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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: COLUMBUS

March 22, 2019

Columbus, Ohio

Washington - 78, Utah State - 61

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Utah State head coach Craig Smith and student-athletes Sam Merrill and Brock Miller. Coach, an opening statement?

COACH SMITH: I want to congratulate Washington. I thought they played fantastic. Really disrupted us. I thought we were really tentative in the first half. And that was a lot to do with them. They really disrupted us on top.

We struggled completing passing. We had too many turnovers. Obviously we ended up with 21 turnovers on the game, which is very uncharacteristic of us. I can only think of one other game in which that's happened even remotely close to that in the last two months during -- since we've won, what, 17 out of 18, or whatever it was.

But you've got to give them credit. I thought our guys really competed hard, really fought back. They hurt us on the offensive glass the first half. It was really a tale of two halves, but we came roaring all the way back. Our press is really, really good. Caused them to get tentative and forced a bunch of turnovers.

Sam made a big 3 in the corner right in front of our bench that cut the lead to one. And then we just almost got maybe a little overzealous with our press and took some chances we really didn't need to. And give them credit, they make back-to-back 3s on the next two possessions. And then I think we came back and turned it over a couple times.

But an amazing season. We're so proud to represent certainly Utah State, the state of Utah and of course the Mountain West Conference. The Mountain West Conference is a great conference. It's really a conference on the rise. And we're really, really proud to represent them. And obviously we wish we could have done it with a W.

But this team, picked ninth in the preseason poll and getting an 8 seed, and then just the way we did things, it was a historic season really from start to finish. It was a program -- we didn't lose back-to-back games one time. To win the regular season title and then validate it with the postseason tournament, it was fantastic. First-ever in Utah State history in terms of winning the Mountain West championship.

So it's just the start of where we want to go and we'll talk about that more later. But congrats to Washington.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Sam, this was obviously just a really frustrating game. What did they do to really take you out of rhythm? You just didn't have looks, especially the first half?
SAM MERRILL: Like Coach said, we've got to give them all the credit. Their zone was really good tonight. And they made it really tough on us. We had practiced against it all week, but like I said pregame, you can't replicate the length they have and the athleticism they have.

And they did a very good job not just taking away my looks but making things tough for us as a team as well. So just gotta give them all the credit in the world, for sure.

Q. Brock, at the very beginning, from the beginning it seemed like you were coming out with a lot of energy. But going into the half, that was probably one of the ugliest points as far as things were going against you guys. What did Coach say at the half? What was your guys' conversation like, and what were you thinking would be the outcome of the game?
BROCK MILLER: You know, us as a team, we've been in this position before where we've been down going into halftime. And us guys, you know, we all came together at halftime. And we just decided it's time to come out and really just not be tentative like we were in the first half. And Coach made a big emphasis on that.

And obviously as a team we always believe we're going to win. We're always going to find a way. And unfortunately it didn't happen for us tonight. And credit to Washington. They came out ready to play and they really disrupted us on our offense with their defense. And it happens sometimes where you lose some and you win some.

But I'm really proud of all of our guys and what we did this year was incredible. And we're only going uphill from here.

Q. That was a team with great length obviously and you can see that on the video as you prepare for the game. But does reality set in the first couple of minutes of the game and you realize it's going to be a little more difficult for your shots to fall?
BROCK MILLER: Oh, definitely. I mean, all those guys up on the perimeter are very long, very athletic, and you don't realize until you're in the moment. Again, they're jumping in passing lanes. So it definitely took us a quick minute.

But I think that second half we really fought hard and we gave it our all. And we're going to be back next year.

Q. Sam, you guys fought pretty hard back in the second half. What was it like when Washington, they go 6-of-7 from the 3 in the second half. How much did that hurt you guys in terms of make a push and then they hit a 3-pointer kind of cut it back?
SAM MERRILL: We cut it to one and then they hit two straight 3s and it was -- No. 11, I forgot his name -- but No. 11, who is a good player but hasn't made a ton of 3s on the year. So give credit to him. He hit some big shots, three big shots in the second half and got to the free-throw line a couple times, too.

So like Coach said, we had a couple of -- once we cut it to one they hit a 3, and then we had a couple of turnovers, and they hit a transition 3. That was a tough moment for us, for sure.

