MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2023

Steven Ashworth

Ryan Odom

Max Shulga

Thomas & Mack Center

Utah State Aggies

Postgame Press Conference

Utah State 72, Boise State 62

RYAN ODOM: Just a great game all-around. You know, certainly really fortunate to win. Boise really came after us hard in that first half. I mean, they were really impressive and were blowing up a lot of our ball screens and we're playing a physical game, we're doing a really good job of getting the ball down low, in and near the basket.

Really just playing tough. Playing tough and physical, and they clearly were the aggressor throughout the half forcing us to make some turnovers. We had ten turnovers in the first half. Rushed shooting. Just a lot of different plays that they were making that were putting us in uncomfortable positions.

We were very fortunate to be where we were at at halftime. So as we looked up at the scoreboard and walked in at halftime, we just talked about, you know, all the things that we've talked about all season. Just the discipline, the execution, handling physicality, the composure that you have to have to be a great team or a winning team, and then just how connected we have to be.

We weren't as connected as we needed to be in that first half. Boise State had a lot do with that. We just encouraged our guys at halftime to be us in a lot of ways. Give one another space. Try to work, you know, to get open harder. Be tough with the ball when you first catch it. All the things that these guys know but were getting away from us in the first half.

I think once we began to settle in into the second half, closed the gap a little bit, our guys began to feel some juice there, and you kind of saw how the ending went. It was obviously a positive ending for us.

These two guys were huge, as was RJ. Dan and Trevin had rough first halves. We talked to them at halftime about stepping up. I thought both of them answered. And really our entire team answered in that second half because we were kind of down and out and it was looking bleak.

Really proud of the effort. These guys had a goal over the summer to compete for a championship in the Mountain West, and we can't say enough about the coaches and the teams. I know I've talked about it yesterday, but it's really a competitive league, and it's a league that needs to be celebrated around the country. Certainly we're happy to be a part of it and happy to be a representative in the championship game tomorrow.

That was a goal of these guys over the summer. That's why they lifted weights. It's why they worked so hard to become a connected group, and they worked on their individual games. Just really proud of the effort that they put in today.

I think they always feel like, hey, we haven't done anything yet. There's always something around the corner for this team, and certainly we're excited about the opportunity to compete against a great team tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for our student-athletes.

Q. Question for Steven. I noticed when RJ got called for that travel in the second half and it was kind of chaotic in the building, you just had this look of calmness plastered on your face and you muttered something under your breath. It sounded like "we got this" or something. Do you remember that moment and what was going through your mind, and how were you able to be so confident in that moment?

STEVEN ASHWORTH: Yeah, I think that throughout the entire season we've had different opportunities and experiences where things like that have happened. Obviously, I do not believe that was a travel there, and RJ didn't either, but at that moment we couldn't do anything to change that.

I knew that we had the momentum going the right direction and so I told RJ, hey, control what we can control, and we'll live with the results.

So that was our focus going out throughout the rest of those next few minutes, is controlling the things that we can control. I think that our guys did a great job of doing that, staying composed, and we got the result that we wanted because of that cool, calm, and collected feeling that we all had.

Q. Max, when Coach talks about "be us," as he in the locker room, what does that mean to the players? How would you describe that?

MAX SHULGA: I think just play how we play. We know that we need to move the ball, pass ball to each other, cut. You know, just help each other.

Teams don't win with one guy. Five players on the court, and everyone else on the bench. You know, just move around, pass the ball, and eventually we'll find our shot. So yeah.

Q. Steven, I have asked you a couple of times this year about what it means to say that you are playing Aggie basketball. What does this game say about Aggie basketball?

STEVEN ASHWORTH: Champions always answer. That's Aggie basketball. You're going to have games where there's runs that are made. You're going to have games where the ball isn't dropping, you're turning it over, you're not playing aggressively, you're kind of on your heels. That's what we saw a little bit in the first half.

In that second half we saw Aggie basketball. We were aggressive. We were playing free. We were going for it. We had no fear. We were taking the shots that we should take, and then trusting in each other when we needed to.

I think that that's Aggie basketball to its core, is a big word that I think about is trust, and that's what this team has in every single guy 1 through 15. When we can trust each other, that's when we're playing our best.

