NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - PITT VS XAVIER

March 18, 2023

Sean Miller

Colby Jones

Jack Nunge

Jerome Hunter

Greensboro Coliseum

Xavier Musketeers

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We have from left to right Jerome Hunter, Jack Nunge, and Colby Jones. Questions.

Q. Jack, where are you guys at in the process of preparing for Pittsburgh? Like, how much could you do last night, and where are you going this morning and today to get ready for that game?

JACK NUNGE: I think after our game yesterday we got to catch some of it live in person, so that was good scouting for us.

Last night we kind of we want over the personnel. We're just kind of working through some of their actions, some of the things they do defensively.

You know, we still have a ways to go. We're going to have some more scouting to do tonight, walk-throughs and stuff like that. Definitely in the process for sure.

Q. Colby, how good does it feel to get a win in the NCAA Tournament kind of behind you -- get a win behind you and now look forward into the next game?

COLBY JONES: Yeah, it definitely feels good knowing that we didn't have our best game as a team, and we still got a way -- we still found a way to advance. I feel like with that game behind us the real Xavier team is going to come out Sunday, and that's how we're going to play.

Q. Guys, I might ask each of you, what do you know about your coach's college career at Pitt?

JEROME HUNTER: I don't really know much about it. I've just been seeing stuff on Twitter, but I still don't know a lot about it.

JACK NUNGE: I've seen a few pictures here and there. Coach kind of told us what Pitt means to him. He has a lot of friends there. Obviously, you know, it's his alma mater, so the university kind of means a great deal to him.

I know, like, last week at the Big East Tournament he used that as a motivation for us because he said he never really advanced. So we kind of were able to advance for him.

COLBY JONES: I knew he was a solid PG at Pitt, but I know that one pass he had when the guy broke the backboard, I know that was pretty cool. So watching that video reminded me of him.

Q. I'll piggyback on that question. Are you guys aware that he was a basketball prodigy in fourth grade back in Pittsburgh? He was on "The Tonight Show" and showed off his ball handling skills.

JACK NUNGE: I feel like there was one day where I was just YouTubing it and saw some of his highlights. Some pretty cool stuff that he can do when he was a kid.

THE MODERATOR: Colby, what kind of a handle does Coach have?

COLBY JONES: I didn't know that he was on "The Tonight Show." That's pretty school, especially in fourth grade. I didn't know that.

JEROME HUNTER: I didn't know that either. It is pretty cool that he was on "The Tonight Show."

Q. You guys have been a great three-point shooting team when you've been at your best. Pitt has also been a team that's been able to shoot from deep in some of their best games this season. How do you guys approach this person-to-person, two teams that have similar strengths when they've played those kind of games this season?

COLBY JONES: Yeah, we definitely have to lock in on our transition defense. We know that when they get out and run and shoot those open threes, that's when they're deadly. So we definitely have to work on that.

And, yeah, like you said, when they're winning games, they're making a lot of three-pointers, so we definitely have to eliminate that for sure.

JACK NUNGE: Yeah, huge emphasis for us this game is to limit their three-point shots. You know, across the board it seems like almost guy on their team is a great three-point shooter, whether they shoot a lot or have a good percentage.

We'll have to lock in on that aspect if we want to win this game.

JEROME HUNTER: I would just say, yeah, we shoot the ball good in our good games, but even if we're not shooting well, we're going to find -- we always find a way to win. Yeah.

Q. Obviously, this is your group's first time playing in this tournament with Coach Miller. What have you seen, his ability to prepare for games the way he does with his experience in coaching in this so many times?

JEROME HUNTER: You can just tell he's experienced. He has been through a lot of big games. He's been in this situation before, so he always just tell us just listen to him and just follow him. And that's what we've all been doing lately, and it's been working.