Q. Brock, but both of you can answer, it's been eight years since you got to the NCAA Tournament. You mentioned you wanted to get the tradition going again. What have you taken from the experience here? I know it's shorter than what you wanted it to be, but what do you take from this experience going forward to next year?
BROCK MILLER: This experience was awesome for us, and it can only go uphill from here. We've got a lot of guys coming back next year. Sam and I both, we're from the state of Utah, and we both grew up watching the Aggies. And it's something special to be here in the NCAA Tournament and to have won the Mountain West Conference tournament championship.

And from here on out we're just going to keep competing and doing our best to get back to the top again, get back to this tournament and hopefully a better outcome next time. But definitely it's on our minds and this experience will definitely benefit us.

SAM MERRILL: Yeah, it's been a good year for us, definitely, getting Utah State back to where Utah State basketball needs to be. But obviously this is still very disappointing. We felt like this was a real opportunity to make that next step for this program and couldn't get it done tonight.

So our goals next year will be to do what we did this year, win the league, win the Mountain West Tournament, and then get here again and win.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach Smith.

Q. Were you surprised to see them shoot the 3 as well as they did? They have not done that anywhere close to what they did tonight all season.
COACH SMITH: Yes and no. I mean, watched a ton of games on them. There were certainly some games where they were on fire -- I forget the specific ones -- leading up to this game. At halftime they were 4-for-10, but they were drilling us in the paint. They were 11-for-20 in the paint in the first half and just had six offensive boards. They only had one in the second half.

So we were really having a difficult time staying in front of them in the first half, in particular, especially No. 5, who is obviously a very good player, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, Nowell. We just were having a difficult time, he was getting downhill, downhill , downhill. And they were just living at the rim which opens up offensive rebounding lanes.

And second half, obviously we got off to a great start, had to call a couple of timeouts early. The press was very effective. You try to make the game a little more Helter Skelter, and to their credit they made some 3s on us and some of those were tough 3s. Some were wide open. But good teams make plays, good players make plays. We've done it all year. And to their credit they just made a few more plays than us.

Q. Normally Sam and Neemias are huge weapons for you. They both kind of had an off night. What's that like as a coach? What goes on in your mind to kind of change that or was there panic?
COACH SMITH: I don't think there was panic. Certainly they got us out of a rhythm. They sped us up, without a question. I thought we looked a lot more like ourselves the first 10 -- whatever, the first 14 -- 12 minutes of the second half.

Then we did a few uncharacteristic things, just taking some shots offensively that we normally don't take. We tried to throw, I guess it would be an alley-oop pass that was never there. And sometimes, that happens sometimes in these moments.

And certainly the first half I didn't have our guys set up in a position for consistent success on the offensive end, I thought especially. I thought we were way better the second half. We got downhill. We were in attack mode. We shoot 16 free throws. We only shot four in the first half. We were way more aggressive.

And what people forget -- and I know our local guy, you've heard how young we are, it's very rare we showed our youth throughout. And we had some glimpse of that tonight. But I've coached for -- you walk in the locker room after the game and some teams when they're done with their season they're hop-skipping and jumping out of that locker room.

And this isn't like an emotional -- it's a very emotional time, but this isn't an emotional statement. I've coached for 23 years on really, really good teams. I had a team that played in a national championship game. I loved coaching those guys. I've been part of a lot of rebuilding, so to speak, where you're doing some things for the first time.

And I have never seen a team come together like this team has. Literally, if you look back to where we were last April, May, this summer where we couldn't throw a shot in the ocean, we're throwing the ball in the third stands of the Spectrum on a routine basis. I'm not kidding. That's factual.

And how far this team has come and just -- I wish, like, I just wish every coach could coach a team like this. It's just -- it's just an amazing, amazing group to be around. Not to get sidetracked, but that's what I do.

I was 32 years old, I spent a full day with John Wooden. And just by -- the late Don Meyer, who's one of the biggest influences in my life -- and he's obviously passed away -- invited me to a coaching clinic in L.A. He does coaching clinics all the time. And the plane ticket was like 600 bucks. I didn't have any money. I was making, like, 25 grand. And my wife's, like, you need to go, you need to go.

We go, we land, we drive. Next thing you know we're in a residential area, and Coach Meyer rings the doorbell and out comes John Wooden. I didn't know we were going to see him. Spent the whole day with him. I'm 32 years old, just got done being head coach for my first year. We had a great year. The year before I got to Mayville, they were 1-27. We got to the national tournament, lost.

