NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT: WASHINGTON STATE VS TEXAS A&M

March 29, 2022

Kyle Smith

Ty Roberts

Madison Square Garden

Washington State Cougars

Semi Finals Postgame Press Conference

Texas A&M 72, Washington State 56

KYLE SMITH: Excited to be here. No reason to hang our heads. We ran into a better team tonight. They are playing great. They have won 11 out of 12 or something like that. We haven't really played anyone like them this year, but that was good for us moving forward.

Sorry for our seniors that ended. Not many teams get to end on a win. I was fortunate to have done it once; that was great. Those emotions and stuff -- but Texas A&M, sometimes you have to tip your hat. They forced us into some bad situations and capitalized, and they were just quicker to the ball on loose balls. In a lot of areas we pride ourselves on, they were the better team tonight.

Q. This has been one of the most incredible programs to come out of Washington State. I wanted to ask you about Mike Flowers, he left such an impact on this program, can you talk about him a little bit?

TY ROBERTS: Mike's a competitor since day one when we both got on campus. We were working out together. I just knew he was like that. Like we were working out, competing, playing ones all the time, and I could just tell he's one of those special players.

KYLE SMITH: Yeah, I think it's even more than that. His journey to getting here and his -- who he is as a person, his character. It's really hard to do when you come into a program, a one-year guy and have that kind of impact on people where, you know, you can't see really it as a coach, but in the locker room and on the court, his desire to be good and his desire to win are great.

Really wish I had him another year. There are a lot of things I could -- he's a learner. He's a sponge that wants to get better. And there's so many things, it's hard to get it all done in a year.

He had a big hand in having this great run in postseason and getting here. We had a lot of bumps with COVID and injuries and a lot of other stuff like that. Him and Ty, those guys were out there because they're reliable. They come to work every day. Really special person who will do really good things in life.

Q. That surge five minutes into the second half, what could you sense triggered that? Can you speak on what started that?

TY ROBERTS: They didn't miss. They were getting to the rack, which is what they do. They were making contested and-one, tough twos. I fouled DR on the four-point played, converted that. They just went on a run, and we weren't taking care of the ball.

Q. I just wanted to ask, what has the season meant to you? Obviously you had the incredible experience of playing at MSG. How are you going to use that experience going forward in the future, maybe even make it to the Big Dance next year?

TY ROBERTS: Yeah, just not playing for a while, coming from DII, playing 30 minutes a game in a Power Five conference and having the season that we did was just an incredible experience.

I tried to stay locked in to the moment but at the same time remember to enjoy it at the places I was going and know I'm supposed to be here and we're supposed to be here. I think it's good going forward.

Q. I know they like to get to the rack and get those layups and whatnot. Did you expect them to be able to get that downhill like they did that stretch?

KYLE SMITH: No, I really thought we're a pretty good defensive team. We are not good at keeping people in front, but we have pretty good rim protection. They just were able to live in there, and against zone, too.

We thought we had a little success at the end of the first half, and we knew we were kind of fortunate to be down six. I told them, they were probably mad at themselves for not being up 20.

So we thought we had a little something, but they could penetrate our zone, too, and got some runs at the rim and some drop-off dunks and just couldn't really -- we haven't -- no one has done that to us, and credit to them; the 30 two-point field goals, that's hard to do.

Q. What sets them apart on the penetration plays? Why are they so tough to stop on their triple drives?

KYLE SMITH: Their personnel. They have almost four guard-like plays that will attack you from the middle, elbows. Jackson is a really good player. And Buzz, big analytics guy and believes in the paint touch, and we knew that. Sometimes you know it and you still can't defend it.

It was more their will. They are a willful team, and they got us -- we are still in that game, down 11. Like Ty said, he fouled and gets to 14, and they didn't let up the gas at all. They step on your neck. They just go for it and they keep doing what they do.

It's a good lesson for us because, you know, we got some young guys in there, and we got some older guys, but no one's really -- I can't really think this year, even Arizona is really good, and they kind of separated at our place when we played them. UCLA a little bit, but these guys were more physical, maybe not quite as talented but maybe more physical. Just willful.

Q. Buzz opened up his comments talking about y'all's relationship, how it goes back to him being a kid at an SMU basketball camp. How have you seen him grow in his career?

KYLE SMITH: You know what, I was I think a sophomore, junior in college at SMU, and he was a freshman, manager at a JuCo in Navarro, I believe, and he just -- he had this quality about him where everybody that liked him knew him, and yet he's a pretty understated guy.

And he's -- like I said, he's one guy I can text. I probably haven't text him in two years, he'll get back to me like that. He's just very available. That's probably why he's a good recruiter, is he's really thoughtful.

We both kind of follow each other's careers. Obviously he's had a tremendous amount of success, and really hard worker and doesn't surprise me how hard they play. He's a really good fit for a College Station. I grew up in Houston. So I know it wasn't fair. I talked to our radio people, had the fight song blaring. I know it well.

But nothing but praise for how well -- and he's a pretty loyal guy. He's got guys like Dale Layer and Steve Roccaforte, kind of guys I knew growing up through the business and learned a lot from them, and he kind of carries that whole group around with him, and they are a pretty neat group.

Q. You discussed this earlier about how the guys have nothing to hang their heads about. But going from three to four years ago to where this program was, and now you're at Madison Square Garden on the national stage, is this something you keep telling them, look at where you are to where we've been?

KYLE SMITH: Absolutely. You've got to dream it, right. You've got to have a vision. You've got to put it out there, and we were just excited to get in the tournament. I've been jilted on those before, and assume nothing.

We talk about, you know, New York and it was great homecoming for a lot of our guys, myself, coaching here for six years, and just knowing -- our deal is we've got to get to postseason and win one and know that we'll have some expectations next year, and managing those and working hard in the off-season because hopefully you've got -- they exposed us a little bit. So we have got to -- they didn't make the tournament. That's really shocking.

But we are proud of what we've done, but we have got a lot more work to do. But the foundation is there. The program has matured. Talking about this year, because of COVID, and usually year three, you go in knowing what to expect, and had a lot of new guys and took awhile, but we got there and were playing our best at the end. Hopefully this carries over.