NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - TCU VS ARIZONA

March 19, 2022

Jamie Dixon

Eddie Lampkin

Micah Peavy

Francisco Farabello

Xavier Cork

Mike Miles

Viejas Arena

TCU Horned Frogs

Media Conference

Q. This is for all of you guys. Does Arizona's offense remind you of anyone? Obviously, KU, statistically, Big 12 stop offense. When you watch Arizona, anything stand out, and how big of a challenge is it to slow them down?

EDDIE LAMPKIN JR.: Well, for me it's just I seen they play high-low, and battling Kansas, McCormack, Lightfoot, they play around the rim a lot, and it will be a good match-up is for me, and I'm prepared for it.

MICAH PEAVY: Piggybacking off what Eddie said, they remind me a lot of how Kansas gets in transition and scores a lot off of that, so we're just going to have to try really hard to stop them.

FRANCISCO FARABELLO: Yeah, Kansas, they have two bigs that are really good, sealing. They're really good in the paint and under the rim. So ball pressure is going to be a big key for us. Don't let the ball get in the paint so easy. And as they say, a light transition.

Q. This is for Mike and Micah. Mike, TCU has never advanced to the second round. I'm wondering what this would mean for the program to get past this round?

MIKE MILES: It would mean a lot. We made history yesterday winning a game. 35 years. We're looking to make more history tomorrow. It's not going to be easy. Arizona is a great team. If we prepare and play defense like we did the last game, we'll have a good shot.

MICAH PEAVY: What was the -- can you say the question again? I'm sorry.

Q. TCU has never advanced to the Sweet 16, and I'm wondering what a victory tomorrow would mean to the program to essentially make history?

MICAH PEAVY: It would mean a lot. Like you said, it would be the first time that we've made -- won a second game in this tournament, so we just got to lock in on the defensive end and the offense will come to us. And, yeah, we're trying to make history.

Q. Really for any of y'all, I know you have played a lot of games to end the season, but just how nice it is it to have this off day where you are not traveling or playing a game to get prepared for a big game tomorrow night?

XAVIER CORK: I feel like this is something we really needed. Especially lately we have a lot of games on the road going back-to-back. Like Kansas, West Virginia, all of those games were back-to-back, and we have to go on the road a lot or traveling or just be preparing for a game. So to have this off day right now is really helpful right now.

Q. For any of you. I don't know if it's a record, but I believe this is the sixth time in the past ten weeks you're facing a 1 seed because you've played Baylor twice and Kansas three times. Any lessons learned about what it takes when you are facing the best of the best?

MIKE MILES: We have to be at our best, another 1 seed we're playing, and we beat Kansas, and we beat Tech. They weren't a 1 seed, but they're a good team.

We have what it takes to beat the top teams. We know we have to play the same way we did those games and like we did yesterday, on defense, rebounding, trying to stop their best players, stop them in transition.

Q. Mike, I'm going stay with you. You knew a couple of these guys from U-19 event this summer. Do you know their game? Does it help at all? Do you understand where they're coming from after seeing them play?

MIKE MILES: I remember Bennedict a little more than I remember the guy from Mali. I can't really say the name, but I remember Bennedict. He was good. He was on the Canada team. It was a close game. It was a good game. So I definitely know what he is capable of. Obviously, he is projected to go on a lottery pick. We all know what he is capable of. He's a good player. We'll have to crack down on him and try to stop him.

Q. Did any of you guys watch the Baylor-Carolina game?

EDDIE LAMPKIN JR.: Yeah, I did.

Q. So you saw a 1 seed fall. Did that go through your mind, like we can do that too? And if so, what do you have to do? Micah.

MICAH PEAVY: Yes. I did watch that game. Mike is my roommate, so I was just telling him, like, we can do this. Like we've said before, we just have to lock in on the defensive end, honestly. That's really what our focus is defense. You know, our score is going to -- the ball is going to go in on the offensive end, so he has to lock in on defense because they're a really good team.

