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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: HARTFORDMarch 21, 2019Randy BennettJordan HunterJordan FordHartford, Connecticut Villanova - 61, St. Mary's - 57 RANDY BENNETT: Yeah, it was fun to be part of the tournament, fun to be part of a good basketball game. Villanova is obviously a good team, and yeah, we need -- I wish we would have played a little better second half, but proud of our guys, proud of what they've done this year. Proud of them tonight. They kept fighting and competing, so, I was -- yeah, you always want the other outcome when you get the loss, but a lot to be proud of in this group, and their leadership and their just stick-with-it-ness, staying together, high character. Proud of them. Q. In the first half, they came out and hit a couple threes early on. You guys were able to bounce back from that. What was a little different in the second half when they made their run early on? JORDAN HUNTER: We just weren't hot enough. A lot of that's on me. They're good. They'll pull it from wherever. We just got to put more pressure on them and we didn't do it. JORDAN FORD: Yeah, we did a bad job of taking them off the line. That's a total team cover. And on the other end, we just didn't do a good job of responding with made shots. And most of that is on me. I didn't shoot well from the field and I expect better, so -- Q. 13 points on 17 shots, 1 for 7 from three-point. What was it about Villanova's defense? Was it their length? What was it that kept you bottled up a little bit? JORDAN FORD: I had a few good looks that I know I can make. They are a really long team that could have affected me a little bit. A lot of those shots are shots I know I can make. I have to going forward keep getting in the gym and get better. Q. Jordan, they led for I think 33 minutes in the game but never by more than eight points. When you cut it to four down at the end, did you think you had a shot there and then can you describe what happened down the stretch? JORDAN FORD: I definitely think we had a shot. We cut it to four with 30 seconds left. We had a few game this year where we put the press on and were able to get back in the game. And if we get a few of those loose balls, I think it's -- or maybe make a three. We were down four, I think it's a different game, so... Q. Coach, how big of a factor do you think it was Villanova's experience down the stretch. Obviously Booth and Paschall played in these games and not a lot of your guys have been in the tournament before. RANDY BENNETT: Yeah. They've been in a lot of tight games all year. We watched the last six, seven games. Seems like every one of them but one was down the wire. So they're used to playing that, and what you mentioned is definitely an advantage. They played six games in the NCAA Tournament. I think both of those guys played two National Championship teams and Gillespie was there last year. Just knowing what the tournament's like, knowing what it feels like to play under one-and-done pressure situation. Our guys moving forward will have that. We didn't play in six games in the tournament, but we played in one. We have everybody back but one guy. So, I just know the teams that we've had, they are like that, when we had Dellavedova and those guys, it felt like a huge advantage when it came tournament time that they knew what was coming. I thought our guys did a good job playing in it. We didn't play tight. We didn't play great. I thought we played pretty right. Yeah, I answered the question, and went on. Yeah, it's an advantage. They did a good job and they're hard to beat in close games. Q. Coach Wright said that he kind of just hates playing against the grind it out style that you guys have, one of the slowest paces in the country. What sort of advantage do you think that gives you against the team with the athleticism and length of Villanova? RANDY BENNETT: They're kind of grindy, too. That's how they play. If they get up on you like six or eight, they're just going to use the clock and then go to an on-ball at the end of the clock. I knew it was going to be that kind of game, because they play that, and we'll play that. We play that defensively. It's not easy for us to score. We battled that all year. When you play against good teams like Villanova, and some teams in our league -- obviously Gonzaga. San Francisco, San Diego, and those guys -- they're not going to give you easy shots. You got to work for them. I think that's what happens. Unless you can just outman people, just turn it in transition, go beat them on the boards badly, you'll have to work to get good shots against Villanova. They're going to switch everything, they're going to make it grindy. People keep asking them, is that -- it's not really like their game plan. The game plan is to score as soon as we can score. You got to take got shots to do it. We're a pretty young team, we don't have a ton of scorers yesterday. I think we'll have those more next year, but we just had to compete, and compete for every shot, and had to compete defensively to keep people from getting easy shots. And I think that's how it gets at the end of the year. So I'm glad we're hard for them to play against and hopefully be able to score it a little easier next year. That's kind of how the game unfolded. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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