NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - DAVIDSON VS MICHIGAN ST.

March 18, 2022

Luka Brajkovic

Sam Mennenga

Bob McKillop

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Davidson Wildcats

Media Conference

Michigan State - 74, Davidson - 73.

BOB MCKILLOP: Congratulations to Tom Izzo and his Michigan State team. They made some big plays at big moments tonight. I'm heartbroken for our guys. We got into the center of the ring and we fought. We got knocked down a few times. We stayed in the center ring and we kept fighting. We just ran out of time. I could not be more proud of our guys.

Q. For Luka, where did you think this one got away from you guys?

LUKA BRAJKOVIC: That's a really hard question. We always thought we were right there. Until the last second, I always thought we could win this game. As Coach said, we really gave everything on the court. We played so hard. Just sucks to see we can't play another game anymore. This is the last game this team will play.

Q. Luka, as a senior, what does this final game mean to you?

LUKA BRAJKOVIC: I mean, I can't even really realize it yet. For the past four years, I've played for Davidson, so it's just feels surreal for me that that's my last game. I will miss it so much. I had the best four years of my whole life, and I grew so much as a player and person. It's just hard to realize that it's all gone.

Q. Sam, if you could just give some general thoughts about the game and what you thought you guys did well, and the comeback that almost happened at the end.

SAM MENNENGA: I thought we fought throughout the whole game. There was runs that Michigan State went on and the crowd got loud and the crowd got into it, but I thought we always fought and we always believed. I think that was the biggest thing for us.

A couple plays at the end didn't go our way, and that was the game. But I thought we did such a great job of fighting.

Q. Luka, did you notice a change in intensity from Michigan State in that like final seven minutes or so after you guys were up by three?

LUKA BRAJKOVIC: They played really hard throughout the whole game. Like we knew they would try to get as many offensive rebounds as they can because they are a really physical team. They really played hard every possession, so did we. I wouldn't say they played harder than we did the last seven minutes. Both teams really gave it their all. I just think overall it was just their day, and that's why we lost.

Q. Sam, when you guys get that turnover, they throw the ball out of bounds in the last minute there or whatever, what is sort of the message at that point and the thinking? Obviously you guys did come so close to the comeback. What is the talk at that point?

SAM MENNENGA: I think we believed, and we believed prior to that play. But that play is reassuring us that we're right there, that we're still in it. There's no one like giving up. There's no one dropping their heads. Everyone is right there in the play at the time time, and that play gave us an opportunity to get a bucket, and that's what we realized.

Q. Kind of building off that belief, did the crowd play into y'all thinking that you could pull it out?

LUKA BRAJKOVIC: Yeah, the crowd really helped us, especially like it was my first time in the NCAA Tournament. So I wasn't sure how many Davidson people are going to travel, but it was just awesome to see how many fans traveled. Every time we went on a run and they were loud, it was just awesome.

They gave us so much energy. I can't even tell you how much we appreciate our fans for traveling. It really means everything.

Q. During the run, I think it was 16-3 when they went from down to up about seven or eight. You guys had one field goal over six minutes. What maybe didn't go right for you guys in that stretch when you couldn't seem to get one to drop?

BOB MCKILLOP: We had a couple of layups, we had a couple of foul shots, but what I think happened more than our offense was our defense. They got it to transition. They went on a spurt. They made two threes and they made a deuce. It was that eight-point swing from five points up to three points down, I think that was the critical juncture of the game.

Q. Bob, Joey Hauser had his best game, and he seems like a guy who just from an offensive matchup problem was able to carve out a really, obviously, a great game. I'm wondering, coming into the game, did you see him as a potential problem, or did that sort of evolve the way the game evolved?

BOB MCKILLOP: We saw everybody on their team as a problem. Joey Hauser is a sensational player. He makes his foul shots. He stretches the court. He made a couple of back to the basket moves. So he did everything he possibly could, and he was terrific.

Q. Coach, what was your message to the team in the locker room afterwards?

BOB MCKILLOP: What a joy it's been to coach them this year. They have done everything possible to make this a memory for a lifetime. They've left me with a treasure chest filled with memories.

Q. Bob, 60 combined seasons for you and Tom. Tonight was win number 1,300 for the two of you. Can you talk about what that says to young coaches about persevering and maybe doing things the right way?

BOB MCKILLOP: I think more than the longevity of Tom is the way he does things. He does things with honor and integrity. He's a leader, and he's a great model of excellence for not just the coaching profession, but for the leadership profession, which I dare say is sorely lacking in our country today.

Q. Bob, unfortunately we didn't have a chance to talk to Foster here on the podium. I guess did you have a chance to talk to him and get his emotions, just how he felt after this?

BOB MCKILLOP: Well, he's as heartbroken as anybody on this team. He eloquent ly and humbly stated that this was Davidson college against Michigan State, and he wears Davidson on his heart, and he showed that with the competitive fire that he played with consistently throughout the game.

Q. Did you at all feel from him just a sense of relief that he no longer has to talk about this angle of the Michigan State background?

BOB MCKILLOP: Foster is a very mature young man, and at some point he's going to be one of those leaders that we so sorely need in our country. He does not dwell on things like that. He dwells on the big picture of how he can help the team and how this factors into his role as a leader of our team, and he did a magnificent job.

Q. I know you mentioned, you said everybody on their team you looked at as a potential weapon. How did their physicality compare in actuality to what you saw on tape and what you thought it would be in preparation?

BOB MCKILLOP: The Big Ten is historic for their physicality, and they're as physical as any team we played this year. I'd like to think that's the way we play. So I thought it was a great matchup from that standpoint. As I said in my opening remark, we were in the center ring the whole night. We were not on the ropes. We were not on the mat. We were in the center ring slugging away, and we just ran out of time.