NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - ABILENE CHRISTIAN VS UCLA

March 22, 2021

Cody Riley

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

UCLA Bruins

Postgame Media Conference

UCLA 67, Abilene Christian 47

Q. You guys knew you were going to have to be locked in, but you played one of your most complete games of the season tonight. What went into that being to locked in on both ends of the court?

CODY RILEY: You know, the guys are just excited. This is March Madness, so we just locked in and we saw that they beat Texas, so we had a lot of respect for them from the jump and knew what they were capable of defensively with the quick guards that they have and their activity on defense. So we were locked in and tried our best not to turn the ball over and take care of it and share the ball and make good team plays.

Q. You showed a lot of hops tonight. What was it like, especially on that alley-oop, how much fun was that?

CODY RILEY: It was a lot of fun. I'm glad Dave saw me. It was fun to get up and down, play by the rim. It was good.

Q. With about eight minutes left, Abilene Christian went on a little run and you guys called a time-out there and Mick seemed pretty animated in the huddle. What was he telling you guys at that point?

CODY RILEY: He was just telling us, it's not over. This is what they do. They turn teams over, so if we start turning the ball over and let them get going, they could make it a close game. We had to put them away while we were up, and that's what we did.

Q. It seems from the time Mick showed up last year you guys were pretty quick to kind of buy into this thing of kind of taking care of the little things. At what point do you feel you guys actually became good at taking care of those little things?

CODY RILEY: Last year I noticed that everybody was on the same page as far as defense first, like don't worry about missing shots or how many shots you get up. The offensive side is going to come naturally to us. It's what we work on all the time. We really had to step our game up defensively, and once we did that as a unit and we were all playing together, we're a really good team when we do that.

Q. Obviously the scouting report on Abilene was how they could force turnovers and get going in transition. What did you guys do to limit them getting going in that way?

CODY RILEY: We knew that they were going to be scrambling and playing chaotic and trying to get us to speed up. Going into the game we just knew that we couldn't let them do that. We couldn't let them speed us up and let the game get going up and down and let their defense create offense for them. We knew that was their best way of scoring points on offense. With that mindset, we went into it and we capitalized and we won the game.

Q. You guys lost four -- three to end the regular season, one in the Pac-12 tournament and now you've won three. What is that feeling like, and can you also talk about the resilience of the team and what it's like to buy into what Coach Cronin has been talking about?

CODY RILEY: Yeah, those first games that we lost, they were close games, and they were minor hiccups that caused us to lose the game and lack of focus for 40 minutes. Coming in here we knew that we were capable of winning games. We were right there, towards the end of the season, in most of the games that we lost.

So we still had our confidence, and we knew that things were going to start turning our way once we got out here for March Madness, and just like I said before, just locking in on defense. That's what's got us to where we are right now. That's what got us past Michigan State in the first four and BYU, also. That's been our main focus right here, and we're going to keep doing it.

Q. What was the reaction like in the locker room? I know Coach was saying that after the last game he tried to keep you guys composed, but now that you're moving on to the next weekend, Sweet 16 is a little bit bigger. What was that like heading into the locker room and celebrating with the guys?

CODY RILEY: You know, everybody was excited, chest bumping. Luckily there wasn't no water being thrown, but besides that, the coaches were animated and jumping up and down and there was a lot of energy in the locker room. Everybody is just happy to be here.

Q. I saw Mark Few for Gonzaga did a handstand in a mosh pit with his team. Did Coach Cronin do that?

CODY RILEY: No, hopefully Coach Cronin will do that, and hopefully we'll get it on camera, too.

Q. A question about leadership. You had your senior Chris Smith go down on New Year's Eve with a torn ACL. As one of the juniors on the team, do you try to lead vocally or by example or some other style?

CODY RILEY: I try to lead by listening to Coach and sticking to our team principles and trying to bring the energy defensively, talking on the court and trying to just lead by example the best way I can, and also just being the best player I can at the same time.

Q. It's been a heck of a period between the Lakers and the Dodgers. Is there something in the LA smog that's got you guys on a chance to win a championship?

CODY RILEY: It might be something in the air. I'm glad we brought it out here, and hopefully we can keep things rolling for LA.

Q. I just wonder how you would characterize this last week and change here with these three wins, and what the significance of getting to the Sweet 16 is for you, given the four games in a row you lost and obviously having to go through the first four and whatnot?

CODY RILEY: Yeah, I think it shows the resilience of the group, the togetherness. We never broke down and separated or nothing like that. We always stayed together, had plenty of team talks about how important it is going down late in the season to stick together and just never lose hope at all. Even though that stretch we lost four games was pretty rough and we had some practices where we got better. We learned from them, they were really hard, and it kind of motivated us to come out here and prove that we're a lot better team than that.

Q. Cody, did you maybe take advantage of their aggressiveness when you were on offense? The way the ball was moving around, it was kind of like they were always a step behind.

CODY RILEY: Yeah, yeah, definitely. That's something in walk-throughs preparing for them, we knew they were going to be a scramble team, so we tried to keep the floor spread and just let them make the mistakes as far as pressuring up or being in the gaps too much and just skip the ball and get open shots. We have a lot of great shooters. Once we did that and got things rolling, it was hard to stop.

Q. You've played three games in five days; won them all. Do you welcome the time off here now until your next game, or do you maybe feel, hey, we want to keep going?

CODY RILEY: Yeah, we would love to keep playing, but we have a little break, so I guess it's good for us to rest up, heal up. But it's a lot of fun just to be out here. I would love to play as many times as I can. Just the experience of being out here in March Madness, with it being my first time is something amazing, even without the fans. Just the energy that it brings. I think we have a little break, so we're going to rest up and practice and watch film and find out who wins this next game and see who we play and be ready for them.

Q. Considering how much has happened since that 2018-19 season and to get to the Sweet 16 now, how satisfying is it for you and some of the guys still left on the roster from then?

CODY RILEY: Yeah, it's great. Everything we've done since that time is for right now. The ups and downs, the tough practices with Coach Cronin, everything we did is for now. It's amazing, but we're not finished. We still have games that we think we can win, and we're going to take it as far as we can.

Q. You guys had a nice little dance on the court after the game. Did anybody kind of lead that or was it just kind of impromptu, and what were you thinking out there when that's going on?

CODY RILEY: Yeah, I think Dave is the one that really goes out there and does his little thing, does his little dance and everything, and everybody else tags along just because we're excited and we're all having fun. It's just great to see, though. It's great to be around.

Q. Can you talk about where the areas that your defense has improved on? Is it more in the interior paint or more in the perimeter?

CODY RILEY: I feel like just the attention to detail to the teams because every team is different. This team, they didn't have very good shooters, so we had to make sure we were in the gaps. It's going to be different every game, but the biggest jump we made was being locked into the scouting report and being aware for the whole game and not doing it one half but doing it for 40 minutes. That's where we're going to take it to a new level.

Q. You had Jaylen Clark out there for the good chunk of the game today, really the only freshman out there. What did you think about what he brought on the defensive side, his athleticism, getting after the ball? What does he bring to your defense and how good is it to have a young guy like him out there bringing a little energy?

CODY RILEY: Yeah, it's great having J-Clark and seeing him out there and when he's out there, we're looking for him to bring the defensive intensity to pick us up. He's young but he's very adamant on defense and aggressive. That's that we need. That's what we are looking for.

It's great to see him out there moving. He's versatile, he's strong down low and he can also move on the outside perimeter guarding guards, moving his feet well. It's great to see him out there working, and I'm looking forward to seeing the improvement in him.