NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - HOUSTON VS ILLINOIS

March 20, 2022

Kelvin Sampson

Jamal Shead

Taze Moore

Reggie Cheney

PPG Paints Arena

Houston Cougars

Media Conference

Houston 68, Illinois 53

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the University of Houston Cougars. Coach Sampson.

COACH SAMPSON: It's the power of our time. After the Alabama-Birmingham game on Friday, Illinois, what you see is what you get. There is really nothing tricky about them. They throw the ball to Kofi. We have always taken pride on how we defend the post. And Kofi, you have to start defending him inside the three-point line so you don't get buried. Monsters, which are post doubles, were really, really good on the sides. And then we tried to front the middle and pressure the ball. I don't know how many points he got. I think the relevant thing is not how many points he had but how many shots he got. He had 11 shot attempts.

That's great defense. But our kids are tough kids. This is a tough program. That's how we've achieved to this be point. All of our players buy in, stand on the shoulders of the kids that came before them. I couldn't be more proud. You know, you go into every game with a plan. Plans mean nothing if the players don't believe in it and execute it. I thought our execution today at both ends was really good.

We tried to put them in different actions. We were taking advantage of certain match-ups, we felt like we could win. The story of this game is just our toughness, how hard we play and defense. We defend. We don't always shoot it great, but we were +6 on the boards with 15 offensive rebounds and we held that team to 34 percent. Usually you will win most of those games.

Q. What was that celebration like? Coach taking off his shirt? What made this win so emotional for you guys?

JAMAL SHEAD: You know, he's an emotional coach, you know. When we win and we're happy, he shows it sometimes, too. I'm so happy to play for him. It's a joy to play for him. We love each other so much that when those emotions are high, we got to let 'em out.

TAZE MOORE: Most definitely got to let those emotions out, especially the way we work and the way we prepare for moments like this. It's an amazing to come out on top and have a W at the end.

REGGIE CHENEY: It was a good feeling seeing Coach take his shirt off and dance. This is something we have been working toward all year. It's a great feeling just to let it out.

Q. Jamal, Coach talked about the buy-in that he got, and he has spoken this year about how much you have evolved, matured, and are a different player than last year. What's it like being on this team where you can lose on two of your best players and this team gets tougher and tougher? And this game in many ways brought out the best in this team. This is who UH basketball is right now.

JAMAL SHEAD: It's our heart. We don't want to lose. We want to win for each other. We love each other so much, these guys are like my brothers, you know, it goes way beyond basketball. We don't want to lose for each other. I don't get this year back with Taze, with Josh, with Kyler, with Fab. We want to keep it going as long as we possibly can.

Q. Taze, it looked like from your standpoint you took it personal. Did you feel like going out there that you wanted to leave your mark?

TAZE MOORE: I can honestly say having these guys behind me, pushing me. We all wanted this with. We all wanted this push. And those guys encouraged me to come out here and play as hard as I can and be the tough, gritty guy that I am just for this team. I will do that any day.

Q. Taze, what got you going offensively today? Was it things you guys were running? Their defense? What really got you going?

TAZE MOORE: Coach Sampson put me in isolations, and usually when I'm in those situations, I usually make a good pass or a good play. And if I can, I just try to play through the situation. But Coach put me in good spots for me to score the ball and make plays, and it just ended up working.

Q. Taze, your coach was talking about your development over the past year. To be on this stage and be able to produce 21 points and be an offensive go-to guy there, what does that mean to you? What kind of emotions does that bring out?

TAZE MOORE: It just shows that they believe in me. And I appreciate them, more than they ever know it, just because all those long nights that Coach Q worked out with me and Coach Sampson yelling at me, it shows they want it for all of us. They know what we can do, and they try to pull it out of us every day in practice, even in the film room, at 7 a.m. when we have to go through walk-through.

They just energize the guys and they just come every day, and it's hard not to be on the same level as them when they come like that every day.

