NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - LOYOLA CHICAGO VS ILLINOIS

March 21, 2021

Porter Moser

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Loyola Chicago Ramblers

Postgame Media Conference

Loyola Chicago 71, Illinois 58

THE MODERATOR: We'll begin with an opening statement from Coach Moser.

PORTER MOSER: I first want to thank God for giving us our program this moment. For allowing me to coach these young men and putting us in this moment right now.

Secondly, the guys believed. I said this -- I've said this before as the coach of Loyola. It's amazing what happens when you get a group of young men who believe, and these guys believed. From start to finish, but even -- it wasn't just the last 48 hours. A lot of the stuff we've done is hard work in the summer, hard work in the off-season. This wasn't just the switch just flipped the last 48 hours. These guys have invested in what we do and they believe in it, and just great group of guys that believe. And coaches. My assistants are phenomenal.

Q. Porter, what do you think about how you drew it up and you wanted it to go, how almost exactly did it play out?

PORTER MOSER: Well, I think our guys did a great job. We really wanted to control the transition defense and their ball screen offense. Just so much respect for each one of their players. Offensively we spaced it, we moved it, we needed to have high assists, low turnovers. We had 16 assists, 11 turnovers thanks to their pressure defense. They're fifth in the country defensively, as well.

But the guys were locked in. We're enjoying each other, when it's time to enjoy each other. But they were locked in, and I thought they did a really good job in transition defense and in ball screen defense.

Q. It looked like at the end of the game there somebody, I don't know if it was you, called everybody back on the court after they had kind of exited to go to the locker room. What was that all about?

PORTER MOSER: Just to enjoy the moment. I've been here before, and with no fans -- there were fans there, but last time we were going to the Sweet 16, I felt like against Georgia Tech we just took off. I always tell them, let's enjoy the moment, enjoy that win. So Krutwig was doing a live interview, and I'm like, go stand behind him. We're all part of this thing. When I was doing it, I told them to stand behind me.

I wanted them to enjoy that moment. Our fans were there. We haven't had fans all year, and they didn't want to leave. Security was going to have to make them leave but they were still there, and I wanted them to stay out and enjoy it because that etches in your memory, that moment right there, and feeling all the work you've put in, all the effort you do to stay together, sacrifices you make, especially this year, the sacrifices we made this year.

I just didn't want to rush in the locker room. Stand out there and enjoy it. Stand behind Krutwig. Krut will be the first one to say it's a team thing with our program. I wanted everyone to enjoy that moment a little longer with the fans.

Q. I know you're focused on the game and everything that took place, but from a bigger picture, what does that mean for the program and to knock off a big state school, the No. 1 seed?

PORTER MOSER: You know, just thinking back where we came from 10 years ago, to moving up into the Missouri Valley and then the last six years. I kept on saying it, I go, I just feel like this has a high ceiling, what you can do when you get a group of people believing.

To see the excitement -- I was told this a lot when I took the job 10 years ago. They said, it's a pro town, it's a pro town. I said, I'm from here. It's a sports town. It's a sports town. They love their sports. Watching the passionate fan base with Illinois and what they've done all year, it's great to see the programs here get excited about it and to see Chicago get behind our team. They've embraced us for years now.

It means a lot. You want to be relevant. You want to have the excitement. Basketball has very rich traditions in Chicago and the State of Illinois, and I thought today you saw two ranked teams go at it. But it means a lot for Loyola. Where we were to where we are now, and we're not done. So it means a lot.

Q. I think everyone at this point knows about Cam and Lucas, but could you talk about the effort of Kennedy and Braden tonight?

PORTER MOSER: Man, Marquise Kennedy, another Chicago guy. He was so big tonight. He's so elusive with the dribble. He created some things off the dribble. He hit a big three, got fouled on. He had a really tough basket in a time where he was kind of locked up tough. I don't think anybody on our team can make that. Marquise is one of those guys that can make something out of nothing, and he was kind of locked up on the baseline, pivoted, pivoted, pivoted, and just turned and jumped over and made a basket. He can do those things. Took it to the basket, quick in transition. But I thought he was really good.

Braden Norris, so tough. I don't even think we took him out. He'd be mad at me if I took him out. You trust him. I've said this, for not just this tournament, all year. You trust him at the point guard spot. He's tougher than nails. But we had contributions all over the map. It's just a team. It's a lot of guys contributing.

Q. The common fan who saw you in 2018 is going to link back to that team when they see a game like today. I'm curious how that run built into this run and what traits this team has to maybe keep its run going?

PORTER MOSER: So we have two players left from that team, Cameron Krutwig and Lucas Williamson. So having older guys that have been there -- sometimes when a coach is talking about it, it's a little more impressive and resonates more when their peers say it. The similarities are it's just a group of guys believing and playing for each other. They listen, they lock in, they execute, they defend, and those are similarities.

You know, they don't believe what all the outside noise is. We control what we can control. I think that's a similarity.