Q. Micah, sticking with you. What have you seen from Bennedict? And obviously I'm sure you're going to be guarding him a lot. What's the key for you to slow him down?

MICAH PEAVY: He likes to come off a lot of screens for his shots, and he likes to get out in transition because he is a really athletic player. So it's going to be tough, but you just have to I say play like we played Ochai from Kansas. They're like similar players, so just guard him how we guarded him.

Q. For Mike, you only took two threes last night. That's only the second time all year you've taken that few. Is that just about what the defense gives you, or are you kind of making a concerted effort to get yourself bigger buckets at the rim?

MIKE MILES: I feel like everyone knows I like to drive to the rim more than I like to shoot threes. I knew I could get past their center. He wasn't -- I was obviously quicker than him, so I could get around him and get to the rim.

And that's when I'm best, when I get downhill and take the rim. I could have tooken more threes because they were open, but I really wanted to get to the rim and finish.

Q. Eddie, Coach Dixon said last night that you guys really hit your defensive potential. I guess what was the reason for you guys getting to that defensive potential, and how do you repeat that?

EDDIE LAMPKIN JR.: For me, it's just I bring the energy on the team, and then we all just locked in from shoot-around, from travel, from when they called our name on Sunday. Everybody on the team was just locked in.

And then Coach Dixon has been preaching us to load up, and that's what we did yesterday. We was loading up and coming into the next game. They playing two bigs. I think that's going to be the first game that we're playing a team that played two bigs. We're just going to have to load up and do the same thing we did last night.

Q. Mike, I think you played against Dalen Terry in that U-19 Camp. I was curious if you remember him. As it's turned out, he has played a little bit of point guard for them right now.

MIKE MILES: He was at the training camp. I've known Dalen a long time. We went to camps in high school together. So I've known him for a long time. He is a good player. He is athletic. He is long. He can run in transition. He is good in transition.

Their whole team is good in transition, so I definitely know he is a good player. I know what to expect from him, and I'm probably going to -- I don't know if I'll be starting the game, but if I am, I'll try my best. But I've known him for a long time, so I know he is good.

Q. Fran, this is for you. There's a lot of international players in this tournament who have had success. Arizona has got a lot of international players on their roster. Do you find yourself watching them and watching their success? Do you look at that?

FRANCISCO FARABELLO: Yeah. That's a great question. I know what international people bring to college basketball, and I think it's great that they, of course, have two great players. Yeah, I admired them the way they bring international people in here. So the most we are, the more people are going to come from the outside.

Q. Xavier, this is for you. Yesterday E-man was saying from top to bottom every guy on y'all's roster really contributed last night. As someone who comes off the bench but really has a big role, especially inside the paint, just how valuable do you see yourself on this team, and how connected do you think you guys are where everyone on any given night can contribute?

XAVIER CORK: I also feel like that's one of the strengths that we have. We have so many players that can come in and make an immediate impact on any night. Me included.

I feel like my athleticism really adds to our roster. The ability to change it up and switch at the one through five really adds to our defense. I feel like it makes us a lot better, makes us harder to score on. So I think that really adds to us.

Q. This one is for Eddie. What kind of environment are you expecting tomorrow night, and how can you harness that energy into positive success on the floor?

EDDIE LAMPKIN JR.: I expect a packed house, just like when we played at Kansas. I don't even think nobody could match when we played at Kansas or even at Texas. I feel like we're going to tune them out. Our fans are going to be there too, and we're ready to go.

JAMIE DIXON: Obviously, been working on Arizona. Got back last night late, jumped right on it. Obviously, we had it spread out as to who had what opponent, and so excited about the opportunity.

Obviously, know how good they are. A really skilled basketball team, well-coached. Mike and I are very familiar with their players. I think we played against half of them in the FIBA Under-19s World Championships. I think Coach Lloyd got the All-Tournament Team, I guess, brought them back here with him.

Really a talented team and well-coached, and familiar with a lot of their guys.