JACK NUNGE: Yeah, Coach, he has a lot of experience. As Jerome said, we just have to listen to him. You know it's March. Anything can happen. We're never really out of a game, as it showed yesterday. Just have to stay the course, try to do what we do out there, and just play our best basketball.

COLBY JONES: I mean, sort of piggybacking off of what they said. You can definitely tell the experience he has, just like his demeanor throughout the games. He is not trying to do something else to prepare for the tournament. We're doing our same old stuff every day. I feel like that's going to pay dividends for us.

Q. Jack, this is for you. You mentioned kind of scouting Pitt yesterday, watching their game against Iowa State. What was the biggest mental note that you took about watching that team, and what was your biggest take-away from just seeing that game?

JACK NUNGE: Yeah, they played really well defensively. They held Iowa State to 41 points. That's just really impressive in itself.

And then, you know, as you see, they have great three-point shooters across the board. That's going to be a huge emphasis for us.

You know, we're just going to have to stay the course throughout the whole game, 40 minutes. You know, if things don't go our way, we're going to have to stick together and hopefully come out on top.

Q. Colby, there was a picture on Twitter from the game last night. I think it was when you were at the foul line, and it looked like TV cameras caught your mom in the stands. Did you see that?

COLBY JONES: Yeah, I did, yeah.

Q. What did you think of seeing that moment, and how much she was invested in you at the free-throw line in that spot?

COLBY JONES: I mean, she's been that way my whole life in games. Especially in close games, she always texts me after those saying we gave her a heart attack or something like that. But that's just the support that she has for me, and I love her for it.

Yeah, it was definitely cool for her to get a little TV time as well, so yeah.

Q. Colby, why is it that your group shares the ball so well? What is it that you guys are so unselfish?

COLBY JONES: I think we just have a great team chemistry. We have older guys on our team, and we all just know the game of basketball, and we know we're just trying to get the best shot each time for Xavier, and I feel like that's why we share the ball so well.

Q. I believe when Sean took over there weren't a whole lot of guys that transferred from Xavier. Why is that? Usually when a new coach comes in, the roster turns over.

COLBY JONES: He came in and told us the truth. He didn't sugar-coat anything. Our guys liked that. We bought into his process and his ideas. Our guys, we just wanted to stick together one more year. We knew we had a special team. And that's what ended up happening.

JEROME HUNTER: Yeah, that was in the NIT tournament last year, and coming off that we felt like we could have did more last year, but this year was the year that we're doing what we're doing now.

JACK NUNGE: Yeah, just from everything that happened last year, playing really well for most of the season and then kind of fading down the stretch.

And then that run we went on, we kind of knew what we were capable of, and I feel like everybody just really locked in, just wanted make the most of this year. We didn't want to let what happened last year kind of affect us this year and just really try to maximize our potential. I feel like Coach gave us kind of the best opportunity to do that.

Q. When you scout teams, you often get to look at multiple games they've had throughout the year, but for Pitt their two freshmen twins, the Diaz Graham twins, their guy is seven feet tall, they're getting more playing time in the tournament, does their recent boost in playing time -- what have you seen from them and how they played the last two games and how it factors in how you prepare for a team like that?

JACK NUNGE: You kind of see throughout the year their growth. They're playing really well. They're playing their best basketball this time of year. So that's going to be a huge part of our game plan, is trying to limit their impact on the game. You know it's going to be a huge emphasis for us as to how well they play.

Yeah, as I'm saying, they're just getting better. You can see it through every possession, every step. So it's going to be a challenge.

JEROME HUNTER: Yeah, just watching the film with the team and watching it, talking to the coach, yeah, they're getting better every game. They can really shoot. They play hard. We're just going to have to limit their impact on the game, just like what Jack said, and just do what we do every game.

Q. Guys, you played against a relatively strong Big East this year. There were seven teams that finished with records of .500 or better. I know you guys played Duke earlier in the season. Just how did playing that strong nonconference and then kind of battle-tested conference schedule prepare you guys for this NCAA Tournament?