Q. Max, can you talk a little bit about the three-pointers? Seemed like you had gotten the momentum going a bit, but when you hit those back-to-back three-pointers, the flow of the offense, were you feeling good at that point? Because it seemed like you had a really big second half.

MAX SHULGA: Yeah, definitely the flow of the offense. The open man is the go-to man in our team, so those times it was me, and I was able to knock them down, obviously. Yeah, just flow of the offense.

Q. Sean kind of stole my question, but I'll ask you about the defense. Specifically you played on Max Rice, holding him to 0 for 6. You also had Shaver going 4 of 13. Talk about the defense you guys played on their guards today, where they had pretty poor shooting games?

MAX SHULGA: We know he is a really good shooter, so we had to guard him really anywhere -- wherever he received the ball we had to have a hand up, force him to drive and force him to make a decision out of there.

Yeah, that's what we did. Just run him off the three-point line.

Q. Steve, we've seen -- I noticed that you show a lot of emotion, and I know we talked about the calmness, but it seems like you are always pumping up the crowd. How does the crowd -- how do you feed off of that? I know you talked about being level-headed, but how do you feed off the crowd? How does that help you?

STEVEN ASHWORTH: I think there's definitely a balance between all of those things, making sure you are still focused on the main thing, and the main thing is out there on the court.

But the crowd can have a huge affect on the outcome of games, and we know that from what we experience every single home game at The Spectrum, and we take a lot of pride in being able to call that our home court.

And so when the fans are showing up the way that they are down here in Las Vegas, it just adds an extra element that we're able to be able to play for something more than ourselves.

We talk a lot about making sure that we leave the jersey in a better place. And when you become an Aggie, it's not just about yourself. It's about all the people that have come before you and the people that are going to come after you and the people that are here supporting us as well.

When they're getting into the game you can just feel that. You feel like you're playing for a bigger purpose and the guys are locked in. I think you can see that on the defensive end especially when the crowd is getting into it, especially when we get a stop and then we're running and then we're playing fast.

I think that's when we see when we're at our best and our most free and having a lot of fun. I take pride in making sure that we get the crowd involved and make them know that they are a big piece to what we're able to accomplish and that we appreciate them.

So I think that's kind of my perspective on making sure that I keep a level head, but also getting the crowd involved as well.

Q. For both of you. RJ seemed kind of frustrated with the foul call in the first half, and then just responded really well in the second half. You talk about the travel response too, but just how proud of you of RJ in this game and his ability to respond there?

MAX SHULGA: I mean, super proud. He has been around for a long time. This is his fifth year, so he has a lot of experience. I'm sure he plays out there with complete calmness. You know, he knows what to do. He knows the system really well.

Obviously, he has been with Coach Odom for a long time. Yeah, I mean, just staying composed with whatever is going on with the game and just staying level-headed.

STEVEN ASHWORTH: I would just add one thing. I'm just happy for RJ. Proud of RJ, but just really happy for RJ that he is able to show what he can do, because he is a special player and he has been showing up for us big-time down the stretch of this season.

Q. You guys obviously played San Diego State twice. They beat you twice. I think they're the only Mountain West team to beat you in your building. Now you get a third shot at them. How excited are you, and how much do you want a piece of them?

STEVEN ASHWORTH: Yeah, I mean, it's the next game on our schedule, and it's a big game. It's the championship game, and it's what we've been working for all summer. We say it every single breakdown that we want to be playing for the Mountain West Championship, and we know how good this league is and how much of an accomplishment that is already, but we're not just happy to be here.

We have something still to prove and we know how great they are and we know that we've got to play our best basketball because, like you said, they came into our building and beat us, but we're really excited that at 3:00 we get 40 more minutes to go out and try to prove ourselves, and once again, as we say, play Aggie basketball.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen. We'll dismiss you and take questions for our coach, please.

Q. So obviously there's a lot of factors that go into this victory, but certainly kind of the biggest one felt like there was a stretch in the second half you forced ten straight misses from Boise State, and that's kind of when you flipped the game and you took the lead. Do you feel like that was the turning point in this game that helped you guys win?

