PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 14, 2024

Dana Altman

Jermaine Couisnard

N'Faly Dante

Oregon Ducks

Postgame Press Conference

Oregon - 68, UCLA - 66

DANA ALTMAN: It was a good game. Really fortunate. Mick does such a good job and messing things up and really getting after ya.

We were really tight the first half. Guys want to win and they're a little nervous. And we just didn't execute anything and kind of got sped up that first half.

I thought the second half we gained our composure, played a lot better until the last four minutes. We just had a decent look at a couple of shots, but then the turnover right there and Dante's turnover where everybody collapsed on him so hard, we just gotta get the ball moving there.

So we had a couple of bad turnovers there that allowed them to get back into the game.

But it's tournament time. We did things you have to do. We were down five at half on the boards and we ended up winning by one, so we outrebounding them by six in the second half.

We went 10-for-12 at the free-throw line. Those are things you have to do in tournament situations.

Again, it's not as smooth as what we wanted. We would have liked to play a little better the first half, definitely a little better the last four minutes.

But, again, we had two freshmen out there at times. And our defense -- it's been a problem. We made some defensive mistakes the first half, which I thought allowed them to get some really good looks.

I thought the second half we did a much better job with our switches on the perimeter and getting over some flare picks they were trying to get for Andrews.

But he's a really good player. And we didn't know if he could score enough to beat us. We wanted to try to take Bona out. We wanted to try to take their bigs, no lobs, no lift 3s, and just see if he could hit enough 2s. And he dang near did.

But that was our plan. And to not give up the lobs or the lift 3s and make them take 2s with hopefully a little contest. But Andrews is a really good player. I thought some of them were contested. I thought he did a great job of hitting some tough shots.

Q. You've talked all year about Dante's ability to draw fouls. How much do you feel that impacted today's game?

DANA ALTMAN: I was really disappointed the first six minutes. We didn't throw him the ball, everybody was taking 3 -- but he was the one who was taking them. We rushed. Everybody did. Jermaine rushed one. Jackson rushed one. Bam had to take one. KJ took two before Dante ever touched the ball.

We just went brain dead there where we were supposed to throw the ball. Dante, he's a good teammate, he didn't say nothing. We gotta throw him the ball. So that's bad coaching. We jack up six 3s before he even touches the ball.

Again, he's 8-for-11. We drew, what, 11 fouls, am I close there -- 10, 11 fouls? And, I mean, they've been physical with him all year, and he just keeps fighting it. And they doubled and tripled him that last possession there. He probably didn't make a good read there, but he made some good reads on double teams.

We got Jackson for a little layup. I can't remember who else. We had a couple of good cuts there where we got a couple easy layups off of double teams.

Again, he's first-team all-conference for a reason. He's a phenomenal player. I've talked about him because I believe in him. He fights through adversity. He's our leader. These two guys, they want to win. They're both seniors. They want to win so bad.

Like I said, we were a little tight to come out, and I think that was just freshmen being freshmen, but these two guys wanting to win so bad that we just came out a little on edge. So, we're going to have to come out a lot better against Arizona tomorrow.

Q. Going off that, how do you think the momentum from Dante's efficient offensive performance will help the team going into the game against Arizona?

DANA ALTMAN: Well, they're good inside, and they're big. With Ballo and Johnson. And Dante is going to have to play well, but he always has. You look at his game in/game out, he hasn't had many duds. So he'll be there to play.

And the rest of the guys gotta step up. I'm not talking about just offensively, I'm talking about on the boards. I'm talking about defensively. We've got to have some of our guys step up, be a little better.

KJ's gotta finish that dunk. You've got to get a couple more rebounds. Jackson, gotta be strong with the ball and talk more defensively. Brennan has got to be "Go get boards." It's on all of us.

Kario, Bam, we're riding these two guys. It's a team sport. Everybody's got to produce. Can't look at Dante and go get every rebound and throw the ball inside and everybody watch him and see if he scores. And we've done too much of that.

And, again, that's my fault because I just want to do it. Those guys want to be more aggressive. I just haven't demanded it. I'm too nice of a guy. (Laughter) isn't that right?

JERMAINE COUISNARD: Yes, sir.

Q. Jermaine, your shoulder seemed to be really bothering you at some points, I think. The officials even called a timeout on your behalf at one point. How does it feel now and any concern going forward?

JERMAINE COUISNARD: I'm ready, ready for tomorrow.

N'FALY DANTE: From Indiana. (Indiscernible) on him.

Q. Jermaine, was there anything Dana said specifically about getting the ball inside at halftime in the locker room?

JERMAINE COUISNARD: Yeah, even on the court when I pulled up, just knowing the game of basketball. If you just go back to the game that we just had, he's been great in the paint. Like he said, he's been playing well the whole season, since he came back. It's on us establishing scoring the ball in the paint and then it will open it up for us as well.

Q. Dante, what do you see during that stretch when you had a few baskets inside and you found Jackson? What are you seeing when they're doubling you, looking for guys cutting? What are you seeing in that stretch?

N'FALY DANTE: It's a team sport. I just gotta find someone open -- if there's two people guarding me someone will be open. That was it and I just hit him.

We've been working on this all year long. It's not something new for us. As long as we all cut or move for each other, great look for us.

Q. You talked about getting Oquendo and Rigsby going. How do you think Oquendo impacted the game today?

DANA ALTMAN: He had some really good looks and knocked down, what, one or two 3s? 2-for-6. I was teasing him in there, his legs -- didn't get the ball above the rim; those last two he was wide open.