COLBY JONES: Yeah, it definitely helps because you get to see different style of plays, different kind of players. So you're getting a whole variety of different teams that you could potentially see in the tournament, so I feel like it definitely helps just to go out and play great teams and great programs.

JACK NUNGE: I feel like when we went out to Portland, there's some really skilled teams out there that have the potential to make a run during March. You know, it's a great learning experience for us kind of to see where we're at, but also just we can kind of build on those experiences so that we can have the rewards down the line.

JEROME HUNTER: Yeah, I think playing against different teams, different styles has just prepared us for the Big East. Just whatever they threw at us, I feel like we were prepared just because playing against the different teams and different styles just made us have to adjust to different defenses, different offenses, and different players.

Q. Does having a close call like in that first round of the tournament, does it almost kind of refocus you as to, like, hey, we can't afford any slip-ups, we can't afford to fall behind? Does it refocus you coming into the second game?

JEROME HUNTER: Yeah, that's been our mindset all season. We don't take any team lightly. We know March -- I have never been here, and I knew every game was going to be hard. I know every game is going to be hard. Every team is good. That's why they're here.

Just playing that game I feel like it did wake us up and just realize that we're here. These teams are trying to win as bad as we are, and we've got to play our best every night.

JACK NUNGE: Yeah, the fight that we showed for the last 10, 15 minutes of the game, we've got to play that the whole 40 minutes if we want to keep advancing in this tournament.

I mean, anybody can win, as it showed yesterday and the day before. So it's really just going to be a battle for all 40 minutes.

COLBY JONES: Yeah, I mean, all the credit to Kennesaw State. They're a great team. They gave us a great punch, but like Jack said, I feel like the last 15 minutes really -- we really woke up then.

And that's what we talked about, that's how we need to play the rest of the tournament. So I feel like it definitely was a wake-up call for sure.

Q. What caused that trigger? That game sort of turned yesterday very suddenly.

COLBY JONES: Yeah, I feel like each person, we just took it personal that we didn't want to go out that way. I feel like our energy just picked up, players and coaches included. I feel like that's what was the difference in the game.

JACK NUNGE: Yeah, we just kind of -- every huddle or every time-out that we had, we kept chipping away, keep chipping away, stay the course. Things didn't really go our way for most of the game, but we knew if we kept fighting, kept staying together that we could come out on top.

JEROME HUNTER: Every game Coach give us ten wars. That's how many wars we get in the game. Whoever wins the most wars wins the game. That's all we just focus on. Each time-out, each time we are talking we just talk about each war and did we win this war or did we lose this war. And that's really all that matters.

Q. Jack, when you look back at the games at DePaul and at Butler against teams that on paper it feels like Xavier probably should have beat that you didn't end up winning those games, and now you get into the Big East Tournament, and you come back against DePaul, and you come back against Kennesaw State, how much do you think back to those games earlier in the season and draw on that experience to dig yourself out of a hole and win a game like yesterday?

JACK NUNGE: Yeah, we just have to stay together. You know, we know we have a good team. Things don't go our way, we have to keep fighting. We're never really out of it, as it showed.

You know, we know if we keep doing what we're supposed to do out there that things are eventually going to take a turn for us. So we just have to stay together, fight. It's a 40-minute game. It's not a game about the first half or the second half. You know, it's the whole game. We just have to stay connected throughout it.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys.

Questions for Coach Miller.

Q. I asked your players this. I'm sure you felt like you had the attention of your players going into the tournament, but when you have to come back the way you guys did and battle back and win, does it almost kind of refocus? Do you feel like it helps refocus them as to, hey, we can't have any let-downs at any point during the game?

SEAN MILLER: Yeah, for sure. I do feel that way. Very reminiscent for our group on what happened last weekend in Madison Square Garden in the Big East Tournament. We played DePaul in our opening round, and DePaul had us down in a very similar fashion. As a matter of fact, I think the fact that we went through that in our conference tournament may have helped us yesterday.