Any way, long story short -- I could tell John Wooden stories all day from this day -- but I was, like, you always want to find your purpose as a person, as a coach, what you value, what you believe in. If it's just about winning, then I'm just not sure -- then it's kind of hollow.

You better win or you're going to get fired. But it's kind of shallow. And I'm 32 years old. I had a full head of hair, and he was getting all these calls -- he had a phone, like, this big, like that. And you hear every voicemail -- Bill Walton would call, the late Pat Summitt called, Swen Nater called. It's like a Who's Who.

And at the end of every call, these former players would say, I love you, Coach. And it was just like, that's what it's about. And so you go through everything and this group, I mean, it's a band of brothers. They will be forever connected, just their selflessness, the way they play, there's no ego. There's no, "I need to get mine." There's just none of that.

And it's just such -- even tonight when we were dead in the water, we just kept fighting and chipping away and chipping away and gave ourselves a chance. And we just couldn't get it done.

Q. During halftime, what was it that you said to them? How did you channel that brotherhood?
COACH SMITH: Just rely on your training. The experiences that we went through, that's why we play tough non-conference schedules. You go through, you learn a lot about yourself. And you get in the league and playing and it's just rigorous and rugged. And I mean every night out.

So you've got to -- and then what's got us to this point all year and that's -- certainly you have to have talent. But what's put us over the top is we worked really, really hard. We have a gator mentality. We don't take possessions off. We compete no matter what. But what really separates us is our chemistry and just trusting each other. And we usually -- we played very, very connected. Obviously they disrupted our connectivity just because their active hands, their athleticism, all that, creating turnovers.

And we're typically a team that really eliminates losing. And from the day we got hired almost, I think it's one week short of a year ago now, our number one thing is we have to eliminate losing to win.

And I'm not going to talk about last year, but like we had to end possessions. We're a top 5 rebounding team in the country. We've got to be able to protect the paint. We're at the top 5 in two-point field goal defense in the country. And to not turn it over and make your free throws.

We go 16-for-20 from the line. We knew how to get fouled this year. And our style of play lends to that. But certainly the one thing we didn't do to eliminate losing was the number one key going into the game is we cannot allow our offense to be their best offense.

And with the football analogy, if you're throwing four pick-6s odds are it's probably going to be a long night. And we threw a few pick-6s tonight.

Q. I've seen a lot of Syracuse over the years, and John Chaney at Temple. Can you put into words to a layman what it's like to -- you guys were on a roll. I watched your Mountain West Tournament. You guys were really on a roll. And all of a sudden this just unplugs you. Can you explain how a defense like that can do that?
COACH SMITH: First of all -- and Sam nailed it -- it's very difficult for us to replicate that in practice because obviously just on our roster -- like we know conceptually what they're doing, of course, but just our roster doesn't lend to that.

I said it tongue in cheek on one of the interviews the other day, like to replicate Thybulle and some of those guys, like we should have had those swimming pool noodles, like just to tip and deflect, because obviously in practice those windows that we see are very, they're wide windows. And you play against these guys and those windows are shrunk and just tipping and deflecting.

That's one of our goals, we want to tip and deflect like crazy. We did a good job of that this year. It's just very, very difficult to replicate. Their front line defense is incredibly -- it's good. They're quick to the ball. Super active hands. Thybulle, obviously, is a game-changer on the defensive end.

And then once we got it to the back line defense, I thought we'd be able to score and make some things happen. I felt like we had some really good looks. Now part of it they speed you up, but I thought we just missed some -- literally just point-blank, point-blank, point-blank. And so some of that's us. But a lot of that is them just getting us really sped up. We knew we were going to be put in situations where we get to play two-on-one, three-on-two, once we get past that initial line.

But it's not very often that Neemias Queta goes 4-for-12. I'm not singling him out, I'm just saying that guy's incredibly good. He's very talented. Just had one of those nights.

First or second play of the game we get it right in the heart of the defense, two times, back-to-back plays, where Quinn Taylor gets it. We have a two-on-one. And we could have thrown it up to Neemi for a dunk or even bounce passed it, or he could have shot a floater. We turn it over. They tip it out and it's going the other way.

The next play, we ran that play about two plays later, same thing, Quinn kind of -- he was trying to make the right read to Neemi. And he literally could have walked to the rim. And it gets blocked. And so it is what it is. But it's very difficult to prepare for. They do a great job with it. And you live and you learn.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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