NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - MONTANA ST. VS TEXAS TECH

March 17, 2022

Mike Adams

Bryson Williams

Kevin McCullar

Kevin Obanor

Viejas Arena

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Texas Tech.

Q. Kevin, obviously last year you were on the other side of an NCAA Tournament upset being the team that was an underdog and obviously going on a run. How is it different this time around? What lessons can you impart from that experience being on the other side last year?

KEVIN OBANOR: It's a blessing to be in March Madness once again and I know for sure the lesson is that anybody can be beat. As we're facing this team tomorrow just have the mindset just to win. And just don't take your competitor lightly. And just to come out victorious. That's the mindset that we have on the team.

Q. Kevin, I remember back in 2019, that run that, you redshirted and you traveled with the team and all that. Anything you learned from that whole run, that experience that you used last year and then you could use this tournament?

KEVIN MCCULLAR: Yes, it was valuable coming into college early and being with those guys. And on the Final Four run, I just witnessed how the older guys just took it so seriously, but they also enjoyed the ride and had fun along the way. This is a blessing at the level that we're at right now to be in this tournament. So we just want to have fun and go out there and win.

Q. Bryson, in preparation for this game, Montana State's coaches and players have said that in watching Texas Tech your physicality and depth really stands out. On the other side of that, what sort of things have stood out to you about Montana State as you've all prepped for this game?

BRYSON WILLIAMS: Watching Montana State they're a very versatile team. They've got a good post presence. And their guards are, they really are really good at penetrating to the paint. And they know how to find their shots. And us at Texas Tech, we know how important defense is and how important to be physical and being the hardest-playing team is. And every team in this tournament is good. And that's our chip and that's what we've got to rely on in these games.

Q. What's been the message from Coach Adams going into this postseason? Has it been the same as the whole season, or has anything changed from him?

KEVIN MCCULLAR: It's been the same the whole season. Day by day we're still getting better and practicing and things like that. But he's been preaching us being the hardest-playing team every night. When we do that we give us a chance to win and that's all you can do. Pretty much being the hardest-playing team every night out there.

Q. Bryson, in terms of your first NCAA Tournament game and being close to family, how have you seen that? And are you going to have a lot of people coming and how important is that to you?

BRYSON WILLIAMS: It's important, definitely. I'm from Fresno, which is only about five, six hours away from here. My mom and them are able to drive down and come watch the game. It's a big thing. And also it being my first NCAA Tournament game, this is a blessing to be on a team that continues to be able to play for a national title. And it's just a blessing.

Q. Off topic of basketball, have you ever been to Montana and know anything about the state?

KEVIN MCCULLAR: No clue about Montana. Never been there.

BRYSON WILLIAMS: Haven't been there.

KEVIN OBANOR: No clue.

Q. Coach Adams has preached togetherness. And all you guys, Kevin you've been here you other guys came in you're all from other programs. Talk about the togetherness of this team meshing together and making this run now in the tourney.

KEVIN OBANOR: It's about embracing the moment. It's a family-hood at the end of the day. I know how far we go will determine the bond we have. It just makes us closer and closer. This is when players make plays, and this is the big moment and just to keep us closer and just really go far.

KEVIN MCCULLAR: The relationship we have on and off the court, we do everything together. These are my brothers. It carries over. You've got to have that to make a good run in this tournament.

BRYSON WILLIAMS: Reiterating what they said, we're all brothers. It was from the jump. We had a bunch of new guys come and guys who were already here. And we just gelled automatically and we became brothers that fast. It makes it that much easier on the court.

Q. Kevin, as a young guy in 2019 after that Final Four, obviously the coaching change shocked a lot of people. Where are you at now? I'm wondering what did you see in the transition and what do you make of Coach Adams' style now and how different is it?

KEVIN MCCULLAR: The Final Four run, I'll never forget it. It was so vivid. I still see it to this day. After we lost that game and the national championship, seeing everyone crying, just motivated me to want to get there so bad.

And with the coaching change with Coach Adams, he's done a great job. That's the main reason I stayed, to stay with him. When we brought in a bunch of new guys and stuff we all just gelled so easily. We've gone a great run, did a lot better than people thought we would do with the coaching changes and stuff. We're not settling for that. We're trying to make history.

Q. The incredible defense you play, the energy, could you describe how much effort is put into defense at practice every day compared to other things? What do you make of it? Is it similar at all to any defense you've ever played?

