NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - COLGATE VS WISCONSIN

March 18, 2022

Matt Langel

Richardson Tucker

Nelly Cummings

Jack Ferguson

Fiserv Forum

Colgate Raiders

Media Conference

Wisconsin - 67 , Colgate - 60

MODERATOR: Joined by the Colgate head coach and some of their student-athletes. We'll take a statement from the coach first, then we'll take questions for the student-athletes.

Coach?

COACH MATT LANGEL: I think the first and most important thing is credit to Wisconsin, Big Ten champions. They played a lot of close games and I think we saw the result of all those close games tonight.

I think the second thing, been a lot of great venues in this country, Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Palestra, Rupp Arena, Fog Island Field House. I don't think I've ever been in an environment better than the one for college basketball tonight. I know that it typically doesn't happen in NCAA Tournament games, but just like last year when we played in a bubble and had an incredibly unique experience, I think this is one that our guys, although it doesn't sit well right now, will remember for a long, long time.

Just really proud of the effort, the competitive instinct that they showed, how they played together and fought right till the end. I'm not surprised in any way, shape or form by the performance that they put on out there tonight.

Q. Tucker, you were on quite a roll early in the second half and then I don't know if they changed something. What happened after that? What did they do differently against you, if anything?

TUCKER RICHARDSON: I don't really know. I mean, I would have to go back and watch. I was definitely feeling it for a little bit there, but I'm not trying to take any shots that aren't the team shots. I think I even forced a couple after that that I probably shouldn't have. I think that they locked in a little bit more on to me, but nothing too crazy. Just wanted to keep playing in the flow of the game, I guess.

Q. Just to any of y'all, what was y'all's confidence level at halftime there? You forced a tie. How good were y'all feeling going in and just again, was there anything that -- differently or just shots not falling down the stretch after that?

NELLY CUMMINGS: We were really confident the whole game and going in halftime, I think the score was tied, so we were very excited about the opportunity in front of us. But like you said, some shots didn't fall down the stretch and they made some shots, so the result is what it is.

Q. Nelly, you had the basket right at the end of the first half to tie it. How big was that for you heading into the second half to kind of allow for Tucker to have the momentum?

NELLY CUMMINGS: I think it was good because they were making a run as well. So it felt like we weathered the storm and we were able to go into the halftime with the score tied, basically a fresh start to the game basically.

Q. Tucker, there was a sequence there at the end of that 10-0 run. You shot a 3-pointer. It looked like you thought you might have gotten some contact, and then they break out for the dunk on the other end. How critical was that sequence there at the end of that run? Just how much of a turning point was that for you?

TUCKER RICHARDSON: Yeah, I mean I guess it was a big play. I didn't really get hit, I got hit just a little bit. It wasn't -- I can't blame the revs or anything, it wasn't anything that they did wrong, definitely a little momentum turner but we always try and just stay in the game so we could have easily still found away to grit it out, they just made more plays than we did at the end.

Q. Jack, can you talk about your emotions of this game and the outcome?

JACK FERGUSON: Yeah, my initial emotions are really frustrated, but also extremely proud of what we've been able to do in my career. Now that I've had a little bit of time to reflect, it's going to be emotional leaving all these guys, but I'm super proud of everything we were able to do in the past five years.

Q. Matt, I think you had 24 points on 14 possessions to start the second half, then I think you went nine without one. Did you see anything differently, anything your team was doing or anything Wisconsin was doing to keep you from scoring?

COACH MATT LANGEL: I think Wisconsin amped up their defensive intensity a little bit more. Tucker got loose a couple times; they weren't going to let him get loose anymore. The game got a little bit more physical, as you would expect from Big Ten champions in the guts of a close game.

I thought we had some chances one-on-one inside that we weren't able to finish. There were some plays that we didn't get to the free-throw line, which you have to do when they're extending their pressure and not playing as much help defense. We weren't able to make those plays and they led to opportunities down the other end. I thought they were really effective in the paint in the second half. I thought that the first half we kind of neutralized that, if we didn't exceed their paint scoring. I thought that was a difference in the game in the back part of the second half.

Q. Coach, Tyler Wahl was giving you guys a lot of trouble, especially in the second half, but had a lot of some of those intangible plays in the first half. Can you just comment on Tyler Wahl's performance tonight?

COACH MATT LANGEL: Tyler Wahl is an extraordinary college basketball player in my mind. I think that a lot of guys on the team get a lot of credit for due reason, but he -- we call them winning plays and Tyler Wahl makes a lot of winning plays.

That being said, he got 15 points, but it took him 18 shots, which is not normal for him. He's usually a very efficient player, so he definitely impacted the game and got some loose balls and some offensive rebounds and helped them win the game like he has so many times this season. But I thought for him to get 15 points on 18 field goal attempts was kind of where we needed it to be, that one-to-one ratio.

Q. Coach, we spoke earlier in the week about what it meant to be in the tournament. My question is, what do you take from this experience (inaudible)? How proud of you for the team and the way they competed tonight and what they accomplished this season?

COACH MATT LANGEL: Thanks for your question, Daniel. I'm immeasurably proud of this group. I told them in the locker room I'm no less proud of them for their performance tonight than when we won the championship in front of our home crowd to get this opportunity. I think this experience is one they'll remember. For the guys coming back, it will only add fuel to the fire to continue to do what they've been doing, working hard to prepare themselves to compete for championships. And again, I think if you're consistent enough in your approach and continue to knock on the door, that eventually luck favors the prepared and things go your way. So that's what I know our guys coming back will continue to do.

Q. Matt, the crowd got loud a bunch of times tonight, but your players didn't seem to buckle. Were there any moments that you felt you had to try to calm them down or things like that, anything that sticks out in your head as being a key moment in terms of getting your guys to settle down?

COACH MATT LANGEL: No. I mean, they've been through so much, so no, they weren't rattled at any point in the game. But the crowd has an impact on the game, there's no doubt about it. We're all human beings and you can feel the energy and emotion, and everybody involved in the game, the players and the officials are all humans and we react to energy and emotion.

So the crowd was fantastic, I thought the energy throughout the game was incredible, but my guys weren't rattled and there wasn't a concern. We knew we would be -- we wouldn't be the team everybody was rooting for, but I never questioned whether they would fracture or anything like that.

MODERATOR: Coach, thanks very much.