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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: HARTFORDMarch 21, 2019Jay WrightPhil BoothEric PaschallHartford, Connecticut Villanova - 61, St. Mary's - 57 JAY WRIGHT: First, we want to just congratulate St. Mary's on a great season and great game. Man, are they good. It's so impressive to play against them. How disciplined, how well coached, how they execute. Everything we try to do defensively, they've got an answer for. They're really good. That team just beat the number one team in the country pretty handily. It was no surprise it was that difficult of a game. We give them a lot of credit. As far as our team we're growing, our young guys are growing, but we have two seniors that do everything for us on and off the court. We're just so lucky to have them. Q. Phil, I wanted to ask you about the Big East Tournament and how the games that you won against Xavier and obviously Seton Hall, grinding out those games can be a benefit in a game like tonight where you had to grind it out again. PHIL BOOTH: That's a major benefit. This team, St. Mary's, is one of the best in grinding out like that in close games. You saw what they did against Gonzaga in their conference tournament. So the Big East really helped us for that, learning how to grind out game. We had games like that where we lost early in the season, so it was good for us to get that experience in the Big East Tournament. Q. I happened to be walking back to the floor when you guys were doing your huddle before the second half, hearing words like urgency. What do you guys think was missing in that first half and kind of how frustrated were you as veterans, like, come on we can play better than this. PHIL BOOTH: We weren't doing that bad actually. It was more they were playing very well, and we were trying to match how they were bringing it. I think we just had to take it to another level because they were playing at a high level. I don't think we weren't doing that much wrong. It was more credit to good St. Mary's was playing and we had to match that level. ERIC PASCHALL: I totally agree with Phil. I felt we had to bring it to another level. They're very good, very disciplined. Very well coached. They know what they're doing. Very veteran team. We just knew we had to bring it to another level and play Villanova basketball. Q. What perspective are you giving the younger players, you know, with all of the experience you've had going forward in the tournament obviously. Like what's the perspective and advice you're giving them so they can be able to be more focused and be in that championship mentality? PHIL BOOTH: Just trying to stay -- where are you? I can't see you. Okay. There you go. Sorry in the back. Just trying to stay focused in the game. There's a lot of distractions that come in the NCAA Tournament. So best thing you can do is focus on your opponent, take care of your body, and focus in on what you have to do as a team. ERIC PASCHALL: I'll definitely say just take it day by day. I mean, focus on your next task. If it's practice, focus on that. Focus on hydrating the right way. Take care of your body. Cold tubs, whatever way we can prepare ourselves to keep getting better. Definitely nutrition as well. Just doing all of those little things to stay prepared and not took too far ahead. Q. Phil, you didn't take a three-point shot at all in the first half, but it seemed like you were looking for that shot. Did you see something that would enable you to drive the ball repeatedly as you did? PHIL BOOTH: They did a good job defensively of closing out, not giving much air space for a three-point shot. So just trying to be aggressive, get downhill. Just read whatever the defense is giving me. Q. Eric, I'm curious, how would you evaluate the way you guys played defense especially in the second half. It seemed like defensive intensity picked up. ERIC PASCHALL: Definitely, I feel like we picked it up. I mean, we did a good job just playing together, and knowing that we're on the other side, not in front of our bench talking a lot more. I mean, we should have talked like that in the first half. Also just communicating, playing team defense. I felt that's what we really did and felt like we did a good job of that. Q. With the expectations coming into this tournament, given that this team or this program is a former champion not too long ago, how did you guys manage the expectations for your program coming into the tournament? PHIL BOOTH: This team is a totally different team, so those expectations don't really land on this team at all. Many guys from the championship team aren't on there now besides me and Eric. So we kind of don't talk about that or place that upon them. We just try to focus on our next game and try to focus on who we're playing against. ERIC PASCHALL: Definitely. It's definitely a whole new team. Lost a lot of guys, but I feel there's no expectations, just our expectations to try to play Villanova basketball the best way we can by the end of the season. Q. Jay, could you talk about the tempo tonight, why was it so -- why couldn't you like speed it up a little in the first half, and did you do a better job of it in the second? JAY WRIGHT: The tempo was excruciating. It's much harder to speed up a game than it is to slow down a game. And we just felt like they're such a good passing team, they're so skilled that if we tried to speed