NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - MISSOURI VS OKLAHOMA

March 20, 2021

Lon Kruger

Lucas Oil Stadium - Equality Court (North)

Oklahoma Sooners

Postgame Media Conference

Oklahoma - 72, Missouri - 68.

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach.

LON KRUGER: Couldn't be happier for the guys. Just a big-time battle, Missouri's good, made some big plays late, different guys stepped up at different times. Just, again, just couldn't be happier. It's been a grind, all the games are close all year long, and the guys I think benefited from that, Big-12 play. And again, I thought down the stretch, especially we got a little lead, they made a couple threes late and our guys still made free throws. Again, a lot of guys played well.

THE MODERATOR: Take questions, please.

Q. This decision to foul by Elijah with 2.5 seconds left, a three-pointer ties the game, was that something you guys had told them to do in that situation or was that on his own?

LON KRUGER: Teams practice that, of course, a lot, and we do. We kind of do that, we use that six-second mark, we talk about it huddle, and regardless of what happens on the free throws, anytime the clock gets under six -- it's one thing to talk about it -- Jalen Hill did that once in a game earlier this year and real nice heads-up play and Elijah made a very good heads-up play right there.

Q. What was the biggest adjustment you had to make tonight playing without De'Vion?

LON KRUGER: Well, at times in the year we have had, been a little inconsistent scoring the ball, and of you course De'Vion's a guy that's a threat to score out there. So just picking up some points, picking up some production, Jalen Hill, Victor, Alondes all came off the bench and gave us some big minutes, big production.

Q. On De'Vion, there was a tweet that you guys FaceTimed him in the locker room. Could you describe that scene real quick?

LON KRUGER: There's nothing better in sports than a spontaneous locker room celebration. You can't practice them, you can't express how they feel, the look of satisfaction on the players' faces and they had De'Vion on FaceTime while that was going on and like he had the biggest smile. So again, just always glad that the players can experience as many of those as possible.

Q. Can you talk about, it looks like you platooned Jalen, Victor, Kur, and Brady all down there on the low block. Can you talk about what impact they had to help you guys rebound and protect the paint?

LON KRUGER: Yeah, they all played hard and played well. Tilmon's a big guy in there. He's a hard matchup, especially when you got those guys on the perimeter that shoot it so well. So Kur came in and spelled Brady and did a really good job. Victor gave us some good minutes and again Jalen and Alondes I thought had a lot of good plays during the ball game. So you need that when you're a guy down, other guys have to step up, and on the year this group's done that pretty well.

Q. Wanted to ask you specifically about Austin Reaves. I know you've expressed just how much trust the team has in him. Could you talk about his leadership that he showed tonight through a game where it was pretty much back and forth and navigating another crunch-time situation?

LON KRUGER: Yeah, Austin battled all night. When you're the guy that the ball's in your hands late, you can't be shy, you can't be timid, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But our guys know that he's going to have the ball late and I thought other guys stepped in and made plays to get to us that point where Austin then made some plays to get to the free-throw line, quite frankly, and that was a big part of creating a little bit of a spread there late.

Q. Wanted to ask you about the first part of the second half. That opening few minutes of the half has been an issue at times during this stretch. Brady hits some big shots there earlier and y'all are able to jump off to a 12-2 run. What was the key to that hot start and how important was that overall tonight?

LON KRUGER: It's always important. Again, it's not any great secret. I mean, you make shots, it looks good, it works. When you don't make shots, you say why didn't we do something else? But that's the nature of the game. I thought our possessions in the second half were better than our offensive possessions in the first half. I thought we created some plays for others off the dribble, and then of course, it looks better when they step up and make shots like they did there in the second half. So, yeah, it was big. It was big in a ball game that was nip and tuck through the first 20 minutes to get off to a good start and create a little bit of lead, then they cut right back in that, and then our guys widened it back out. But it was a tough game, really hard fought.

Q. Overall, how did you feel about just decision-making. I think, what was it, six turnovers tonight, able to take care of the ball there especially like you said in the second half.

