NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - GEORGIA TECH VS LOYOLA CHICAGO

March 19, 2021

Porter Moser

Loyola Chicago Ramblers

Hinkle Fieldhouse

Postgame Media Conference

Loyola 71, Georgia Tech 60

PORTER MOSER: Just thought our guys had a tremendous grit to themselves, led by Lucas Williamson and Braden Norris, Aher, they just had a grit to them.

My good friend Steve Donahue, the head coach at Penn, said to me when they found out that he was out with COVID, he said, You know what, it's not going to be easier, it's just going to be different. That was kind of our message. It wasn't easy, it was different.

They went five guards right away, put Krut in some tough spots. They were spacing and dribble-driving. It wasn't any easier. It was very, very hard to guard their spacing, how athletic those guards are.

But it was just different because it put Kruk in some things (indiscernible). I thought that was a good message for our guys. Sometimes when you hear a guy is out, you take your foot off the gas pedal. We knew it was not going to be easy, it was just going to be different.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions.

Q. Offensive rebounding was gigantic in this game. They did play smaller. But was that a special focus for you guys today? I thought it was the difference in the game.

PORTER MOSER: They have so many strengths, Georgia Tech. We said one of them we really wanted to go to the glass if they were going to go small. Lucas went, Marquise got a big one. We were really making a point of that, if they were going to go small, we were going to try to go to the glass and get some more. I thought our guys did a good job of that, get some extra possessions for us with that.

Q. How much was the poise and the experience of Lucas, which helped the other players on the team to get into focus?

PORTER MOSER: It's huge. When you have a player that confident, and he was really loud, other guys feed off that. When Lucas was a freshman, he was feeding off guys like Clayton, Ben Richardson, Marcus, Donte Ingram. They were like in every huddle, every timeout, they were noisy in terms of what we had to do. Lucas was the same way. He was real noisy.

I know when you're vocal and you're backing it up with your effort, it equals a lot of confidence in yourself and the other guys.

So I thought Lucas' mindset, mentality, and I think Braden Norris was one that really fed off it. First time, first seven or eight minutes, we were kind of feeling it out. They were doing something different, five-out, dribble-drive. Braden really settled in, I thought, when Lucas was settling in.

Q. I got to ask you about the fans because I know that's something you love to talk about. You haven't gotten to talk much about fans. How was that experience?

PORTER MOSER: It was so nice to see fans there. I just to give so many kudos to the NCAA for doing what they're doing to have this tournament, the protocols and the safety to have this.

I know to those student-athletes that meant the world to see that many maroon and gold scarves up there, hear them chanting LUC. To go over and see parents, friends and family hanging over that balcony railing. Went down and saw so much of our Loyola family up there. I saw my kids and my wife. My kids have not been to a game this year. That was the first time my kids game to a game.

Really cool to have everyone there to enjoy it, to really help us, too. You could just hear the momentum from the crowd when things went your way.

Q. Obviously Georgia Tech came out playing great defense. What were some of the adjustments you were able to make, having a veteran handle that in the NCAA tournament?

PORTER MOSER: We were just trying to see their slides at first. What you see on tape sometimes isn't what happens in the game. Teams make adjustments. Then really extending their tandem, taking away.

We were trying to get to the middle, but they were bringing the wings up high. As we went on we got the ball into the middle better. When we got it into the middle, we were spraying it for more threes. We knew we were going to get some threes off of it if we got to the second and third side.

A couple times came out of timeout, pounded it in to Krut. They're athletic, 6'6", 6'7" down there, when they're trying to front them at times. They're long in the zone, they play hard.

The thing about it, I said this before, what I saw on tape. I'm going to pull out my Coach Majerus reference. It wasn't just your 'Hands Up Harry' zone. It was very aggressive, trying to get steals. You put them on the deck, they're digging and raking, high hands, looking for deflections, taking away passing lanes. It's a very active zone.

