NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - IONA VS UCONN

March 17, 2023

Dan Hurley

Adama Sanogo

Adre Jackson Jr.

Donovan Clingan

MVP Arena

UConn Huskies

Media Conference

UConn - 87, Iona - 63

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the University of Connecticut, Coach Dan Hurley and three student-athletes. From my far left, we have Adama Sanogo, Andre Jackson Jr., and Donovan Clingan.

DANNY HURLEY: It felt like, especially offensively, we were playing relatively well in the first half. We credit Iona. They made some tough shots in the first half. JeanLouis, we didn't expect him to make two threes. He had 11 at the half. I thought we were guarding relatively well. They were making tough shots. We felt great at halftime.

We felt like we were going to play very well the second half, and obviously we turned up our defense. 24 assists, 9 turnovers, shot 60 percent from the field second half. Big time effort. Bench was great. Starters were great. Obviously a big win.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Adama Sanogo, seventh double double of the season, season high in points. They took the three away from you. I don't know what to -- can you comment on your performance today, please?

ADAMA SANOGO: I would just say that I just played hard. Our team made it ready for me. They did everything possible to make us win. My mindset for this game was play hard. I know, if I play hard, anything is possible for me. Because I know like we have a good team, we're a team like anybody can play good. So today was my night.

I'm happy I was able to help my team and play a great game.

Q. Just ask Donovan, just the match-up against Nelly Junior Joseph. You and Adama combined for 40 points today. Just tell us a little bit about the match-up with Iona against Nelly Junior Joseph and Os Shema.

DONOVAN CLINGAN: Coming in, we knew he was good at getting position in the paint. We knew he could make good moves in the post. Past four or five days, we've been working on finding the post and playing our best post defense. So we were ready for the game today.

We're just trying to be as dominant as we could be and attack the glass on both ends because we're both bigger than him.

Q. Jordan obviously struggled in the first half. Did you guys -- what was said to him? Did anything -- was anything said to him at halftime? What was made of that -- I assume it was a designed play. I'll ask Dan as well. Coming out of halftime, the four point play, how big was that for him?

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: I think it was big. First half he had a little bit of trouble getting to his spots, but I think in the second half he put that behind him and really just changed his energy and his focus to team and off himself, and I think that helped us out a lot. He contributed a lot to the win. So hat's off to him.

Q. For Andre, how much did your defense change in the second half? How much did you ramp up the intensity?

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: I feel like I played similar on defense in the second half. As a team, I think the defense was more destructive. We had a lot of guys coming off the bench. Hass made a lot of destructive defensive plays. Overall, we felt the desperation we had to play with. It was either us or them that had to go home, so we had to put them away. We knew defense was going to be able to do the job.

Q. For Andre and Adama, to get that first NCAA Tournament win, does it feel like a bit of a weight is off?

ADAMA SANOGO: Definitely. Like you said, last two years we lost our first game in March Madness. Definitely coming into this game, there was a lot of pressure. We didn't think about it, but we just got our first win, so we've got to keep going.

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: Yeah, definitely it feels like a weight off the shoulders. It feels like we got past a marker that we kind of set. It definitely feels like we took a step forward, and we're ready to move on to the next one for sure.

Q. After Adama made his three and it changed back to a two. You had a moment at center court where you showed off the Connecticut on your jersey. What was it like to come back to Albany and play the way that you did, and what was that moment like at the end?

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: Honestly, I love to play for the school, I love to play for this coaching staff. Everything they've done to get us to this point to be this good of a team honestly, just all the work we put in.

I just really appreciate it, and that's where the passion comes from for Connecticut honestly.

Q. Andre, just following off that, how did it feel to be back home on this court and able to spot your family in the crowd? I know they had a ton of people out there for you today.

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: It felt good to see my family in the stands. I tried to stay locked in the moment and locked in to what was going on on the court. I didn't realize I was in Albany until after the game. So it feels good.

Q. For Andre Jackson, what was your mindset through the first half, you see Iona just playing really well, playing really hard, it's a close game. What were you thinking through that period?

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: I think it was just a battle. Honestly, just staying in the game as long as possible, just keep throwing punches and just keep taking punches in.

