NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR

March 15, 2022

Scott Nagy

Tanner Holden

Grant Basile

Tim Finke

UD Arena

Wright State Raiders

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Wright State student-athletes Tim Finke, Grant Basile, and Tanner Holden, followed by coach Scott Nagy.

Q. The travel for this game very difficult for you guys. How nice is it playing so close to home?

TANNER HOLDEN: It's nice, 15, 20 minute drive, right from campus. So it's definitely going to be a fun atmosphere. Hopefully a lot of Wright State and Dayton fans pull up and get this place going. So we're all really excited.

Q. They had a low point early in the season at Houston. Lost by 67. You guys had also a tough game at Purdue, not to bring up a difficult subject. But they rebounded from that. You guys rebounded from that. How did you do it?

TANNER HOLDEN: That game against Purdue, it was a crazy atmosphere. It was packed in Mackey. I think we're still figuring out little details of our games that we weren't very sharp on. Defensively we weren't very good at the beginning of the season. But that game was definitely a good learning curve for us. I felt like we did a lot of good things.

It was definitely, whenever you lose, you have to go back and find things that will work. And I think we did a great job of that, bouncing back, not hanging our heads and moving on from that. So I thought we did a great job of finding different things to work on and slowly improving throughout the season.

GRANT BASILE: I think throughout the year, even after that game, we still ended up 2-7. So we just gotta take something from every game that we've played and kind of try and build momentum, get going at the right time.

TIM FINKE: There's not much else to say after that. But I think it's just been something we've been able to learn from, just like a lot of teams have. But early on, like Tanner said, figuring out who we are and getting better defensively along the way has been key for us. I think we've done a really good job doing that.

Q. Tim, got a guy, Peter Kiss, who is a big scorer, pretty animated. Wonder what you know about him and will that be your assignment? Just what do you do with a guy like that?

TIM FINKE: I think if you're the leading scorer in the country you can definitely find a way. So we're going to try and make it as tough as we can. And probably be a lot of different guys on him, just depending on the game.

But we're excited to take on the challenge. I think we've had a tough road especially in our conference tournament. We played three good offensive teams, another one here. I like that. I like when we have tough assignments. So it will be fun.

TANNER HOLDEN: It's not just going to be Tim's job. It's going to be a collective effort. Every team in March can put together scoring runs. We'll all have to buy in and stay together. Stick to our game plan, defensive principles that we've put in at the beginning of the season and that will definitely get us the win.

GRANT BASILE: It will take a collective effort. We've had some good defensive performances. We've played some pretty good scorers in the Horizon League. I think we'll be ready to go.

Q. After you won the Horizon League championship, your head coach talked about this experience. Just leading up to this game, what is the experience of being about to play your first NCAA Tournament game been like for you guys?

GRANT BASILE: I think we've just got to treat it like another game. It's another opportunity to go out there, play on a national stage. It will be a good crowd and get some people to watch Wright State basketball that might not have. It will be a good opportunity for us to show what we're about.

TANNER HOLDEN: Coach has been preaching a lot. Winning the Horizon League is a great job but at the end of the day you've got to put it behind you. Coach prides himself on making this program a winning program. We're not just coming here for the experience; we're coming here to win, to make a name for ourselves for years to come. And we have a great group who can do that, a great coaching staff, and we're really excited for the opportunity.

TIM FINKE: I think as far as the experience it's been a good time. I think those first three games in the tournament, the conference tournament, were really fun for us. And to just be able to build off that, come into here, especially being in Dayton is going to be a fun experience.

Q. What's it like being a local team playing a couple miles from your campus in Dayton, Ohio? I've been there a couple times. What's it like being there?

TIM FINKE: It's fun. I've never been in the arena here. It's cool as far as at least what I've seen so far. I'm excited. Obviously we'll have good fan showing. And it's no different of a drive for my parents so I'm sure they're happy about that. It will be fun.

GRANT BASILE: It will be a good opportunity. Dayton's a great basketball city. Obviously, that's why the First Four is here. It will be a great opportunity to play in our own backyard.

TANNER HOLDEN: They kind of said it all. I think we're all really excited. It will be a great time just for all of us to just experience this, especially being in our backyard. Hopefully a good crowd pulls up. We're really excited for this opportunity.