LON KRUGER: Yeah, very good. Very good. You get a NCAA game and you get six turnovers, I think we, in the second half especially, we valued those possessions a little bit better. We had better possessions. Again, we drove and finished or drove and kicked and then guys stepped up and made shots. So, yeah, I thought much better in the second half.

Q. Wanted to ask about Brady. Obviously he's had a bit of an up-and-down year at times this year, but really stepped up in a big way tonight without De'Vion. Just what you thought about his night.

LON KRUGER: Yeah, it was huge. It was really big. Making those threes early and then that one late to take it to four, I think it was, it was a huge shot. And again, he battled, Tilmon's big and he's tough down there in the post, I thought he and Kur battled him all night on the defensive end too.

Q. The sequence where he got the rebound and then instead of shooting the immediate three decided to pass it off. Is that something you work on? I guess, how smart a savvy play that was on his part?

LON KRUGER: It's something that you talk about, you refer to it, but still it's to Brady's credit, the decision-making at the time. Because when you're wide open as a shooter you're tempted to shoot it, but Brady made the right play and he's a smart guy, smart basketball guy as well and glad to see that.

Q. Going back to E.J., you sort of knew people had to step up, but the fact that he understood that he needed to score more and he was more assertive, how huge was that tonight?

LON KRUGER: It was really big. E.J.'s been a guy that's kind of filled whatever voids we have needed all year. He's rebounded the ball well at times, he's guarded well, he's scored at times. Again, he's a guy that's stuffed the stat sheet in a lot of different ways. So to see him step up and do what he did tonight is not a big surprise because's competitor. He plays hard and he's pretty focused on what he needs to do.

Q. Jalen Hill started and seemed to make a lot of heads-up plays for you, didn't score, say, the way Harkless does, but when you got two guys out there doing all kinds of little things, like Harkless and Hill, how much does that help the team win, and also some of those big plays that Jalen made, including that crazy catch he made to save the ball going out of bounds and then kick it back to Brady?

LON KRUGER: That's a good point. Jalen's a, he's always where he needs to be, defensively he's always in the right spot, he's always going to block out, he's a physical rebounder. He does a lot of things a lot of people don't notice, but his teammates notice it and they appreciate it and, yeah, Jalen played well. He did a lot of good things to help on Tilmon inside and then, like you say, really heads-up play there late to catch that lob and control it and then get it back to Brady.

Q. I was going to ask you to elaborate some on defense because I just thought it was as well as you could play there for a stretch in the second half. But just watching the game in person, it looked like you guys played really, really well. How would you categorize how well you played in a clutch situation?

LON KRUGER: Well, I thought they were outstanding. Give up, what, 37, 38 percent on the night and they made two or three shots there late that got them to that. So, yeah, I thought our guys were very alert, very much aware from a personnel standpoint of who needed to be guarded a little bit differently from someone else. I thought everyone helped when they needed to on Tilmon. Again, you're kind of choose your poison there a little bit. They made some threes because of our help inside. But, yeah, I thought our guys were sharp, communicated well, and did an excellent job.

Q. I wanted to ask you about your overall composure of your team tonight. You guys stayed poised down the stretch. How pleased were you with that? You expanded the margin a couple times. Missouri came back, but you guys stayed really poised there.

LON KRUGER: Yeah, very pleased. In a win or go home game you find out a little bit about yourself and I thought our guys responded exactly like you would want to to give ourselves a chance to play another day. And when they make a run like that, it could go the other way pretty easily because they got the momentum and they're pumped up and they have got the energy, and I thought our guys did an excellent job fighting that, their run off a couple times.

Q. I came in late, so I apologize if you answered this, but I wanted to ask about the strategy to foul the Mizzou player with less than three seconds left. What went into that, is that something you do normally?

LON KRUGER: It is. Yeah, we talked about it huddle. We kind of use that six-second mark, and of course, the guys practice a lot. The guys were talking about it and they understood exactly what they needed to do, but it's one thing to plan on doing it, it's another thing to make the play that E.J. did to actually execute the foul. So really, Jalen Hill had done that earlier in the year in a late-game situation where we were up three and E.J. did exactly that tonight. So proud of his ability to think that quickly and do the job.