NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - MONTANA STATE VS KANSAS STATE

March 16, 2023

Jerome Tang

Keyontae Johnson

Desi Sills

Markquis Nowell

Greensboro Coliseum

Kansas State Wildcats

Media Conference

Q. Keyontae, what kind of problems can Montana State pose to you guys if they're playing their best basketball?

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: They're a real good team at getting to the foul line, so we have been practicing and preaching about guarding without fouling. Just doing what we can do, what we can control, and fouling is one of the things we can control, and they get out on the fastbreak and get their points.

Q. This one is for any of you. All of you guys are seniors. You guys all have experience in this tournament. Is there anything that you guys are trying to teach the younger guys on the roster to try to get them ready for tomorrow's game?

DESI SILLS: I feel like we're trying to set a standard, trying to build a legacy for the younger guys that that's what you want to play in, the best tournament in the country. So we're going to keep on working hard, just try to keep doing what we do so they know what the standards are when we leave.

MARKQUIS NOWELL: I don't have any experience. I haven't been here. But I have guys who have been here. They told me it's the best type of basketball you want to play where. It's fun. It's March. Everybody is competing for something.

I just tell the young guys to embrace the moment, enjoy it because, you know, you don't get opportunities like this too often, and so just embrace the moment.

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: Same thing that Quis said. Telling everybody to enjoy the moment. This is what we grew up trying to play at. For us to be here I feel like all my guys are excited and we're ready to play and showcase how much we love each other and the freedom that we have.

Q. Desi and Markquis, I was hoping that you can follow up with what Keyontae opened this press conference with and say over the course of film study this week, what have you noticed about Montana State, who have you noticed about Montana State that you're going to have to be mindful of tomorrow?

MARKQUIS NOWELL: They have a lot of experience, so I feel like just with them losing to a Big 12 team last year, they'll have a chip on their shoulder, so they might come out extra aggressive.

But, you know, they're good at getting to the foul line. They're good at turning people over. So we have we had a stat that whenever we 11 or less turnovers, we are undefeated on the season. That would be the goal coming into Friday's game.

DESI SILLS: Like Markquis and Keyontae said, they're a good team getting to the free-throw line. They're one of the best teams in the country doing that. We have to come in and control the game, 11 or less turnovers and just do what we have to do to impact the game and win the game.

Q. Really for any of you, you guys have really kind of embodied that underdog mindset throughout the year, being picked 10th going into conference play, all that stuff. You guys are the 3 seed going against the 14 here. What can you do to adjust from being the hunter to the hunted?

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: We have to focus on ourselves. We just know what it takes to be the hunted team or the hunter. We've been in that position before. Like in conference play when we were on a winning streak, a lot of teams were trying to play their best against us.

So I feel like we do a good job at adversity and just trying to keeping your confidence up and playing at a high level really. So we have to do what we got to do, go to the day and win the day really.

MARKQUIS NOWELL: I feel like we still are hunting no matter what the seeding they give us. I still feel like we have a lot to prove, including myself.

I know this team is hungry, so just, I mean, we are still hunting even though we have a higher seed than everybody. This tournament is about having fun, creating madness, and we have a lot of special things that we want to accomplish as a team and individually.

I say keep that chip on our shoulder. We keep that chip on shoulder, play with the joy and love that we've been playing with all year, it's hard for teams to beat us.

DESI SILLS: I feel like we're doing, like, what we need to do, but at the end of the day we get hunted, but we still are playing like the underdog because we're coming off a two-game losing streak. So we want to show everybody why we're one of the best teams in the country, so we're going to come out and execute and try to make a run in this tournament.

Q. What did you learn most from the last game, and how has this week off or so been? What have you been focusing on the most in this playoff?

DESI SILLS: We're coming off a two-game losing streak, and we know it's survive and advance. We don't want to go home. We're trying to make a run. We're trying to make history. We want showcase why we're one of the best teams and why we need them here each and every night.

MARKQUIS NOWELL: I noticed in the two games that we lost we had 40 turnovers, which is unacceptable. For us that's our biggest issue. So if we can control that, which I think we are, because we want to win that bad, then we'll be successful.

