NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - CAL ST. FULLERTON VS DUKE

March 18, 2022

Paolo Banchero

Mark Williams

Wendell Moore Jr.

Mike Krzyzewski

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Duke Blue Devils

Media Conference

Duke - 78, Cal State Fullerton - 61

THE MODERATOR: Coach, being cognizant of time, we'll get an opening statement, and then we can turn it over to the players.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: We beat a good team. Dedrique's team is an old veteran team, champions, and known for their defense. They've really played hard defensively against us.

I just thought it was a great game for us to play. We played better tonight than we have been playing. I thought our defense overall was a lot better, especially on Anosike and Milstead, who we felt coming into the game, if they had big games, we had a chance to get knocked off.

We did a good job. Our defensive rebounding has to improve. Also, for all these guys, it's their first NCAA game. So there's a little bit of like -- I don't know if it's nerves. It's different. It's just different.

The other thing that happens too, two things, just environmentally, one, I don't know -- there was no crowd when guys were warming up. And because of the short time in between. If there's some way in the future they can change that because these kids from both teams need to go out on the court and have band, crowd, and whatever. They shouldn't have empty seats, and that's for both teams.

Then that damn floor was slippery. I mean, on both ends. So I don't know what it was. I know it wasn't the shoes. Nike called me and wanted me to make sure I didn't say it was the shoes.

We're really pleased. I thought Mark made two consecutive plays there in the second half that produced six points, a loose ball. A.J. got a three. Then he made a terrific pass to Paolo and scored and got -- and Paolo hit the free throw, got six points. When you're 7'1" center is doing that, you've got a good chance of winning.

THE MODERATOR: We're going to turn it over to the players.

Q. This is for Wendell. Because of the slippery floor, you fell two or three times there. How are you doing? Hip okay? I know you took a hard fall a couple months ago at Clemson. Residual from that? How are you doing?

WENDELL MOORE JR.: It definitely wasn't as hard a fall as it was at Clemson. I'm definitely doing better. Hip is a little tight. Once I got it moving again in the second half, I thought it was definitely okay. I'll get it checked out later. I'll be good to go Sunday either way.

Q. This is for Paolo. You've had a lot going on the last couple weeks with the end of the season at the ACC Tournament. Talk about how it is now just being able to maybe relax and concentrate on one thing with the tournament. What are your thoughts on that?

PAOLO BANCHERO: I think it's good just for the team to give us a chance to kind of reset and just reset on things heading into the tournament. We get a chance to take it one game at a time. We know every game our season's on the line. So just make sure everybody's sharp and ready to go.

It's been good. I think we've locked back in on the defensive end. We can still improve, though, just with rebounding and stuff, but I think our mindset's there and our willingness to go out and do it is there. So just got to keep going, keep building.

Q. Paolo, Mike said he thought you guys looked a little fresher when we talked to him yesterday in the days leading up. Did you feel that way today after you guys had a chance to regroup and focus on yourselves a little bit?

PAOLO BANCHERO: Yeah, we had a good amount of rest, a good week to prepare for the tournament. So we got a chance to rest our legs, get ready, and get treatment and everything. I definitely feel like we were fresher out there, yeah.

Q. Mark, yesterday Coach was talking about defensive communication, how important that was for you guys. Paolo said he thought it was better tonight. What did you make of the defensive communication, and how important is that for you guys going forward?

MARK WILLIAMS: Yeah, I thought we did a good job on that. Obviously, we can always improve. For us to do well, defense is going to be really important. Communicating, making all those right decisions, rotations, whatever it is. Then that translates into offense, transition, whatever. So that's huge for us.

Q. After all the anticipation, guys, of playing in the Big Dance, watching it from when you were a kid, you all talked about it, just how does it feel to go out there and get that win?

WENDELL MOORE JR.: Honestly, it felt amazing, really, just to go out there. Obviously, we had no idea what to expect. Like Coach said, we've never been ourselves. Really the whole atmosphere was just great. To be able to do it with these guys right here next to me, the guys in the locker room, I really wouldn't want it any other way. I'm glad it's been three years since I got here because this is for sure a special moment.

