NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: REGIONAL SEMIFINAL - MICHIGAN STATE VS KANSAS STATE

March 23, 2023

Jerome Tang

Markquis Nowell

Ismael Massoud

Keyontae Johnson

Madison Square Garden

Kansas State Wildcats

Sweet 16 Postgame Media Conference

Kansas State 98, Michigan State 93 (OT)

JEROME TANG: Hey, first of all, I just want to thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ. I'm just telling you, I would not be where I'm at right now if it wasn't for his faithfulness in my life and guidance. And every one of these guys up here, their faith is important to them. It doesn't matter what their faith is, but it's important to them and guides their life.

And I see it in their work ethic, I see it in how they treat people off the court, and I hope y'all saw the love that they have for each other, the joy with which they play and the freedom that they're allowed to be out there and play. I'm just really, really thankful I get to yell at them in practice one more day. We just get to spend another day and dap each other up, all little things that really matter. I'm just so thankful for that.

Q. Markquis, could you put into words what tonight was like for you, a New York City guy to play that way in your hometown?

MARKQUIS NOWELL: Man, I just want to give all the honor and glory to the man himself for giving me this platform to showcase my talents and my gifts. But today was a special one, man. I've got to give a lot to credit to my teammates for battling, for fighting through adversity when we was down.

I can't even explain how I'm feeling right now. I just know that I'm blessed and I'm grateful.

Q. Markquis and Jerome, on the reverse alley-oop play, was that a fake call you guys were doing? What was going on there?

MARKQUIS NOWELL: I mean, it was just a basketball play between me and Keyontae. We knew how Michigan State plays defense. They play high up, and Keyontae just told me, we got eye contact, and he was like, lob, lob. I just threw it up, and he made a great play.

Q. Have you ever made that many assists?

MARKQUIS NOWELL: No, this is probably my career high in assists ever. I had a couple games with 14, a couple games with 17 back in high school. But this one was special, in front of my hometown, in front of the city that loves me. I can't even put into words how blessed and grateful I am.

Q. Running down the court it looked like you yelled, "this is my city" a time or two.

ISMAEL MASSOUD: Yeah, it is.

Q. I wonder if you could describe the pain you were in and what it took to get back into the game at that moment and if you could speak to what it meant when he came back in.

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: I mean, it means a lot. He's our starting point guard. His IQ, his feel for the game, he brings everybody confidence, and when he came back, I felt like it just -- everybody seen how he was trying to fight through his injury, and we just wanted to fight back for him.

MARKQUIS NOWELL: I just wanted to do it for my teammates. I love being out there with these guys, and I wasn't going to let a little injury like this that happens on the basketball court all the time to stop me from playing in the Sweet 16 and advancing to the Elite 8.

But man, got to give credit to my teammates for holding it down when I was out and for battling.

Q. Ish, have you ever played in the Garden before and what's it like to have your biggest game of the season in your home city?

ISMAEL MASSOUD: This is my first time playing in the Garden, and it's surreal. I first want to say Happy Ramadan to all the Muslims out there that are fasting, and I wish for nothing but blessings the rest of the month. It's really credit to God, credit to my teammates. They got the belief in me to find me and get me shots and all I had to do was knock it down. It's surreal. I don't think it's hit me yet, but it's praise to God, praise to my teammates, praise to my coaching staff. I'm just blessed.

Q. Keyontae and Markquis, you guys had a tremendous amount of success getting into the lane and getting them on the baseline, not just the lob to Keyontae, but you hit a three in the first half and you also got a lot of back doors. Was that a goal of yours, something you saw during the game you saw you could take advantage of?

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: Michigan State, they do a lot of ball watching. Key has always told when he drives, just keep cutting. He's going to look for me. And the IQ, the feel that we have for each other, it just showed today.

MARKQUIS NOWELL: To piggy-back off what Keyontae said, give credit to Michigan State. They played a tremendous game on the offensive end and defensive end. It was like a Rocky fight tonight. We was going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And some guys made some big-time plays, so I want to give credit to Tom Izzo and Michigan State.

Q. A couple people said before the alley-oop to Keyontae, you looked at the crowd and said, "watch this." Can you confirm or deny that?

MARKQUIS NOWELL: Dang, I've got to watch what I say. Yeah, I was talking to Isaiah Thomas because I think he had a friend over there, and he was rooting for them. And I'm like, y'all not going to win today, and I just kept looking at him for some added motivation. But it was nothing but cool vibes with them over there.

Q. What did you see today? 19 assists, you had 14 against Montana State in the first round. What are you seeing in this tournament with your teammates coming to the basket, things like that?

MARKQUIS NOWELL: I mean, I'm just trying to get my teammates involved because a lot of guys on the team could do different things. And we're at our best when we're sharing the ball, passing the ball around the perimeter and different guys is getting into double figures in the scoring category.

Credit to my teammates. I wouldn't have 19 assists if they didn't make any shots. So credit to Ish, Keyontae, David, Nae'Qwan, everybody that played today for allowing me to have this career high in assists.