But when that game ended, I felt like we were able to take a deep breath, lessons learned. We became a more united group, more focused group. Not that we weren't a day earlier, but clearly I think, like you said, we had their attention. We ended up going out and playing one of our best games of the year the next day against Creighton.

And my hope is, obviously, we're not playing today, but in tomorrow's game against Pitt that we can be better and we can be more consistent from start to finish.

In yesterday's game we had some really good moments, but we weren't as consistent as we needed to be.

Q. Sean, you mentioned yesterday about Souley missing that layup and then missing those four free throws down the stretch. How hard is that psychologically for someone to do and what did that show you about him?

SEAN MILLER: Yeah, very difficult, to answer your question. Souley Boum is one of the most clutch players that I've been around. He has won us numerous games this year during the regular season in a very similar fashion as he did yesterday, and that is he is a great free-throw shooter, but in particular it's almost as if he is even better when it means the most.

You're right. The layup that he missed I think surprised all of us, but for him, his age, his experience, his wisdom, his belief in himself, it really showed because, you know, a big reason we won is he made four consecutive free-throws and iced the game.

Q. Sean, what have you noticed from Pitt throughout the season and in the last couple of tournament games, and what overall in your playing career have you learned that you have taken now to your coaching career from being at Pitt?

SEAN MILLER: Well, first question is, I think Jeff Capel has done an incredible job. Anybody that took over at the time that he took over and went through the pandemic and also had to rebuild, you know, there are things that happened during that period of time that I don't think has ever happened in maybe the history of college basketball.

Just to see him go from a year ago to this year's team, they're very, very good. I know, heck, I've followed them late in the year. They almost won the ACC regular season championship, so we know we're playing a tough team.

I think their skill level really jumps out for me. When they win, they make threes. As a matter of fact, they make more than ten per game, and I think that when they don't make threes, not that they won't win, but they're not on their game. I think those threes are going down. You know, you have so many different players that can shoot them.

I think Hinson, the way they utilize him, he is really an X factor because you have to guard him with a forward, and he is such an elite shooter, and he can really get going. Their shooting really stands out for me.

I also think in this tournament they've played some excellent defense and played with great effort.

My playing career there's a lot of lessons that I have, you know, as it applies to this tournament. It's a brand-new season, and it ends quickly, and I learned that in college. Unfortunately, in a heartbreaking way.

Q. Just emotionally, you probably assumed at some point in your career you might have a situation like this, but to face Pitt in the NCAA Tournament.

SEAN MILLER: Yeah, it's actually the second time. When I was at Xavier the first time -- I guess we're going to go back maybe 14 years ago -- Jamie Dixon was the coach. We happened to catch them in the Sweet 16 in Boston. They were a 1 seed, and they had a chance to win the national championship. DeJuan Blair was on that team, Sam Young, Levance Fields, and Levance hit a big shot at the end. They beat us.

So this is the second time, and I'm much older. You know, I would say that you would pick any team in this round, and as much as I love Pittsburgh, and my wife and I both attended Pitt, have some of the people that I love the most in life live in that city, but tomorrow, you know, it's about winning the game and getting to the Sweet 16.

Although I have a soft spot for them, and I'm sure it's no different on their end, you know, when you get to this round, the prize is so significant for your team and your university that that's really my focus.

Q. In kind of continuing on that theme here, this past year Pitt celebrated the 35th Anniversary of Jerome Lane's send-it-in dunk. You obviously assisted on that play. What is it like to kind of be associated and tied in with such a significant play that not just in Pitt history, but also in college basketball history when you think about it and reflect on it?

SEAN MILLER: Yeah, you know, I make this statement once in a while, and I don't know if anybody pays attention, but I think that dunk, that play makes a strong case for the greatest dunk in college basketball history. It was on Big Monday, I believe, in front of the nation.