So I just say the two games that we lost, turnovers have been an issue. We got that cleaned up these last two practices that we had.

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: Same thing that Quis is saying. We had a lot of turnovers the last two games and a lot of fouls, we sent the team to the foul line a lot. That's been our main focus.

Just trying to get better and just guarding without fouling and just protecting the ball, not trying to make a home run play. Just play simple basketball.

Like, the last practices we've had we had high energy and just having great practice.

Q. Hey, I'm just curious, guys, how does it feel being in this moment right now?

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: Amazing, really. It's a goal for me. I want I wanted to come back my last year and just get into the tournament, and we're doing that now. Just trying to make a run. All our dreams, we all had the same goal coming. We're just ready to have fun and show all the K-State fans and make them happy and all our families happy.

MARKQUIS NOWELL: It's a blessing, man. All glory to God. It's amazing what faith and hard work can do, and everybody in this locker room had that from day one. It's just a blessing to be here. It's a blessing to be a part of March Madness, so I'm just happy.

DESI SILLS: Crazy faith. Coach has been preaching it since day. Now we're here, and now we finished third. At the end of the day, like Coach was preaching each and every day, even though Markquis, the leader on the team, just preaching it each day in practice, even though we've heard it, we were like, we want to make it to the NCAA tournament. Even though we were picked 10th in Big 12, it was like now we're going to be the underdog and fight each and every night and try to come out and accomplish. I feel like we did that as well, but we have more to prove.

Q. Guys, Desi, you just mentioned it. Coach Tang's first year. How does it feel to be here on this stage with him in his first year?

DESI SILLS: It's crazy because when Coach Tang came, he was like he wanted to elevate this program, and he is doing a helluva good job his first season. He is going to continue to do that.

We got a bunch of good guys. We all bought in and all love each other. We're happy for each other. It's love, joy, and happiness with us all.

MARKQUIS NOWELL: It's just, I mean, I'm just happy to see Coach Tang and our team getting this much success in this first year. You know, I wouldn't want to do it with any other guys that's in this locker room. We just worked hard from day one. We enjoyed and embraced each other, you know, from day one.

I think that's why we were getting so much success because we just play with that love and joy. And, you know, we still have a lot to prove. This is one of the funnest tournaments that you can be a part of, so I think, you know, it will enhance as we go on.

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: Coach Tang just had the right faith in all of us. He told us his goal, and we all just bought into it and trusted him. As well he trusted us. He listened to us. He is a great coach.

He knows that we are the ones playing on the court, so whatever feedback we have, he listens. That's a big thing for us because we're the ones playing.

But other than that, I mean, we just are trying to come here and make a run. Just make a legacy for the next guys that's coming up and just bring a great experience and show them, like, this is what it takes to get here and just keep going from there.

Q. A little bit of a different question for you guys. What, if anything, do you know about the state of Montana? And then a little bit of a follow-up, have you seen "Yellowstone"?

DESI SILLS: No, I don't know --

MARKQUIS NOWELL: You can educate us on it, though, if you want to.

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: You got anything?

MARKQUIS NOWELL: You got anything?

DESI SILLS: You got anything for us?

MARKQUIS NOWELL: All right.

THE MODERATOR: You've stumped our panel.

Q. Markquis and Desi, everybody knows Keyontae's story about how the transfer portal helped him get here, but for you two, Markquis, this is your first March Madness. Talk about how important the transfer portal was and just looking back, how it kind of changed your career?

MARKQUIS NOWELL: I mean, the transfer portal is big. I feel like it's great to use it if you use it in the right way. I feel like our team and our coaching staff did an amazing job of picking the right guys for this program, for K-State.

And I feel like just everybody that Coach Tang and the coaching staff wanted to pick in the transfer portal, they were going to be about winning, they were going to be good, quality men, and they were going to have a background of just being good people.

I think we used the transfer portal the correct way, how it should be used, and I'm just happy. I'm happy.

DESI SILLS: For me it's like Coach Tang -- my route was different. Didn't get to campus until October, and Coach Tang and his coaching staff each and every day value crazy faith. I didn't know if I was going to be here or not, but they believed I was going to be here.