Just excited how much these guys invested in, and the two staples that -- part of it was we had guys like Donte Ingram, Ben Richardson, Marques Townes, Clay Custer, Aundre Jackson, those guys, they poured into the young guys like Cameron and Lucas. And now it's the older guys pouring into the Marquise Kennedys, Braden Norrises, and that's how it works, the Jacob Hutsons. If you're going to sustain a program, you gotta get your older guys pouring into the youngers ones, because they need everybody's help. Just like they needed Lucas then, Hutson came off and had two big baskets. Marquise Kennedy and came off the bench and had 14 points. The seniors know we had -- it just can't be two guys to get to this level. That's what I love about our program right now is you've got older guys pouring into the younger guys and we're just sustaining it.

Q. I'm just curious, what does it say about the character of your team, you knew that Illinois was going to try to make a run back at you guys and you guys had the wherewithal to answer every one of them?

PORTER MOSER: So one is we all watched Illinois -- actually we were waiting for Selection Sunday watching Illinois play Ohio State, and just a lot of respect for them. I mean, they're really good. But that's part of it is just believing you can do it.

We talk a lot of times, other teams are going to make a run. 40 minutes it's not going to all go your way. You're going to have runs against it. They're really good. They're not going to quit and not come back. They kept on trying to come back.

But we've been there before. We've been there before, and you've just got to stay with it, next possession. You get a dunk, Kofi had a dunk, next possession. You've got to have that mentality, especially at this stage, because everyone is so good at this level.

I think the resiliency, their togetherness, not to get any panic from our end on the bench as coaches. The guys believed, I'm telling you. They believed from start -- even seeing -- we always talk about talk about having a confident respect. The utmost respect for all of them for what they did, but you've got to have a confident you can beat them. I just saw that confident respect, because we've seen them so much do so well on TV, and the guys had that, confident respect to beat them.

Q. I'm curious what you learned in 2018 that has helped you on this run and that's going to help you the deeper you guys get, and I'm also wondering, too, with some of the upsets that we've already seen, does this kind of feel like a tournament that's built for a team like Loyola?

PORTER MOSER: The first part, what did I learn? I learned this last time, and it's just continuing to validate it. When you're young, whatever field you're in, when you're young, you're so much about the trajectory. You're focusing on I've got to win, I've got to get to this level, I've got to make this much money, I've got to get here, I've got to get here, and you're never happy and you don't enjoy the journey. I just was so in the moment of enjoying the journey the last five, six years, the people I'm with and being happy, and the success comes then. The journey of enjoying each moment with these guys and the practice and the game planning and the games. It helps you not become so tight when you're focused on those things.

You know, also as a head coach, we had a lot of guys that we had -- last time we didn't have anybody that was on that stage, and it was just so important for our coaching staff to understand that it's a big stage. You can't get them so tight. Enjoy the moment. So we were always about -- when we're out hanging out with each other in the rooms, the pregame meals, whenever it's time to enjoy each other, enjoy it. But when it's film, walking through the ballroom, practice, they are locked in. That's what's special about this group. I'm feeling the same way about that with this group and continue to learn that and be blessed with enjoying the moment.

What was the second part of your question?

Q. With some of the upsets that we've seen already in this tournament, wondering if it kind of feels like a tournament that's built for a team like Loyola.

PORTER MOSER: You know what, this is all honesty. I literally last time, it was all about what was right in front of us. I'm not really looking at the rest of the brackets. Obviously I see it, I'm a fan of watching in there, but I'm not thinking strategically, I hope this team wins, I hope this, I hope that. The only thing we were locked in on was Georgia Tech, then we beat them, then all about Illinois. Then it's going to be the winner of the next game.

So I don't think you look at the -- at least we don't, the strategic part. This guy upset, that means it's going to happen for us. There's reasons why teams win and why they lose and we've got to make those reasons happen the next round.

Q. I just wanted to ask you about the way your team executed the defensive game plan, especially squeezing Ayo and then swarming on Kofi and just how well Krutwig did helping in both of those areas.

PORTER MOSER: Man, Krut, he knows it. I hold him to such a high standard. He'll make six great plays in a row and he'll mess up on one, and I'm about to lose my mind. He always looks at me like, Coach, settle down.

His defense has improved so much. But I think the reason why his defense is good is because he's got a mental motor. He thinks -- he sees it starting to come and develop, and then he's ahead of the play, and I thought his defense on ball screens and his defense in the post was excellent, was excellent. Sometimes he gets his body weight going forward with his head. He had his head back, he was moving, talking. I thought he had a great defensive game today, and he was -- a huge assignment. You're sitting there saying, Krut, you've got to ball screen D against Ayo, an All American but then you've got to post D against Kofi, an All American in the post. Have at it, big boy.

I thought he was very, very good defensively, as well, against elite players. Those are terrific players.

And I want to say this one thing about Curbelo, too. He's outstanding in ball screens and Frazier. They have a lot of good players, but Curbelo is very hard to bottle up on the ball screens, too. So I thought he did a good job there.