PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2022

Jerod Haase

Spencer Jones

James Keefe

Stanford Cardinal

Postgame Press Conference

Stanford - 71, Arizona State - 70

MODERATOR: Coach, can you give an opening statement.

JEROD HAASE: I certainly can't tell about the box scores, I haven't looked at it yet. But a lot to process and think through after the game right now. It's certainly more emotional than it is analytical, but I will say that we'll give Arizona State a lot of credit. They shot the heck out of basketball.

I thought our guys, for the entirety of the game, tried to execute the game plan the best they possibly could, the game plan. We threw a lot at our guys. Every timeout we were switching things, every free throw we're switching things. We were throwing the kitchen sink as Arizona State, and it continued to not quite be enough. They shot the heck out of the three.

Bottom line for me and our team, the way I evaluate this, every timeout, when times were good and bad, every situation I looked at guys in the eye, and they looked me back in the eye, and they believed in what I was saying and what the staff was saying, they believed in each other.

And there were many times that I think most teams, most people wouldn't have believed. And for that, I'm extremely thankful for this team.

And it was a really neat feeling in the locker room, but it's a better feeling when I'm in those timeouts and those situations and have a group that has bought in and believes in what we're doing.

MODERATOR: Open it up for questions.

Q. You had a lot of big comebacks, especially earlier in the season. How much did you draw on though experiences in this game with the belief you could pull off a 14-point comeback?

JEROD HAASE: I'll be honest, it wasn't even -- we've done such a great job all year of staying present. The first game of the year, I believe we played Tarleton State, and I believe we were down nine at halftime, and it was a fight, and the next game was a fight, and the next game was a fight.

And we talked all the time about being present, exactly where we are. We use the, you know, be where our feet are. Don't worry about the next play or the last play. Trying to figure out a way to do the best we can right now knowing down the line that's gonna pay off.

So one thing I've talked about with our team is we're young, but we have a fair amount of experience. So drawing on those experiences are important, and our guys do that all the time.

And the stability of our team is really phenomenal, and I think a big reason is because we have those experiences from earlier in the year.

Q. For James, if you could, I want to go through two plays with you. Obviously, the game-winning shot, but before that when you had the block at one end and putback at the other, if you could recap those for me.

JAMES KEEFE: The game-winning shot, honestly, I don't know how I ended up with the ball. I think Harrison was driving in, and he did a nice spin move and got poked out, and then I knew the shot clock -- or the game clock was super low. So just turned around and shot the ball at the glass like I've done a million times, eight, ten feet right there.

And then you said the block and putback, yeah, those are just instinctual basketball plays, just spring back to get the block, went up with two hands and got in. The putback, again, I think -- we can look at the tape, but one of my teammates did an incredible job like ceiling, and so the ball just literally dropped right to me, and easiest putback ever, right, one foot, no defender there. So, yeah.

Q. Talk about career high for you. Talk about how you saw it today and your ability to get in a rhythm and knock the threes you did tonight?

SPENCER JONES: It was keep shooting. Be as aggressive as possible, try to keep us in the position to win the game. And I knew my teammates would come back and finish it for me. And they did. You see with Keefe with the game winner. For me it was be as aggressive as possible and get them up.

Q. Could you see it in the eye of your opponent, they were collapsing with a 17-point lead? Could you hear it and see it?

SPENCER JONES: Well, the coaches, he was saying they are hot right now, but they're going to go cold, so stay present. Keep grinding and defending. And they ended up missing free throws and some open shots at the end, and we took advantage of it. So it was kudos to him for telling them they will do it, just stay present, and we'll get the job done.

JEROD HAASE: I'll add to that. I don't think it was a look in their eye that they were giving in at all. They had some shots not go in. Our guys certainly made some plays. I did think a lot of the threes, the 15 threes they made probably was about the first 30 minutes of the game.

I told our guys just stay with the plan. Things tend to balance out. And it did.

But I really thought Arizona State fought to the end. It wasn't something they gave in or changed, anything like that. Again, I thought they competed hard. There was never where I saw there was a look in their eye that was lost, but it was more of look in our eye of just stability.

Q. Talk about what you saw from Brandon today.

JEROD HAASE: Competed hard. 26 minutes is fantastic. Obviously scored the basketball.

Brandon is really versatile as a player, obviously has the ability to shoot the ball from three, but he's really effective in the post, has the ability to get to the post in different ways. Is really good off the bounce for his size.

