MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2022

Steve Alford

Grant Sherfield

Warren Washington

Thomas & Mack Center

Nevada Wolf Pack

Postgame Press Conference

Nevada - 79, New Mexico - 72

THE MODERATOR: We will begin with an opening statement from Coach, then we'll direct our attention and answer questions of the student athletes. They'll be dismissed and then we'll conclude with you asking questions of Head Coach Steve Alford.

So Coach, if you would start with your opening statement, please.

STEVE ALFORD: Yeah, obviously, really proud of our guys. We're coming off three straight losses, maybe four straight. And I thought our guys really played hard. I thought we had to settle down and relax, especially offensively, and characteristically. We had a lot of turnovers in the first half. Both teams settled down in the second half. Thought both teams really fought hard, competed hard, and it's always good to see. I think we're -- all of our guys, just like the New Mexico guys, you learn playing in a league like this because it's very talented, very physical. And I thought we did a lot of good things in the paint. I thought we handled the backboard the way we wanted to handle it. I thought we made things hard on House and Mashburn, which is a key. And I really thought we guarded, the first 16 minutes of the second half, I thought was the difference. I thought we really defended and we had a little bit of a letdown with about three minutes to go. But defensively, I thought we were solid.

Q. Grant, your thoughts? What you were able to do defensively tonight, particularly against KJ and Jamal. Because offensively, they just had a tough time in the second half?

GRANT SHERFIELD: I mean, it wasn't just me. I would say it was Des, it was Tre, it was Kenan. All the guards did a great job. We just played super hard and the coaches did a good job with the scouts. And we were well prepared on everything they were doing. I just feel like we went out and executed the game plan.

Q. I'm curious, when they have two guards that are so, you know, get in the paint and drive dominant, are you guys funneling them into the big guys? Are you guys like schematically -- what are you guys doing when you know they're coming at you guys? Are you trying to get them there or are you trying to keep them from there out on the permit?

WARREN WASHINGTON: The game plan was just for the bigs to help a lot because, you know, like you said, the two guards they have are really good. So as the big, we try to help as much as we could.

Q. Grant, would you like to add to that?

GRANT SHERFIELD: Yeah, I mean, we tried to force them to the trap box and force them to the bigs because they're two dynamic guards and really hard to stop just one-on-one. We had to force them to spots and get them to where we could help and do stuff like that.

Q. Grant, you're usually a pretty mild-mannered guy on the court. I know you took a charge and screamed at the end of it. Did you feel like there was extra emotion and just that feeling of, hey, we don't win this game, our season is over type of mentality for you?

GRANT SHERFIELD: Yeah. I'm just trying to playing with a lot more energy, and if that's screaming to get other guys going on our team, and screaming to get me going, I'm doing to do it. Like you just said, we don't want it to be our last game. So anything it takes to keep the advantage, we're going to do it.

Q. (No microphone.)

WARREN WASHINGTON: Yeah, energy is big in March because I feel like March is really about who is the tougher team mentally and who makes the tougher plays. Energy plays a big part in that.

Q. Warren, on the offensive end, over here. Discipline on the offense, obviously, you had an advantage. They're thin and they're smaller and then they got in foul trouble. Talk about just the game plan to pound it with your bigs and the advantage that you guys had.

WARREN WASHINGTON: Yeah, obviously, the plan was to pound it inside. Personally, I felt like I had a few layups I should have made. And Will also did a good job. Yeah, proud of us.

Q. Grant, would you like to add to that?

STEVE ALFORD: Yeah, he's a big guard. He got 10 rebounds.

GRANT SHERFIELD: Yeah, I'm a big guard.

Q. Just, Grant, and for Warren, as well, in the second half, I mean, what were the biggest adjustments you think you guys made as you came in together as a team at halftime, saying, hey, we have to pull this together and play better for the next 20 minutes?

GRANT SHERFIELD: I just feel like we did a better job of playing team defense. Just stopping the ball on drives on pick-and-roll. Also scrambling, because in the first half, we struggled scambling. They got a lot of wide open threes. And so I just feel like we were more in tune to the defense and everything that was going on.

WARREN WASHINGTON: Yeah, as a collective, I feel like we were just better on offense and defense in the second half. We had a lot of good runs, guys were stepping up, making big shots, diving on the floor. The energy was good.

Q. What's your thoughts on tomorrow, getting a third matchup with Boise State?

GRANT SHERFIELD: I'm excited. I like playing against Boise. They're a tough team. I just like playing against tough teams. We're going to go out there and going to try and make something happen. It will be a fun one.

WARREN WASHINGTON: Yeah, I'm excited, as well. I know it's going to be a dogfight. So yep.

Q. For both of you guys, I mean, you get to this point in March, and it's basically a new season. How much do you want to show? It's been a rough year for you guys, the team that's on the court all year, that's not the best version of that, you get a kind of chance to show that in this tournament?

GRANT SHERFIELD: Yeah, it's fine. We struggled in the regular season and in conference. And like Coach said, everybody zeros on the conference tournament. I'm just happy we got off to a 1-0 start and that we can continue to try to redo some so we can get to the NCAA tournament.