Q. Jamal, what is it like helping on Kofi and being part of that team construct?

JAMAL SHEAD: Coach made a lot of emphasis that the easier they can get the ball to Kofi, the easier it is for him to score. So for me it's go out and pressure and make the passes as hard as they can be so my guys don't have to go through so much and put it all on them. It's a team sport, it's a team effort, you know, we just wanted to help them as much as we can.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentleman. Appreciate it. Questions for Coach Sampson.

Q. Kelvin, the technical that was called on Illinois in that dunk, you guys had momentum, but how much did it keep you with you guys and not let them get back in the game in that moment?

COACH SAMPSON: Yeah, I don't -- I didn't see the play. I was on to something else, and then I looked back and he called a technical. I think I was so much in the moment. I think that was irrelevant. Because of our defense. Our defense was so good. The one play, technical foul had nothing to do with how many stops we were getting and the loose balls we were getting.

The way our kids play, some of you probably haven't seen us play this year, but that's the way these kids practice. So had they not called that a technical foul, it wasn't going to alter the way we played one way or the other.

Q. Kelvin, for those of us who have seen you, Jamal, seemed like big moments get to him. He hits those three shots when the game is 40-all. Does it ever -- this kid is still a freshman, sophomore, he's on this big stage --

COACH SAMPSON: He is not a sophomore. He's a 19-year-old freshman. But what's the question?

Q. Just the fact that he's playing in his first tournament?

COACH SAMPSON: No, I see him every day, obviously. But Jamal is extremely smart. High IQ kid. His older sister was his calculus teacher. So he comes from a brilliant, brilliant family, tremendous mother and father.

We have three kids on our team that have already graduated. Fabian has a degree, Josh has a degree, and Taze has a degree. Jamal could get a -- he's one of those kids that could graduate in three years he's so smart. But his basketball IQ is high, too.

We read a lot of stuff that most of the calls come from the bench, you just put certain guys -- they're going to highlight Kofi at one end, and we're going to go at him in the pick and rolls in the other. Basketball is both ends. Wherever there were weaknesses, I felt like Jamal could get downhill, and from there he's reading the corner and reading the roller.

And he's really good at reading. A lot of guards can only read what's in front of them, but they can't read what's behind them or in the opposite corner. Jamal is really good at that. He's had games where he's done that, but he does it when he needs it.

We didn't shoot the ball well today. We had so many wide-open looks, we just didn't make 'em. Kyler the other night made 6; today he's 4-12. But those eight shots he missed, I think he took a couple of bad ones, but most of them were open. We opened the second half with a called play for Fabian, for a wide-open three, but he missed it.

Our offensive rebounding always gives us a chance to play when we don't make shots. You have to have a contingency plan for winning. You can't just depend on making shots. Illinois is a good defensive team. Those were two good teams. They're a good team.

Our kids, you know, just -- they really believe in the culture we have created here over the years. And we've lost four starters every year for so long, it just seems natural that we have a brand-new team this year. Last year we started Quentin Grimes, DeJon Jarreau, Marcus Sasser, Justin Gorham, Brison Gresham, and all those guys are gone. We got a brand-new bunch.

But the culture never changes. Because they're great kids and they're high-character kids, they buy in. It's never about them. Our program is always about we and us, and that's what happens when you have great kids.

Q. Kelvin, your thoughts on Fabian. He hadn't scored a lot, and he makes an incredible play along the sideline and then hits the big three, which is basically the final nail in the coffin.

COACH SAMPSON: The three didn't matter; the two free throws did, though. They put us up 12. The game was over when he hit the three, but the culture play. That's what we call it. Those are culture plays. Whenever we watch film, we do edits. We always end our film sessions with culture plays. Everybody wants to be on the edit.

So I'm sure when that play was over -- there were three guys involved in that play. Somebody made a great effort play on the baseline, to throw it to the sideline, Fabian made a great effort play, and next thing you know, Taze is getting a layup.

That's expected. It also tells you there's a lot of ways to impact winning other than making a basket, and that describes our team and describes our team in a nutshell.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. Appreciate it.