There's a reason why they force so many turnovers. I think we got settled into it. We haven't seen one like that all year. Settled into it, got the ball in the middle, then you make some shots. That always helps, too.

Q. What did you say when you fell behind early? What do you say to the guys to settle them? Now that you are moving on, what's the message about Illinois, whether this is the right seeding, all that?

PORTER MOSER: We've been behind before this year. It's so early. It's about stacking good possessions and not stacking bad possessions. We just had to settle down. You can't look at a big lead that early and just panic. There's so many possessions. We were talking about stacking good possessions and getting good shots.

You could see me a couple times, we missed a couple wide open shots, I was clapping. I want them to know it's about a good possession. That's what you tell them early. There's a lot of possessions left in the game.

But the other thing is, the guys have confidence in their defense. They know if they can start getting some good possessions, we're going to make them hard to score on. We hit some tough twos, midranges, some pull-ups that you have to live with. But that's the message early. Don't stack bad possessions. Just do that.

The next question with Illinois? Obviously an amazing amount of respect for how good they are. They're terrific. They play hard. They play both ends, offense and defense. They're extremely well-coached. Looking forward to the opportunity.

Our guys compete. I'll dig into them. I was completely immersed into Georgia Tech, as it should be. Now I'm going to dive into Illinois.

Being from the state, I obviously watch 'em with a close eye. Grew up in Illinois. I've watched them on the TV. Really, really good team.

Q. If you could, adjust talk a little bit about your guard line of Keith, Braden and Lucas, doing what they did on both ends of the floor.

PORTER MOSER: You know what, they played bigger than they are, our guards. So does Alvarado. I told him after I got a lot of respect for him. He is a tough, tough competitor. Defensive player in the ACC. You can see why.

He played the whole game just like Braden. Both those guards play bigger than they are. Devoe is so hard to guard because he has a great hesitation. He lulls you to sleep, then bursts by you.

I think our guards did a good job. We switched a lot. There's sometimes we didn't switch. It was good calls. They communicate. But just all year long our guards have dictated the defense, dictated the tempo. They did it again tonight.

And I thought Georgia Tech was hard to guard. They spread you to where you -- they can really go by you. I have a lot of respect for how hard those guards are at Georgia Tech.

Q. Aher, his physicality on the boards, and what you expect out of him going up against Illinois?

PORTER MOSER: Watching Illinois, they have some tremendous basketball players. They can play. They're long and athletic. So he gives you that physical presence defensively. He's 6'7", 225. He can switch. He's a really good defender. But he has that athleticism to get rebounds above the rim, to be wall-up against a bigger guard. He's been so key for us all year. On the all defense team with Lucas.

He didn't have the opportunity to score much, but it didn't bother him because he played great defense. He really had one of the key baskets. We had to put him at the five a lot. I thought that was one of the key adjustments of the whole game. We went on a huge run because they were really trying -- with the five guards trying to isolate on Krut and do some things with him.

When Aher went to the five, he was screening, kept on speeding to the screen, rolling hard, rolled in, Braden hit him. I thought he's versatility to be able to play the five when we really hasn't had to do that all year, was one of the key parts of winning this game.

Q. I know you said you hadn't put a lot of time diving into Illinois. Big picture, what does it mean for two in-state programs to see each other with a chance to go to the Sweet 16?

PORTER MOSER: Well, they're one of the top teams in the country. They're the hottest team in the country. Them and Gonzaga are the two hottest teams in the country.

Being from Illinois, seeing two ranked teams going at each other in the round of 32. It's a great basketball state. There's a huge amount of passion for basketball in the state of Illinois. It's been that way for decades. I grew up there. To see two ranked teams go at it to get a ticket to the Sweet 16 is great for the state.

But we have a respect for them knowing they're one of the top, hottest teams in the country. We've won 18 out of 19 ourselves. I'm looking forward to the matchup, looking forward to the opportunity. But it's great for basketball. You got two teams here in this tournament, in the final 32, trying to get to the Sweet 16.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.