Q. Being a 16 seed, I know you guys, you beat three 20-win teams at a tournament. How do you react to that? Do you use it as motivation? How do you react to it?

TANNER HOLDEN: Definitely some motivation in it. We're excited for the opportunity. It's the magic of March. Any upset can happen. We've seen it before. We're just really excited to put our name out there, put the university on the map and on the big stage.

GRANT BASILE: I think obviously we had a pretty slow start in non-conference wise that hurt us a little bit, but I think our mindset was it's another game that we get to play. We all love to play basketball. It's an opportunity to go out there and compete, just what we want to do.

Q. A lot of people don't know what you guys went through this year. There's more things going on than basketball. Can you kind of talk about that? Plus the 2-7 start, you guys have come a long way.

TIM FINKE: We've had a lot of deaths in the family. And so it's brought all of us closer, I would say. And it's not easy to go through. And so we've just tried to just pull closer and build and build. And I think we're at a point now in the season where we can look back on so many things that have happened and really just kind of take it all in and just live and have fun with the whole experience because it's been a long and tough journey.

GRANT BASILE: I think obviously we've had some losses from guys on our team. That's been hard. But like we write on the board every day, brotherhood over basketball. It's kind of been our thing. We just stick together. We will pull through, pull through for each other.

TANNER HOLDEN: It's been a long season for us, emotionally, mentally physically. But I believe we were 2-7 at one point, but felt like every week there was something new, something bad happening in one of our families.

But like Tim said, it brought us closer together. Everyone faced adversity but not a lot of teams faced the adversity we went through. I felt it brought us closer together. We did a great job. We could have folded. We could have just (indiscernible) and wrapped the season up and just went on about ourselves. But I thought we did a great job of just fighting through everything we went through, and it put us in the situation we are in today.

Q. I was wondering if you feel like the crowd is going to have an effect on how you play the games here. If we think back against those games against Oakland and KU, the crowd was really cheering you on, getting you through those big runs, helping you make those defensive stops, making it loud. I was wondering if you think you're going to feel the energy and continue moving through with that?

GRANT BASILE: I think our fans have been great for us all year. They've stuck with us and they definitely give us momentum throughout the games when we're getting in a lull. But I think the biggest thing is we've got to stay level-headed. That's what we've done when we've gotten down. We can't get too emotional when we're up or down because there's a lot of basketball to be played. Just have to stay level headed.

TANNER HOLDEN: It will be a great experience overall. Not a lot of times -- everybody in this area kind of wants to see Wright State and Dayton play. But I think it's an opportunity for Dayton fans and Wright State fans to come together and cheer for the local team.

So it should be a fun, fun atmosphere. Should get loud. And it's March Madness, everyone gets involved and gets excited for that. I think the crowd will definitely play a part but we've just got to do our jobs on the court.

TIM FINKE: We've had really good support this year at home. I'm sure our fans are excited we're playing right here. It will be a fun game for us.

Q. Grant and Tanner, Tim said he's never been in this gym. I don't know if you guys have. And I guess maybe a couple of your local guys have played here, Neff or Nagy or somebody.

GRANT BASILE: I've never been in here. I think Keaton and AJ have been here before, some of our local guys. But I've never played here.

TANNER HOLDEN: I've never played here but I watched a game here, watched the high school tournament here last year. One of our local teams was here so got to watch a game, got to be in here.

But it's definitely not the same atmosphere, high school to college, especially March Madness. It will definitely be a different all-around feel.

Q. Do you guys feel like right now you're playing your best basketball of the season, or is there an even higher level that you can take it to?

TANNER HOLDEN: I definitely think we're getting close to it. The season, like we've all said we've had our ups and downs. I think we're definitely on the uprise, playing -- our defense has definitely gotten better through the season.

I think that's where we've got to make our motto, make kind of our backbone. I think if we step up defensively, offense will come.

We've been a great scoring team this whole season. We know we can do that. But defensively especially going up against Peter Kiss and those teams or those guys, I think it will be a huge matchup for us. I think we'll do a great job.

GRANT BASILE: I think we gotta put a full game together. You look at the first 30 minutes of NKU was pretty ugly. The last ten minutes was good first 30 minutes of Cleveland State was good. Then they end up making a little run. We have to put 40 minutes together. I think that's the next step for this team.

TIM FINKE: I think there's always a next level we can take it to. So we're going to go out there Wednesday and just try to do that, be fun.

Q. I know a lot's not said about Trey Calvin. Talk about him, especially in that last game in the Horizon League tournament, how he held things together until Tanner and Grant got going?

TIM FINKE: Yeah, he should be up here talking, after his performance. Seriously, he's been amazing. Throughout the whole season, whenever we've had kind of a lull offensively he's been kind of that guy that's just got us going.

So we've relied on him a lot throughout the whole year, and obviously that shot that everybody's seen is just one shot but he's made countless of other shots, too. So he's been a huge, huge part of our team.

GRANT BASILE: Trey's been fantastic for us. You look at the plays he makes, just even the little stuff, like he carried us offensively, obviously, in that first half. But defensively he's been fantastic for us. You look at some of the Gardens League, what he's done to them, he's been fantastic.

Does such a great job creating for others. He'd have even more assists if we could make some shots for him, too. But he's fantastic.

TANNER HOLDEN: He's definitely an all-league guy. He wasn't on any all-league teams but he should have been. He definitely was reason that we stayed in that game against Northern Kentucky, people don't see the things he does, but he's one of the top guys on our team.

He's done that all season. He's definitely a great piece we have. We're grateful to have him. He does all little things we need. Coach asks a lot of him offensively and defensively, and he does a great job of doing those things to the best of his ability.

Q. James Manns, he's the one guy that was on the team. He was redshirted has NCAA experience, I guess, never gets to play very rarely. What do you think about him, what he adds to the team. He hangs in there for all these years?

TANNER HOLDEN: He's definitely one of the best leaders we have on this team. He probably doesn't get the minutes he wants or deserves. But he does a great job of just staying engaged. He's on our scout team. He gives us great looks. He always brings energy. He's always positive. He's great in every aspect of the game. He has every reason to not be here but he sticks with us. He keeps all of us engaged in the game in practice.

His experience for the tournament, he kind of talked to me through it and just what to expect, what it's going to be like. It definitely helped me a lot coming into this game. He does a great job just every day bringing his best.

GRANT BASILE: James has the most NCAA Tournaments in Wright State history. James is a fantastic teammate. He's unbelievable. Shows up every day. Gives us his all. If you look at him on the sideline he's constantly talking to us, helping us giving us pointers. Fantastic teammate. Great guy. He's someone that really shows the brotherhood over basketball. He is that. We all love James Manns and he's fantastic.

TIM FINKE: We all know what James can do. He's a bucket. He's always been that way. But not a lot of people get to see him off the court. And he's such a good dude. Like never heard somebody say they don't like being around him. It's always a funny time around him. It's a good time. We all love James.

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Coach Nagy.

COACH NAGY: I'll say it's nice we're playing in Dayton. It's great. We were able to practice in our own gym today. Not have to worry about travel. Take the 12-minute drive down here to Dayton Arena.

And I think our guys are ready. They've been ready. I'm sure most teams have been ready. But even a week off is a lot of time during this time of year. It's nice to have an opponent to scout for and get them locked back in again. But we obviously want them to enjoy it. And I think they are.

Q. Early this season you talked about you didn't feel like this team had played a complete game yet. Now fast forward to today. Do you feel like you're playing your best basketball of the year? Is there another level that you guys can take it to?

COACH NAGY: I always feel defensively there's another level we can take it to. Offensively we're in a pretty good spot. Defensively I always want to us to get better. That's the focus even though this team hasn't been the greatest defensive team. They've gotten better at it. They believe in it. They're trying they want to do good at it. That's been our focus.

I think having won the last five games I think we played our guys are at a high level of confidence. Obviously had to come back from decent deficits in the second half of a couple of those games. And so that gives you confidence, but I'd prefer not to get in that position too.

Q. Bryant's led by Peter Kiss, a kid that scores a lot and everything. What are your thoughts on him, the way he plays and what you see about him?

COACH NAGY: He's good. He's obviously very aggressive. He's very athletic. Gets to the free-throw line a lot. For somebody that takes that many shots, shoots a high percentage at 46 percent. He doesn't give his dribble up.

And I'll tell you the thing he does well is he moves really well without the basketball, and he doesn't just receive screens, he sets them, too. So he's a big challenge not just for whoever is guarding him, but for our whole team.

Q. You've had a few games that you can classify as some of the individuals on the team as the game-changers of the team -- Trey Calvin, for example, (indiscernible) in the final really held the team together until everybody could get it going. Do you think there's going to be a game-changer individual for this game against Bryant?

COACH NAGY: If there is, I don't know who it's going to be. I guess I can't give you that. But I certainly hope we have one of those guys do that. If you're going to just throw names out there, it would be our top three scorers, probably, in terms of Tanner and Grant and Trey. And Tim will be matched up on Peter Kiss. So that will be probably a pretty big matchup for us.

Q. Have you ever been in this arena before?

COACH NAGY: Been in it a couple times. I came over -- sorry to interrupt -- were you going to ask something else?

I've been in it a couple times. I came to watch one high school game, a high school tournament game, and then the other time I was here was this past year, I think it was in the spring. And I always forget the name of the tournament, but Mike Daum was playing -- he's a player I coached at South Dakota State -- he was playing in that 5-on-5 tournament, "the Tournament," maybe they call it.

But he was doing the 3-point shooting contest here. I came over to watch him shoot. And those are the two times I've been in the arena.

Q. (Indiscernible) a player here in high school?

COACH NAGY: No, Bill Berg (phonetic) did not play here.

Q. This is your fifth time in the NCAA Tournament. What's your experience as fas as players, is the first five, six minutes a deer-in-the-headlights kind of feeling? Do you see a difference in the NCAA Tournament that way? What do you do to kind of get them ready?

COACH NAGY: It can be. We've had both experiences where our kids have played with confidence right away. Obviously being at South Dakota State and being here, I think the best seed we've had was a 12. You're playing a 5, a 4, a 3, a 2. I think those are the numbers we played. And you're playing a great basketball team. And you better be ready to go right away and play with confidence.

So I've seen both. I've seen both. I really don't think it's much different, though, than playing in the championship game of your conference tournament, those kind of things.

And you see our team, we weren't great early in that game. And then got ourselves pulled together. And it's hard to know as a coach how your kids are going to respond until they get there.

But we've seen a lot of that in terms of some flat starts for our teams but we've been able to come back from them, too. So I don't think, if that happened, there would be much panic.

Q. Seeing how well the fan base traveled to Indianapolis, is that something to kind of look forward to that they don't have far to go to support the Raiders in this game?

COACH NAGY: It's certainly not a disadvantage for us, for our fans, to be able to see us. Hopefully even some people that aren't necessarily Wright State fans, but are from Dayton will be rooting for us.

Q. You mentioned Tim Finke earlier. Talk about how he always matches up against the other team's offensive player, how he always come out?

COACH NAGY: He's our best defender. I've said this all year, he's our MVP. Our players would tell you that. If I could get all the guys to his level of urgency and toughness -- probably even the best thing about Tim is nothing really fazes him. There are very few guys that I've ever coached, if they're not playing well offensively -- I'll say this, Tim's not had the kind of year offensively he would have liked. It's never affected his defense. Most guys, if they're struggling offensively it affects their energy on defense. It affects their mood.

It's never been the case with Tim. He is a robot when it comes to that. And if we could get all our players to his level defensively we would be even better.

Q. I know being a 16 seed wasn't a surprise, but how did you feel about that? You beat three 20-win teams in the Horizon League. Do you use it as motivation or just happy to be here?

COACH NAGY: There was no talk of that. Personally I don't want to be a 16 seed. It just makes your road that much tougher. And so the better the seed, obviously, the better chance you have. But I thought to myself, if we're going to be a 16 seed, then it would be nice to be in Dayton.

Q. A guy who was really huge in the Horizon League tournament was Trey Calvin. And even though he's kind of quiet off the court, seems like his game is anything but. How do you feel like he's kind of grown in on-court confidence from the beginning of the year to now?

COACH NAGY: I think mostly he's grown as a leader and grown as a man. And I think, I mean, that's just helped him become a better player. When I recruited him I knew he was tremendously talented. Struggled in terms of what he would consider and what he wanted for himself the first two years.

But offensively he's been so efficient this year. And obviously at a different level right now in terms of the way he played in the tournament and the way I'm watching him practice, all those things. He's become more of a leader for us. I see him communicating on the floor where he didn't used to. I would say much more watching him grow up and become more of a man has helped his game. And mostly I'm happy for him.