RYAN ODOM: Yeah, definitely. The balance of the two, right? You have to score baskets to win a basketball game. Certainly we were beginning to play well offensively, and I think, to your point, initially in that start of the second half we got a couple of stops and we were able to get out and go.

You know, we're at our best when we're able to do that. Score-stop is what we call it, and also it can become stop-score. I thought our guys did a really nice job. They were hurting us inside in that first half, and so we challenged our big guys to fight more and fight around more.

I thought our guards did a really nice job throughout the game of making their guards have to take tough shots. They're great shotmakers. Baskets were hard to come by. That's what happens when you get in these situations. At the end of the conference season and you are in your conference tournament, both teams always know one another so well. There are so many great coaches in this league and they're well-scouted. You know, it's about players making plays.

I thought our guys did a really nice job of staying composed and forcing hard shots. We talked a lot about keeping our chest in front of them and then fighting the post and then finishing with a rebound. That's the name of the game on defense. Play stingy on defense, and they certainly did that to us, you know.

From an offensive perspective we just try to continue to encourage our guys to believe that our run is coming. Even though we're struggling at this particular -- we're 1 for 9 to start the game from three. Well, okay. Maybe that's because they're playing better defense and they're on top of us right now. We need to do something better.

Certainly that was the case, and providing proper space, trying to get downhill, and then stopping appropriately, we always talk about that for our guys.

But, yeah, it all started with our defense. Any championship that's won, you know, is going to be because you have a solid defensive team.

Q. Coach, while you guys were waiting for that run to come, especially in the first half, like you said, a poor start shooting, but it seemed like Sean and to an extent Dan were getting down low and finishing some really tough baskets when you guys needed them. Can you talk about that contribution?

RYAN ODOM: Yeah, I mean, Sean was huge. Sean was flying around. He got hurt in our last regular season game and has been able to recover. He only had limited practice leading into the conference tournament. That's kind of how it is nowadays. Everybody is kind of banged up this time of year.

To see him flying up and down the court in the last two days, you know, was huge, and certainly he means so much to our team.

Dan is huge for our team. You saw how he played last night. And tonight he had an uncharacteristic half. I challenged him at halftime. He probably wasn't happy with me challenging him at halftime, but I knew that he would respond appropriately, as did Trevin. Trevin just lost his confidence a little bit.

It's like, we can't do that. You're too good this time of year to lose your confidence. You have to go for it. Certainly they were big factors in the game.

Another factor, too, both teams were in foul trouble. Degenhart is having to go in and out. They've got several guys. Shaver has fouls. Steven has fouls the entire time. I think we had four guys with three at one point, and then Taylor gets his fourth.

And so that's tough when you are having to fight through that, but our guys did.

Q. It's almost midnight.

RYAN ODOM: Let's go. Let's get out of here. You ready?

Q. Your team is going to have to be back here in basically 12 hours. So much of what the NCAA has talked about in the last few years is student-athlete welfare. How does this qualify as student-athlete welfare when you are making student-athletes play again in, what is it, 13 hours, 15 hours after already playing two games?

RYAN ODOM: You are giving of me the toughest question possible, aren't you, right now? I mean, you're not pulling any punches, right?

Certainly. We're members of the Mountain West, and we're just blessed to be able to play in this tournament and certainly in this championship. So I'm sure San Diego State feels the same way as we do. I know our guys aren't going to complain about it. I know their guys aren't going to complain about it because there's a lot of other teams in our league and all of these leagues that would love to be in this situation right now playing for a conference championship.

So if it's 1:00 in the morning, they would play.

Q. Utah State has played San Diego State in the championship four of the past five years. This is your first time being a part of that. How exciting is that, one, for the matchup, and, two, for being right there facing one of the goals that your team made earlier this season?

RYAN ODOM: Yeah, it's huge for our team. I'm happy for our guys. I really am. I'm happy that they have the opportunity that they seeked and worked for all summer.

While understanding there's no guarantees, right? There's no guarantees in life. Our guys understand that. They're going to have to play really, really well in order to have a chance tomorrow to beat a great San Diego State team. They've had an awesome season this year.

You know, I think for us our guys are excited. If you were in the locker room just now, you would see that they're excited. But they understand there's more work to do. They want to go for it. I know San Diego State feels the same way.