So I just want to give a big shout-out to the staff and whatever they did to me because I was on film each and every day with them. It's kind of emotional because I didn't know. Coach Tang kept on having crazy faith. You're going to be here. You're going to be here. You're going to get here. I'm getting on the phone with Markquis. They was on FaceTime, Zoom, et cetera. You're going to be here. Stay focused. Stay locked in.

I'm here and living out the dream that I was going to live out to, and I always want to get to the March Madness, and I'm doing it. We was picked 10th, last, and we finished third. That's a blessing, man.

I'm so happy to be here with these guys. I love these guys. I love the coaching staff. Man, I'm just ready to go out there and get the energy, enthusiasm, and have fun with these guys.

Q. Desi, just going off that, can you kind of explain how close was it for you not getting to campus in time? How kind of tenuous was that until you finally got here and got settled?

DESI SILLS: It was very close, but I'm here, so that's all that matters. We move forward from what I had to go through. Now I'm here. I feel like I'm a factor on the team. They believe in me. I'm going to do whatever I have to do to help the team win.

The past don't matter. It's all about the future, and how can I impact.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. Good job.

JEROME TANG: First of all, I want to thank Gene Taylor, who believed in me, and President Linton. This is a kid from Trinidad. You know, to have an opportunity like this, to be a part of this March Madness, you know, it's really, really special. I'm just extremely thankful and blessed to be here.

Q. Coach, just where do you think you have grown the most individually as a coach in your first year in Manhattan?

JEROME TANG: I hope I'm a better listener. When you spend so many years waiting to become a head coach, you have all these ideas that you want to do and how you want to do it, but I'm blessed to have the best staff in America, and extremely intelligent men who have done a lot of winning in their life. And, you know, I hope over the course of the year I became a better listener.

Q. Coach, I'm just curious, just being in this moment, seeing you've been here before as an assistant associate head coach, now you're head coach, how does it feel being in this moment?

JEROME TANG: This moment hits a little different. You know? Everything that we've been doing up until this point, it's kind of like, hey, I know what to do. I've never sat here with my name here, so it kind of becomes real, you know? Not real in the magnitude of what we have to go do, but real in the magnitude of what God has done for me in my life.

Q. Coach, seniors are always valuable in the tournament, but this age we have super seniors who have even more experience than usual. I'm curious when are you starting a program how valuable that level of experience has been to have guys that are even older than normal to start out with.

JEROME TANG: They're extremely valuable. When you look -- you know, I always equate things to football. In the Big 12, all the teams in the Big 12 that were really successful in football had guys who were fifth-year quarterbacks. You know, to have guys who have 100 college games under their belt, I mean, there are just certain things that you pick up that it doesn't matter how talented you are that you can't gain it except through experience.

Guys like Markquis and Desi and Keyontae, those guys that have played so many games, Baybe, guys that have played so many games, they know -- they picked up a bunch of little tricks that make a difference, a small difference in a game that equates to a big difference in the final score. So it's extremely valuable.

Q. I'm curious, in the film study that you have done with Montana State in the past couple of days, who has stood out in particular that you feel you're going to have to be mindful of? As a follow-up, did you have any familiarity with Danny Sprinkle and what kind of coach he is before this week?

JEROME TANG: I'm a basketball junkie, so I watch all the games late at night, whoever is on, whoever is playing. I know Coach Sprinkle was a heck of a player, and now he is a heck of a coach.

They win, right? They have a winning DNA. They've done a great job recruiting. Especially getting bigs from overseas and those three kids from London, man. They have FIBA basketball experience under their belt. They've played a lot of possessions, those guys, and he has done a great job developing those guys.

At Baylor we played Washington when RaeQuan was there, and he scored double figures against us there. I know what kind of talent he is. I mean, watched them in the tournament last year. Obviously that wasn't the result they wanted or the showing they wanted to show, so I know all summer long these dudes have been preparing for this, right? This is not a one-week or three-day preparation for them for this game. This is a whole year that they've been preparing for this game.

So I know they're going to be ready, and I told them it's going to be a 40-minute grinder, right? They've got big, strong bodies. They get to the free-throw line. They make more free-throws than their opponents shoot. You know, they're extremely physical and extremely well-coached. So I'm looking forward to the opportunity.