I think the only negative about the play and to be associated with it for so long is sometimes I don't think that people really take into consideration the great player that Jerome Lane was. It almost is as if he made that one play, but he led the nation in rebounding, was an All-American, an NBA player. Just an incredible player too.

He was inducted into Pitt's Hall of Fame this fall. I was really grateful that I could attend. Saw him and a lot of teammates. It was great to be there. Yeah, for sure.

The one thing when you are a part of that play, no one can ever accuse you of not playing. Every February you remind them that you at least could dribble and pass.

Q. Coach, I don't know if you shared this with us. Is there ever a point in your career where you were close to going back to Pitt as head coach?

SEAN MILLER: No, not really. It never worked out. You know, I think for me that's all the better because in some ways I want my memories of Pitt to be when I was there as a student, as player.

Some of the greatest years of my life, playing in the Big East Conference, you know, meeting people like Curtis Aiken, who does the radio for Pitt, who took me under their wing, treated me like I was a younger brother.

And I really learned a lot on and off the court through my experience at Pitt. As much off the court as on the court. And it's a big reason why I wanted to go into coaching, to be around that. Those are some great times. Those are my memories, that and family and friends. I think it's simpler that way.

Q. What stands out to you about Pitt's Nelly Cummings, and do you see yourself in him, being a Beaver County guy, being the point guard at Pitt?

SEAN MILLER: Yeah, Nelly is a very good player. You know, what I like about him is that he can both score a double-figure score and he also makes his teammates better. You know, they're almost interchangeable. Sometimes Burton can have the ball. Obviously, sometimes Cummings can have the ball. That's what makes their team so good. They're interchangeable.

Obviously in Nelly's case he can beat you with his scoring, his three-point shooting, and he can also beat you by getting in the lane and making people better.

Q. Sean, I'm just interested, what sold you on Pitt when you were a senior in high school? I mean, you had a lot of other big-time programs and coaches recruiting you. What made you want to stay at home and play for the Panthers?

SEAN MILLER: That's really an easy answer. It's the same answer I would give you about Xavier, and that is I wanted play in the Big East. I wanted play in the greatest conference in college basketball. I wanted join a team that had a chance to win, to make a run at the Final Four in a city that I grew up in.

John Calipari was the assistant coach. He was a great recruiter, somebody that I knew and my family knew since we were very young in age. That was a big reason as well.

It was a great decision.

Q. Another Souley question. How did he end up at Xavier?

SEAN MILLER: Well, when I got the job and we had a new staff late in the spring, Paul Scruggs really was the point guard at Xavier for multiple years, and he was graduating. We needed somebody to replace him, somebody who had experience.

So really we just cast a net and wanted to get somebody that was older that we thought could come in and meet the Big East standards on a team around him that had some other answers.

We recruited several players. We had to obviously convince him to come to Xavier, but we had a great opportunity for him. I think that's the one thing about transfers. You know, what you say you have in terms of opportunity, you really have to have it. What we talked about, him being on a ready-made team, being a point guard, having an opportunity to play big minutes, those are all things that, in fact, we had for him.

Souley is a great kid. The other part of him meshing so well with our team is he is so likable, off the court, in the locker room. He never rubbed anybody the wrong way as if he was here for his own goals and dreams.

I think he will tell you sitting up here that one of the reasons that he came to Xavier is he wanted to be in the tournament. He wanted play in the NCAA Tournament, something he had not done.

The other part that helped us is me coming from the west. I knew Oakland, California. He knew more about me, knew more about our staff, and I think that probably made him more comfortable as well.

Q. In the game yesterday Souley and Adam went at it a little bit there. I asked Souley about it after the game. Do you like that? Do you like that they care that much? How do you feel about that?

SEAN MILLER: Yeah, look, that situation is very easily explained. Two players that saw their career, college career, coming to an end. It's a bad feeling. It brought out raw emotions and competitive spirit in both of them. It was repaired in five minutes, but there's no doubt they care.

You know, we've worked really hard to get to the tournament. When you are in it, you don't want to ever leave, but in particular in the first round. I think that just really was the fight inside of them to play another day.

So I guess to really answer your question, it really didn't affect me at all. I would rather pull guys back than slap them in the butt to speed them up. Those two guys are very mature, older, and I clearly understand their feelings.

So it was really nothing. I know it played itself out on a national stage, but, you know, I think that they're both as happy as any people in Greensboro, North Carolina, to be here.

Q. Speaking of Greensboro, North Carolina, you and your brother, Sean, have had a number of games here in this building. In fact, if memory serves, I think you were part of that State staff that nearly won an ACC Championship here. Any nostalgia at all being back in the Greensboro Coliseum?

SEAN MILLER: You're right. When I think of Greensboro, that's what I think of, the ACC Tournament. Which being that we're playing Pitt is probably not a good thing.

But this has always been a place that it's, like, tournament town. I think I've read that a little bit. The respect of the ACC Tournament and the love of college basketball in this area is second to none. That's what I know.

One of my most vivid memories -- you know, I'm going back into 1997, and, you know, Dean Smith was the coach at North Carolina. We had a bus driver drive us from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Greensboro. You know, not a big, long trip. He was our bus driver, and he is around us for the practices and the games.

We ended up playing Carolina in the ACC Championship. I ended up getting on the bus as a young assistant. Our season was over. They beat us. There was this powder blue car with the doors open, and I kept seeing our bus driver take a Coke, like a Coca-Cola, and put it in the console. He was pacing around.

All of a sudden I saw Coach Smith get in the car, hug him. He shut the door, and he got back on our bus. I remember thinking, man, life is not fair in this area. That was a lesson for a young college coach right there.

That guy probably drove Dean Smith for 30 years, and here we are, have no idea. That's what you think of when you get in Greensboro. Tournament time. College basketball. Really a town that understands it and loves it. We're happy to be here. We've had a great time so far.

Q. Sean, I know you talked about it a little bit already, but what do you remember from that Sweet 16 game the first time you played Pitt in the tournament, and did that loss sting a little extra because it was your alma mater and because you were about to move on to another opportunity?

SEAN MILLER: Yeah, look, I really mean this. Whether we beat Pitt or Pitt beats us, it just stings because your season is over, and you can't advance. There's always storylines. Jamie Dixon happened to be the coach then. I really admire Jamie. I think he is one of the great coaches in our game.

But, you know, what I remember as much as anything is just they moved on and played Villanova, and I believe that became Jay Wright's first Final Four team. We were a play away from playing Villanova for the same thing.

The tournament, why it's so great is if you advance, it's the greatest feeling in the world for all of us; and when you leave, somebody comes in and tells you the time that your plane is going to leave, you almost get kicked out of the tournament.

So each tournament is going to end one way or the other. Most of the time that finality is going to hit you, but that's why we have to survive. That's why we have to be at our best. Really in our case right now, take advantage of our seed and try to be a better team tomorrow than we were yesterday. I think if we are, that's going to give us our best chance.

Q. How challenging is it to maybe prepare for a team like Pitt where they have a new starter in Guillermo Diaz Graham, has come out of nowhere. What have you seen from him, and have you seen this from a freshman just blow up on the NCAA Tournament like this?

SEAN MILLER: No, for sure. We've talked a lot about that with our team. I respect him a great deal, and his brother. The one thing is, they're skilled, but, like, their ability to offensive rebound, playing with great effort, block shots, run hard, play hard, it's impressive.

I think as they and as he gets stronger, you know, he is going to have a very, very bright future. One of the big reasons that Pitt is here is because of his overall play and improved play. So we recognize that, and we've certainly made our team aware of it.

