NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - OHIO VS VIRGINIA

March 20, 2021

Ben Vander Plas

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall

Ohio Bobcats

Postgame Media Conference

Ohio 62, Virginia 58

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Ben Vander Plas who scored a game high 17 points to lead the Bobcats to the 62-58 victory. We'll take questions.

Q. I noticed after the game you gave an embrace there to Coach Bennett, then pointed up to the stands. Can you take me through that.

BEN VANDER PLAS: Yeah, obviously Coach Bennett played with my dad in college. The Bennett family is where my name comes from. That family has meant a lot to my family over the years.

When we got matched up, I was really excited to play against him. He's a great coach. Yeah, I got to talk to him for a little bit after the game. He asked where my dad was sitting. I pointed up there. Yeah, that was a pretty cool moment with Coach Bennett.

Q. Looks like lately here you've been scoring your points in clusters. Also seems like you're scoring them right in front of the OU bench. What is up with that?

BEN VANDER PLAS: I got to give it to the bench, I guess. We have a lot of guys on the bench who do whatever it takes to give us whatever energy they can throughout the entire game. Those guys on the bench, Mike Brown, John Tenerowicz, all those guys, they're always just into the game with us the entire time from start to finish. I don't know if you saw them swinging their towels around before both halves. Those guys are just such a big part of what we're doing this year.

I don't know, that might be what it is, a little bit of magic from them.

Q. Is that your spot on the floor during the regular season?

BEN VANDER PLAS: Yeah, that left wing. I like that spot coming off of pick and pops, things like that, right in front of the bench. I guess they were just falling from there today.

Q. One thing that Coach Boals told us before the week was that none of your team had NCAA tournament experience. Was this everything you dreamed about when you were dreaming about playing in March?

BEN VANDER PLAS: Man, that game, the atmosphere, even with the limited fans, it's a dream come true to be out here playing the game I love. Got a couple family members up in the stands, playing with a team I love, playing for a coaching staff I love playing with. Man, it was a special moment out there. We're just going to keep it going.

Q. I noticed that it seemed like after every timeout the team would be able to get a quick bucket. What was the communication like during the huddle? What was the coaching that you saw today?

BEN VANDER PLAS: Coming into the timeouts, coach always has something to say to us to get us back focused. We just do a really good job of regrouping in those times. They went on a little bit of a run. We got a timeout. Coach called one. We just come back in, we focus, we talk about what we need to do, we bring it back out on the court.

Coach Boals definitely does a great job commanding those huddles.

Q. With this game being so tight, how did it feel to get that run midway through the second half, give the team some breathing room?

BEN VANDER PLAS: Yeah, obviously basketball is a game of runs. You always hear that. Yeah, that was a little run. We got a couple good shots, got a couple stops in a row. That's a big thing for us. When we can string some stops together, we're a pretty good offensive team. The big focus for us is getting those stops that lead to buckets on the offensive end.

Q. I got some videos from some friends back in Athens. Court Street was going absolutely crazy after you just won. How does that feel and sound to you knowing that fellow students at your school are going crazy after your win?

BEN VANDER PLAS: That's great to hear. We've been seeing a lot of support on social media and things like that from our students over at OU, a lot of fans back in Athens. It's funny. Ben Roderick came up to me after the game, saying Court Street is going crazy right now. Excited to look at some videos of that. It's really cool we have that much support back home for us.

Q. Obviously you finished fifth in the league. Is it hard to believe where you are right now? It's not even two weeks, right, this run you guys are on? What is it like to see how everything has changed?

BEN VANDER PLAS: Yeah, we went through a couple things through the season. Obviously Jay Preston had a little bit of an injury earlier in the conference season, went through a couple COVID pauses. But we never let it get us down. We kept fighting back. That resilience is showing now. It showed in the MAC tournament, three games in three days. That was really big for us.

To get this week of preparation, to come out and beat a really, really good Virginia team, it's really special to see from this team.

Q. Do you hear about the team nine years ago? Is that something you're aware of, the team that made the Sweet 16?

BEN VANDER PLAS: Yeah, we've heard some things about it. A great team. We saw some of the players from that team sent messages on social media, some tweets and stuff. To see their support, it just feels really good. It's really exciting to have them behind us, too.

Q. For a lot of America, they're seeing you for the first time, Ohio for the first time, Jay Preston for the first time. I'm sure you're accustomed to it. Can you speak to the show he put on, his story, and rise.

BEN VANDER PLAS: Yeah, Jay has a phenomenal story. He lost his mom in high school. He's just gone through so much. He's one of my best friends. He's my roommate. We drive everywhere together. We're always working out together. To see him just come out this season and play the way that he's been playing and lead the way he's been leading, it's amazing to watch.

I'm really, really thankful that I'm in the position that I am to be on his team.

Q. What does this win mean for you and your program, knocking off basically the defending champs?

BEN VANDER PLAS: Yeah, obviously it's a huge win. Being a 13 seed, coming out and getting a W in the NCAA tournament is always big.

I just think about the fans back in Athens, the students back in Athens, the people who have been supporting us this whole season through this pandemic. I'm just really thankful that we're able to get a win for them in the tournament.

Q. 30 years ago in the first round of the tournament your dad scored a team high 17 points while playing for Dick Bennett at Green Bay when they scored 58 in a loss. Tonight in the first round of the tournament you scored a team high 17 points while playing against Dick's son Tony, whose team scored 58 points in a loss. Are you the kind of guy who considers that a happy coincidence or might there be something more going on with it?

BEN VANDER PLAS: Wow, that's unbelievable. That's crazy to hear. Lunden McDay said something in the locker room about the basketball gods. Maybe they have something to do with that. That's really cool to score the same amount of points as my pops in the first round. That's crazy.

Q. How was this team able to basically play Virginia basketball and beat it at its own game tonight? You typically play fast, focused on the offensive end. What flipped for you tonight?

BEN VANDER PLAS: I think something that helped us was our defense tonight. Guys like Lunden McDay, Mark Sears, Miles Brown coming in and defending at a really, really high level is really big for us. That's a huge part of how we got this done.

Obviously having Jay Preston, he's going to be the best player on the court in a lot of games. Having him out there is really helpful. Then Ben Roderick out there, he's been hitting shots, playing defense also. Dwight Wilson battling down there with the bigs. A lot of great pieces that went into this win.

Q. Did you feel that way tonight, Jason was the best player on the floor, and that's why despite the score and circumstance you felt confident going into the last 8 minutes?

BEN VANDER PLAS: I'm not going to lie. Any time we play a basketball game, doesn't matter who it is, I think Jason Preston is the best player on the court. I've seen him do things that I haven't seen anybody else do. The way he plays the game, it's so phenomenal. Yeah, any time we step on the court, I think we got the best player on the court out there.

Q. What is the confidence level right now of this team? How far can you guys go?

BEN VANDER PLAS: Confidence is a huge thing for us. Yeah, I think you guys might be able to see it, but we're out there playing free, playing confident. I know me especially, over the past couple weeks, I've been talking a lot to Jay about P.J. Tucker, how he goes out and guards one through five, plays with irrational confidence. That's what I've been trying to do, just go out there and just play free.

Yeah, that's a huge part of this run for us, is confidence.

Q. America got a taste of Ohio tonight. How far can you guys go? Where can that confidence take you?

BEN VANDER PLAS: I think we go into every single game expecting to win, preparing to win. So we're going to try to win the whole thing. That's what we're here to do. We're going -- what is it, five more games? We're going to try to win five more games one at a time.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.