PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 8, 2023

Wayne Tinkle

Glenn Taylor Jr

Jordan Pope

Oregon State Beavers

Postgame Press Conference

Arizona State - 63, Oregon State - 57

THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll start with an opening statement from coach and then take some questions.

WAYNE TINKLE: I'm really just hammered with mixed emotions right now. Starting with the positives, just really, really, really proud of the group and how they battled. When it seemed like everything was against us, they didn't throw it in, battled all the way to the end. Couple plays go our way, maybe it's a different result.

But the heart, the character, the toughness out of this young group that they have shown at times over the course of the season, but then more distinctly tonight against a really talented team, makes me really proud. But obviously disappointment that we let it slip and disappointed at some of the things that went on during the game.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. When you fight that hard as you have all season at times and you get a lead there early in the second but then go eight plus minutes without a field goal and close 5-26. I mean there's only so many things you can say or do, so how do you explain it in terms of that, those kind of droughts and that kind of stretch?

WAYNE TINKLE: Yeah, it's brutal. I think, obviously if we had a much more experienced team those kind of things wouldn't happen, from executing plays out of timeouts to finishing plays. I mean, we missed a lot of good looks. There were a couple of timeouts we had to get after the guys a little bit to get their focus in to executing our stuff, and we did and then we just, we couldn't make a basket or two or get a stop or two that might have allowed us to just kind of take a deep breath and relax.

They scored two layups off back doors. We haven't gotten back-doored all year on consecutive possessions. So I think a little bit of our lack of experience got to us during that stretch, but then the guys found their way out of it and gave themselves a chance. There was a big play toward the end of the first half that was a four-point swing and that ended up playing out. I knew it probably wasn't going to end up being a two-point game.

But there were a lot of plays we could have made all within our control. We're not making any excuses. We had opportunities at the rim. We had opportunities from the three-point line. We had opportunities to defend our goal better. We didn't do a good enough job and a good team beat us.

But again, super proud of the way our guys fought and it was really a snapshot of our season. There were some really good moments, some tough moments, but the guys stayed together and kept grinding through it all. I'll take anybody on that questions the heart of this team and the fight that they showed.

Q. I want to get a snapshot of the future of this team. There were some frustrating moments tonight, but there were also some good things that happened and maybe I can get your thoughts and Jordan's after. Jordan breaks the record for all-time 3-pointers by a freshman in team history. There was some moments tonight that this young core could have started to let things go. So your thoughts on the future of this team, your impressions of their ability to stay composed, and also Jordan's good moment there.

WAYNE TINKLE: Yeah, I mean, kind of what I've said, super proud of the growth. Obviously, we let some games slip that we thought we should have had. The record, we had better expectations for ourselves. But when you look at the amount of new personnel, from players to staff to support staff, we, I thought, came a long way from where we were a year ago.

I couldn't be more proud of this group and we need to keep the group intact, the guys that we're going to move forward with. We know that there's pieces we need to add and that's, and then continue to develop the individuals in the off-season that we have and come back even stronger.

Then for Pope getting that record, super proud of him. He was a kid that was thrown in the fire from day one because of our injuries to Justin Rochelin and Christian. And the one thing about him, he's a young kid, but he's mature beyond his years. I thought he handled himself really well, all things considered, in the situation that he was thrown into. I know it's going to lead to great things for him. So super happy for him.

JORDAN POPE: I'm just proud of all my teammates. We all had little to no experience, a lot of freshmen were thrown into the fire. Coach asked a lot of us and we took the challenge. I'm just super proud of how me and my teammates fought, especially the young guys that are grinding each and every single day. No matter if it was the highs, the lows, the wins, or losses we kept our head up. We knew we had promising days ahead of us. If we just stick to the course and work hard, the sky's the limit for us, and I'm just proud of all my teammates.

Q. Take me through, you guys are obviously chipping away and you get within four there and you made a lot of free throws there down the stretch to keep it that way, but obviously close tough from the field. You had that one layup there. Walk me through that play. Did you lose the handle at all or is it just one of those where, hey, sometimes you're going to miss some.

GLENN TAYLOR JR: Yeah. Just one of them weird bounces. We had multiple plays to execute and take the lead, offensive rebounds, getting stops in the stretch. So we just got to get better and we will. We'll be back.

Q. Jordan, you hadn't had a game quite like this this season by way of just, it seemed like you were settling for threes a lot and they were probably doing some things defensively to get that out of you. What were they doing defensively to just make it harder for you to get to the rim a little bit?

JORDAN POPE: They did a great job, a physical team. They made it hard for me. They denied me, face-guarded me, top blocked me, and just denied me a lot, just made it hard for me off the ball and even with the ball. They pressured a lot, take me up full court. They did a great job trying to not let me get getting. So, yeah, I think I did settle a little bit too much, but I was taking all the opportunities that I did have. But credit to them. They did a hell of a job and kudos to them.

WAYNE TINKLE: To touch on that, second half, I think he admitted, he said it little bit earlier, but second half when we spaced the floor, when we went inside out, when we made the extra passes, we were getting much better looks from three than we did early on. It was one of those nights that we had some really good looks that didn't go down and a couple breaks that went against us over the course of the game, two-possession game. So we'll learn from all that stuff and this young group will grow and we won't make those mistakes down the road.

Q. For the players, as coach talked about in terms of building forward, what this fan base is going to want to know from the two of you, it's the world we live in now, there was a time where, Wayne obviously knows, the presumption was players would return. But with the portal and one-time transfer and everything else, the presumption is everyone's a free agent immediately when the season's over. Do you plan to return to Oregon State next season to be part of that future and part of the pieces that he references in terms of getting this thing turned around?

GLENN TAYLOR JR: We're both with the Beavers.

JORDAN POPE: 200 percent. We have a good group of guys. We can do something really, really special. I believe we have the potential to be a top-20 team and I believe in all my teammates, I believe in the coaching staff. And it's a great fit for both sides me, Glenn, everyone else on the team, Coach Tinkle, all the other coaching staff and, yeah, we plan to be here, so there's no question about that.

Q. Obviously big differences from last year to this year going into the season you guys wanted to flip the culture around a little bit from last season. Aside from the pieces that you're bringing in, how would you assess the success of this year in flipping the culture?

WAYNE TINKLE: We got a lot of the culture back, but part of our culture is winning and that's the next piece. These guys know it. They know that when we challenge 'em it's because we believe in 'em. But you see it in their effort every day, how they get along with each other, what the fight they take to the court, what they're doing in the classroom and the community. But winning's the next piece we need to add. We definitely felt like we let some slip this year, but we took a big step in the right direction for sure. There's going to be a lot of questions, that's the landscape we're in. But when did the game end? Maybe 30 minutes ago? I mean, and I know that's a necessary question, I do. Yeah, in this landscape, I do. But a great job with their answers. But we'll get back, these guys deserve a couple weeks off and I know that we're going to bring back a core group that's all about the Beaver way. We'll add the right pieces. And when we get that -- obviously you look over the course, we've had a couple tough years. We've done great things and we'll get back there for sure.