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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: DES MOINES

March 22, 2019

Des Moines, Iowa

THE MODERATOR: We welcome the Gators basketball team, Andrew Nembhard, Noah Locke, Keyontae Johnson. Questions for our student-athletes?

Q. Keyontae, a lot more presence inside, you guys had a lot of points in the paint. What do you attribute that to?
KEYONTAE JOHNSON: We just try to go inside first and then go out and hit threes, but Kevarrius was getting offensive rebounds and getting put-backs and fouls and I feel like he was a big part to the inside paint.

Q. Andrew, you guys have a tough task against Michigan coming up. What's the mindset of you guys heading into this match-up?
ANDREW NEMBHARD: The mindset is locking in. We know they're really good offensively and defensively, so we have to lock in on our personnel, know their sets, what they're trying to do. I know they have a lot of shooters, so trying to make them bounce, score twos and limit turnovers for sure.

Q. For you guys, what was it like your first NCAA Tournament experience? Was it what you expected and have you gotten used to the glitz and the glamour?
ANDREW NEMBHARD: Yeah, I think it was what we expected. SEC tournament I think was a good preparation for us, quite similar to this tournament, a lot of hype, a lot of media around. I think we handled it well.

NOAH LOCKE: Just like what he said, I feel like the SEC was probably good preparation for us. It's much more media than SEC, but I feel like we were pretty much prepared for it.

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: I also feel the same about the SEC tournament. We play in a lot of big games, so I try to treat every game like a regular game, not think about we are in a tournament, just try to play as hard as I can.

Q. There was a moment yesterday in which things could have really crumbled as the lead got whittled down and down and down. Who was the most important, whether that was Coach or someone in a huddle in a timeout, who was there to keep things calm when there would be a chance for everybody to get rattled?
KEYONTAE JOHNSON: I would say Andrew. He was keeping everybody in check and trying to keep everybody good, so we weren't like, we had been in these moments before when teams make a run at the last minute. So Andrew was telling everybody, we good. Just next play and do our thing and we just took it and we got the win.

Q. Did you say anything in particular?
ANDREW NEMBHARD: He was just trying to say stay together, but a lot of guys on the bench were preaching together, so it wasn't just me. Everybody on the team came together.

Q. Guys, Big Ten, SEC, both tough conferences. When you look at Michigan on tape do they do anything different than some of the teams in the SEC or just one of the better teams you played this year?
ANDREW NEMBHARD: I think they're probably the most, like, overall probably the best overall team we've played all year with a high offensive end and defense efficiency. I think they're a little different in that they play a slower pace than the fast SEC teams and the size is a little bit different than some of the SEC teams. I'm not sure that would change our approach or anything for us.

NOAH LOCKE: I feel like they're probably one of the best shooting teams, shooting three-point teams we're going to play. They run a lot of sets, too. We just went through a few of their sets and it was a lot that we had to take in. We can handle it. It's nothing we can't do.

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: I felt like they were a good three-point shooting team. I would probably say they shoot really well. We looked at the scout and their guards and bigs can shoot it. So I would say they are probably way better, not way better, but better overall on the offensive and defensive side.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen.

Pleasure to have Florida head coach, Mike White. Coach, opening statement?

MIKE WHITE: Thank you. Just excited to be here, excited to play against a team as prestigious as the Wolverines. Huge opportunity and a challenge for us, and a team that is good year in and year out throughout the country and the number one defensive team in the nation as well. Extremely well-coached, prepared, tough, disciplined. It's going to be a very tough challenge for us, but we're excited about the opportunity.

Q. Mike, where did you think you saw Jalen Hudson turn the corner from what was obviously a pretty struggling first half to first two-thirds of the season?
MIKE WHITE: You could probably help me with this. I remember it was a press conference next door to the office when we talked about the fact that he had just come off his best two practices of the year. Right? And you could probably put your thumb on it quicker than I could, but we had planned on giving him more opportunity that next game and I'm not sure he played great that next game, but he played. It might have been a road game, if I'm not mistaken, could it have been at Alabama, maybe? I'm not sure.

But it was midway through the conference season. He earned more minutes and in that game he played really hard and he played with a renewed level of intensity and urgency. Then it was either the following game, one of the next couple of games where he broke through a little bit offensively. From that point on he brought it in practice every day and started, you could hear his voice more in practice and in film sessions. He took more ownership, started trying to help Hayes lead a little bit. He's locked in, day in and day out and leading where he was vocal on the court in the practice we just concluded. So just a different side to him about halfway through the conference season. He's been very good since. He's playing well.

Q. Do you think some of that has -- you always talk about don't let defense bleed into offense. Do you think when he started making shots that kinda helped him turn that corner even more so?
MIKE WHITE: I don't know whether it was him making shots or the fact that he was really locked in and playing at an intensity level that allowed him to get more minutes, which allowed him to get more shots and allowed him to score more. It's like the chicken or the egg, which one comes first?

I don't know which one is a bigger factor, but I think it all correlates. I know he's in a much better offensive rhythm than he was earlier in the year and I know he's playing harder as well. It's a really unique situation. It's a story, you know, of perseverance, the adversity that Jalen Hudson had early in this season is very unique. The guy was preseason National Player of the Year candidate. So I can't imagine the things that were going through his head, the things that he was struggling with. But he continued to remain positive and continued fighting, and here he is, you know, with a chance potentially to continue to advance, you know, in the NCAA Tournament. It was very important to him late in the year. He became pretty vocal, communicated with myself and our staff and our team that he really wanted to play in the NCAA Tournament. That was very important to him. So I'm happy for him.