Q. Sean, you made a couple of references the last couple of days about the devastation you feel when you lose in this tournament. How long did it take you to get over that loss, and have you gotten better at it over the years? Because everybody except for one team suffers it every year.

SEAN MILLER: No, I've gotten better at it. I don't want to say I've gotten used to it, but, look, there's only one team that's going to end their season with a win, and I'm sure if you get to the Final Four -- you know, I've been fortunate. I've been in the Elite Eight four times, the round of Sweet 16 seven times. When you get into those two rounds right there, there's a lot at stake. That's what is so special about this game.

This is the game that allows you to get to the next four-team tournament. You know, we want to be at our best. I think every team that plays in this second round feels it, and, again, that's what this tournament -- it captivates everybody.

Last year I watched it without a team, and, you know, it captivated me just watching different teams and storylines. You fall in love with those couple of weeks. Yeah, hopefully we can stick around.

Q. What is it about this group that allows it to share the basketball so well?

SEAN MILLER: Well, we're a very skilled team, and we're also an unselfish group. You know, if you look at our starting five, we might be one of the only teams in the tournament that has five 1,000-point scorers. I mean, Souley has scored I think 2,400 points. Zach Freemantle, who is not with us, is also a 1,000-point scorer.

You know, we have a bunch of different players that can score, but we've been unselfish from day one. Desmond Claude, when Zach was playing with us, certainly Jerome Hunter, they've really bought into the team way. You know, sharing the ball, hitting the first open man.

When we play that style, whether we're really clicking, you know, that's the best version of our offense right there. I think that's -- it's a constant reminder of sharing the ball.

Q. If this is a dumb question, feel free to dismiss me, but in '09 when you guys lost to Pitt, it's only two days. It's not a lot of time, but were you able to watch the game, the Pitt game, against Villanova, and were you pulling for the Panthers hard at that point?

SEAN MILLER: I can't remember. It's like once you get kicked out of the tournament, Mike, it's like you just kind of go dark for a couple of days, you know?

But clearly I would have been pulling for Pitt and Jamie I think as much because of my fondness for him as the place that I went to school.

Q. You seem to be thoroughly enjoying this. Was there a time before you and Xavier reconnected where you thought maybe you would never be back on this stage?

SEAN MILLER: For sure. You know, I didn't know what the future held, I guess a year ago, year and a half ago now.

But grateful for the opportunity. And when given the opportunity, you really want to take advantage of it. You want to deliver. You know, you want to do some of the things that you thought about doing when you no longer had a team.

I think from my perspective, I'm really at peace. A lot of the things that I wanted to do that we wanted to do as a coaching staff, you know, we were able to implement. Being that we're in our first year together, my hope is that those things grow. Playing a style on offense, it's faster. It features a lot of passing and team play. I think something that was going to have to be prevalent in tomorrow's game is our defense has to keep improving as well.

This tournament is special. To not acknowledge it, you just are missing a big part of what you do for a living. I'm really, again, happy to be here and hopeful we can stay, that we can play really well and have a chance to beat a very good Pitt team tomorrow.

Q. Pitt is a team that really enjoys playing out in transition, and they love running and playing fast. What in your opinion is the biggest key to stopping a team that likes to run up and down the floor like that at such a fast rate?

SEAN MILLER: Well, it starts when we have the ball. We have to run great offense. We have to share it, and we cannot turn it over. You know, if you cut down turnovers, you have a better opportunity to get back. And you're right, when you have that much firepower from the perimeter that Pitt does, they're going to be at their best when the ball moves and they're in transition.

We got a dose of that yesterday playing Kennesaw, and we didn't necessarily pass that test throughout the game. You know, a big reason why we found ourselves in trouble is that very thing right there.

End of the first half, we came unglued, had four turnovers. That led to several three-point shots in transition, and I think it was a great test for us to learn from so that when we play Pitt, we can get back.

Getting our defense set is a big deal in tomorrow's matchup.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.