NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - PENN STATE VS TEXAS

March 17, 2023

Timmy Allen

Brock Cunningham

Marcus Carr

Wells Fargo Arena

Texas Longhorns

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Pleased to be joined by student-athletes, Timmy Allen, Marcus Carr, and Brock Cunningham.

Q. Gentlemen, did you guys watch any of the Penn State game? I think they made 13 threes like y'all did. Anyone can answer, what stood out watching them play and beating Texas A&M?

TIMMY ALLEN: Like you said, they're a really good team. They beat a good Texas A&M team last night. They got a lot of shots and guys that can score in a lot of different ways.

Obviously that was the focus for us against Colgate, so nothing changes there. They have good players around the basket and getting other people sets, so it's no different than any other team. Prepare the right way, watch a lot the film, hone in on details and locking in on that.

Coming off the Colgate game we got a sense of urgency, running people off the three-point line, and that will be a big key this game.

MARCUS CARR: We watched that game. They're a good team. They shoot the ball well. They have a lot of guys who can knock down shots and some guys who can create shots for others as well. We're locked in on our game plan and looking to execute.

BROCK CUNNINGHAM: They covered it pretty well.

Q. You guys force turnovers better than any team Penn State has played, but Penn State takes care of the ball better than anybody you guys have played. What's the art of forcing turnovers?

MARCUS CARR: Trying to speed guys up. It's different every game depending on who the team is and what people are trying to tackle on defense and stuff like that, but generally we want to be the most aggressive team and speed teams up.

But like you said, they do a good job of taking care of the basket, so it's going to be a battle of two good teams.

BROCK CUNNINGHAM: Marcus is doing a great job. He covered it all.

TIMMY ALLEN: Likewise.

Q. Timmy, I know you guys feel like you're going to win this game. Why do you like your chances going into tomorrow?

TIMMY ALLEN: I mean, with this team I like our chances any game. This is a great team we're playing. We have to prepare just like any other team. I just think if we hang our head on our preparation like we always do, we're confident in that.

We still gotta go out and play the game. We respect our opponent 100 times through. We know they're a really good team, but we're going to hone in on our preparation, focus on what we do and what we can control, and just go from there and play off that.

Q. Timmy, are you going to guard Jalen Pickett? What do you think of him? In a case like this, would that be something you approach RT and say, hey, I would like to mark him?

TIMMY ALLEN: I think he's a great player. We've broken down some of his film. He's a guy who can get a lot of buckets himself, rebound the ball, pass the ball. That's something I admire. I feel like I'm that way, too.

I like the matchup. I'm going to be matched on him sometimes; sometimes other guys will be on him. But it's definitely something I'm excited for and something I focus on going into games.

He's a great player, and I'm just trying to make him uncomfortable as much as I can, along with other guys who are going to be matched on him. Just try to take him off his spots a little bit make him as uncomfortable as possible. But, yeah, I love matchups like that. Nothing different than what I've gone up against all year, so, yeah, I'm excited.

Q. Guys, the NCAA released a video I think yesterday on RT's journey, and Dylan Disu said in there he knows that RT's future is connected to this run. Do you guys think the farther you go the more likely it is that RT will stay in Austin?

BROCK CUNNINGHAM: You know, that's a great question, but with any game in March Madness you're focused on the next game. Worrying about the repercussions of how we play down the line won't help us win games. Truthfully we're focused on the next game and we're giving 100% of our attention to Penn State right now.

MARCUS CARR: Like he said, we never try to get too far ahead of ourselves. We like to live where our feet are and focus on the other team the best we can. We are always playing for each other.

TIMMY ALLEN: Like Marcus said, we're playing for the guy next to each other. That also includes RT, but not a main focus, just playing for each other.

Q. You guys knowing RT as well as you know him, I would like for each of you to say what you think is the strangest or goofy saying he has. Live where your feet are, or what's the most interesting one or most challenging one to figure out?

MARCUS CARR: I'm going to go with combo plate. You said meat and potato. That's a heavy day going at it. Combo plate is the meat and potatoes and the laser focus, putting it on the one. That's one of my favorites for sure.

BROCK CUNNINGHAM: The hay is in the barn. That's the one he likes the most. The preparation is done. Now you just gotta go take care of business.

TIMMY ALLEN: I don't know if he has a phrase -- he's got a ton of them. He has a lot of comic relief moments and it's good for us. I like that.

Q. I know you guys have been here for two years. Brock, I know you have been here for forever. If you win the next game you do something that hadn't been done by you guys in fifteen years. Is that something you think about?

BROCK CUNNINGHAM: No. You get too focused on too far ahead and you end up losing the moment. So we're working on this game and the preparation that goes into it, because the rest of today and tomorrow is the most important 48 hours in the season right now.

Q. Y'all have talked about RT's focus and his calmness. How does that affect the way you guys prepare and how has it helped you guys in the stretch and how does that calm attitude stay true even when this is the most important moments of the season?

TIMMY ALLEN: I think specifically it helps with communication from him to us, us to him. In the huddles there is a sense of calmness from RT. He doesn't want a lot going on.

