NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - NC STATE VS CREIGHTON

March 16, 2023

Greg McDermott

Ryan Nembhard

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Trey Alexander

Baylor Scheierman

Ball Arena

Creighton Bluejays

Media Conference

Q. Obviously this is your first tournament. What's the feeling like now that you're here in an NBA arena and get to see everything?

RYAN NEMBHARD: First March Madness, obviously a dream come true, wanted to play in this for a long time so I'm super excited to get going and ready for tomorrow.

Q. Ryan Kalkbrenner, DJ Burns is probably unlike anybody you've had to guard with his mode and his play style. After this past week of film, what have you seen from him and what are the challenges in defending a guy like him?

RYAN KALKBRENNER: He's definitely a unique player. Probably not a lot of players out there like him, but he's a really good player. I think just to prep for him, just watched a lot of film on him, figured out what he generally likes to do and just be prepared for it like you would for any other big that you play. Definitely poses a challenge, different type of player that he is, but I think we've prepared well for him.

Q. Trey, all you guys up here now with the exception of R2 have tournament experience. How much does that change your approach heading into tomorrow?

TREY ALEXANDER: I feel like everybody knows the focus that it takes going into the tournament. Like I said, everybody has been here before, so we know what it takes to be able to win a tournament game. We just know that we have to take it and just have a certain level of focus and kind of be mentally prepared for the ups and downs of the tournament, because we know there are going to be ups and downs within the game. We just have to take everything into consideration and be mentally ready and physically.

Q. R2 and Trey, obviously a lot of talk surrounding NC State this past week has been around Jarkel Joiner, Terquavion Smith. What have you taken away from watching them and their strengths and what it would take to limit them?

RYAN NEMBHARD: Yeah, they're obviously some great players. They shoot with range, they're quick at getting inside the paint. So we've really just got to lock in on scout. Coaches have done a good job preparing us the last couple days, and I think we're ready for them.

At the end of the day they've got to guard, too. We've got good guards over here, they've got good guards over there, so we'll play our best basketball and see what happens.

TREY ALEXANDER: Yeah, like 2 said, we have good guards too. I feel like both of them are going to take a lot of shots. I'm pretty sure they take like 45 percent of their shots. We just want to limit them to the amount of good shots that they can take. So we want to make them take hard shots and just be able to play our brand of basketball.

Like 2 said, they have to play on the other end, as well, and I feel like if the game goes our way pace-wise, I feel like we'll be fine.

Q. Last year when you played in this tournament you wore a different color blue. Does playing in this tournament for Creighton, a team from your home state, mean a little extra to you?

BAYLOR SCHEIERMAN: Yeah, obviously being able to come back home and represent the university in my home state obviously means a lot, and just to be able to go out there and compete with these guys, I'm super excited about it, and can't wait for tomorrow.

Q. Trey, you mentioned the message of their backcourt and just how vital they are. Looking back to the Big East play, is there anyone you can draw similarities to in terms of how they're being used and the shot making?

TREY ALEXANDER: I would probably say somebody like a DePaul type of team. They take some hard ones, take some tough ones. Obviously Gibson and Terry took a lot of DePaul's jumpers and things like that. Obviously I feel like they're probably a little bit more high volume than DePaul. They score the ball a lot better in terms of guard play. But in terms of their usage, I feel like that's a team we can compare them to in the Big East.

Q. Arthur, you guys have kind of had the whole week to prepare. Are you itching to go now that you've had some practice in and you know who you're playing and you're here?

ARTHUR KALUMA: I mean, yeah. We look forward to this from preseason for real. This is our end goal. We've made it to the tournament. Now we've just got to put what we've been practicing into use.

Q. Baylor, obviously with the NCAA Tournament, you always have a sense of urgency, but the fact of being a senior, possibly your last time playing college basketball, are you soaking in the week? Are you soaking in the moment maybe more than in the past?

BAYLOR SCHEIERMAN: I mean, yeah, maybe a little bit. I'm just right now enjoying the moment, staying in the moment, not really worrying about the future. Just like I said before, excited to compete with my guys and make a run here in March.

Q. Trey, before the Big East Tournament, Coach McDermott had you guys play some dodge ball in practice. Anything he's doing this week to keep you guys loose and just chilling before the game?

TREY ALEXANDER: We really haven't done anything. I know the main thing is to stay off our feet. It's kind of us just really trying to adapt to the altitude in Denver. We've been trying to hydrate a lot, make sure we keep fluids in our bodies, make sure our bodies are ready for the type of week that we're going to endure and be ready for the game.

We really haven't done anything fun, even though dodge ball was fun when we did do it, but we're just trying to get ready and lock in for this next game.

GREG McDERMOTT: Well, as always, excited to be back. Really proud of this team and the journey that we've been on to get here. It's been a little bit unique, with starting the season so strong and then losing six in a row and then fighting our way back to finish third in the Big East, and with two weeks left, still have a chance to win the championship.

It's been a fun ride with this group, and it's awesome that it's ending in the NCAA Tournament. And we'll see if we can't put our best foot forward and try to stretch this season out as long as we can.

Q. Obviously what Terquavion and Jarkel do makes up so much of NC State's offense. What are you emphasizing to your guards and wings in terms of what to do to limit them and just the game plan overall?

GREGG McDERMOTT: Well, it starts with transition. We have to be able to slow them down in transition defense. Then they're both very active on the top of the floor defensively, so they oftentimes turn defense into pretty easy offense.

