NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - UCSB VS BAYLOR

March 16, 2023

Joe Pasternack

Andre Kelly

Ajay Mitchell

Miles Norris

Ball Arena

UCSB Gauchos

Media Conference

Q. Having come from Cal and playing Power Five competition, what would you say is the difference or is there a difference in terms of what you're going to see tomorrow, and how do you direct that to your teammates?

ANDRE KELLY: For me personally, I think at this level, D-I, all competition is good no matter where you're playing at, and I think definitely having the experience, playing Power Five, it helped prepare me for these types of games. And being one of the older guys, I'm definitely trying to help the younger guys stay calm, stay relaxed, just go through our process and our preparation and treat it like another game. We know that March Madness and the stakes it holds, but we're just trying to honor our process and do what we do, focus on what we do.

Q. Ajay, obviously you've had plenty of success in the Big West this year. How much do you get up for a challenge like this taking on Baylor guard trio that earned all Big 12 honors?

AJAY MITCHELL: I'm excited to play in this tournament. It's been a dream for me. Playing Baylor is also a great experience for us. We're just very excited to play, and it's going to be a great experience for us.

Q. Miles, you guys went through a little slump there for a few games, now won seven in a row. What's come together for y'all?

MILES NORRIS: When we went through a slump a couple guys were injured, just had to get used to it. I think we've come together really as a team, meant a lot, handled adversity well. I think that's the biggest thing, handling adversity, bouncing back. We've got a lot of good guys and we know how good we are as a team. So just coming together as a team, bouncing back really. I think our chemistry is really well right now, so not to worry about anything. I think we're all ready to go.

Q. Ajay, just curious, coming from sea level to mile high, what are the tricks to acclimating fast?

AJAY MITCHELL: I mean, just getting used to the gym, getting used to everything, just being ready to play in this big gym, and that's about it. Just play basketball, have fun. That's about it.

Q. Andre, what gives you guys confidence that you can be a giant killer of sorts this year?

ANDRE KELLY: What gives us confidence is just knowing what we can do, knowing our strengths. We focus on ourselves, I think, and what we do well, and I think we kind of take it day by day. We're not looking at the outcome right now, just focusing on what we do, and trying to maximize our strengths and do what we do well. That gives us confidence. We just find confidence within ourselves.

Q. Miles, in y'all's week of prep, what have you seen from Baylor? What kind of stands out from this team?

MILES NORRIS: I mean, we're just worried about our process really, do what we've done to get us here. We're not going to change much, we're just going to do what we do, honor our process. Go through our practice today, have a good preparation and just be ready to go for the game tomorrow.

Q. Just curious, you guys are the 14 seed, last year we saw a 15 make it all the way to the Elite 8. Do you guys care about seeding?

AJAY MITCHELL: I don't think any team cares about seeding. It's the NCAA Tournament, it's a big stage, anyone can win. We're just focused on playing our game, having fun, and like just compete with the biggest teams.

Q. Gauchos might be the best nickname in the tournament. How do you guys embrace that mentality?

MILES NORRIS: I think we take it personally kind of. At the beginning of the year, we had a lot of high expectations. Now we're here, so we're just excited to be here, excited to play on the biggest stage. I'm ready to go. I know my teammates are ready to go, as well.

Q. Andre, not having seen you guys all year, are you playing your best basketball right now in this seven-game winning streak, and if so, what's going so well for you?

ANDRE KELLY: I think we're definitely playing some of our best basketball. As of right now, I think that we had -- during that little slump that we've gone through, we had to tinker with little things, some people getting injured. I think right now everyone is kind of coming into their own groove and playing with confidence.

And I think that's one of the biggest things. We've seen the ball go in doing those types of things. We're playing with confidence and trying to have a good time, have fun and just keep rolling, keep playing. I think that's what's been helping us.

JOE PASTERNACK: We're really excited to be here for the NCAA Tournament. This past weekend, winning the Big West championship tournament was huge for our team. I think whenever you practice from July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, it's all shooting for that three games in three days. And to see the joy on our players' faces, the excitement when we won it, was amazing.

Really looking forward to participating here this week.

Q. What has changed about this job? You obviously turned it around immediately, but in terms of resources, the stuff that you need to stay winning consistently, has anything changed and evolved in this job over the last five, six years?

JOE PASTERNACK: Yes, it's been amazing. The community has really jumped behind us and poured a lot of private donations in. We've redone the Thunderdome with chair-backed seating, video board, locker rooms, weight rooms. It's been amazing what the community has done to help our program.

Q. What in general do you see from Baylor and especially the starting guard trio?

JOE PASTERNACK: Baylor, I mean, first off, coached by a Hall of Famer in Coach Drew, a lot of respect for him, always have had. And what he's done from when he took over to now is unbelievable. The talent on Baylor is incredible. I don't think it's just the three guards. I know they get all the hype, but Bridges, what a terrific talent he is, and all three guards I think are all NBA-caliber guards. They're the No. 2 offense in the country.

Very, very explosive, explosive team.

Q. You guys are very community driven. How does that work that you do in the community affect the play on the court and the leadership levels?

JOE PASTERNACK: We're really big on volunteering and having our players go out into the Santa Barbara community. And whether it's the Boys and Girls Club, whether it's the fire station, the hospitals, the zoo, we all want -- Santa Barbara is only a town of 100,000 people, and we want our players to be visible. With the youth basketball, they're in there doing camps and clinics. That's a really big part when we took over at UCSB. We wanted to really be involved in the community and make it Santa Barbara's team because there's no NFL team, NBA, Major League Baseball, in Santa Barbara.

Q. Obviously the credentials that Baylor brings are clear. What gives you confidence that your team can stand up to Baylor?

JOE PASTERNACK: For us, it's all about us. We do what we do. We honor our process. No matter who we're playing, it's not who we're playing, it's how we play. That's kind of what we focus on.

Q. Just curious, coming from sea level, do you do anything different at a mile high? Do you substitute different? Do you tell the guys if they're tired -- how do you handle that?

JOE PASTERNACK: Being at Arizona we played at Colorado a lot, and when I was at New Orleans we played at Colorado and University of Denver. I think for us, we don't talk about it. Just hydrate the guys, and I think it can be a little bit more mental than really physical.

Q. You lost a few there and now you're on a really good winning streak. What's come together for you guys?

JOE PASTERNACK: Well, two of our top six players, Ajare Sanni and Koat Keat Tong got hurt in that span, and it kind of threw us for a loop. We had to adjust, both offensively, defensively, minutes, roles on the team. And it took -- unfortunately those games were a Wednesday, Saturday, Monday, back to back to back, so we didn't have a lot of practice or to be able to recalibrate our team.

After those three games, we had a little bit of time, and that allowed us to really maneuver the chess pieces and figure out how we were going to play, and that really helped us, and then won seven in a row.

Q. How much do you lean on Andre and Miles, some of those older guys to settle guys down in a tournament setting?

JOE PASTERNACK: That's huge. I mean, we're a veteran team. Ajare Sanni played in the NCAA Tournament a couple years ago. Josh Pierre-Louis played in the tournament, and Miles Norris, as well. So they've been here before, and really excited to get back here.

We just try to keep everything consistent. We don't change. We do what we do. Whether it's the first game of the year against a Division II or the NCAA Tournament, our practices are completely the same, our walk-throughs, our preparation, our video, our shooting drills, everything is the same.

Q. You mentioned Ajare and KK; are they back? Are they available for you? How close are you to full strength?

JOE PASTERNACK: Yep, Ajare Sanni is available. KK is not.