Q. Paolo, you mentioned in an earlier tweet that you were a ball boy for a previous March Madness and this would be a full circle moment for you. How does it feel to finally come out of this game and get a win your first March Madness?

PAOLO BANCHERO: No, it definitely feels good just playing and being out there. It's a real surreal experience being out there and playing in March Madness. You don't really realize it. While you're out there, you're just kind of in the moment. Times like this, you sit back and it's like, wow, I remember being the ball boy and being on the baseline and just dreaming of being on the court one day. So the fact that I'm here is pretty cool.

Q. Mark, you recorded a career high in assists tonight and kind of collected a lot of those the past few games. Is that something you've kind of made a focus of over this last little bit of stretch?

MARK WILLIAMS: Not particularly. I think I just wanted to make the right play. Obviously, my teammates were knocking down shots, finishing the plays. So credit goes to them, I'd say.

Q. This question is for Wendell. Yesterday you said this team has not reached its full potential. Where do you think this game stacks up in what the full potential can be?

WENDELL MOORE JR.: I think it's for sure a step in the right direction. Like Coach and Paolo said, we've got some work to do on the defensive end, on our defensive rebounds. For the most part, I feel like our offense was good. We didn't turn the ball over too much. We got some good shots. Also we took some bad shots. There's always something we can clean up.

Q. Wendell, you guys at several points throughout this season have played games where you've said we're close to where our potential is, we're getting there, we're almost there. Where does this game fit into that? Do you feel like you guys might be peaking now at the right time?

WENDELL MOORE JR.: It's really just a step in the right direction. We've had a great week of practice. We got better this week in practice as well. So I definitely feel like everything we worked on in practice kind of translated into the game today. So we can keep building on what we've been learning, what we've been working on. I think soon we'll reach our full potential.

Q. Wendell, did you guys have much awareness, I mean, was anything said amongst yourselves, about not letting happen to you what happened to Kentucky last night? Making sure you were sharp at the start and carried it through.

WENDELL MOORE JR.: I mean, we all watched the game last night. So for us, I mean, obviously we didn't want it to happen to us as well. So all of us guys knew we had to lock in. This is March. You never really know what can happen. So we didn't want to be put in that position where the fate of our game was in someone else's shoes.

So we wanted to come out and take care of business early. They were a great team, and they fought hard all game. We beat a great team. For us to get to where we want to get to, we have to beat another great team and another one and another one. Again, we've just got to keep doing it here.

Q. What did you feel like getting into the second round after your performance tonight after a tough ACC Tournament match?

PAOLO BANCHERO: Yeah, it was good. Like I said, after our ACC Tournament, we were able to hit the reset button, get fresh, and focus in on this tournament. So yeah, man, just to get that first game out of the way and be able to focus on Sunday is good. We'll see who we play and lock in.

Q. Coach, how would you assess the communication on defense that was such an emphasis coming into this game? How do you think they did?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Just a lot better. And the effort, the effort. We played hard. They played really hard. I mean, they're an older team. You've got four starters back, four grad transfers. Throughout the year, it's probably the oldest teams that my teams have ever played against. There's something about that when you're playing against guys -- they're men. They're men, and they're playing hard, and they're well coached.

They have a history of playing good defense, and they showed it tonight. And their offense really puts you in a tough position to communicate because there's a lot of dribble exchanges, and that's why, until late, we did a really good job on Anosike. Paolo did a really good job on him because he's the leading scorer in their conference.

So it's a big improvement because the last four games, we didn't -- we've been a really good defensive team, but the last four games we were a really bad defensive team.

Q. Obviously, this is your first NCAA Tournament game since 2019. I realize three years is not a long time, but did it feel to you like a long time? And as the game unfolded, how much did you miss that experience that this tournament presents?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: No, it is a long time. That team that we had when the pandemic hit was a team that I thought had a chance to go deep. Last year was just a lost year for us.

