NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL FOUR: VILLANOVA VS KANSAS

April 2, 2022

Bill Self

David McCormack

Christian Braun

Ochai Agbaji

Caesars Superdome

Kansas Jayhawks

Semi-Finals Postgame Media Conference

Kansas - 81, Villanova - 65

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Kansas.

COACH SELF: I think that we came out ready to play. And it was kind of a little bit of a reversal -- not near to the extent -- but a reversal of '18 in that we really couldn't do much wrong there early and we caught a few breaks and built a lead.

And you knew Villanova would make a run, and we just kind of held on and responded. But I thought we played great. I thought we were disciplined defensively. I thought we stayed down on shot fakes, basically, for 40 minutes. And with the exception of defending the arc, I thought that we just played terrific.

Q. David, can you just talk about your performance tonight? You got going early and it seemed to open up for the guys. And what was that the plan?

DAVID MCCORMACK: Definitely, just talking with Coach, he wanted us to have an inside presence, and usually if you can play inside/out it opens up more shots, more driving lanes, a lot of cuts. And I think starting off early on it opened the rest of the floor off and we played off of that and made it easy.

Q. Bill, Dave's kind of been up and down at times in his career in this season. What's it been like to stick with him and see the type of performance that he had for you tonight?

COACH SELF: I don't look at it that way at all, sticking with him. He was our guy from the jump. And I think so much of a performance maybe has to do with things that the media and the public doesn't know about, and primarily health.

And see how much this guy sacrificed just to be out there every day. He may to two to three hours of treatment every day just to be out there. There was never a question who our guy was.

I think he knew that, too, no matter how frustrated at times I could get. But he's our guy. And I've said all along he's the one guy on our team that can get 15 and 10 just by being a presence. Tonight he got 25 and nine. He was fabulous.

Q. Ochai, first possession looked like you wanted the lob they didn't throw it. How relaxed were you in that moment because then you calmly floated to the 3-point line, smooth jumper, looked like an open-gym type of situation. How relaxed were you tonight?

OCHAI AGBAJI: In warm-ups and everything, having all the shoot-arounds, everything leading up to the game, just felt relaxed. Everyone on our team did, relaxed but still confident and ready to attack the game. Obviously that play was open there, but just kept moving off the ball, and obviously my teammates were finding me tonight.

Q. Ochai, can you just maybe reflect a little bit on just when you were a freshman and came to Kansas and got used to just even observing in your redshirt year of just what this was all about, what it's like to have this -- to go from there to having this kind of night tonight?

OCHAI AGBAJI: Just I think the expectations. Coming into my freshman year, getting bounced out the second round, just seeing those expectations from the year before when they made it to the Final Four, that's how it is here. And like we always say, we come to Kansas for games like this and games like Monday. So just a great career here. I couldn't ask for better.

Obviously, my role has changed over the years. I came in just being a contributor, a guy off the bench. And then it ended up earning my starting role. As the years went by, my scoring was more needed on the teams. And then this year obviously just to step up and be that man.

Q. Christian, you had the 3, the shot clock expired late, you had the runner just before that, the other 3 after it. How were you feeling at that point and what's in your mind as the clock winding down and ball coming from Dajuan? And, Bill, how big was he closing this out?

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: It was a late shot clock. And I had hit one before that, so I had nothing to lose, honestly. Just threw one up there and it went in.

I told Juan before that, if he gets the breaks down I'll hit it. It was a big shot. These guys told me all game just keep your confidence, keep shooting and they'll fall. And everybody tells me that. Coach always tells me that. So I was confident in those shots.

Q. It seems like in these big games a lot of times it's the opponent shooting great and Villanova shot great tonight. Can you remember last time you guys shot this well, especially from behind the arc, in a big game?

COACH SELF: I don't remember us -- did we go 13-of-24 maybe against K-State? But we just shot it so well. And I think the guys like shooting in this building, to be honest, just because the depth perception doesn't seem like it's different, even though it is. And the rims are pretty soft.

I think that how well we shoot it, in large part, probably depends on Ochai in many ways, because he's going to take the majority of the 3s. And the start he got us off on, I think he just gave everybody else confidence.

Q. Ochai, you've been a great player all season, but you didn't score as much as you ordinarily do the first few rounds of this tournament. Was there anything at all that wasn't working for you early in this tournament that all of a sudden it's starting to get back to what you normally do?

OCHAI AGBAJI: No, I don't think anything is different or anything's changed. My confidence has still been there. It's just that shots are falling now. I've just kept my confidence and my guys have kept me up, and obviously looked for me on the court, too. And just playing unselfish, I think, is just the biggest thing.

Q. A decade ago you had a chance to win your second national championship in 2018. And 2020 we never saw that team get this chance. What does this mean for you Monday night, this opportunity?

