NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - DELAWARE VS VILLANOVA

March 18, 2022

Jay Wright

Collin Gillespie

Jermaine Samuels

Justin Moore

PPG Paints Arena

Villanova Wildcats

Media Conference

Villanova - 80, Delaware - 60

MODERATOR: Opening statement from head coach and then move to questions of the student-athletes. The conclusion of the student-athletes, they will be dismissed, and then questions for the head coach can commence.

JAY WRIGHT: First I want to give credit to Delaware, they're a really good team. We knew a lot about them because we followed them and they're well coached.

And at the start of the game it took us some time to just adjust to their speed and their intelligence offensively, try to figure out what they were doing. We knew what they were doing, we just couldn't guard it.

And then I thought even their defense was very intelligent too. Took us some time to figure that out. I think our guys did. And I think that was the difference. They're a really well-coached team, and we give them a lot of credit.

MODERATOR: Questions for student-athletes.

Q. What did you do to Dwayne Anderson there? Do you have something against him there?

JERMAINE SAMUELS: I knew the ball was coming out of bounds, and I was trying to jump out of his way, but he was trying to catch me. And I guess he moved his head towards my elbow. I was trying to move out of the way. But it was an accident. And just shows how much he loves us by trying to catch me. But sorry it happened.

Q. Jermaine, did you think about just letting that ball go out of bounds considering you guys were up 19?

JERMAINE SAMUELS: No, that's not what we do here at Villanova. We're going to play a full 40. That's just the way we play here no matter what's going on around us.

Q. Justin, what did you feel you guys had to figure out offensively? Obviously you got into a rhythm. What got you into the rhythm?

JUSTIN MOORE: We were reading the ball screen coverage and if they were coming to help, who was helping. Once we figured that out, we were able to figure out when we could take our open shots, make that extra pass, and find the bigs posting up.

Q. Justin, this was like your first real time playing in the tournament with fans. What was that like, and how different was it from last year when you guys were in that bubble setting?

JUSTIN MOORE: I think it was definitely different and a great experience. But I'm just grateful to play with my teammates and coaches. It was a great experience for us to get better and compete in this tournament.

Q. Jermaine, you don't look like a guy who couldn't make it through a walkthrough a week ago. Looked like you were a hundred percent today. How were you able to recover throughout the week and put in full effort today?

JERMAINE SAMUELS: Just it goes to credit to the training staff, those guys are with me all the time, always sticking by me, let me know when I can get a chance to work on my body and also resting and doing whatever I can to stay 100 percent.

Q. Collin, at the under 16 media timeout, down 15-8, what was the message and approach coming out of that timeout for you guys?

COLLIN GILLESPIE: Stay the course, keep doing what we're supposed to do. No matter what was going on, we were getting up and down, just making sure we were continuing to play Villanova basketball.

We knew that was the possibility, just trying to figure out what they were doing, how they were guarding defensively and how they were attacking us offensively. So we were just telling each other stick together, 40-minute game, and that's what we were going to do.

Q. This is for the players. How do you think you guys handled the defense against Jameer Nelson? What can you build off of this going into your matchup with Ohio State on Sunday?

COLLIN GILLESPIE: He's a dynamic guard, can score at all three levels, and he shifty. So we just had to adjust to what he was trying to do early on. And I think we played great team defense and were able to try and slow him down that way.

But I think it's just gonna prepare us for Sunday. We know how great a team Ohio State is and how dynamic they are offensively and defensively, how physical they are. So I think tonight prepared us a little bit for that.

JUSTIN MOORE: He's a great guard and really quick. That's something that we're not really used to, but I think it's not just the person guarding the basketball, it's the other four guys that help loading and making sure he doesn't see a lot of space so he's able to get where he wants.

I think we figured that out and was able to limit his ability to get in the lane and get to the basket.

Q. Jermaine, Jay mentioned a couple of time how well Dylan in particular knew what you guys wanted to do, the familiarity with what you guys are all about. Did you guys pick up at all at any point in the game that they kind of knew what you were gonna do? Did that reveal itself in any way during the game? And was that part of the figuring out how to counteract?

JERMAINE SAMUELS: Every team we play is going to have a great scouting report against us, all five guys on the floor. He definitely knew. But that's the part of the game. That's the journey of the game. It's going to be slow sometimes. Sometimes it's gonna be upbeat and things are going to be going well for us.

But I think over the course of the game, we decided to get a feel for what they wanted to do, and we got comfortable with making plays for each other, and that's what it's all about.

Q. The last time you guys played Ohio State was in 2019. What did they look like in -- is there any team in the Big East that reminds you of Ohio State, or do you have to go back to the footage to get ready for it?

