NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - MARYLAND VS UCONN

March 20, 2021

Eric Ayala

Mackey Arena

Maryland Terrapins

Postgame Media Conference

Maryland - 63, UConn - 54

THE MODERATOR: Good evening and thank you all for participating today. We're now joined by Eric Ayala. And we'll begin the press conference. Use the raised-hand function to indicate you would like to ask a question. When you're called on for your question please state your name and affiliation first. When you're done asking your question, please lower your hand.

Q. How's it going, can you hear me okay? It's a different set-up so I want to make sure. I know we talked a little bit about this before the tournament started but to know you guys were in this thing, you're here and now a win in the tournament. How does it feel to know you guys are one of the last 32 teams standing now in the season?

ERIC AYALA: Oh, just hearing you say that, it's a blessing. You know, I remember first entering the hotel and just seeing all the teams and preparing for our game. It was a little bit more empty than when we first got there. So to be one of the last 32 is definitely a blessing. And just trying to take it one day at a time. Get ready for the next one.

Q. That next one, playing Alabama up next. They're a high-scoring team, can really shoot the 3, a quick turnaround for you guys. How do you turn around and prepare for them so quickly?

ERIC AYALA: Just take it one day at a time. Our coaching staff has a good recovery plan for us right now after the game. Everybody getting ice baths and stuff and eating and just doing the little things off the court that help us in preparing for the Alabama game.

Q. Hakim Hart seems to come up big in key moments. We've seen it a couple times this year. What is it like seeing with that dunk to break the press and immediately getting the charge call on the defensive end? Just that sequence from Hart, what did that do for the team?

ERIC AYALA: He's the key. You know, the games he's played well, I don't think we've lost. He's just an amazing player, watching his growth from last year and having him step into a role this year where we actually count on him a lot. And he's tough. He's smart. And I trust him a lot. He's a big kid and it's just a blessing to see him have success on this stage.

Q. You're normally fired up for a game, I understand that, but the cameras even showed you talking with (indiscernible) after a couple of huge plays. Were you more fired up for this game, not that you were not normally fired up, but seemed like you had a lot of intensity?

ERIC AYALA: It's do or die at this point. You've got to leave it all out there. Empty the tank. I wasn't ready to go home today. I've been having a nice time out here, and just the whole environment is just a special place to be. As a college basketball player, as a child, you dream of being in this environment. And I'm just going to keep dreaming at this point. Just my energy, my intensity, I kind of lead in that way, hoping that guys see my energy and it rubs off on other people.

Q. When you guys had those big dunks from Aaron and Donta, just how much energy did that give you guys? And how much confidence were you guys playing with that out there and just really kind of finding the offensive through?

ERIC AYALA: There were some two big plays, Aaron and Donta. Donta was tremendous out there having to fight down there with the big guys. That's what they do. They compete. Unfortunately, we lack the size, we have to compete a little bit more down there. But they don't complain. They just go and give it their all.

Q. What was your guys' mindset just coming into this in terms of having that confidence to come in and beat this team?

ERIC AYALA: You know, it's hard to explain. As a basketball player, you just -- it's hard not to take each opportunity as a blessing and understand what's at stake. For me, in a moment like this where it's now or never -- and we've been here before. We've been to the tournament, my first year, my freshman year, we won our first game. Last year it was taken away from us. And we had a great team last year.

So coming into this game, you know, I felt like I owe my effort and my energy and everything to basketball, to just come out here and compete. I feel like the team feels the same way, just having everything taken from us and all that we had to go through this year with tests every day and not being able to see our families, not being able to hang out with our friends and just making all these sacrifices.

It's a war, everything we've been through up here, just the whole experience, this has been an awarding experience. And hopefully we get to keep playing.

Q. I think the first possession of the game you kind of got four shots and your defense just from the get-go was like that. Obviously the Big Ten is known for its defense. Did you feel like we have to make UConn play our style of basketball and make this a defensive game?

ERIC AYALA: Yeah, definitely. Going into this games, we definitely want to play Maryland basketball. Coach Turgeon emphasized that a lot this year, just not really worrying about so much the other team -- we do scouting reports and we prepare. But it's really about being the best Maryland team you could be. When we locked in defensively, moving the ball to offense, getting a good shot for the team, things work well for us. And I think we did that today.

Q. Do you feel like today you guys feel like the home team because you guys played here a lot during your time in the Big Ten. Do you feel like you had the home-court advantage there?

ERIC AYALA: Honestly, you know, NCAA, they kind of changed the courts a little bit. It didn't feel like a Purdue court, the arena. They did a nice job putting the March Madness stuff all over the place. And being familiar with the place, though, like the locker rooms and just walking around seeing all the Purdue stuff, it did feel a little more comfortable. But I think the NCAA did a good job with the setup and it didn't look as much like when we was at Purdue. I had a lot of fun out there playing today.

Q. You seem like a guy who really just appreciates and kind of soaks in these type of moments when you win an NCAA Tournament. What's the piece that you remember the most, whether it's kind of on the court afterward or in the locker room, what do you think you'll remember from this game?

ERIC AYALA: Just being counted out. A lot of people didn't really think much of us. A lot of experts didn't think we'd win this game. A lot of people had us last in the Big Ten. And to beat those odds, my whole life I've been beating odds and beating statistics. And that's the most soaking-in moment for me, I'm still beating them. And no matter what people, barriers and stuff they try to put on me or my team all year we just been fighting. That's been our motto, to just keep fighting.

Q. If I can jump in real quick. Eric, do you guys look back like a month and a half ago, February 8th when you picked up your ninth Big Ten loss? Do you look back at that and think, wow, we came a long way now. We just won a round of 64 game?

ERIC AYALA: We had the potential. It's not really a shocker. You know, we worked for it every day in practice, we came and competed. The Big Ten is obviously probably one of the best conferences in the country. And definitely prepared us for a game like this where we finally got to play somebody else. And just having that experience of playing a different team, it was a little comfort in that.

And the Big Ten, man, it's the Big ten Conference it speaks for itself. Every game is a battle. And it's a blessing to be able to play in a conference like that and then come into March Madness and be prepared for it.

Q. Coach just talked a lot about this season how you're at your best when you're driving downhill and attacking the basket. Seemed like it was a big theme for you particularly early on scoring 11 of the team's first 15 points. How much was it an emphasis for you entering this game to establish that presence early and drive downhill and attack the basket early on?

ERIC AYALA: Just taking what the defense gives me. They was kind of giving me the lane and they slacked off. I think I hit a few jump shots. And just providing whatever my team needed. At that time I was able to give my team a spark. And it was just taking one game at a time, one possession at a time, honestly.

Q. Just overall, what was the atmosphere like in the locker room? With Turgeon, what was the emphasis to you guys, and now playing Alabama?

ERIC AYALA: We didn't even talk about Alabama yet, honestly. Just enjoying this moment right now. We worked real hard to get here. And I think Coach and the coaching staff will have us ready to play Alabama when we play them.