WARREN WASHINGTON: Yeah, March is always teams that aren't expected to make good runs, and I feel like why can't we be that team? There's not a lot of people talking about us, we understand that, but we want to take on that challenge as being the underdog.

THE MODERATOR: Any final questions for our student athletes? Thank you, gentlemen. You are dismissed. We will conclude with questions to Coach Steve Alford.

Q. Hey, Steve, I know it's nothing new, to make more free-throws than the opponent shoots kind of philosophy. Is this a game you thought you guys could do? I know you matched them at 22 makes to their 22 attempts. Was there something about what New Mexico is defensively that you thought you could have a game like this at the free-throw line?

STEVE ALFORD: Well, I just thought -- their advantage is going to be the three-point line. And that ended up being true. We were better in the second half. I thought both defensively and offensively at the three-point line.

But we thought we had an advantage in the paint. And that's dicey because I think Mashburn and House do a great job of attacking the paint. But we really wanted to set our D up to where we made things hard for them and hopefully passing to their bigs more than shooting.

That's not being disrespectful to the bigs, it's just we felt like if we had to give something up, I'd rather, you know, force -- banked in a three. Some things you got to live with. But I wanted those bigs to beat us, not the guards.

And I thought that was also -- I think they really improved defensively. I like how aggressively they've gotten defensively. And we thought if we could drive it to the paint, post it, show them different looks of how we -- because we've got three really good bigs in Warren, Will, and KJ.

And I didn't get KJ a lot of minutes. I don't if he played the second half, because we decided to go really small. But I thought we kept the paint and basket under attack. And that's what we wanted to do.

Q. Hi, Coach. You've talked all season about responding to adversity. And to my eyes, you guys did a better job of that today. I was curious, would you agree with that?

STEVE ALFORD: Absolutely. And, you know, we're -- it's not like -- we were concerned, because watching the tape, what UNM did to UNLV the last gave, that got our attention even more.

And we hadn't played this team in over two months. We haven't played them since the first of January. So they've changed, we've changed. Both teams have had to deal with different things.

And we've dealt with our share of things. And we're finally healthy. We've been healthy on that road trip. I thought we did some good basketball things at Wyoming. Good basketball things at Boise. Good basketball things against San Diego State.

But it wasn't enough because we had too many lapses, and this gives you an ability to do a clean slate. But we know it's 160 minutes that we're looking at. And we've just completed 40.

And very pleased. Because sometimes the first 40 is, obviously, the most difficult because you're starting the tournament. You know, the women's tournament's is concluding, the men's is starting, and you're tipping it off. The energy in this place will continue to grow.

And we've told the guys that. That, really, the only attention we've got right now moving forward is Boise. They know who they're playing.

If you can pass that, then you get the attention of the bottom of the bracket. If you pass that, then you get attention of the Mountain West.

But to really get the national attention, you've got to complete the task of 160 minutes. So we're only a fourth of a way done and we knew it was going to be a fight.

You're going to have adversity in every game in postseason. And I thought our guys really handled it coming out of the locker room. I thought they did a good job in the second half.

Q. Steve, it seemed like you played a little faster, a little more up tempo in the second half. Did you try to push the ball at them a little bit more than, perhaps, in the first half?

STEVE ALFORD: Well, it goes, again, with attacking the paint, keeping the paint under attack. Sometimes that's posting, where you slow it down and really feed big fellas in the paint.

Sometimes that's isolations or ball on the side, look to drive it, could be a middle pick and role, side pick and role where you're looking to drive it.

Late in the second half, last minutes of the game, we started slipping our big and letting Grant just go downhill and make plays. But I think in the second half, the transition -- we've always been a good transition team, but I thought to do that, you got to get stops. You can't be taking the ball out. And we got some really key stops from about the 12-minute mark on, and we were able to get out and run.

And so, I thought in the second half, we were able to attack the paint in about all the areas we wanted to attack the paint and attack the basket.

We don't feel like there was a shot or rim protector. We got in them in foul trouble. I think we fouled two or three guys out. So that tells me, without watching the film, that I think we did a pretty good job of just keep that basket and that paint under attack.

And hopefully you can wear people down enough to where, you know, if you look at the last three minutes of the first half, they were in major foul trouble, so we got to play three minutes. I think we won the last four minutes of that game, the first half 12 to 5. And they had a lot of regulars on the bench.

And so, that's a part of attacking the paint, of getting people in foul trouble. And I thought our guys did a good job.

Q. Coach, your thoughts in particular, Kenan, what he was able to do tonight? Obviously, you guys were down at halftime, but he made some big-time shots there, especially in the second half. And also the balance, obviously, Grant had a big time game. But, obviously, with the rest of your guys, pretty much spread it out offensively?

STEVE ALFORD: Yeah, and I thought Des. Des really never got in rhythm because of the foul trouble, but he came in the second half and made some huge threes for us. Ended up getting 14 points, and almost a season low, 18 minutes.

So I thought he was very efficient. I thought Grant controlled the game the way we wanted it controlled. Not just offensively, I thought he worked his tail off defensively.

