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

March 17, 2023

Joe Pasternack

Miles Norris

Ajay Mitchell

Ball Arena

UCSB Gauchos

Media Conference

Baylor - 74, UC Santa Barbara - 56

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by UC Santa Barbara.

COACH PASTERNACK: I thought in the first half we really executed our game plan extremely well. Held Baylor to 2-of-7 from 3. They're an excellent 3-point shooting team.

And then in the second half, their defense really picked it up and forced turnovers. And then they got six-of-15 from 3, 40 percent. That really hurt us.

But really proud of our guys for fighting and battling. Not just this game but all year. Dealt with a lot of adversity, injuries. And couldn't be more proud of this group of guys.

Q. Ajay, what did it seem like Baylor was trying to do and trying to force against you defensively today because you were obviously going to be a pretty big focal point for them?

AJAY MITCHELL: They started trapping me on ball screen. We knew it before the game. So our game plan was to move the open ball and find open men. And they did a good job in defense, especially in the second half, we only scored 20.

We didn't execute, but, yeah, that's how it is. That's basketball. And now we've just got to move on.

Q. What's your message to the seniors? What are you going to tell them after a loss like this?

MILES NORRIS: First off, I already told them. I love them. I love all my guys. I wouldn't want to go to war with anybody else.

But for the guys coming back, do it again. They know what it's like to be here. Got to experience. I believe in all the young guys.

But one thing, major thing, I really love them. Everyone cares about each other. I care about them a lot. Without them, we wouldn't be here. Just I love them and I appreciate them for being with me throughout the whole year.

Q. You had a veteran team this year. What are your plans to regroup for next year to be successful again?

COACH PASTERNACK: I'm not to that point. We'll do what we do and recruit and kind of rebuild the roster. But we've had great players every year we've been here. And expect the same.

Q. What do you think defensively in the second half was the difference for Baylor? What did they seem to be differently and effectively?

COACH PASTERNACK: I think they picked up their pressure. And it really bothered us. I think we had, like, eight turnovers in the second half. And it fueled their fastbreak. They got open shots and really bothered us.

Q. Adam was very complimentary of you, Adam Flagler. How do you guard a trio like that and what do you do to take away from that?

AJAY MITCHELL: It's always great playing against a good guard, especially a team like Baylor. Just happy to have that experience.

We saw in the first half we were right there. Second half they picked up the pressure. Now -- just about us. We came here, focused on ourselves and how we're going to play, and that's how we ended it.

Q. Caleb Lohner had his best game of the year. Hadn't been playing a whole lot. Could you talk about the game he gave them?

COACH PASTERNACK: Yeah, I mean, Caleb, he's a great player. He played at BYU. Very familiar with Caleb. And I think this might have been one of his best games, from me scouting them, that he had. So I'm happy for him. Caleb's a really good kid.

Q. I'm sure it can be difficult just to reflect on something like this right as the season has ended, but this is a team that won a school-record or program-record 27 games. What's this program meant to you, meant to the school?

COACH PASTERNACK: Great question. What I told the guys after the game is there's nothing to hang your heads on. We had a great first half. We ran out of steam in the second half. But they're going to be connected, we're all going to be connected for life because they hung two championship banners, a regular season and a conference tournament championship, broke the record all-time wins by four games. Really hard to do in college basketball. And we'll all be connected forever with that record.

Q. For both Ajay and Miles, I had seen you guys and the rest of your teammates after the game had ended walk over to your fans and kind of show your appreciation there. It's got to be a difficult moment, the season had just ended, but for you guys, what were the emotions like in that moment?

AJAY MITCHELL: UCSB is a family. We're so grateful to have all those people come to those games, especially in the tournament. And I mean it's kind of us thanking them for being there the whole season. And just happy for them to see us play in that tournament.

MILES NORRIS: The same, we're just grateful for everyone for coming out. Far from UCSB, traveling everywhere. But we love to see all the fans coming out. It really helps us a lot.

So just being grateful, very appreciative for all the fans coming out, friends, family. We appreciate that a lot.

Q. What do you feel like, again, it's early, season just ended, but what do you feel you will take away most from the season? What do you think might stay with you the longest?

AJAY MITCHELL: For me, personally, just all those experiences seeing that we're capable of playing against those teams. And I mean for us it's just all those experiences we had through the year.

Our conference tournament was a great experience, too. I mean, a year ago we were out of the tournament in the semifinals. This year we won it. And I feel like, yeah, having this experience of March Madness is just great for all of the team. And it's a great experience and we'll definitely be ready to keep going, keep working.

MILES NORRIS: Same here for me. The experience. Like we say a lot, trust the process. Now looking back at it, I just enjoyed the process -- working out with the guys, practicing with the guys, traveling, going out to eat.

I'm really going to miss that a lot. I love all my teammates. So that's the main thing for me is just the experience doing it with the guys I love.

Q. We saw it later in Big West Conference play, you guys lost three in a row. But you guys really rallied back to go all the way to here we are right now, winning the Big West Tournament. How would you guys -- would you say that three-game stretch brought you guys closer as a group and got you here?

AJAY MITCHELL: Definitely. We had injuries. Lost a couple of the guys when we had that stretch. And we all kind of got together and tried to figure out what was wrong and what we have to work on. And it was just trying to be a together team. Coach always says we have to be a fist, not five individuals. And that's what we did. And that's what brought us here.

MILES NORRIS: I think those three losses is a blessing in disguise. We had to come together as a team, handle adversity. That was one of the main things. We came together as one, as one team. That really helped us get this far.

Q. Being the two leading scorers on the team throughout the season, having to carry a lot of load, tonight especially in that first half it seemed the whole team was clicking, Kipruto and Belic and everyone in that rhythm, having that one point lead. As leaders and teammates how did it feel seeing everyone clicking in the biggest game of the year?

MILES NORRIS: I was excited. I love seeing guys just play really well. Not just me. I love seeing my teammates play well, especially on the biggest stage. I'm happy for all those guys, especially the young guys who have first time experience. I'm happy they got out there, played well.

Q. Six years here, what you've done in the Thunder Dome, the facilities, the crowd, won over 20 games. Two out of the last three years NCAA Tournament. A lot of rumors flying around. Is your first intention, desire to stay at UCSB?

COACH PASTERNACK: I love UC Santa Barbara, the community and everybody else, and I'm going recruiting tonight.

Q. So what are some things that you guys could have done differently the second half? I know the first half you guys played a very, very close game. So what are some things you guys could have done different?

COACH PASTERNACK: That's a great question. I'm asking myself throughout this press conference. I think offensively we were stagnant, didn't have enough movement to attack their pressure. And that would be the number one thing I would say is getting the ball moving and popping like it was in the first half.

We shot 61 percent against Baylor in the first half on offense. And we're top 10 in the country in field goal percentage. The ball stopped moving, and I have to call better plays. That's on me.