COACH SELF: I think it does have added value to me and the players because there's no guarantees in this tournament. A lot of times the favorites don't win, obviously. But in '20 we had a team that was equipped to make a run. We were so good defensively. And we had enough scoring. I thought that was probably as prepared a team to do well in the tournament as any we've had.

And I think that even though we haven't really talked about it like this, but these guys really haven't tasted what the NCAA Tournament is all about, even though we had a great team in '20. So I think there's been added value put on this one because of what we missed out on in '20.

Q. The moment when, Villanova closed to six, that's when David had a rebound and you guys worked it back into him. How much did that matter at that point with them closing fast?

COACH SELF: I think that even though they were the better team, probably, the first 12 minutes of the second half, I don't know exactly what it was, but even though they were better and had momentum, we always seemed to have an answer to kind of stem that momentum. And also we were pretty fortunate. If I'm not mistaken, Slater had one go in and out that could have cut it to five or four or something like that. So we were lucky there.

But that's what good players do. They make plays. When you're playing well, you want to extend the momentum. When you're not playing as well, you've got to cut the momentum off. And these guys made enough plays where they actually did that.

Q. How hard was it to keep him sitting the last 6:02 the first half, you had a pretty commanding lead and I know you wanted to take care of the foul situation?

COACH SELF: I didn't think about putting him back in with the lead like we had. We went in, I believe, up 11. And Mitch did fine. But obviously he didn't produce like David was producing. But there was never consideration to put him back in in the first half.

Q. David, at what point in this game were you feeling that confidence, obviously one of your best games (indiscernible). When did you didn't realize you were hot?

DAVID MCCORMACK: I want to say from the start. We always hang our hat on defense. And I think that's what got our energy into us. Once the first fell and the second fell, I knew I could just kind of dominate the game inside. And it opened up shot opportunities for my teammates to know that way I could get a couple of assists and get more baskets for myself.

Q. Christian, second half, Villanova kind of -- what is it about this team that you were able to kind of hold them off and to cut it with six? But tell me what this team is about as far as keeping them at bay?

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: (Indiscernible) confidence in everybody. We always, all year we've been in a lot of these situations in the Big 12. We played a lot of games that were really close down the stretch. Everybody's pretty confident in each other.

And guys like Dave and Ochai had it going today, so we always had an answer. When they came back a little bit, we could throw it inside and we knew Dave would get us an easy bucket. And Och made big plays. And everybody was pretty locked in on the job. And we're all pretty bought in. And we know what we want to accomplish, so we're all going to buy in and do that.

Q. Ochai does a lot more than score, I realize that. But the first few rounds when he wasn't scoring like he usually does, what was he like behind the scenes and in the locker room?

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: You would never notice. He's humble. He's confident. Just the way he carries himself. He doesn't care who scores. He just wants to win and he knows that if we win that's going to be the best situation for him. So you would never know how many points Ochai scores in the locker room. He's happy for everybody.

And I would say for the whole team. But Ochai, he's humble and he's confident in what he does. He knows his shots will fall. And obviously tonight they fell.

COACH SELF: I agree. Och does a lot to help our team win. The defensive play he made tonight, blocking the 3 and getting the run, that was an unreal defensive play.

But the thing about it is with Och, sometimes numbers go down, but sometimes players continue to play the right way and not force to try to get numbers. And that's Och.

I've heard many people say he should be more aggressive. But the way he was playing was the same way he was playing all year long. And he didn't need to change that. And he hasn't. So he's got to take advantage of his opportunities. And certainly we wanted him to shoot the ball every time he's got space. But I'm proud of him because he didn't feel like he had to because of expectations other people have on him.

Q. Ochai and Christian, you weren't with the group, but as the team ran back, everyone was saying "One more." Could you talk with your mindset heading into the weekend and now just postgame?

OCHAI AGBAJI: That's everyone's attitude, even after this game, even after last weekend, the weekend before that. Everyone's attitude was on to the next one, not looking too far ahead at what's going on Monday, just being prepared for that moment and just being present in it.

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: I'd say the same thing. We always talk about, in the Elite Eight we were saying we come to Kansas for big games but you don't come to Kansas to play the Elite Eight. Then we win the Final Four game and we're saying we don't come to Kansas to win the Final Four, we came to win the national championship.

Everybody has that mindset. That's why everybody is saying "one more," and that's before the tunnel. On the court that's what everybody's saying, one more. So everybody has the same mindset.

Q. Dave, you're a big raise-the-roof guy, we've noticed. I wonder where that comes from? And I want to know from Christian and Ochai, what does that do for you guys when you see him doing that?

DAVID MCCORMACK: I say it every time -- just playing with a dunk, dominant, big Doak (indiscernible) go-to, we always do that in the Fieldhouse. And Jayhawks travel, so I might as well just keep that raising-the-roof energy going.

OCHAI AGBAJI: It just brings energy, brings energy to everyone. That's just his thing.