BRYSON WILLIAMS: This is definitely the most different defense I've ever played. That's a big emphasis on our practice every day is defense. And that was a big reason why I even came to Texas Tech was to become a better defender. Everybody knows Texas Tech put on defense, and how hard they play on that end of the floor. That's a big emphasis we put on that in practice.

KEVIN MCCULLAR: Since I've been at Texas Tech, coming out of high school I knew I would have to play defense here. That's what I loved to do growing up. That was the main reason I came to Texas Tech. And Coach Adams, he'll make sure we're playing defense for sure.

KEVIN OBANOR: Just to reiterate what they said, defenses wins championships. And just to have that as a foundation is a blessing. And it's a big thing that we focus on in practice every day.

Q. You're known for your defense. Montana State is known for their 3-point shooting. From your opinion what's going to be the keys to victory tomorrow?

BRYSON WILLIAMS: Really, just what you said. Who is better? Is our defense better or is their offense better? They're a very talented offensive team. They do a lot of great things on that side of the floor as well. We do a lot of great things on the defensive side of the floor. So it's just going to be who imposes their will the most, especially in March.

Q. Kevin McCullar, you missed eight games. How is your health? And what did you do for the big 21 on Tuesday?

KEVIN MCCULLAR: My health is great now. My ankle is healed up all the way and I'm feeling good, thanks to Mike Neal, our trainer. They've been helping me get back on my feet and get going.

And for my 21st birthday, I've been really locked in, just trying to make a run in March. So I can celebrate after.

Q. You talked about defense and kind of what it entails here at Texas Tech. From a chemistry standpoint on defense, which is an essential thing with transfers that come in, how easy was it to gel with this group or did that take some time especially before the season, before you guys really gelled defensively with some newcomers and some old faces?

BRYSON WILLIAMS: Definitely took some time because some guys were -- some guys need to improve on defense. I was one of them that needed to improve defensively. And then just the defensive scheme that we run, it took time. It's so different than what we were running at our previous institution.

So it took some time. But once we figured it out and once we gelled on that, it just made it that much easier on the floor. And it actually helped us on the offensive side as well.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, an opening statement.

COACH ADAMS: It hits home when I see my name in March Madness. But just so excited that our team -- this has been an unbelievable journey. If you had the time to interview our guys individually, they all have a great story about how they've overcome adversity to be here.

We have a lot of transfers and excited that these guys believe in each other and me way back in April. And then these guys were recruited up to right around June 1st and after that these guys wanted to be here. They wanted to be in the Big Dance and wanted to play for a coach and a team that had a chance to get there.

So I'll be always indebted to our players for their trust in me and just so excited that these guys get to experience this. It's just something that you dream as a little kid and growing up. And just to see these guys here and what they've accomplished, I'm just so proud to be their coach.

Q. You alluded to it but when you go back to April and you had four players and you're trying to figure all this stuff out, at what point did you kind of feel, okay, here's the vision and this is what we're going to expect and we're going to get to March?

COACH ADAMS: First, fortunate to be at a university that has some tradition, has a great fan base and supportive administration. And that's a great start. The problem was it was just Coach Sutton and I in an empty office. We had to put that staff together. And so together we had the vision, look, let's put together a championship team to go along with this -- we knew it would be a championship program. We didn't know it would happen this fast.

So much goes back to the credit of the guys we recruited, seven transfers, that they believed in each other. These guys wanted to be coached. We did our due diligence and found guys that loved basketball and were coachable and wanted to be coached hard. And that was a great fit for us. And again so blessed that I get to experience that. And again honored and privileged I get to coach these guys.

Q. Can you give us the attitude of the team? You've got guys who have been in March Madness from other teams, guys who worked with the team. And just coming together and what's the mentality of this team now as you're less than 24 hours from playing your first game?

COACH ADAMS: Great question. You're always concerned about that. Are they too confident, are they a little bit too nervous? You want your guys ready and continue to improve. I talked to the guys today about that. We've got to trust that we deserve to be here. We've earned that right to be here, like all these teams have.

But again excited that we've got some guys that haven't been here before like Davion Warren and Bryson Williams. This is their first time to be here. They deserve to be here. Proud of those guys.

But we also have some experience, like Kevin Obanor, who was at Oral Roberts. He's been here before and he knows what it takes. And five guys last year that were here. We have some experience, and those that aren't, don't have experience, have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, which will make up for it. So we have a combination of both.

But it's so important that we have the right attitude. Stay grounded, trust the process, believe in each other. Don't be something we're not. Everybody's got a role and we've been great accepting that role and going and play hard.

Q. Danny Sprinkle was in here earlier. He said that he recruited some of your players in the past when you were at Howard College. He joked he's certainly familiar with you but you probably don't know who he is. I'm curiosity what's your familiarity with Danny Sprinkle and the job he's doing at Bozeman?

COACH ADAMS: Coach Sprinkle, he's a great guy. And a heck of a basketball player, too. We're in familiar territory because we both love our schools and our alma mater. But I do remember Coach Sprinkle and wonderful guy and a lot of respect of him as a coach and what he's done with the program there. And, so, but nothing but good things about him as a coach, and looking forward to coaching against him tomorrow.

Q. In the lead-up to this contest, he and his players have mentioned how physical your team is and kind of the depth you have as things that stand out the most. On the other side, what have you watched in your preparation of Montana State? What stands out to you?

COACH ADAMS: They're reading our cue cards. We think the same thing about them. We think they're very physical. They've got a lot of depth and strength inside. And they're a very disciplined team. Like we think that we are as well. And they know a lot about winning, winning 27 games. They've won 11 in a row at one time. They won six in a row now. And they've got a lot of older experienced players.

So we mirror each other in a lot of ways. So to think this is a team -- you look at teams, their strengths and weaknesses, and we just don't see many weaknesses this team. They share the ball. They're patient on offense, which is going to put a lot of stress on us. We'll have to work a little longer and harder on defense. And they've got a lot of guys that can shoot the ball. So they will be a huge challenge for us.

Q. 12 years ago you won a national championship. What did you learn about what it takes to win games in March? If you can win tomorrow, any chance Jae Crowder will drop by Saturday before he plays on Sunday?

COACH ADAMS: I wish. (Indiscernible). When I won that national championship, I felt pretty good about myself coaching. And I didn't know I had an NBA guy in Jae Crowder. I knew he was good but not that good, which always goes back -- it's always about the players and those guys buying in to the leadership.

And Jay was a wonderful leader and just a great person. I remember in that championship game, he had -- he was like 2-for-3 or something going into halftime and we were down. And he didn't say a word. He's such a great team player. And I'm looking at the stat sheet, hey, guys, why don't we give Jae the ball a little more, how about that?

And we did and ended up winning that one. But Jae, that's the type of guy he is. Just unbelievable leader. And we've got some of those on this team that are just very unselfish.

Again, it's such a great experience to cut down the nets. In that Final Four team a few years back, we were really close. That's just a great experience, but there's nothing better than being the champion and being the best in the country.

Q. How long have your defensive principles been with you and how much tweaking have you done along the way? And is there still today?

COACH ADAMS: I have always been a defensive coach. At least in my mind, even back in junior college. We've always been really good on the defensive end. I've tweaked it. I've stole from everybody, Coach Sutton and Bob Knight, Dick Bennett. All those guys -- Gerald Myers was really the first guy who introduced me to man defense.

About three or four years ago, when -- actually our first year here, I was in charge of our defense at Tech, and we finished seventh. I went back that summer and started looking and trying to study Kansas and Baylor. And that's where this evolved. Other people have done it in the past. That was a real commitment is we want to try to do it no-middle defense.

Q. Secondly with the transfers you just spoke of, what are the challenges of getting transfer players coming in to buy into the defense and how difficult is that?

COACH ADAMS: I think it's difficult for any coach when you bring a transfer in, because they've got a certain role and they're the best player on the team, most of them. And they're getting the most shots and getting the most touches. And then you bring them in and say, we love you, but we've got to -- we're doing it a different way. We're going to share the ball. And we're going to play defense. If you want to do those things you'll get to play a lot of minutes.

And again fortunately we had guys with that kind of character that put winning first, not themselves. And so again I've been really blessed to have guys that want to be coached, want to be coached hard but also want to win. And I know in order to win we've got to do it the right way and play the right way.

Q. On that note, Bryson talked about the chemistry on defense that's needed was something that was built over time. Could you take me back to the offseason and specifically how did you really get these guys to build chemistry with each other defensively?

COACH ADAMS: That first week with so many new players, seven transfers coming in, I jokingly said I wanted to transfer after that first week because we just, just so much to learn and so many different personalities. But that was a really challenge through the summer. The guys had great attitude. We were just trying to see their strengths and try to accentuate those strengths.

But on the defense it was always constant. (Indiscernible). We talked about it. We drilled it every day. The guys bought into that. And just fortunate that these guys, one of the reasons they came to Texas Tech we had a reputation to play defense. And a lot of the guys wanted to embrace that and wanted to become the better defensive player.

So that part was easy, but getting all these guys to just sharing the ball and understanding the importance of the team concept and coming from different programs and getting to change that role completely, so much of the credit goes back to these guys, like I said, early just being unselfish.

Q. Coach Sprinkle mentioned the toughest part is their toughness. And what do you have to say about that? And what's the toughest part about Montana State that you've seen so far?

COACH ADAMS: That's one of the greatest compliments I think anybody could give a team. Coach Sprinkle says your toughness. I think the same thing about them. And every team in this tournament has toughness. It may be on the offensive end, but there's something about the team that they've overcome adversity, they won a tournament championship, that they're here.

And there's a lot of different ways to describe toughness -- mental toughness, physical toughness. And I'd like to think we have both. I know they do. One thing I say about defense, the best defense is a patient offense. And so they play good defense but their defense is even better because they work you so hard on the offensive end, they're so disciplined. A lot of admiration for them, and they have a team toughness that I hope we have.

Q. When Danny Sprinkle was in here he said he was disappointed with his team's defense about six weeks ago so he put together a bunch of clips together of your team's defense --

COACH ADAMS: What not to do or ...

Q. Quite the opposite. How much of that is a compliment and a credit to your staff and players that the defense you play is a model for other teams?

COACH ADAMS: That is a nice compliment. And again I've done the same thing when I our community, Coach Sprinkle, their offense, how they share the ball. We're always borrowing from each other and learning and using different ways to motivate guys, that's a nice compliment.

And I'm trying to build up my anger and hate so I don't like this guy tomorrow, but he's such a good guy.

We both have to go out and play hard tomorrow. A lot of respect for Coach Sprinkle. And again here's one of the nice things. They've got a ton of guys who can shoot 3s but a lot of them only take a couple shots a game because they're so focused on teamwork and each other that we see no selfishness on their part. A lot of that goes back to them and how he's coached that team and the leadership.

Q. You talked about Montana State and their style. I'm curious in preparing for this game, do they remind you of anybody else in the Big 12 or any of the other teams that you played this year?

COACH ADAMS: They are extremely well getting to the free-throw line. And again, their pace is a little bit slower. Maybe they've got, I don't know, I see a little bit of some of the stuff that Kansas State does where they share the ball.

But they've got probably some ingredients of TCU as well that I see, with a really big guy inside. But more than anything is they're just so competitive. They really compete hard. And that's why we've won so many games.

And you just don't like -- I never like playing a coach that their teams play hard and are getting better. I think that's the mark of a pretty good coach. That's what Coach Sprinkle has done. His teams continue to get better and they play hard every game.

Q. This is a slightly silly question off the topic of basketball. I asked the three players up here if they have been to Montana, if they have not if they knew something about the state and all three said no, I have no idea.

COACH ADAMS: I hope they still said nice things about Montana. It's a pretty state.

Q. Have you been and do you know anything about the state?

COACH ADAMS: I'm not saying it's a silly question, it's a good question. I don't think ever -- I don't think I've ever been to Montana. Seen tons of pictures. I'd like to go some day. It's a beautiful state. But I don't know if I've personally been there and experienced that.

Q. You've mentioned it being surreal to see your name play on there. Has it hit you that you guys are here and how do you maintain the excitement of the guys but also staying locked in for tomorrow?

COACH ADAMS: You just turn on sports and everybody's talking about the March Madness and tournament. It's all around us. I think our bigger question is how we stay focused, not get distracted by all this attention and the social media and the interviews. And the teams that can handle that are the teams that are going to survive and advance and all.

Back to your question, have they ever been to Lubbock, any of my --

Q. (Off microphone).

COACH ADAMS: Good for you.

Q. Kevin was obviously on the flip side of the first round matchup last year being an underdog, a 15 seed that went on a run. Now he's on your side. And he said he learned that any team can beat anyone at this stage. Is that an easy resource or talking point for you to tap into or do you even need it with this thing?

COACH ADAMS: No question. We all talked to Kevin and asked him what he learned, and we're always trying to share experiences. And so everybody's -- they played in this tournament, they're a available resource to us an we want their opinion. He just talked about how his feelings and all. It was enlightening. I thought it was informative. Our guys learned from it.

Q. I noticed Clarence was in a walking boot. Was that a practice injury, or is he all right, or what's his status?

COACH ADAMS: He had injured it earlier in the last game against Kansas, he reinjured it. He's been in the boot most week. This is the first practice. But he's back. We'll see at game time if he's going to play or not.