Q. You may have answered some of that with this question, but in the preseason you guys are picked 10th, and I can see where that could be used as motivation for a team. Well, now you're in the tournament as a 3 seed playing a 14. You are the favorite. They're the ones that -- the opponent is the one that wants to come after you. How do you want your guys to approach the game mentally?

JEROME TANG: We removed the numbers from the bracket. It's one team against another on a neutral site. We know they're going to be prepared, and we're going to be prepared, and we don't want them to chase us. We want to be the guys doing the hunting.

I'm sure they're going to do the same thing. Once that ball is tipped, the ball doesn't care about numbers or who is seeded higher. You've got to go make it happen.

Q. Your three-point defense has been very good. Can you explain why exactly that's been, and any other strengths that you think your team has had or shown this year?

JEROME TANG: Man, point of emphasis for us, hopefully we stopped the best shooters from shooting the ball and let the guys who aren't as good shoot. Didn't work out too well against TCU or West Virginia the last two games, so, you know, I don't know about that (laughter), but I think our guys take pride in guarding.

Q. I think you heard over there Desi and Markquis talking. I think you have nine guys on your roster that have never been here, and you are obviously a head coach that has never been here. Markquis said it. You guys did the transfer portal the right way, looking back. Just take me back to that.

JEROME TANG: You want me to talk about how we don't have any experience in the tournament or how we recruited the portal?

Q. (Off microphone)?

JEROME TANG: Experience or not experience, right? Every kid -- there are kids all over America watching this thing right now, whether their teacher is cool enough to let them watch it on TV or they've got to sneak and watch it on the phone, right. They're going to stay up late tonight and watch games. You dream about this. You go out in your backyard afterwards and shoot shots and imagine you're in the tournament.

Just to have this opportunity, right, it doesn't matter if it's your first time or your fourth time. It should never get old for you. It's just a tremendous blessing that we have this chance.

Q. You guys have struggled with turnovers in the past. In this little break that you guys have had since the TCU game, how do you focus in on that and practice to try to get that as solved as possible?

JEROME TANG: (Laughter) I just tell them now when we cross half court, just shoot the ball. Don't turn it over.

Q. We've asked you a lot about some leadership qualities like Keyontae and Markquis have brought this season. I'm wondering what kind of leadership Ish has given you off the bench?

JEROME TANG: Ish has been tremendous. Ish's role has changed and his playing time has fluctuated from game to game. He has just been tremendous, saying all the right things on the bench, being a great teammate in the locker room, keeping guys focused.

You know, Ish has this really grounded quality about him that he is able to see the big picture and what's best for the team even when things aren't going well for himself. So that's a tremendous quality to have as a leader.

Q. I want to ask about Markquis Nowell. Just how valuable is it for you to have a point guard with that experience. He is one of the few guys that stayed on the roster after you came in. Then Montana State also has a guy like that, Darius Brown. How do you see that matchup playing out?

JEROME TANG: It was a blessing that Quis chose to stay. It showed that he cared about winning, right? And he believed in us as a staff and helped us recruit. He truly actually -- he is responsible for the whole team. Like, I mean, he went to so many official visit dinners and breakfasts, and I thought he gained 20 pounds he ate so many meals, him and Ish. That was extremely valuable.

You know, Darius, man, he is a three, three-plus assist-to-turnover guy, Defensive Player of the Year in the conference. Just steady. He doesn't get rattled. He makes all the right plays. That last play in the semifinals against Weber State when he goes left and he draws the help from the big and throws the great lob to RaeQuan for the dunk, as a coach, it's always great to have a point guard like that.

I'm blessed to have one, Coach is blessed have one at Montana State, where you don't have to coach the ball. You can coach the other four guys. That's just a tremendous blessing at every level in any tournament in any setting.

Q. You talk so much about Desi being a winner, and that includes in the NCAA tournament. How has that kind of shown up in practice just in terms of him kind of talking to the other guys that may not have this type of experience on what to expect and what to look out for?

JEROME TANG: Des is able to keep everyone even-keel and moving forward. Doesn't get down because he understands it's a journey. He is not an up-and-down guy. So level. That helps everybody else.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.