NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT: UTAH VALLEY VS UAB

March 28, 2023

Aziz Banaogo

Mark Madsen

Trey Woodbury

Orleans Arena

Utah Valley Wolverines

Semi Finals Postgame Press Conference

UAB 88, Utah Valley 86

MARK MADSEN: I'm incredibly proud of our entire locker room of players. Obviously we have Trey Woodbury here, and Aziz, but I'm incredibly proud of every man in the locker room, every manager that's part of our organization.

This team has great players, players that work. And they just completed the best basketball season in UVU school history so I wanted to celebrate the players and the job they have done. We fell a little bit short tonight but just the fight, the energy and the enthusiasm out there was incredible. So with that we can open it up for questions.

Q. You dodged a bullet at the end of regulation, had a couple of looks at the rim. What was your thoughts watching your team battle through the ending minutes?

MARK MADSEN: The message was continue to chip away offensively, and continue to get stops defensively. You have to give UAB a lot of credit. Their players made a few more plays than we did tonight.

There's probably a time-out or two I should have taken to help organize our team a little bit better. I told our players that.

But in terms of the defensive energy, in terms of the ball movement, we didn't get the result we wanted but I was incredibly happy with the effort and the fight and the determination.

Q. Coach Kennedy said that their game plan was to be disruptive. That halfcourt trap seemed to give you some trouble. Can you talk about how well they did with that and what your efforts were to try and beat it?

MARK MADSEN: Yeah, they changed their defense multiple times. It disrupted us a little bit. They blitzed the ball screens. They went zone. They went man. They went matchup zone. You know, Coach Kennedy does an outstanding job at UAB. He and I have interacted a few years ago on some transfer portal related situations and he's a class act. He's built and he's building UAB into a powerhouse, so those are some thoughts there.

Q. Trey you've been part of the team for a while and tonight you're down four with 12 seconds and you have the ball in your hand with a 70-footer for a chance to win. What's that like, the never give up mentality and putting it on display one more time here?

TREY WOODBURY: Yeah, I thought I could hit it but it didn't go in, so I don't know. I just -- yeah, I'm just proud of the guys, and like you said, to the buzzer, we thought we could win it and we just continued to fight, so I'm just proud of the guys for that.

Q. Aziz, they took it to you at the beginning of the game. What did you feel about your teammates to come back and stay in it and not lose sight of the game early?

AZIZ BANDAOGO: I was trying to give my best to give everything I got to the team. Yeah, I think we just didn't make it out but I think we fought.

TREY WOODBURY: I'm just extremely proud of everybody, including Aziz, man. Everybody just fought. That's why we're going to keep our heads high and that's why we are going to remain positive. We fought to the end and had several chances to win. Again, I'm just proud of everybody.

Q. With hurry history in Las Vegas and in this arena specifically, did this game have a different meaning for you?

TREY WOODBURY: Yes, just because of how much this team means to me and how much this run has meant to me. So definitely feel like it was the biggest game of my career so far in terms of importance, just because of those things, how much I love these guys and how much I appreciated this team and just this run that we've been on. So it definitely meant a lot, yeah.

Q. I know it stings to lose, always you want one more game but as you think what have this team accomplished this year as a group, what does that mean, kind of big picture, because obviously it means a lot to the program and to the university.

AZIZ BANDAOGO: I mean -- go.

TREY WOODBURY: For me it means everything. Like I said, this is my favorite team I've ever played on. These are my favorite guys I've ever played with. I'm just extremely grateful for these coaches and these players believing in me and giving me a chance to lead them this year, and it was an unbelievable season and run.

MARK MADSEN: I would just say, to me, the game is all about the players. The game is all about the players, and what you see with Trey Woodbury, the leadership, the lead by example, the vocal, the vocal aspect of his game, it has been an honor to coach him. It has been a huge impact on this season, on the university.

The seniors really set a tone: Tim Fuller, his contribution; and Aziz as a newcomer, to come from obviously Akron but ultimately from Senegal, to learn English as well as he has to be -- Aziz, he's a big man that has a point guard mentality. You should hear him in our shoot-arounds. He's noticing nuances that a lot of players do not notice, and he's communicating that to the coaches and communicating that to teammates. And he has an unbelievable career ahead of him, as does Trey Woodbury as does every man in our locker room, on the court and off.

Q. Coaching one of the biggest games in UVU history while trying to balance life-altering things back home, how have you been able to balance that?

MARK MADSEN: Well, we're expecting our fourth child any minute, any hour, any day. And you know, Hannah is three or four days overdue now, and this is the joy of our life is our kids. The joy of my life as well is our team. I kind of made a deal with the guys. I said once she goes overdue, I'm not going to be gone at nights. These players have been incredibly understanding. I flew in this morning at 7:00 a.m. But this is a player-led team. This is a player-led team. They allowed me to do that and gave me that flexibility. No baby yet but hopefully we'll have a baby soon.