So it felt great to be back here. I wanted to make sure -- I was concerned about how nervous our guys would be. They've had a great week of practice, but then you go out on the court -- that's why I mentioned the thing about the crowd. When there's no crowd, then you -- wait, is someone going to show up?

Our kids did a great job. It was great to be back in the tournament. Hopefully, we can do well again on Sunday.

Q. Kind of following up on that question again, Coach. Right now you've been through a lot the last few weeks and all. What's it mean to you as far as being able to relax and coach this last tournament?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Well, that's not happening. Relax has not been there since June, which is fine. I mean, that's what you do. We're excited and proud of the fact that we're going to play on Sunday. So you get reenergized. But tonight will be a real late night. One of the teams are playing right now. You don't know who you're playing and scouting and whatever. So there's no time to sit back.

Whoever we play, you've got two of the great coaches in our game in Bobby and Tom. And we know we're going to play an outstanding team.

Q. Right at halftime before the second half started, when you came out, you went right to A.J., you spent about 45 seconds with him. He came out and played a terrific second half. Was there anything in particular, a message you were trying to send there?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Well, he had three open looks, and a big part of us being good this year is him having those spurts. He had one right at the end of the half, and I thought he -- I didn't want him to be down on himself. He's only 18 years old, and he wants to do well. I just said, relax. Those are good shots. Have fun out there. Just don't worry about the first half.

Because a younger player accumulates either good or bad more than an older player. He didn't have a real good, a productive first half, and it was just that. He's a great kid, and he responded. That kick out when Mark got that loose ball to him was a big exchange in the game.

Q. You mentioned the slippery floors. Are you concerned about player safety in your next game?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Yeah, I don't know if -- I haven't watched the other games. Did that happen in other games here this afternoon? Yeah? Well, then somebody should look at it. That's not good.

Again, I didn't -- I believe you, so can I trust you? All right. No, we've got to be concerned about that. I'm concerned that hopefully nothing serious is with Wendell. Your season's over because of a slippery floor, that's not very good.

Actually, Paolo said he slipped running out for warmups where our bench was, when most of the slipperiness was on the other side. But he said it was on this side also.

Q. You mentioned the intensity. I think you guys had two or three blocks by the first media time-out. Did you get a sense this last week of like a renewed hunger, like a renewed sense of trying to prove yourselves? Was there any sense of that this week?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: All of that and more. The season is so long, and they are a young group. So when they accomplished and won the regular season, I thought they took a breath -- a deep breath. Then we had my screwy weekend and then right away three games in the ACC. There wasn't really a time to recalibrate, and I thought we did that this week. Again, it was good enough for tonight. Hopefully we can build on it.

Q. You had 21 assists as a team. Talk about the unselfish play overall as a team.

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Good point. Our team has been unselfish the whole year. We could do a little bit more -- when our guys are open off the ball, they need to talk more and demand the ball. An older team does that, where you say, Jeremy, and he'll hit you. Sometimes you don't -- they're putting a lot of pressure on people, so you don't see everything.

That's something we've worked on all year, and I wish we could do that a little bit better. Especially in A.J.'s case because sometimes he's open, and with the ball pressure and that, we don't see him.

Q. Coach, first of all, congratulations on the win. Just how important was it to get that first win, as you mentioned before, not being in the tournament since 2019, and just having the players relax after a win and not getting too excited or too on the moment playing Fullerton?

MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Well, since 2019 -- it's not been a big problem because the world is screwed up in the last two years, and college basketball is back. So we never looked at it we haven't been in since 2019. We looked at it as we have a lot of freshman, like it's a new thing.

It's exciting. I mean, we've won an NCAA game. These kids have won an NCAA game. In order to win something big, you have to win NCAA games. We looked at this as a championship level game, and we'll look at Sunday as a championship level game. Hopefully do a good job.