BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 9, 2022

LaVall Jordan

Simas Lukosius

Chuck Harris

Madison Square Garden

Butler Bulldogs

Postgame Media Conference

Butler - 89, Xavier - 82 (OT)

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Butler.

COACH JORDAN: Most important thing right now is for rest. But I'm just, this team, I keep telling them, they've got something in them. And we've got to keep pressing to get the best out of ourselves. We knew everything obviously on the line today for both teams.

It's a one-game season. It's Madison Square Garden, and it's the Big East Tournament, the best place to be in March. We had a couple of guys step up right in the moment but our whole team did. Everybody that got in, they had to respond at some point.

So just proud of our guys for their resiliency, staying the course, continuing to believe, like we have all year, right there, right there, to be able to get over the hump on this one. Took an extra five minutes and we were ready to go as long as we needed to go.

Q. 15 minute mark, you pulled the chair on you. There was no foul. And the referees, I hate to say it, you (indiscernible) ball, changed the entire game because you were taken out. You were (indiscernible) at that stage. They couldn't shut it down, couldn't stop you?

CHUCK HARRIS: Coach told us at the beginning that it was just us the whole time. We knew that -- we weren't going in looking at the refs to bail us out or save us in the game, so we just respond from there. I came out and encouraged my teammates, I knew they could get the job done as well. That's just a mindset Coach told us to have.

Q. A lot of times any player, not just yourself, you go out and sit a while and you come back, and it's harder to gain the rhythm. It's hard to get back and score. And you were able to do that. Is that because you were willing to drive to the goal, instead of settle for 3, I think. I don't think you made that many 3s, (indiscernible) a lot of other things.

CHUCK HARRIS: Coach honestly told me to be confident in everything you do. So every shot I shoot I'm believing it's going in. They were doing a good job of running me off the line and my shot wasn't falling today, so I found other ways to be aggressive and help my team win.

Q. Simas, could you take me through the swing of emotions after giving up the and-one to Scruggs with eight seconds to go, and three seconds after that, Scruggs fouls you to send you to the line for two shots and a chance to tie it the game and send it into overtime?

SIMAS LUKOSIUS: It was a swing of emotions. Obviously we were disappointed we gave up the points. But I told my teammates he's going to miss the free throw and we've got eight seconds left. It's in our hands. So we all believed it's not over.

Q. Cliché, this is the most famous arena. How much awareness did you have of Madison Square Garden and its history coming into this tournament?

SIMAS LUKOSIUS: Obviously I had awareness. I grew up watching basketball. I know what this place is. But we were able to get the win today.

Q. What did Coach LaVall tell you there, anything late in the game or during the overtime, I'm not sure when A.T. fouled out. But you were down three starters most of the overtime. What did you feel like you needed to take the load yourself, or did coach tell you just to take over? What was the interaction like?

SIMAS LUKOSIUS: There wasn't any interaction where he said take the ball and do what you want. It was just we played our own game and we played the same plays, we played the whole game and it worked out. Most of the time the ball came to me, luckily. But we didn't really change our game plan at all.

Q. Chuck picked up his foul with about, his fourth foul with about six minutes left. Brought him back around the five-minute mark. What was the decision-making process with that knowing that he was kind of running the offense at that point?

COACH JORDAN: Obviously he was playing really well and so we just were trying to figure out the right time to get him back in. But Jayden came in and did a good job defensively, and we could change some things offensively that we were doing.

We've got a number of guys that we can go to. So it was just for someone else to step up and try to find the right time to get Chuck back in and play a little offense/defense with our substitution patterns, and him not losing his aggression with coming in and out there at the end.

Q. You mentioned Chuck. Obviously your guys are a bit younger players. Talk me through how you maintained composure in your first time -- first two times in the tournament and the role upperclassmen played in that?

CHUCK HARRIS: I've been here before. The exact same game, exact same situation. So I mean just experience and everything that we've been through this year has led us to this point, honestly. Just coming out on the stage it's like almost another game for us at this point. We've been through so many battles this year on the national stage. So it was just really another game for us.

Q. You had two separate segments in the first half missing seven consecutive shots. I think you scored 63 points after halftime. What allowed that to happen?

COACH JORDAN: These guys keeping confidence. We were getting the shots we wanted, to be honest with you, but we missed a couple of layups there at the basket, missed some great looks from 3.

So we figured we didn't have to change much. Told the guys just be ready to shoot your shots, be confident taking them.

I thought we still had some good looks that didn't drop in the second half. Proud of our guys for not hanging their heads when shots didn't go in. We've had that, experienced that throughout the year and had that conversation in other games.

And our guys did a great job keeping their composure. I told them in the locker room afterwards, most proud we kept our composure all the way throughout, with the runs, with the swings, missing some open shots. I thought we had great mindset and good behavior responded at every turn.

Q. Almost had a sense of relief at halftime, looked like Xavier could have built a double digit lead?

COACH JORDAN: Yeah, we could have, too, if we made a couple. It was 0-0 halftime. We knew we had better in us. And we knew it was going to be a fight. Obviously everybody's playing to survive and advance right now. Just gotta hang in there and stay together. And I thought we had a couple guys, we had three fouls at halftime, had to respond and get his head back together.

And then Jayden Taylor, I was all over him because he had to be in there as a young guy. Responded. Made big free throws down the stretch. And that's what gets you the results, getting your behavior together, getting your mind focused on what your team needs.

And our guys stayed present, and they were in the moment to be able to do the job.