Obviously there is a lot of player dialogue, but we always circle back to what he and our staff is saying. His level of calmness and communication and trust in him gives us a sense of confidence, and it let's us go out and play free. I think that's what you want as a player and that's something he really instills in us.

MARCUS CARR: Timmy hit it on the head. When the leader at the head is someone who is calm and poised it makes it that much easier for me as a point guard to continue to be calm and poised.

It just flows throughout the whole entire team. He does a great job of that. Whether we're in timeouts or small moments, whenever it is, but he does a pretty good job of keeping us calm and collected.

BROCK CUNNINGHAM: Piggyback on those guys. They killed it.

Q. Marcus, what are the differences you found between Big Ten basketball and Big XII basketball stylewise?

MARCUS CARR: Yeah, definitely two different leagues. I would say when I was playing in the Big Ten it was a different pace for sure, different pace of league. A lot bigger guys in terms of just post presence, bigger guys.

Still very competitive league. Night in night out you're still playing a lot of good teams. I know it's different now, a lot of coaching changes and different teams, stuff like that.

But I enjoyed playing in the Big Ten. It was tough. It was a grind. The Big XII is the toughest league in the country I feel like this year, so it's been tough to go through that as well, but also dun at the same time just as a competitor going through them.

But two great leagues, and I'm definitely grateful I played in both of them.

Q. Marcus, you made a comment last night in the postgame news conference when somebody asked you about your shot keying the 11-0 run, and you said it was my turnover that started it. Made a point that you went to the bench briefly and came back in. What goes through your mind if you have a turnover like that, and you do go to the bench about clearing the mind and going back to work?

MARCUS CARR: Just really collecting myself. I know especially as the point guard, the guy who is supposed to set the tone out there, I never want to be the one making the mistakes or turning the ball over.

But these guys had my back the whole time. They will tell me, hey, obviously take care of the ball, but they never lose confidence in me. Once I got right back in the game I knocked down a shot and everybody settled back down.

But giving all the credit to my teammates and staff still having confidence in me. I went through that little whoa, that little spell right there, but they still had confidence in me to come back in the game and make plays.

Q. Timmy, your scoring has dropped a bit but your assists have gone up, and guys like Dylan and Tyrese have kind of gotten going more. How have you changed your game offensively the last month and a half? Marcus, what have you seen from the way Timmy has changed things up on the offensive end?

TIMMY ALLEN: I think I am just kind of taking the game as it comes. I'm not really forcing anything. For the three games I missed my scoring has been down, but I'm still making plays. I'm just trying to play to win. I've scored over 2000 points. I don't have nothing to prove.

I like to hang my hat on that, but at the same tome I'm taking the games as they come. Missing three games and watching the team workout how they worked out and coming back, I'm not trying to come in and be a pig. I'm not thirsty to score.

I want to come in and read the game at a high level and play the game with a high IQ and make the game easier on my teammates. Seeing Dylan and other guys thrive is not something that makes me envious or hungrier to score. I take it off them. I know it's going to come back to me tenfold. That's something I never worry about.

Just play the game naturally. I'm never going to be somebody who takes the game outside of myself. I'm just taking the game and playing with a high IQ.

MARCUS CARR: Like he said, him coming back, we really never had a question of how he was going to be playing. I would say that's all year, whether he's scoring or assisting the ball. He's been doing that both at a high level. He's an aggressive player and teams have to respect him, and I feel like that's why he's able to get the assists that he's been able to have.

We need him to be aggressive on offense and aggressive doesn't always mean shooting the ball. He's out there making plays for us on both ends of the floor, and that's all that really matters to us. We also know he's able to step up in big moments and give us baskets as well.

Cool with it.

Q. For Marcus and Timmy, this fan base has embraced you guys since you got here. What would it mean to you two to be part of the group that takes this team to the Sweet 16 for the first time since '08?

TIMMY ALLEN: It would be a surreal moment, exactly what we he visioned since the day we got here. We came here with a plan. Since I've been here in this community and been embraced and loved, man, that's all I'm really here for. I want to win, I want to win for the community.

I want to feel the love. Going back to Austin after a win on the road and feeling that, I can only imagine what it would be like to go back headed to the Sweet 16. I'm sure that would be a great feeling.

Just the winning tradition of Texas. We want to bring that back. Something we've always had the goal of doing, seeing different teams around campus go take pictures, winning championships in front of the tower, and we finally got to do that. I'm glad I could say I got to do that once but I want to do that again.

I was always waiting for that day, so I'm glad that happened. But I can't imagine what it would be like to go back to Austin headed for the Sweet 16 so that's definitely something we're checking for.

MARCUS CARR: Like Timmy said, it's definitely surreal, feeling the love from the community, being embraced by them, and just makes you want to play that much harder for them and succeed. We want to do it as a team for us, but knowing the community that we have, the school that we have, and like he said, the tradition of winning that is going on in our school, we want to be part of that elite club at our school that gets to say we're winners. So we want to bring that back to Austin.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen.