team about taking on a team like Duke, prime time, Friday night, and the feature game on national TV?
COACH RICHMAN: I bet I've said it a million times in the last ten days, two weeks, just stay in the moment. Stay in the moment is right now, enjoy this one. Friday night, when it tips, that moment is are you going to jump through a gap, are you gonna make your hit on a box-out, are you gonna stick your follow through? Stay in the moment and enjoy it. And smile.

I told the guys this -- and then I think I caught them off guard a little bit -- you don't "deserve" to be in the NCAA Tournament. You "earn" the right to be in the NCAA Tournament. And because of the experiences, our guys have earned the right to be on a national stage against a really good program Friday night.

Q. Talk about Tyson down the stretch and your free-throw shooting down the stretch.
COACH RICHMAN: Obviously, Tyson was just terrific. And to be honest with you, when they went on that run, Tyson wasn't in there, too. And I think you can attack pressure a lot of different ways, and you could do it with good ball handlers, which we have. But when you touch the post like that -- and we have shooters that we do around him -- it's been a pretty effective recipe for us down the stretch.

And I thought that was key, you're right, to make free throws, something that we've pretty much done all year. We've been in the top 10 at times, top 20 in the country. And to get rewarded. Again, when it's this time of year, it's going to come down to possession here, possession there and those free throws. Every one of them is crucial.

Q. How much time do you get to enjoy this? How much time are you going to let the players enjoy this before you get on a bird and get to South Carolina?
COACH RICHMAN: We have a student director of basketball operations, Spencer Wilker, and he's going to earn every penny he's making. Now we'll make sure we enjoy this, make no mistake about it. We'll get to South Carolina, get the fellows some rest, and start preparing and look forward to competing on Friday night.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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