PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 13, 2024

Craig Smith

Cole Bajema

Deivon Smith

Utah Utes

Postgame Press Conference

Utah - 90, Arizona State - 57

CRAIG SMITH: A very good win for us. I thought our guys really competed well. Arizona State beat us the first two times, obviously at their place and then at our place. And so they had our number here a little bit.

But I was proud how we played. Thought we played super connected on both sides of the ball.

Going into the game, number one key, without a doubt, was take care of the ball and sprint back on defense. So I think we shot 70 percent, or right in that area in the first half. So your transition defense is a lot better when the ball goes through the net.

And the first two games, these guys have shot -- 42 percent of their points were from our turnovers and their transition offense. And so I thought we did a really, really good job with that.

Obviously the way we shot the 3, I just thought we played super connected and just made really simple plays and the right play. Basketball, it's not rocket science out there, right? And with their pressure and deny, you've just got to hit the first open man and trust each other.

It really helps when you see the ball go through the hole. We go 12-for-26 from the 3.

And then you flip it, the first two games in the regular season, these guys really, really shot it well against us. And so that was a focus for us, and we were fortunate to be able to hold them to 3-for-19 from the field.

I thought it was a great team effort. I thought all the guys that stepped on the floor really played well. Obviously these two guys were outstanding tonight. It was great to see Branden come out there. It was a tough injury, and obviously he's not over it. But I think that kind of helped us as well as a team and he was able to stick two 3s and just be solid.

A great team win. Just like every team here, they're trying to cut down the nets. And in order to do that you've got to win the first game. And we were able to take care of business tonight.

Q. This felt like maybe one of your most complete games on both sides of the ball. Was there anything that maybe changed after last week that kind of allowed you to be able to have maybe that kind of a performance in this tournament?

CRAIG SMITH: Well, last weekend, I don't want to dwell on last weekend, I thought the Oregon State game, during the last 30 minutes or when we went to our bench, I just thought we kind of weren't great early on -- I thought we played well the second half, but we didn't defend the way we needed to defend. It was really simple. That comes from communication. Obviously mindset, et cetera, et cetera.

Now, you go to the next game against Oregon, we played really, really well. We defended really well. We were very good offensively. I think we had a seven or eight-point lead when Branden went down. But we did a lot of really good things that game in a hard place to win.

So I thought we kind of carried that over. Our guys had a really good week in practice, obviously a short week with two days of prep. Jayden Olsen had the scout for today.

Our guys just had a great mindset. They knew. These guys are competitors. They knew Arizona State had taken care of business against us. But we just had a very determined look to us.

Obviously sometimes when you see the ball go in the hole early and at the rate it was going in, with our team, I think we defend a little bit better. And I don't always want to be that team. We have to be able to guard no matter what, and have energy on that in the floor because when you get to March if you're not guarding it's hard to advance.

But we did, we had a lot of great efforts from a lot of people. And like I told our guys at halftime, I thought our communication was outstanding on both sides of the ball.

Q. What's it meant during the last Pac-12 Tournament at least of this kind.

DEIVON SMITH: It's been special for me because I've only gotten half of the season here with these guys. It's just super special. It's coming to an end quick.

Of course, we're not looking forward to next year yet. Gotta finish what we have here. But it's a special thing. I think we could be special in these last few games, and we have the talent enough to win the championship here. So I think we're ready for whatever.

COLE BAJEMA: What Deivon said, this is my fourth year in the Pac-12, it being the last year, we want to make our mark, end it well and keep advancing.

CRAIG SMITH: It's a historic year and not one that everyone wants to talk about. But I'm a lot older than these guys. Obviously this is Deivon's first year in the league and Cole is a real veteran, growing up in Washington.

So I grew up in Minnesota, but just growing up and I love sports no matter what. And, so, just following the Pac-12 for all these years, it's a bittersweet deal.

But like any year, when you get in the conference tournament play, you want to put your best foot forward, and these guys are young men, and these guys get four to five years. Both these guys will get five years of eligibility. Cole in his fifth year; Deivon in his fourth, if Deivon chooses to play five.

But you only have four or five opportunities in your lifetime to play in March Madness. To play in a conference tournament and win a game or multiple games, these opportunities don't happen very often. But for 18 years of their life or 19 years of their life or 17, they grew up dreaming of playing in this kind of an environment and this kind of facility, a world-class arena, and a big-time conference. So they're magical moments.

Q. Obviously every game in March is important, all big games. Tomorrow you guys get Colorado. How much energy and how much more does it mean to get a game in March in the finals on the line against another fellow mountain school?

CRAIG SMITH: We have a lot of work to do. Obviously tomorrow -- there's four teams in the Pac-12 that went home today and eight teams still alive as we head into tomorrow.

Colorado is really good. We were able to beat them at our place. They really, really handled us really from start to finish at their place. And Tad Boyle has been around this league for a long, long time and he's a very good coach.

Their players, they are very talented. KJ Simpson has played at an elite level all year long. Tristan da Silva has been around the league a long time, can do everything. And they really understand -- J'Vonne Hadley is excellent, Luke O'Brien.

They all understand who they are and what they are. And they play to their identity. And they play tough-nose defense as well. They're a complete team. They've won six or seven or eight in a row. It's a lot in a row. And they, from start to finish, handled us. We've got our work cut out for us. But it's March and anything can happen.

Q. Cole, how much is it easier to get in the flow of your game knowing you at least got one in?

COLE BAJEMA: It definitely helps to see the ball go in your first shot of the game or whatever it is. Kind of gets your confidence going.

But credit to my teammates, especially Deivon. I think nine assists, something like that. He's always out there looking for me. Gabe, Ben, whoever it is, we're all just looking for each other.

That's what we've got to keep doing tomorrow. It's definitely good. But I've got more work to do.

Q. Connectiveness (indiscernible) from the guards, there's a lot of guys that stepped up -- you guys, Hunter, Gabe comes out and scores eight points to start the game. Did you feel that was the most connected that guard lineup has played all season?

COLE BAJEMA: Yeah, kind of what you touched on, I thought Hunter gave us a good spark off the bench. I think hit two 3s pretty early in the first half. It was good for him.

And Deivon was finding them. Gabe got it going a little bit, not necessarily from the 3-point line, but doing other things defensively, looking for other guys and what not. I think we were pretty well connected. Still have to do it tomorrow.

DEIVON SMITH: Me, I think we just have a lot of depth from each and every position. I feel like tonight was -- we have a lot of games where we were really connected, but tonight it really showed, like, from the jump.

We trusted each other, we trusted each other's work. And we had the confidence to pass the ball to whoever it was that was putting the shot up.

And tonight it showed. We shot the ball pretty well and everybody was together. That's what we need to advance.