And more than anything else, he competes. We talked about belief in the locker room. The other thing I think about our team is we have guys that compete. We're not a finished product by any means. We're not world beaters yet. But we are a team that believes. We are a team that works really hard. And I think Brandon and these guys and the rest of the locker room epitomizes that.

Q. Jerod, you decided to play it out at the end, down one, 38 seconds or so. What's your thought process there and how important it was to get that rebound, and then push it up without calling timeout?

JEROD HAASE: It's a good thing I didn't call a timeout, because we didn't have any, and the guys all knew that going out of the timeout prior to that.

We did have -- there were a few layers to our defensive playing right there, and it worked out in a fashion that was acceptable to what we talked about, getting the rebound. Obviously, if we don't get the rebound, it's game over.

And then just pushed the basketball, it's going to be a broken-down defense, and push hard. And I have to go back and look at the play. But it wasn't pretty. But in our mind right now, we're not after pretty. We're after gritty and tough and find a way. And the guys actually did the best they possibly could, and obviously a heck of a shot at the end there by James.

Q. James, have you ever hit a game-winning shot before, or is this your first one?

JAMES KEEFE: It's been a while. I hit one in JV in high school. But not in college and not on varsity basketball. So definitely been a while.

Q. You guys out-rebounded them by ten, 43-33. It's been a calling card for you guys all season long. Just the effort you guys did on the glass tonight?

JEROD HAASE: Yeah, I mean, the guys competed. I think it was maybe one rebounded advantage at halftime. So if I'm right on that, the second half was pretty productive.

Going back, I don't want to offend our guys or myself, but we're not pretty. We are we're gritty and tough, and that has to be our calling card. We have to hit on box-outs, pursue the rebounds, play through contact, rebound through contact.

And that kind of a rebounding number, and it has been our calling card all year, we need to be a physical team and tough team, and rounding has to be something we rely on.

Q. If you could talk about tomorrow's match-up.

SPENCER JONES: I'm excited about it. We felt like last time we went to their place, we threw it away in the last couple minutes because we were with them the entire time, we were battling with them the entire time and made them uncomfortable. So I think we're coming in with an extreme confidence just based on how we played last time.

JAMES KEEFE: Echoing on what Spencer said, they're a great team, no doubt about that, but I thought we played them in Tucson, had a great game plan and played well for 30 minutes, and then we lost the edge a little bit in the last ten minutes of the game. So we're fired up and excited, try to believe and keep believing.

JEROD HAASE: We understand the challenge and how good they are. People talk about national championship contenders. They're in a small group of people that are mentioned in that.

So we'll go back and develop a game plan and ask the guys to execute the game plan as best as possible. But it's awfully comforting as a coach to put my head down at night and know our guys are gonna fight hard.

Q. My question follows up, what you just answered, but the end of the game, you were leading at halftime, into it with eight to go, couple -- maybe one possession. What happened down the stretch with Arizona that you think maybe if you guys can reverse tomorrow could help you?

JEROD HAASE: They are a really good team that made some plays. Some of the shots -- like today. Some of the shots were contested and they made them. But having said that, live ball turnovers are kryptonite against them, and a live ball turnover doesn't allow us to get a shot or have something positive happen, but a lot of times with them, most of the time with Arizona, that turns into a layup or dunk at the other end.

That will be a key to our game. Our guys understand that. It was a key today, today's game. I believe last time we played Arizona State we were over 20 turnovers, today we were at 10. I don't think I'm giving any state secret here to Arizona to say we're gonna need to try and limit turnovers. And if we can do that effectively, I think our guys are gonna come out really confident.

Q. I was wondering in general what y'all think, you look at the outside of this game coming in, the hottest team in the Pac-12 against maybe one of the coldest, you guys, and then this happens. Does that surprise you, or did that motivate you heading into this game? Or what do you think?

JEROD HAASE: I'd probably not necessarily agree with all of that. We were -- candidly, we were worn out. We had 15 games in 40 days, and that 15 games started after a 15-day layoff with COVID.

So our home series with Colorado and Utah, it is what it is, but we were worn out. When I looked in the guys' eyes, I could see it. And then we lost a game at Cal, and Cal played great and we were a little bit shook.

But I will say the Arizona series we played last week, we had time to get our guys a little bit refreshed, a little bit healthier, and I thought we played solid basketball in the Arizona swing.

So record-wise, I would agree with your statement that it wasn't trending the right way and Arizona State was trending the right way, but at the end of the day it is a tournament setting, and in tournament settings you build momentum once you get into the tournament.

MODERATOR: Thank you very much, guys.