Q. Ish, you've come through in big moments like this all season. Can you explain what gives you the confidence and why you're able to make these clutch shots throughout the season?

ISMAEL MASSOUD: For one, I just try and take every shot one at a time, one shot at a time. I try and think of what's important, I try and take everything play-by-play and just be ready whenever the moment comes, because of the work I put in and the work -- the faith and trust my teammates have in me to come to me in those moments. So it's really just a combination of all those things.

Q. Keyontae, your comeback story has been told throughout the season, and there's been some emphasis on the money you left on the table in order to be here and to bet on yourself. I'm curious what tonight is like, playing on this stage, in this arena, winning this game in this fashion. What is it like for you to be here like this?

KEYONTAE JOHNSON: It's a blessing, just I always say that, God gave me a second chance. I'm just out here taking advantage of it, just having fun. I wanted to get the win with my guys, all my teammates from New York. So that was a big part of my goal today, and just keep it going. I've never been to Houston, so my motto is try to get to Houston and just keep this going really.

Q. Everybody is talking about the offense, the 19 assists and the all-time record, but I've got to talk about the defense. How many times did they pick the pockets of these great guards or your guards outplayed -- is that possible to say, outplayed their guards, and they have some very good guards. Defensively what was the mindset coming in? What kind of freedom and confidence do you provide for them?

JEROME TANG: We've caused a lot of turnovers all year long. And Michigan State is a low-turnover team, and we really just wanted to turn it into a one-on-one game because Coach Izzo runs such great actions. Our guys happened to make some plays.

All that reaching and stuff, we put them at the free-throw line a lot, too.

They have really good guards, and we have really good guards, and it showed tonight.

Q. Jerome, Markquis Nowell obviously had 19 assists, but as a coach when you're game planning for your offense, how much does having a guard like Markquis and knowing that he can see so much of the court help?

JEROME TANG: Well, what really helps is that all 10 eyes on the defense have to pay attention to him, and that's what allows everybody else to get open.

It's not just that he sees it, but they all have to pay attention to him when he has the ball in his hands.

Q. What does it mean to get to the regional final?

JEROME TANG: I mean, it means I get to spend a few more days with our guys. It's a huge accomplishment. This thing is hard. It's hard to do.

Man, when it happens, you just have to really embrace it and enjoy it and not -- like take a moment. We've got to take a moment and just really soak this thing in before we move on to the next thing.

Now, the next thing is really huge, whoever we have to play, but we're kind of just taking everything 1-0 every day and every aspect of the day. I'm really thankful for the opportunity.

Q. Coach, what were you thinking when Markquis hobbled off the court and you saw Michigan State with that 9-2 run while he was out? Is that the fastest you've ever put a player back in the game?

JEROME TANG: (Laughing) No, we've probably had a couple others where we got guys back in pretty quick. But when I saw Markquis go down and hobble off, I knew he wasn't staying off. That dude didn't come here to be injured on his last college game, so I knew he was coming back in. We get guys hurt at practice all the time, but we have to move on to the next thing. And every guy in the huddle said, next man up, let's go. And then everybody responded.

Q. Coach, I was wondering how you foster such a team in a room full of creativity and fun. This team looks like they play with a lot of fun between the no-look passes, Markquis was taking threes from the logo at two minutes left in the game. How do you foster that creativity and fun and the passion these guys play with?

JEROME TANG: You know, they've all played this game for a really long time, and they all see the game a certain way. My job is not to make them see it the way I want it played. My job is to figure out how they play best and then put them in an environment where they can do that.

So they know I have confidence in them. I know they want to win.

Any shot or play that's made is never made that they're trying to do something to hurt the team. They're trying to help the team. We only had eight turnovers today, so I'd rather them shoot from the logo than turn the ball over.

Q. In a world of football, the Big 12 has been trying to brand itself also as a basketball conference. Would you agree that it's a basketball conference?

JEROME TANG: Yeah, I think we've been a basketball conference. The last four years we've had the No. 1 rating, and this year I thought we had 10 teams in our league that could play in the NCAA Tournament. This is not new. The last two national champions have been from our conference.

If it wasn't for COVID, I think it would have been the last three. And even if you back up one, Texas Tech losing in overtime, it could have been four in a row. We're the best basketball conference in the country, and the coaches in our league are Hall-of-Famers, and I'm just thankful to be even associated with any of them.

Q. You touched on it before, your players in the huddle when Markquis went down, their message to each other was next man up. My question is what was your message for them and who do you think stepped up during that period where Markquis was rehabbing and getting back into the rhythm on the back?

JEROME TANG: Yeah, my message was next man up, we've been here before. This happened, we move on. I feel like collectively they came together and tried to figure it out.

Q. What did you tell your team before that last defensive play in the overtime?

JEROME TANG: Get a stop. You know, we tried to align the match-ups so that when they set screens and we switched, we had more size on their guards. Because they did a good job of getting downhill and then shooting over the top of our smaller guards. But Cam did a great job of getting the deflection and then somebody else got one. And when that ball was bouncing around and not in their hands, it played in our favor.