We have to make sure that we limit that as much as possible.

That energizes I think their entire team, when they get turnovers and turn them into baskets. They're very talented. Their ability to shoot the ball from 25 feet, I don't know if we've played a combination of two guards that can shoot it with that kind of range with that kind of accuracy all season. It'll test our perimeter defenders, and we have to -- our intent is to be up the entire time because they don't need much room to take a shot.

Q. How do you balance that because obviously your drop coverage is so effective but these guys need hardly even a sliver of a window to get a shot off.

GREGG McDERMOTT: Yeah, you stay with what you do, but you adjust it slightly depending on personnel like we have all season. And we'll make some adjustments that we'll talk about after the game, not before.

Q. Since the beginning of the season, this has been a special group. What does it mean to get to this point with this group specifically?

GREGG McDERMOTT: You know, I was actually talking to R2 before practice this morning. We have a number of the practice on each practice plan. Today was practice 100. We joked about that's 100 practices but how fast it went. It seemed like yesterday that he made the comment, it just seems like yesterday we got back from Maui.

Generally in life when things go that fast, it's because you're around some people you enjoy being around. That's certainly the case with this team.

I've thoroughly enjoyed coaching them. I really believe that they've enjoyed being around each other.

Even during difficult times, they had each other's back. That makes this even more rewarding, that they've stuck together through some tough times.

We've had some tough times together, but we've also had some great times together during the course of the season, and none greater than being back here.

Q. A little bit of ancient history, a different North Carolina team, but people still talk about that 2012 team against UNC in Greensboro. Obviously the UNC fans have a little bit of a different perspective on it, but did you feel like your team was unfairly maligned? I know Ethan took a ton of abuse on social media that was probably unwarranted.

GREGG McDERMOTT: Yeah, Ethan lives here in Denver, but I won't tell the Carolina fans where. We were not a physical team that entire year. That's not how we played. It's unfortunate that they had an injury. We've certainly had injuries at the end of the season that have impacted our ability to move forward in the tournament.

But I get a few emails every year still from a couple Carolina fans that haven't forgotten. But Coach Williams and I were great friends then and we've remained great friends. I have all the respect in the world for the Carolina program, and we'll continue to have that.

Q. (No microphone).

GREGG McDERMOTT: Yeah, North Carolina State, they might be on our side on that one. But we're excited. Obviously North Carolina State has got a great team. They've had a heck of a season. Very explosive offensively and very disruptive defensively.

We've got our hands full.

Q. You've got a lot of guys now who have some tournament experience under their belt, unlike last year where you were playing a lot of young guys. Does that give you any more confidence going into tomorrow?

GREGG McDERMOTT: I think it helps your preparation, because I think sometimes when guys haven't played in an NCAA Tournament, the emotions can get in the way of preparation, the excitement, the anxiety, the joy of wanting to be there and play in that game on this stage.

I think having guys that have done it, and I think we have six guys with NCAA Tournament experience, they understand that it's still preparation. And we have to go about it the same way even though it's on a bigger stage.

I also think they can help the guys that haven't taken part in it temper their emotions to make sure those emotions are used in a positive way to help us get ready.

I've been very, very pleased with our preparation this week. Hopefully we can take that on to the playing floor tomorrow afternoon.

Q. You mentioned how proud you were of this team overcoming a six-game losing streak to earn a 6 seed. Having said that, does this team need an NCAA Tournament win in your eyes to see this season as a success?

GREGG McDERMOTT: The season has already been a success. I'll never apologize for wearing a white jersey in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. There's 300 some-odd teams sitting at home or playing in a different tournament that would love to be here.

I think it's short-sighted to look at it that way. Yes, there were some huge expectations, and every team is different. There were some teams across the country that were expected to be successful like we were, and they fell short, as well.

But I think winning 14 games in the Big East and being a 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, if that's an unsuccessful season, then we maybe need to look in the mirror and check ourselves a little bit.

Q. DJ Burns is kind of a unicorn. I'm not sure there's many guys who post-up at the three-point line and back their way in. You also have the personnel to play him straight up and not double or things like that. How do you approach playing a guy like that who can pass it out of a double-team but can back you down from 18 feet out?

GREGG McDERMOTT: I thought there were a lot of ACC teams who had the personnel to guard him one-on-one, and it didn't go so well for them. He's very unique, his skill set. He has vision like a guard and passing skills of a guard. Not only does he get rid of it quick and get rid of it to the right spot, but it's to the right place. He's hitting guys in their shooting pocket where they can do something with it.

You try to keep him off balance. And obviously we're going to try to make him play at the other end of the floor, too, as much as we can. Ryan is a really good defender, but he's going to be tested. DJ scored over a lot of really talented defensive players, so it'll take everything we have to try to keep him off balance the best we can.

Q. Mason grew up around a bunch of different NBA locker rooms. What kind of benefit is that to him, and what kind of player do you think he has the potential to become going forward?

GREGG McDERMOTT: I'm really excited about Mason's future. He's made a good stride this year. He needed the redshirt last year, and we're fortunate that his parents both were college athletes and understood that he needed a year to really work on his body and have his body mature. And his body has still got a ways to go, but he's brought us some spark off the bench with his ability to shoot the basketball with his athletic ability, ability to run the floor. And he loves the game. He works really hard. You can tell that his parents and their athletic success has had a huge impact on him.

He's been an important part of our success, and we're going to need him to shine big tomorrow.