No, I thought he gave us a lift. I thought Brennan gave us a lift the second half. I thought the first half, like the rest of our guys, were just kind of out there. Got off to a terrible start just not executing anything, not talking defensively.

It's Bam's first tournament with us, Kario's tournament, Jackson with us, KJ with us. Not that I was expecting that we would come out -- I told the guys, the first 10 minutes we've got to get our legs.

UCLA won a game. They played pretty good. They shot it really good against Oregon State. First 10 minutes now we've just got to hold surf. And it happened that way.

So, again, we need those guys to play their hearts out. We need Brennan, Kario, Bam, KJ, they've got to -- Mo. Mo gave us good moments. Mo was energetic. But those guys gotta give us good minutes.

Q. N'Faly, on that 9-0 run, and then you make that hook shot on the baseline -- you were extended away from the rim a little bit -- what was your confidence level as that shot left your hand? And what did it mean to make that shot in that moment given the clock, given that they were on such an extended run and threatening to take the lead?

N'FALY DANTE: We're so part of that, me and Jermaine and KJ and Mo and Coop, we all start practice with that. As soon as I get it, I just go for it. Glad it went in.

DANA ALTMAN: Some good downs.

Q. You mentioned you felt a little tight, the guys were a little tighter. Did that have anything to do with your guys' backs being against the wall as far as needing to win this game to get into the NCAA Tournament?

DANA ALTMAN: We know that. And that's part of it. Those two guys, they're winners, they want to compete and go to the tournament. So we know what's in front of us. We know Arizona's good basketball team. I can't sugarcoat that. They beat us twice. We'll have to play our tails off.

So there's pressure on them, and they know it. But, again, we know the position we're in. We know the position we put ourselves in. We've got to swing away and try to make something happen tomorrow against a really good team, a team that might be a 1 seed, 2 seed in the tournament. And I think they're ranked in the top five, top 10 whatever they are. We know the live play.

To answer your question, yeah, we were tight. When you know you've got to win and you've got to win three games -- I kept telling them, don't worry about the second one. There's no second one if you don't get the first one.

And we had success in the tournament thinking that way at times. And so just really proud of the guys for finding a way in the second half.

I thought we really regained our composure. And even though the shots didn't fall the second half, we had some really good looks at 3s. Ran a two-fade for him, and I thought that was going to go.

Like I said, Kario had some really good looks. On nights you don't shoot it well again, 4-for-20. We hit our free throws. We outrebounded them the second half. You find a way. And just hope like hell we shoot better tomorrow. We have to hit some shots.

Q. What was your message to the team at halftime? You guys are down by five. What was the main thing you told them at halftime to kind of flip this thing around?

DANA ALTMAN: I was really calm. Fellows, we didn't play well, we're down five. We didn't shoot it well. We didn't play well. We didn't shoot free throws well. We didn't talk on defense and we're down five. Got lots of time here but we're going to have to execute some things. We're going to have to get some stops. We're going to have to play better. We can't be down five on the boards.

Second-chance points at halftime, we're down five, it's 7-2. The difference in the game was those three offensive rebounds they got for seven points. Two 2-pointers and a 3-pointer on the second shot. 7-2 second-chance points. That's the five points we were down. We were down five rebounds at half.

We've got to get the rebounding under control. We've got to execute some things. We've got to go to Dante. Those are the things we've got to do. If we do those things, get the rebounding straightened out, go to Dante, we're going to win the game. If we don't do those things, they're going to stay after you.

They're a very competitive team. They're a very well-coached team. We'll have trouble. We'll have to get control of the boards and get control defensively and quit making so many mistakes, and we're going to have to offensively go to Dante. We did a little better job in each area. Not great. But a little better in each area and found a way to win.

Like I said, if it wouldn't have been those two turnovers in the last four minutes, I think we would have been in pretty good shape.

Q. About the pace of the game. It was pretty up and down the two times you played Arizona. USC tried to slow it down a little bit and had good/bad results depending on the team. How do you look at that? Do you think it's a team you want to run with or try to get into a lower possession game?

DANA ALTMAN: Their half court defense is really good. I don't like commenting on other teams, but if you take Arizona's defense this year compared to last year, I think it's a lot better. I don't know what KenPom says. But their activity is pretty good.

If you don't push it at all and let them set their defense every time, I think they're pretty good in the half court.

So I think they can play a lot of different ways, and so it's just a matter of how the flow goes. We gave up a lot of points at both places. I think 83 at our place and more than that at their place.

So we're going to have to do a better job defensively. And I'm not sure -- like you said, we can't walk down and just let them set up their defense every time. We'll have to get some transition.

But they're a little deeper than us, and we gotta be careful about just getting into a shooting contest with them.

So we're going to have to bring our A game. A lot of times you go, okay, we don't have to play our best. We're going to have to play good. Shoot it good. Have to rebound good. Have to be sharp defensively. We're going to have to play really good. And they've proven that two times. One at our place, one at their place. Can't sugarcoat it. We're going to have to play really good.

The guys know that. They know they're going to have to bring it. So it's a challenge, but it's what we got ourselves into, and so we just gotta be ready for it. But I know these two guys will bring it. I've got no doubts about them, and we've got to have all the other guys ready to go. But I've got no doubts, these two will bring it.