it up, it was just going to give them too many open shots. They're a great three-point shooting team. We felt going in we were just going to have to grind with them, and we weren't going to be able to change the tempo. We had to be disciplined enough to grind. I wish it didn't have to be that way, but that's why they're so good. Q. One of the great mysteries of this tournament seems always the first game and how you're going to come out after a conference tournament and three games, four games in a row. Is this kind of game good for you that you had to grind it out you think? Does that set you up well for the rest of the way? JAY WRIGHT: It does. I would much rather a 20-point win. That would be nicer. But, to your point, you're playing Madison Square Garden. It's sold out, crazy energy when you walk out on the floor and you walk out here tonight, and there's literally no one in the building. It's bizarre. It's really bizarre. I thought both teams deserved a lot of credit for really focusing. That game was intense and well-played from the start. You do worry about those things, you know? They're 18- and 20-year-old kids. We have a lot of guys in the NCAA tournament for the first time thinking this is the NCAA Tournament? There's no one in the stands. That's part of it, that's what comes with it. I was really proud of our guys, and I give St. Mary's a lot of credit. Q. Jay, this is the second time in three games you played against the bigger team. They were able to throw to a couple 6'10" at you at times. How much of a concern is that for you going forward? You guys finished with like five offensive rebounds. JAY WRIGHT: It is. We lost a big guy this year. Dylan Painter that transferred, and we got two good ones coming in neck year but we've go to get through it. I thought Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree gave us great minutes inside. Even playing undersized, Jermaine did a good job on their bigs. It's a concern, but we have to find a play to play through it. Sometimes blitz the post sometimes, front the post. We have to figure it out each game. Q. First half you had zero offensive rebounds. You went to the line three times all in the same play. I think the three-point shot that was fouled. At halftime, are you saying to yourself, do we have to do more work getting inside or we're not going to get inside, so we have to do better from driving kick and getting court points what was on your mind? JAY WRIGHT: They are one of the best three-point defensive teams in the country and I think they're 17th or something in defense. Somewhere either defense or offense. One is 17, one is 55. But they have such great length at the rim. We said we're not going to get to the rim. We have to go mid-range and try to get threes. In transition, you saw Phil Booth a couple times went all the way to the rim and got a shot blocked in transition. They just got such great size, great length, and they play with there hands back. They are well coached, very disciplines defensively. Q. Jermaine Samuels had a couple good buckets for you. How would you rate his performance in the last couple minutes of the game? JAY WRIGHT: He was awesome. He gives us the ability to play with some size and also handle the ball and make plays against their press. He had a great finish. End of the shot clock, he made a play at the end of the drive, a great left-handed drive. He's been playing great basketball for us. Through the Big East Tournament, I would have to say he's our most improved player this season. And he's having great impact. Lucky we have him. Q. Coach, not at all for the first time you had at least one freshman playing very serious late minutes for you. You've done it before, but I'm wondering is there any different thought process for you when do you that given that, unlike some of your other guys, these guys were literally playing high school basketball a year ago now it's the NCAA Tournament. JAY WRIGHT: We try not to do that. We try not to be in that position, but, if you -- Saddiq Bay this year has played so much for us and was forced into that action, that by this time of the year, he's pretty solid and pretty confident out there. And we're confident in him. But you've got -- it's tough to put -- like we have a freshman Cole Swider I wanted to get in there. It's tough to find positions in real close situations in real close games for a guy that hasn't had a lot of minutes, that's a freshman for us. Q. Jay, you've alluded to coming out to an empty stadium and you've alluded to having to play a different style, slower than you wanted to. How does the experience that you do have carrying over from last year manifest itself. One you have to adapt to whatever the tournament throws at you. JAY WRIGHT: I think that teams that have NCAA Tournament experience and have guys on their team, even if they don't play, they have an advantage. Just because of things like that. There's so many unique aspects to the NCAA Tournament. 95 percent of them are positive, but they're just different than all of the other games you play. And to not be distracted by that is really important. And then when you don't have guys that are experienced, I worry about that. Phil and Eric help our guys. Our sophomores didn't play a lot but they were there. I think it's been beneficial for them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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