Q. I believe I saw you seated in one of the media rows for the first half of the Michigan game last night after the victory. I'm curious if there is anything that your eyes as a coach tell you when you watch your next opponent that tape might not?
MIKE WHITE: First and foremost, the size of Jon Teske. His size. Their level of communication on the court, especially defensively. Their attention to detail. Their discipline. Their skill level. The fact that they all pass, dribble and shoot it. I've seen these guys play so much on TV and we all like watching Michigan play and they're a little closer to us than most programs because of Darris Nichols and his background of having played for Coach Beilein. We like to think we've learned a lot watching these guys, but in person those would be the first things that stuck out.

In addition, I would say the strength that some of these guys, especially Teske and Livers, I was very familiar with Isaiah, having tried to recruit him myself.

Q. As the lead was dwindling, in the second half, what did you end up being most impressed by amongst your team of finding whatever moment, whether that was huddle or on floor or something to plug the hole in the dam, so to speak? Who stepped up in the way they needed to?
MIKE WHITE: Hayes tried to lead as he always has, especially in the last two or three months. This has become his team. Andrew Nembhard has become a great leader as a freshman and his voice was heard throughout the second half trying to pull guys together, demanding effort and poise from his teammates at timeouts. We never found a great defense rhythm really until the last couple minutes of the game. So I would say overall the fact that despite having a long scoring drought and having two or three shots, I think, if I'm not mistaken, I've moved on to Michigan quickly, but just roll around the rim and couldn't find a way in for us to settle us in, the free throws and the field goals that we scored late in the game, you know, the poise to keep plugging and convert those. I guess those were most important and those were what got us the win so impressed that we just kept pluggin', didn't allow. We had a stretch there where we didn't value the ball at a very high level, but then late in the game we slowed down a little bit, even when we weren't getting stops, we slowed down and gave ourselves a chance and obviously converted enough very late.

Q. Is it as simple as consistency then that will be the big difference if you're able to win tomorrow? Because the starts to both halves last night were very strong. But is it just maybe a more balanced 40-minute effort? I hate to boil it down to something as simple as that, but that might be it?
MIKE WHITE: I don't know that we were inconsistent. Obviously, we were. I don't know that it was us losing edge and intensity and focus as much as it was Nevada changing what they were doing and speeding us up. We tried to control tempo and I think for the most part we did. We definitely did in the first 20 and early in the second half but when they started running and jumping at us and making us play faster, making us play downhill and making basketball plays by having two on the basketball, it just changed the entire outlook of the whole game. It changed the tempo. It changed our level of confidence, their level of confidence.

So I think that was pretty unique. I don't know that we'll see any of that in tomorrow's game. But do we need to be consistent for forty minutes to beat these guys? Absolutely. We're going to have to play our best game of the year to beat Michigan. We're going to have to be consistent offensively and defensively on the glass, going to have to play with great confidence and great focus.

Q. Simpson has been a guy whose passing has helped drive the motor for that offense, especially in the Big Ten tournament, carving apart zones. What's the strategy to neutralize his passing and play making ability?
MIKE WHITE: He's had a great year. He's more than 3-1 turnover ratio, plays at a great tempo. He's tough with the basketball. He's strong. Again, they really space you out. They run great actions, and he's a guy with the ball in his hands a bunch who is responsible for, you know, the pass leading to the basket. We've got to have great focus of course on him and he demands that, but the guys that are finishing those passes are equally as important. We've got to be there on the catch with shooters, our ball screen defense has got to be great. Our base principles will be tested in terms of just simply staying in a stance and being alert and communicating. All of those factors that help you succeed defensively.

Q. Coach, you mentioned Michigan's size. Nevada came at you with a lot of size, yet you guys seemed to handle it. There was a point of emphasis heading into Nevada? Did you adjust for that and are you going to do the same thing against Michigan or just play your game?
MIKE WHITE: We're just going to be who we are. We have been undersized all year. Keith Stone went out with an ACL, and we had another four-man transfer for us at Christmas. Keyontae Johnson became our 4-man by necessity. He's not a 4-man. He's a wing and we don't another 4 off the bench. So Keyontae's back-ups are our guards as well. This group has become really, really scrappy and they haven't made any excuses. They continue to battle. We'll do so tomorrow.

We've consistently played really hard, defended with intensity, fought, battled, haven't always made all the right plays, but defensively for the most part and on the glass, our guys give it their all, led my Kevarrius Hayes. That said, I do think Nevada did hurt us with their size at times especially on the offensive glass. I believe they had 19 offensive rebounds if I'm not mistaken. Size, again, will be key tomorrow. Hopefully we can neutralize it with just making big plays, getting two-handed plays, getting loose balls, playing physical, but playing clean as well. Especially on the interior.

Q. He said last night that he still isn't 100% healthy, but Charles Matthews looked the part. I think Coach is trying to build his physicality up after being out. Do you try to tire him out? What are the perils of trying to do something like that? How problematic is he no matter what his health is at?
MIKE WHITE: Really good player. We're not going to concern ourselves at all with how healthy he is, how good he's feeling. He's a good offensive player, good defense player, active, athletic. He's got a lot of experience. We're going to run our stuff and try to defend him at the highest level possible, but I can't imagine that's a big factor in the game.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach.

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