And then the Kier kid we played against when he was at George Mason a couple schools ago, a couple of years ago. He is a really good player too as well.

We're healthy. We'll get a little workout in here going forward, but certainly excited about the game, the opportunity, and I know we're going to have a great crowd to support us as well. I know Arizona will have a lot of people here as well, so it's great to be here in San Diego.

Q. Jamie, you only took ten threes last night, I think, in the loss to Kansas State earlier this year, took 28, and you kind of harped on that. Just how important is it for you guys to get good looks inside, especially if you are not hitting behind the arc.

JAMIE DIXON: We never thought we were a team that would be shooting a lot of threes, and that's something I thought we did a really good job. We got in the paint a lot last night, penetration. We made really good decisions in the lane, and I thought our interior passing was terrific.

Constantly getting -- we've put a set number since -- I don't know, you brought up a loss, I guess, as you tend to, but we have really emphasized more -- we have these standards that we wanted to reach in every game, and we added paint touches as one of those standards that we have to reach since that point, since that time.

And I think it has had a positive effect on our offense and those things, and we have improved offensively. So we want to be inside-out. We've got great penetration from our guards. Our guards really have the ability to get inside and get to the paint, and we want to constantly emphasize that.

We recognize that. We've got to continue to do that and then continue to get the offensive rebounding that we have been so good at this year. It's a big part of our offense.

Q. Jamie, Arizona, one of the top offenses in the country. Do they remind you -- I guess KU statistically would be the Big 12's best offense. Do they remind you of them, and what are some of the keys to slowing them down?

JAMIE DIXON: I think they're unique. They're two bigs. They rotate those three guys, and that used to be a little bit more common than it is now. But it's hard to find three really good skilled big guys, and they've got them.

Obviously, international kids that have gotten better. Like I said, saw two of them play over in Latvia with that team, playing against Ballo, and I know his past at being at Gonzaga.

They're really skilled. That makes them different. I think they're very dissimilar to really anybody. It's a very uncommon group out there now that they have, but, yet, they have good shooting, good spacing, well coached, good pace of play, and depth. They have great balance offensively.

I think that's the biggest thing that stands out to me. They can score inside. Their bigs can play on the perimeter. They have good perimeter shooting, but, yet, they can get to the basket too from their perimeter, and their athleticism.

It's obviously -- their numbers speak for themselves, and their balance is what makes them so good offensively. Certainly a challenge for us defensively. We've gone against some very good offensive teams, but this team is, as I said, a little bit different, but I know our guys are looking forward to the challenge.

Q. I believe this is the sixth No. 1 seed you'll face in a ten-week span. Two with Baylor, three with Kansas, and now Arizona. Is it good because you guys are prepared to face the best? Is it bad because you're battling against the best?

JAMIE DIXON: That's a good stat. I knew it was something like that. I didn't want to look into totalling them up, but thanks for reminding us.

I have joked about the three Kansas games in the week or so. What we've seen, what we've gone through, and certainly the lack of preparation and practice time, while other teams had time, was a unique setup as well.

But we've been challenged. We know what we have to do. We've been challenged in a unique way too, unlike anybody else probably in the country, but we're still showing up and looking forward to the opportunity.

Yeah, I think there's -- we did beat Kansas at our place. Thought we could have won the game at our place. The Baylor game seemed like they were so far away. And I don't know that we're the team now that we were then, so I look at those.

Yeah, our league prepares us for these things. There's no question about it. I think it's an advantage for us. I really do.

Q. In the last six weeks or so, Micah has said that he has really turned his attention to focusing what he can do as a defender rather than stressing about the offensive side of things. Obviously, last night, taking one shot, going for one for one and getting some charges and some blocks, what have you seen from him from a development standpoint this year?

JAMIE DIXON: Micah? Yeah, I'm sorry. Mike and Micah. We run into that one a lot. He has developed. He has progressed. Offensively, obviously, as a kid we knew in high school and recruited heavily.