Once we picked our defense up, I think we were able to gain separation. I think that was the biggest thing, in the first half we wasn't playing as good of defense. Second half coming out, playing better defense, that really allowed us to get separation.

Q. Question for Donovan. Growing up in Connecticut, how much did you dream of this moment, winning an NCAA Tournament game representing your home state?

DONOVAN CLINGAN: It's definitely a dream come true. I remember as a little kid watching UConn play and advancing in the tournament and stuff and just dreamed of being there one day. Now to be here, get my first NCAA Tournament victory, it means a lot to me. But it will mean more when we go all the way.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Coach Hurley.

Q. Obviously your bigs had a massive game today. Are you confident they can keep it up against Saint Mary's, who is one of the best rebounding teams in the country?

DANNY HURLEY: Obviously, we know what we're in for. For Saint Mary's to win the way they won today. When you have a 4 seed and a 5 seed, with very little separation between the two teams. The crowd will swell by Sunday. A lot more Husky fans will enter the building.

Maybe it's not as big an advantage because they're an older team, they're physical. We know that surviving Sunday is going to be an absolute war and a dogfight. But our centers have been really good this year when we've been really good.

Q. Easy to say now that you're on the back side of it that you had to kind of go through the struggles that you guys went through to get to where you are, but as you were going through that, did you believe you would see the other side of it all and be sitting here right now?

DANNY HURLEY: The other side of like what? Just winning this game today?

Q. You guys were struggling and having -- that you would get it right and get rolling in the right direction.

DANNY HURLEY: I think, if you look at most teams' records, most teams have lost six, seven, eight games, even the best teams if you look at their overall record. We just lost a bunch of games during a really tight stretch.

Again, I've said it, tough scheduling. The Big East is a monster, and I think teams all go through it. We had half a coaching staff one game when a couple of us were out with COVID. You throw in a clunker at home against St. John's.

Yeah, we know our quality. Just like Saint Mary's and the better teams, we feel like we're as good as anyone to make a run in this tournament. We were very confident coming into this game. We knew, if we played close to our identity, that we'd be playing on Sunday.

Q. What went into Adama's second half dominance? And also when he hit the long shot that they ultimately called a two, you had a moment of relief. Bill Murray was dancing in the crowd. It seemed like a take a deep breath and enjoy yourself moment. What did you think of Adama and the second half as a whole?

DANNY HURLEY: I wouldn't read too much into the relief thing. I was just so happy to see us on a big stage be able to transfer what we've been doing in the regular season. We've won the most games in the Big East the last three years overall. We have the best winning percentage of any program in the Big East.

We were able to transfer that into the first round game of the NCAA Tournament, which I'm excited about. And I'm excited for the players. We get a chance to play in an even bigger game, and I can't wait to see Luke's dad doing that. It's going to be awesome.

Q. Your bench contribution, how important was that? You seemed to get something from everybody who was in there.

DANNY HURLEY: Last year I think we were down ten at the half maybe. We just played so bad. Whereas in the first half we were playing well. I thought they were making tough shots. We were -- I don't know what Tristen and Jordan were from the field at halftime, 0-4. Or Tristen was 1-4. Or was it oh-fer -- whatever it was.

I think our bench kept us in it, and then we got the dominant -- when we've been at our best, our centers have devastated the other team because obviously you have a dominant player in Sanogo, and then you bring an outstanding 7-footer in. When we're at our best, our centers are giving us 30-plus points and high double figure rebounds.

Q. A followup on Adama's dominance. Have you noticed this season more of a sense of urgency from him after taking the failures of the last two years on himself? He's taking and making more threes. He's being more of a force down low. What have you seen from him?

DANNY HURLEY: We grabbed him at halftime because he was pressing in the first half. He was hesitant. He was -- I think he carried the weight of getting us out of the first round, I think a little bit too much in the first half.

I think that 20-minute halftime really helped. We basically talked to the team for the first like 12, 13 minutes about just we're right where we need to be right now. We're going to play much better. We're going to guard them much better. We're going to dominate the backboard.

Adama, don't hesitate. Just go up and finish. There's no one that can deal with you down there. I just think we got them to relax and perform, and the guards put them in great spots.