NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - MARQUETTE VS NORTH CAROLINA

March 17, 2022

Shaka Smart

Stevie Mitchell

Olivier-Maxence Prosper

Dickies Arena

Marquette Golden Eagles

Media Conference

North Carolina - 95 , Marquette - 63

THE MODERATOR: Welcome, Marquette student-athletes and head coach, Shaka Smart. We'll have questions for Mr. Prosper, for Mr. Mitchell in just a moment, as well as Mr. Smart. And, Coach, you can get started with an opening statement.

SHAKA SMART: Yeah, congratulations to North Carolina. I thought they played terrific. You know, we played those guys last year and to a man, all those guys that were on that team that came back are marketably better. That's a credit to Hubert Davis and his staff, and to those players, the work they put in.

And, obviously, the addition of Manek, you know, and the element that he gives to their team is really -- makes them a dangerous, dangerous team.

As for us, it wasn't our day. You know, we did not play with the level of violence we needed to on the defensive-end to take away the things that North Carolina wanted.

I thought early in the game they were able to kind of get in the rhythm, shooting the ball. Caleb Love with some early threes.

And then on the offensive end, you know, a lot of the good looks we got, we did not make. I thought Tyler did a really good job moving the ball and passing the ball. But really other than O-Max going 4 for 8 from 3, we struggled shooting the ball and finishing the ball.

The biggest lesson from this is, you have to lead on the defensive-end. And that's regardless of how things are going on offense. And we didn't do a good enough job of that today.

THE MODERATOR: First question on the left-hand side, second row.

Q. Coach, I know this is not the outcome you wanted. But do you still feel good about this first season in what you were able to accomplish?

SHAKA SMART: I told the guys in the locker room after the game, you know, we're not going to evaluate the entirety of our season based on one game. You know, we're obviously really, really disappointed and upset with how today's game went. It's not up to standard that we set. It's not the best version of us. It's not the way you need to play or want to play to advance in the NCAA tournament.

But now that the game's done, you know, we can't go back and change that game. We're not going to evaluate our whole season based on that game.

Everyone outside of our locker room didn't really think we could do much at all this year. We were picked ninth in the big east. We certainly weren't picked by anyone to go to the NCAA tournament.

These guys and their teammates have done a phenomenal job of building relationships with each other, and that's been the foundation of everything that we've done.

We're just getting started, you know, with what we're trying to do at Marquette. We're going to use today as a major springboard moving forward.

THE MODERATOR: Right-hand side, front row.

Q. Shaka, you said the other day it's an advantage when a team's got guys that have been through the battles of an NCAA tournament together before. When things spiraled on you in the first half, do you think that you guys' inexperience showed up there?

SHAKA SMART: Yeah, I think so. I think North Carolina did a phenomenal job during that stretch, just taking advantage of every mistake we made or every opportunity that we gave them. And that's when the lead really got out of hand.

We had a few technical fouls, Kur hanging on the rim. I got one, Darryl got one. They missed some of those free-throws, but it just felt like, you know, those were certainly not at the right time, if you ever want those things to happen.

But, yeah, they just did a heck of a job extending the lead during that stretch. And I think if we can win the last six minutes of the first half and go into the locker room, and even if it's 15 or 17, you know, there's still a -- you feel like, okay, let's get this thing under 10.

But, you know, going into halftime with that type of deficit, it's tough.

Q. Shaka, what was the difficulty for someone like Leaky being on Justin Lewis? He was held to six, probably a season low. Just what were the challenges to get him going offensively?

SHAKA SMART: Leaky Black is a heck of a defender. I think he's as good as a defender as we've played against all year. That being said, Justin missed a lot of shots he normally makes, and we would take those shots for him any day of the week. You know, some open threes, some finishes around the basket. It just wasn't his day.

But, certainly, Leaky Black had a lot to do with that. He's a guy that, you know, I think has a chance to play at the highest level because he can guard a lot of different positions, and he's just got great versatility.

Q. If you guys can both answer this: A lot of highs and a lot of lows this season. But just what are you going to remember most about your first seasons here at Marquette?

STEVIE MITCHELL: I would that just even when things aren't going your way, to always an opportunity to respond and how to just battle adversity. So just in the future, when things don't go our way, we've been through it before, we just lost by quite a bit. So I think we're battle tested. We know what can happen. So now we know how to respond and what's next.

OLIVIER-MAXENCE PROSPER: Yeah, I would say the one thing I took out of this is just the relationships that I build with my teammates over the course of the year. I mean, Coach said want to be the team that grows the most over the course of the year. And I feel like for the most part, we did that. And we going to learn from this experience. And we going to keep going and move forward. So, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Next-to-last row, right-hand side.

Q. Both for Stevie and O-Max, as well. Just from your standpoint of being on the court for some of that in the first half, what did North Carolina do that kind of pulled away from you guys in that first half that kind of changed the tone of the game?

OLIVIER-MAXENCE PROSPER: I would say just, like -- I feel like we let our offense dictate our defense, instead of -- we should have done it the other way. We didn't make as many shots as a group. And let for them going in transition and they made some easy buckets in transition, which helped them get going.

So I think if we did a better job like running back and stopping the ball earlier, I think that's what helped them get a lead early.

STEVIE MITCHELL: Similar to O-Max said, I feel like they just got some easy buckets to get going and they started playing with a bunch of confidence. And, obviously, they have a lot of talented guys. So once those guys started playing with confidence, it became hard to deal with and they started making shots. So, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: We have about five more minutes left with Marquette. Let's go back to the front and then we'll go to the left.