His developments. He has gotten better on the perimeter. He has gotten better offensively. He is not where we know he is going to be. It's a process, but we're excited about him.

I thought he was tremendous yesterday. I mean, we were just watching some of the clips, his movement without the basketball. He is one of our best defenders.

He was starting earlier in the year for us. Always it's been my belief to start the best defenders. And we just felt with the balance of our line-up we needed to get a little bit more shooting in there. That's why we went with Chuck. But we play them both together now, and it gives us a lot of versatility.

But he is progressing. He is getting better. I think he is going to have a great career. He is shooting threes now. I don't think he even thought about it in the past, and it's a process.

He was terrific. I thought he was terrific yesterday how he played. He made winning plays yesterday. Penetration, how we wanted him to do it. Good decisions. Made some great passes and ran the floor, and really defended really well.

He is a really big asset for us. We're proud of what he has become and what he is going to really become down the road.

Q. When you were at Pitt, you predicated your team on blue collar, nasty defense really being kind of tough and hard to play. How close is this team to kind of reaching that standard that you want to achieve?

JAMIE DIXON: It's kind of getting there. Those were guys that were there three, four, five years. It was a process. This has been unique. I mean, it's a different game, and we've adjusted. June 1st we started practicing, we started working on our defensive philosophy, fundamentals, rules, all those things.

We're a work in progress. We're getting there, but, yeah, there is -- we had to get an element of physicality, which I think we're lacking, and that only came from practicing, getting after it, which is something we couldn't do the last couple of years, to some degree, certainly us more so than others.

Our league is -- I think you are referring, is it the Pitt thing? Our league has made it that way too. Our league. I don't know if it's -- our league has almost become the Big East and what we're doing defensively, and really what we're doing as far as ranking as a conference, it's become that.

So my joke I've used, and Drew is tired of it, but my goal in my career is to coach in the toughest league in the country every year of my career, and I have pretty much done that.

This league, I think, has had a lot to do with that as well, but you can't win without defense and rebounding. We've evolved in how -- now, I say that. We're doing it completely different. We're guarding ball screens different. We're guarding -- we're double-teaming different. Everything we're doing is different according to how the game has changed, and we've evolved offensively too as well.

It's fun. I mean, it's fun. You get to develop new things, play different ways, and play with different guys. And as the game changes, we change and adapt. And it's been fun to coach these guys and get better.

And this week was crucial for us. Like I said, we didn't have any practices for about a month, and we had four practices this week. That was a whole new experience for us, and we were able to adjust, do some things, change some things around and add some things. That was really a great four days for us.

Q. Were you able to watch any of the Baylor-North Carolina game today? Then, what did you think about it, and can you say to your team, hey, No. 1 teams can lose?

JAMIE DIXON: Oh, wow. I did watch it. Yeah, you say you're getting ready, you're getting ready, but we're eating breakfast and turn the games on. The guys want to watch them, so I saw some of it, and I was watching.

I didn't see the -- I didn't see the whole thing, and I still don't believe that they said they were up 25 and came back, so someone is going to have to verify it for me. I guess it did happen. I guess I'll use that, Jeff, if you don't mind me borrowing it from you, but I hadn't even thought of it in those terms, but I can use it.

I think we're not -- again, based on who we've played against, the 1 seeds we've played against, I think we believe it can be -- we can win the game. I'm sure you've talked to the players, and they think they can win, and so I'm going to go with their philosophy.

Q. All four teams that are playing on Sunday have traveled well in terms of their fan base. Coach Lloyd just kind of challenged his fan base to be energetic on Sunday. What environment are you expecting?

JAMIE DIXON: This is kind of a new thing for us, so we've -- but we have so many people down from this area. This is a big part of our school. I don't know a lot of people know that, but we get a lot of our students from California, especially Southern California. I know I'll have a lot of friends there, high school buddies, so that's a good thing.

But, yeah, it's certainly I think something to challenge for us. Obviously, we know -- I don't know. I coached at Northern Arizona. I live in Flagstaff, so I know the Phoenix to -- the Tucson to Phoenix, the Phoenix to San Diego trip is a regular occurrence in the summer.