COLLIN GILLESPIE: We'll let our coaches look at some film and put a scouting report together. What we've seen over the course of the year is they are physical. They play in a great conference, well coached, they have a lot of great players. And we know they are physical and they are tough.

We did play them two years ago, and they beat us pretty good. So we know how -- their style of play, and the coaches are going to do a good job of putting the scouting report together for us, and a we'll start to go over that tomorrow.

MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen. Student-athletes can be dismissed. Thank you.

Q. Jay, you seemed to really clamp down on their threes. They went 3 for 20 there. What was the plan with them there?

JAY WRIGHT: Well, early they were beating us off the dribble pretty good, and then we just extended on them and gave each other help to not let them see too much space. I thought we did a pretty good job closing out on their shooters and getting to them quickly.

They're fast and quick, and I think the start of the game, like Justin said, we don't have guys like that. Maybe Bryan Antoine is like that. But I just think it took us time to get used to their speed.

Q. Jay, why you didn't try to catch Jermaine Samuels?

JAY WRIGHT: Tell you what, Dwayne Anderson would have gotten really mad at Jermaine if he didn't go after that loose ball. That is why he went after it. I'd also like to say Dwayne Anderson has played for us and got hurt worse than that and never even came out of a game. Now he's a coach and leaves the bench when he gets hit like that.

But he got it pretty good. We stopped and saw him. He got it good across the nose. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, he got -- I'm not a doctor, but it doesn't look good to me.

Q. The whole Big East tournament takes so much out of a team, and there tends to be a hangover effect at times. How did you deal with that this week leading up to this game?

JAY WRIGHT: I was really concerned about that. It's been something that when I saw Marquette play, they kind of looked like that to me. I thought Connecticut kind of looked like that to me a little bit.

They just looked worn down, you know. And I was really concerned. We took time off, we talked about it. We took a lot of time off, we talked about it.

And we did a pretty good job. We came out of it pretty good. I thought we looked fresh. I thought we were excited to play. It's not that you're not excited to play, it's just that the other team seems so much more excited than you do. And I didn't think it looked that way today. I was proud of our guys for that. That's a tough hurdle to overcome. And it only takes just the first game. Once you get through the first game, you're good.

Q. Jay, two questions. One, given the seedings, did you bring up St. Peter's-Kentucky to your kids today before the game? And two, what did you get T'd up for?

JAY WRIGHT: You know what, I said he ran into his own man. That's all I said. That's what I said. So, no, that was it. I said he ran into his own man. That was it. Never said a curse word. Not that I don't sometimes, but I didn't. I didn't. It is what it is.

But what was your other question? Yeah, I purposely -- we did a little bit, but we tried not to look. The NCAA Tournament is such a great experience and so much going on around, watching all the games, but that can be a distraction too.

We purposely didn't talk about it so we could just say we're concentrating on our game, we're concentrating on us. But we all watched it. And I don't think I had to say it to anybody. No, no. And Delaware is a very similar type of team to St. Peter's, and they're really smart and quick and great offensively at all five spots. I think our guys saw that.

Q. Jay, does that play by Jermaine kind of epitomize what you guys were all about?

JAY WRIGHT: I hope so. I mean, we really do -- we just -- you can't turn it off and on. You get 40 minutes to play. So if you get 40 minutes, play every minute regardless of the score.

At this time of year, you don't have a lot of time to practice because you want to keep fresh legs. So that's your time to get better. And we use that film to teach and evaluate. So we want to do it the same way every minute we're on the floor, every second we're on the floor.

And so, like I said, Dwayne would have really been mad at Jermaine if he didn't go after that ball.

Q. Jay, two-part question. One, how do you think your young players handled the whole NCAA Tournament experience for the first time? And secondly, what can you build off this going into in your matchup with Ohio State on Sunday?

JAY WRIGHT: I think the young guys were good. I think it was good to get them experience. When you say young guys, Dixon hasn't played in front of a crowd, Moore hasn't played in front of a crowd, Daniels, Arcidiacono, they haven't played in front of a crowd in the NCAA Tournament. So it was good for them.

And I think we played against a smart defensive team. We're going to play against another smart defensive team in Ohio State and a much more physical team. So I think we can learn from some things they did to us defensively.

Q. No Jordan today. What went into not playing him, and what's he looking like in the future?

JAY WRIGHT: I don't think we're going to have him Sunday. We're gonna miss him. We're gonna miss him. Ryan -- Ryan -- Chris Arcidiacono and Bryan are gonna have to step up, and I think they will.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

JAY WRIGHT: Thank you, guys.