NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - PRINCETON VS MISSOURI

March 18, 2023

Dennis Gates

DeAndre Gholston

D'Moi Hodge

Ben Sternberg

Tre Gomillion

Golden 1 Center

Missouri Tigers

Media Conference

Princeton 78, Missouri 63

THE MODERATOR: We have the Missouri Tigers.

Coach, let's start with you. Tough game, obviously. What did you see from your perspective?

DENNIS GATES: Well, I credit Mitch Henderson and his group. They did an outstanding job not just in our game, even the previous game.

But they made some shots. They did some great things. But I love my group. We're not judged by one game. I adamantly will continue to say that. But we definitely got to credit our opponents for an outstanding game that they played.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Dre and D'Moi, what were they doing defensively that it seemed to make it so difficult on you, especially in the first half?

DEANDRE GHOLSTON: Like Coach Gates said, they're a great team, they have a great game plan. I believe they were packing the lane, not allowing us to drive and kick and get shots for a guy like D'Moi Hodge.

They had a good game plan. Block the lane, stop penetration early. It helped them out.

Q. Tre, Coach Gates said the other day he sees a lot of himself as a player in you. What do you do on the bench that you go out there and what makes you want to be there for these guys as more of a coach? Is there coaching in your future?

TRE GOMILLION: Just doing anything I can to help the guys since I can't suit up and play. I feel like me being able to do that is the most unselfish thing I can do for this team.

As far as coaching in the future, the future will tell. Who knows.

Q. Dennis, you were speaking before about this is not about one game. Is it too early to have perspective on the whole season, what you achieved, the broader feeling of what this team has meant to you?

DENNIS GATES: Well, when it comes down to reflection, I've always appreciated my guys from the very, very beginning of our conversations and journey. They've done a tremendous job. They've done everything that I've asked them to do. They've done even more, right?

What they've been able to do together is 20 years from now we'll look back, 10 years now from we'll look back, five years from now we'll look back and see how important it was what they've done.

I appreciate every last one of our players, every last one of our staff members, but more importantly I appreciate our campus leadership -- Desiree Reed-Francois, our athletic director, President Mun Choi, board of curators -- for giving me an opportunity.

But these guys gave me everything that I could ask of them. That's what I'm most thankful for.

Q. Coach, you made mention of respect for Princeton, what they did, but what it says overall that not just in this game but throughout this tournament the parity of college basketball has obviously changed over time.

DENNIS GATES: Well, there's always been a great tournament. I just think it has been a tournament not just when you look at parity, but when you look at expansion talks. The NCAA tournament has always expanded, if you look at the history of it.

I truly believe a lot of good teams have been left out. If you look at the NIT, if you look at even those teams that's in Ivy League. We were fortunate enough to play Penn, who was a pre-season favorite. We were fortunate enough to watch as much Princeton as we could. I've seen several good teams in that conference that could very well be in the NCAA tournament.

All I'm saying is the big picture, it's probably time for expansion. There has been talks about it. That's a good program that we played. Several teams, even Vanderbilt from our conference, were left out. You have to understand several teams in other conferences have done the same.

When it comes to parity, I think when you look at expansion, it's probably time to.

Q. Dennis, what makes Princeton so good? As you prepared for this game, what jumped out at you? As the game unfolded, what allowed them to separate themselves?

DENNIS GATES: Yeah, that's a great question.

I think what stood out was the same things that stood out before: they're a good team with great players, first and foremost. They're here because they've earned that right over a period of time.

They do a great job of execution on both ends. They've done a great job individually from the time of getting and knocking down open shots. They made a lot of shots this evening. Some were tough.

We were able to get the lead one time. We held the lead for 30 seconds in the entire game. Every time we got the lead or when they had the lead, we cut it to six, they came back down and did what a good team would do: make a shot or make a play.

It just wasn't our day to make those plays or make the same shots. But I'm proud of my players. I'm proud of our program. It's not the outcome we wanted. But my hat is off to Princeton. The path they're on, earning a bid to the Sweet 16. Coach Henderson wasn't able to do that as a player. He lost that game after they defeated UCLA. I think they lost to Mississippi State. To be able to take that next step in his career from a coaching perspective, I have nothing but respect for him.

He had his guys prepared. I had my guys prepared. They were the better team today.

Q. D'Moi, you feeling okay? You hit your head pretty hard. How tough was it to watch and not be out there trying to make a comeback?

D'MOI HODGE: Obviously when I fell, my team started playing well. It wasn't a factor that I wasn't in the game. I feel like we did some good stuff during that stretch to cut the lead down.

Obviously they made shots. I mean, they're a good team. They made some wide-open threes. I commend my team for holding it down, holding it while I was on the bench.

Q. All four of you guys, you've only been at Mizzou for a year, but how do you want your time there to be remembered?

BEN STERNBERG: I just want to be remembered as a group of guys who loved each other on and off the court. We were together every day at the crib, in the gym obviously. Not only that, but we want to be known as, like, the steppingstone for Coach. Coach, obviously it's his first year. We want him to create the culture here. Now the teams to come will follow us.

D'MOI HODGE: I'll piggyback on what Ben said. Building the culture.

Going to Mizzou wasn't a hard decision for me, especially playing for Coach at Cleveland State. Just building the foundation of what we know he can be and what his goals are was really good.

The Mizzou fans backing us and having faith in us to come in here and do what we do means a lot for the Columbia community. I thank them for embracing me and my team.

I appreciate Mizzou for that.

TRE GOMILLION: Same thing: laying a foundation, building that culture back in Columbia, getting those fans back involved.

But just doing things we did. We weren't supposed to be here at all in the first place. We were only supposed to make it to the semifinals of the SEC.

I mean, at the end of the day we lost today, but we have a lot to be proud of. So I'll say that.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you.