So I know it's normal to be traveling this way, and it's always been a history of mine, but for us we'll have a lot of people here, and we have a lot of alumni in the San Diego area in the Orange County, south Orange County, and even from here in the Valley. So my friends will be here. My sister will be here. My parents won't be here, but they'll be watching. We'll be all right.

Q. Mike mentioned it last night, and you mentioned you saw Bennedict Mathurin this summer in U-19. Obviously a potential lottery pick according to a lot of people. What makes him so effective, and what do you think you have to slow him down tomorrow?

JAMIE DIXON: We played against him in the game, and Micah and I were talking about that yesterday last night, but I think I mentioned here, but we -- a number of their guys were playing in that tournament from other countries, but he was very athletic. It was a heck of a game. I know we got off early. They came back a little bit on it, and we got off to a good lead.

But he certainly is very talented. It seems like he is a guy that was kind of coming into his own. I think that tournament was big for him in his development watching from afar, and that is big for Mike too. It was big for a lot of the guys. You see Johnny Davis at Wisconsin, what he has done. Brenner, until his injury. I hope he is okay, Ryan.

It's amazing doing it twice and to see what that tournament does to some guys and the confidence that exists. When you go and play against the best players in the world, that's a unique opportunity. When you have success, I think it springboards you.

And I have seen that a lot, whether it be Klay Thompson and Gordon Hayward, we had the -- 10 years ago or 11 years ago, whenever when I did it.

It's been great for Mike. He is it a talent. He is athletic. He is long. I think his shooting has improved, and he certainly -- you can see it. You can see glimpses of it, but it is amazing to see how great all those players are doing in college basketball today.

Q. Kind of going off that, Jamie, you guys built a winning roster, won the gold medal, but Dalen Terry tried out, didn't make it. How tough was that just cutting that roster to 17?

JAMIE DIXON: Yeah, well, we did it -- 12, but, again, the coaches don't make that decision. They have a committee that does that, so I think we've played against a bunch of guys this year in that situation. But he is talented, athletic. I know kind of we had Holmgren and Baldwin and all these guys.

Again, it's a challenge. I guess you're trying to start some controversy, but I'm not going to fall in the trap. We're going to respect every guy out there. But ultimately, it wasn't my decision. They have a committee, and they do that for people like you to protect us.

Q. For an alumni and a coach, what would a win tomorrow mean for you and this program that's never made it to the Sweet 16?

JAMIE DIXON: Progress. I mean, again, I think people thought I was crazy for coming here, but I believed in it, and they believed in me. You got a chancellor that believes in you, and an administration that does, so it's a good thing, but I believe in the university.

I thought we could get it to where it could be proud of its basketball program, and we've done that. We did that in pretty quick turnaround.

But there's work to be done, so that will be another step. I think it would mean a lot it our people, and I think to our university. I think -- it would mean -- it probably means a little more to a guy that went to the school there and has seen the struggles over the years. I think so.

I've heard things like we weren't even getting the NCAA Tournament. We weren't getting in the NIT or other tournaments, to go through the histories of it. They talk about the 20 years or 30 years or what, but when you could buy yourselves into the NIT, we weren't getting in.

We've come a long way, and we're proud of it. And we're winning games. It's -- I'm just excited and our fans are excited, and the crowds we had are tremendous.

Our students are getting behind it. We have an alumni that didn't really go to basketball games. Arizona, it's engrained. It's been that way since Coach Olson. And for us it's a new thing, and that's what's fun to see, the students going to the games and making it a part of their experience.

Q. Speaking of alumni, Coach, certain running back had a pretty good career here at San Diego. Has he reached out to you at all?

JAMIE DIXON: Yeah. He was at our last -- Brian, wasn't he at the -- I didn't know he was there, and the players all knew he was.