Q. Shaka, what do you think the biggest difference was between the team that won seven games in a row in January, and the team that lost today?

SHAKA SMART: I mean, you guys are talking about the same guys, same team, same uniform. I think during that stretch we were, for the most part, defending at a very, very high level. And that was a real identity for us.

And for whatever reason, I mean, it was something that, you know, we've emphasized, something these guys have worked really hard on this week. I mean, you saw us practice yesterday.

It wasn't there for us today. So I think the defensive end is one difference. Obviously, we didn't give up 95 points during that stretch.

My bias is always on, you know, clarity of mind and clarity of who you're playing for and what you're playing for. And I thought during that stretch, that you're referring to, we had just an unbelievable, you know, connectivity about us that, you know, honestly is really, really challenging to maintain or sustain over the course of the year, because of a lot of different factors.

And, you know, we were maybe one or two percent off of that. It's not like our guys were bad. We didn't have selfish guys all year. But, you know, during that time, I think everything kind of rolled together to build a very confident group.

Q. Coach, North Carolina's not your average eight seed by name.

SHAKA SMART: No.

Q. You got a chance to see Baylor quite a bit last season. What do you make of that matchup?

SHAKA SMART: Well, I think if North Carolina plays with the aggressiveness and the confidence that they played with today, you know, they put themselves certainly in a position to have a chance to win that game. That being said, Baylor's about as good as it gets at making things hard on the other team on the defensive end.

We did not do that today. And so, North Carolina was able to get going early, whether it was through offensive rebounding, whether it was through shooting the ball from three.

And North Carolina is a -- like, 98 percent of the teams in the country, when they feel good, they're a whole lot better when they don't feel good. Baylor's good at not letting you feel good.

But I think North Carolina, certainly coming off of today, the confidence they have -- what was so impressive about them, they really only play five guys major minutes. And every one of those guys contributed in different ways.

You know, Love and Manek put the ball in the basket. Bacot, he's a monster on the glass. Leaky Black was phenomenal defensively and also spread the ball around really well.

And then RJ Davis, I think he had 12 assists, you know, just creating for others and playing with real poise to not necessarily force things on his own.

All five of those guys were at a high level. So if all five of them play at that type of level on Saturday, then they'll have a good chance to win.

Q. Questions for all three of you. The players can feel free to start with this. Obviously, you guys are new to the team, but Greg was here kind of the longest time, and then, obviously, Kur and Darryl are two of the other oldest players on the team. What did you learn from them? And then for Coach, if you could share some of your -- part of your message to those guys as they might potentially be on their way?

STEVIE MITCHELL: I think I just learned a lot from each of those guys. Just different things. Just Darryl, Greg, they're both guards. So we spend a lot of time together in guard huddles, workouts. So just different offensively and defensively, just different stuff to look at.

Obviously, Greg and Darryl have a very high basketball IQ, so just trying to learn whatever I can from them the whole season, whatever I can from them, has helped me out a lot.

And then Kur is just a great person to be around. He makes every room that's he's in just a better room to be in. So I think just looking up to a guy like him helps me see that I want to be like that. I want to have the same impact on a room that Kur has on a room just by being present.

OLIVIER-MAXENCE PROSPER: Yeah, basically, the same as Stevie says. All three of those guys have been high quality people. From the time they stepped in at Marquette, they've been just great help. They've been great leaders for us.

And, you know, they've been through a lot, they've been through a lot of college basketball. So just the insight and all the experiences that they went through, just giving us all the insight on that, I mean, they've been great for us all year.

I mean, I'm just going to remember the relationships that I've built with those guys. And, I mean, this year without those guys, we wouldn't be here. So, I mean, I'm totally grateful for those guys.

SHAKA SMART: Yeah, terrific guys. You know, Greg, like you said, has been at Marquette the longest. You know, I feel bad for him that his career is ending this way.

Because, you know, he's had a lot of the great moments. He's also had a lot of games where he can't play because of injury. I'm thankful that, for the most part this year he was able to evade, you know, major injury.

You know, he's hung in there at Marquette through a lot of twists and turns in the program. Obviously, a coaching change, different teammates coming and going.

So he's always going to be remembered at Marquette as someone who gave to the program and was part of this season where, you know, I feel like we're building to be even better in the future.

And then, you know, Kur is the most humble person I've ever been around in my life. It almost works against him sometimes on the court. But in general, I think it's an unbelievably positive trait. And like Stevie said, his energy is phenomenal.

And Darryl's just been a great leader for us and grateful for the impact that he's had on these guys and the way that he's affected the confidence of our team.

THE MODERATOR: Last question in the front.

Q. Stevie and O-Max, this might be stuff to answer right after the season ended. What's the summer look like for you guys? What do you guys want to improve on going into your second seasons at Marquette? Stevie can start first.

STEVIE MITCHELL: I think just continue to lean on our core values, really. Just relationships, get closer with each other. Build relationships with the new guys that come in. And growth, just get better every single day. Build connectedness on the court. Just work on skill, all that.

And then when the season comes around, then we'll be ready for victory. So I think that's what the summer looks like for us.

OLIVIER-MAXENCE PROSPER: Yeah, I would say just build on this season. I mean, this is the foundation. And I feel just after this season, learning from that, and just keep getting better in all areas. And helping the new guys that come in, you know, grow in so that we can go even further than we did this year and be better. So I feel just learn from this and keep growing, moving forward.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you guys so much.

SHAKA SMART: Thank you.