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

March 22, 2021

Reggie Miller

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Abilene Christian Wildcats

Postgame Media Conference

UCLA 67, Abilene Christian 47

Q. Reggie, I'm kind of curious, what was this experience like over the past couple of days?

REGGIE MILLER: First and foremost I'd like to thank God. Without Him none of this would be possible.

Back to your question, it's my first time, so it's kind of a little different. I have teammates that have been here before, so with all the COVID and stuff going on, it was a lot different. It was sort of like a bubble thing. We didn't really get much time out of the hotel. So that was a little bit difficult, but overall it was a great experience.

I'd like to thank the NCAA for giving us the opportunity to play through this pandemic. Last year we wasn't able to play, so I'd like to give a shoutout to them. But overall I think it was a great experience for us. A lot of first-timers on this team, a lot of goodies, the NCAA showed us a lot of love, fans. It was just a great experience on my part.

Q. Reggie, just kind of looking past this season, you guys will probably be remembered as one of the best teams to come through ACU, especially after getting the first NCAA victory in school history over Texas. Just kind of looking back at the season, just talk about how great it was, what are the memories and how will you remember the season?

REGGIE MILLER: I think this season stuck out to me more than any other season. Obviously we were winning but we faced a lot of adversity on and off the court behind the scenes that nobody really knew about. We showed time and time again, showing resilience on how we can come back from adversity and overcome. I felt like as the season went on, the more adversity came, it kind of bonded us together. For those that don't know, we had three days, no lights, no heat, no water, none of that, just vibes really in a room together trying to stay warm, facing adversity. We had games canceled because of COVID and I think that brought us closer together facing adversity. We responded again, came out and continued to win.

Q. Coach Golding said that UCLA on offense did a lot of iso stuff. They weren't really passing the ball around and giving you guys a chance to create some turnovers and mistakes. Were you guys trying to get them to move the ball a little bit more so, that way there were opportunities for turnovers? Because that's kind of y'all's game.

REGGIE MILLER: Yes, sir. Give them credit; they had a game plan. They spaced us out, made it really difficult for us to help with them being excellent shooters. They got to their sweet spots I'd like to say, mid-range jump shots on our defense, we want to take away threes and take away lay-ups and force mid-range jump shots, and they made those time and time again. So it kind of made it difficult for us to adjust to that.

At the end of the day we want to come out and play aggressive, be the most hard-playing team, and we feel like we'll live with the results.

Q. Take me into the locker room, I guess, after this game. What's the attitude like, and what are you kind of saying -- what are you and your guys kind of saying in there?

REGGIE MILLER: A lot of emotions in the locker room after. Like I said, this season has been so much adversity, so much that we overcame. Now in a spot where we're coming to the end of the game, there's a lot of emotions. I don't think anybody -- I don't want to say have any regrets in the locker room, but it's just like everything is coming down at once, like the season is finally over, man, like what do we do now almost. Basketball is our life for a lot of us.

A lot of people were really thankful, though, for the opportunity. We didn't have to be here, know what I'm saying? I just feel like each and every one of those guys, I love those guys, and they know that. I feel like they'd say the same thing about me, just us being one of the tightest groups I've ever been a part of, it was almost like a thank you, like a big thank you, I appreciate everything you did for me this whole season, and I'll do anything to pay you back.

I feel like it's not really a celebration in the locker room. I mean, it's sad, but at the same time it's almost like we did that kind of thing, like let's come back and let's do it again, let's take the next step.

Q. I'm curious, your guys' defensive identity, I'm curious if you feel like it's something that people kind of saw you guys pull off that upset and maybe other teams might want to do something like that. Do you feel like you guys can be a leader in that?

REGGIE MILLER: I guess you could say that. Other teams have similar defensive principles. I think ours may be a little more aggressive. We don't really have a lot of rules on our defense. We just choose to react on our defense and play off each other. Our defense has been great all year and I feel like it has gotten better throughout the year with just experience, playing with each other and gaining chemistry.

So I guess you could say we could be a leader. We led the country in a couple different defensive categories, but other than that, teams have similar defensive principles, but I think we just took it another level this year.