It was on the board today. He was at the game. L.T. spoke to our group. He hasn't spoke to -- COVID kind of -- bringing people in to speak and stuff hasn't been quite the same, but I told them the story this year, and that's why they use the saying.

He spoke to the group a couple of years back, to our team, and he talked about being at TCU, always having a chip on your shoulder, and it never leaves you. And that's what he had coming from University High in Waco when he went to TCU and he continued to have when he was with the Chargers.

I say even now he wants to be the best TV guy he possibly can. So that chip on his shoulder never leaves us. And the players I guess have told the media the phrase. And I said, you guys know who he is, right? They said, yeah, no, we saw him walk in the game the other day.

They know who he is. You forget how young they are. Yeah, San Diego, L.T. is a special connection between the two. A lot of connections for us.

Q. Early in the season you hinted that you had the ability to play two big men on the floor at the same time. You talked about the potential of that if you needed to.

Will this game warrant that maybe for the first time?

JAMIE DIXON: You know, I don't know. I don't know. We haven't done it much. We've practiced it a lot, I should say, but I just don't see how we take Emanuel, Micah, Jakobe off the floor. Emanuel is probably our best rebounder, one of our best. Jakobe I thought played really well yesterday. Really good defensively, and he has a knack for rebounding. I think he is just getting better and better.

Micah, we like having on the floor. I think our strength is in our quickness. With that said, I think Xavier and Eddie and Souley give us a great combination in there.

But it's a possibility. We practiced it all the time, more so out of necessity because we don't have enough guys, so Xavier does play together with Eddie some, and did a lot this past week because we were able to practice some.

We have done it plenty in practice, but we haven't done it in a game, to be quite honest.

Q. You talked about rebounding, and it's obviously been such a huge part of wins and losses for TCU this season, but Arizona is statistically the best rebounding team that you have faced. Whether it's choosing two bigs or getting more out of your guards, is there a strategy difference here, or is it just effort?

JAMIE DIXON: You can't emphasize it any more than we do to start this week. We start every day with it, and we end every day with it. So rebounding is a group thing. It's a team thing. It's all five.

One of our strengths I think is that we're getting the rebounding. Our guards rebound at a high clip, but they're big across the board. There's no question about it. It is -- we've made it pretty clear. We're not winning unless we out-rebound them.

I think that's incentive enough or is pretty clear. They understand the value of it. And it's good to see you too, by the way. You don't come to Texas anymore.

Q. (Off microphone.)

JAMIE DIXON: I've heard about it. Thought I would mention it once. Certainly, you know, we got to win the battle. It's that simple. We had to win against Seton Hall who was a very good rebounding team, and we won by 13. We know. We've seen it. We've got that -- we keep track every timeout. They know exactly where we are in the rebounding totals. So we make it very clear to them. That's not going to change.

Q. In 2009 you were rumored to be a candidate for the Arizona job. What do you remember just about that whole experience, and what made the job interesting for you?

JAMIE DIXON: That was a long time ago. I've been a rumor for a lot of jobs. I don't know. Half of them I don't even know about, so that's intriguing.

I grew up -- the only thing I know about -- I coached at Northern Arizona for four years. Unbelievable experience. Coach Howland and I were there, and I was his assistant, but really the thing with U of A is Coach Olson.

I came out of high school. I was a senior when he got the job, but then watching what he did and what he built, and all those guys, and then seeing him, what he became. And then I got to know him through coaching NAU, and he became a mentor really to me. He was very, very special.

My wife and I became very close with him and his family, and I think anybody following him was going to be -- that's what I do remember. I remember anybody following the guy, that guy and what he did to that program, it's going to be an immense challenge.

But the resources are unbelievable, but it's always a job that -- or school or program that I have just watched from afar because Coach Olson was to me -- did the most unbelievable work that's been done in college basketball.

I think what he did at U of A and what he built, the following, was just amazing. He is a mentor, and I cherished every moment with him. We used to go on Nike trips and clinics, and I did a lot of different things with him, and he just meant a lot to me and my family and my wife.

Thank you.