Because I didn't think House and Mashburn got a lot of easy stuff. There was a few. But we made them work, not just of how to score but how to guard. And I think that's how they got in foul trouble because we made them work at both ends.

But I thought, you know, our sophomore group of Baker and Daniel and Kenan and Tré, you know, they did a lot of good things in this game. Tré got busted, had stitches at halftime. You know, Daniel's throwing up. We had a lot of stuff going on. And yet I thought they did a really good job of just fighting. And then Warren really controlled things inside for us.

So I thought the guys did a lot of good things, a lot of positive things. But Kenan and Tré came up with big plays. And it's not like Kenan was in a really good rhythm. I thought -- we've seen growth, because Kenan's had games where early in the season, the start he had -- I think he had four turnovers the first half.

He got that shutdown mode to him. And tonight, I think he responded in the second half and grew up and matured, and that's good to see.

Q. I asked Grant about this. You know, is this going to be that switch going off in the second half, you could just see the energy he was playing with, I guess, the verbalness, if you can call it that? Did you feel like there was a switch with him and maybe the entire team of that feeling of, okay, this could be the last game of our regular season and that switch that turns off on?

STEVE ALFORD: Yeah, and I think sometimes you don't understand the nerves and anxiousness either, because both these teams -- it's a eight-nine game, and you're tossing it up. And both the teams know, you lose this one, the season is over.

And sometimes you fail to appreciate what the players are going through. And I thought both sides experienced some of that, which is a positive thing because it shows the players on both sides really care about trying to extend the season, and I thought it was a fight to the very end.

And we knew that was going to be what we going to have to do on our end, because we knew we were going to get that from New Mexico. And I think Grant and Warren have done a much better job in the last couple of weeks of just raising their level of leadership. And we need that because we've been kind of a quiet team. Sometimes losing quiets you. But if you're really going to grow and mature, you've got to learn to lead whether you're winning or losing. And I thought the two of them leadership today was really good.

Q. Steve, as dominate as your front court was, I think of your runs of postseason and I think of the guards that you've had, your backcourt was tremendous.

And Grant took over. And it wasn't just him. But your backcourt feels like a backcourt that can make a March run. Do you feel that confident in your backcourt and is that just natural for Grant, because when you hit about the four-minute mark, the ball was in his hand and he took over the game?

STEVE ALFORD: Yeah, we were up seven and he shot a three trying to hit a home run. And when their big kid, Forsling, switched out to him. And you appreciate that. In fact, I was talking to him walking through the hall, I'm like, just understand, I get the home run mentality, but up seven, 3:30 to go, it's better if we're up seven with three to go. Especially playing this team.

Because this team, we had them down big at home. And they went from 20 to five in, like -- it seemed, like, a minute and a half. They're very explosive. So I think he's learning that and I think he's got the ability to control games.

And I thought he really controlled the second half, in particular, really well. But he gets everybody's best shot. But tonight he comes up, he gets nine free-throw attempts, he gets 10 rebounds.

I thought his board play in the second half might have been as big as anything. He wants to be a big guard, he's not a big guard. But he played big tonight.

And he's obviously a huge key to what we do. And our other guards are young. Other than Des, our other guards are young and they're learning how to make plays without making jump shots.

And that's not always easy in today's era, because the kids all want to be about the jump shot. And we have not been a great jump shooting team. When you look at the teams I had at New Mexico, the players I had there, the guards were not just athletic, but could really shoot the basketball.

This team's got to develop that way. And our young guards will develop, I think, very nicely into that. But they've learned how to -- what Foster gets four rebounds, two offensive, takes two charges, Blackshear does his job, Tré is a lockdown defender. They're learning how to make a difference in the game without having to make three-point shots, if that makes sense.

Q. Coach, you just played Boise State eight days ago, whatever it is, it doesn't get easier tomorrow. What's your thoughts on playing them?

STEVE ALFORD: I think they've done a really good job of going from last year to this year. You can tell that this group over the summer was on a mission. And, you know, it's very easy to look at last year with what they did.

We might have had some things to do with keeping them out of the tournament, which is not easy for them. And I think they came at us. We had a shutdown the first game. They were coming out of a shutdown.

They had four/five days to prep, we had one day to prep and they thumped us at home. We did not play well at home all year, and they kind of kick started it.

And then we go to their place and I thought we really had a battle on our hands. And hopefully we're able to battle them again tomorrow and make that a game where, you know, that one seed can have some anxiousness.

Because they've, obviously, have had an outstanding year. Leon's done a -- and his staff have done a tremendous job. This league has been really good all year.

I think they've been the best in our league, start to finish. They're big, they're physical. Armus does all the little things. They make big shots. Shaver makes shot after shot. You got Kigab and Akot who just really understand to play both sides of the ball. And freshman Degenhart has had a tremendous year. And Rice got off to a slow start because wasn't getting him good enough shots. But the second half, he's really come up big.

So, you know, they're only -- they're about seven deep. But those seven the guys are really talented and really good. We know we got our hands full and we're just glad we got another day to prep for today.