NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR

March 19, 2024

Niko Medved

Nique Clifford

Joel Scott

UD Arena

Colorado State Rams

Media Conference

Colorado State - 67, Virginia - 42

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Colorado State.

Q. Coach, your thoughts on the performance here this evening from your group?

NIKO MEDVED: Just a terrific performance, really, on both ends of the floor, from the opening tip. Our guys came with a great edge, great focus, did a great job of playing together on both ends of the floor. And I thought as the game continued to go on, we just continued to be fundamentally sound and tough-minded.

Listen, we felt like we had an opportunity to win here tonight, but that's a Hall of Fame coach over there. That's an incredible program, one that I have an unbelievable amount of respect for. And so I didn't see this coming this way tonight at all.

But I'm pretty pleased. So really pleased with our guys. These two young men -- all our guys -- just brought it tonight and just stayed in the moment. What an incredible win for these guys and our program.

Q. Earlier today, you guys discussed what Virginia's strengths were, their defense. But Coach also implored you to use what he calls your super powers. Don't you feel like being physical is one of those? And how did you prove that tonight?

JOEL SCOTT: Absolutely. I think all year we've been talking about setting the tone physically, whether that be in the paint, whatever we're doing defensively, offensively. I think tonight that really showed up. And I think it needs to carry on for the rest of the tournament or on to the next game at least. I think we just need to keep setting the tone, and keep going, doing our thing.

Q. Also the way you guys played perimeter defense on their two big shooters, did you and Josiah talk about the importance of your role in the defense and how you could hold them down?

NIQUE CLIFFORD: Definitely, those are good players over there. They can really shoot the ball. So we knew their strengths and knew what we had to do. Me ask Josiah have been doing that all year, trying to motivate each other to start the game off right and set the tone defensively, trying to just take guys' strengths away. And I feel like we did that tonight.

Q. Joel, you had your biggest game in your CSU career in the biggest game of your CSU career, but you're not shy to big moments. Obviously Black Hills State, you led them to the Final Four last year in D-II. Did you feel like the lights got brighter tonight, or is it just kind of some of the same?

JOEL SCOTT: Honestly, I think it was just more enjoying the moment. We're on a big stage. Very cool experience. Not everyone gets to do this. And so it's more just enjoying the moment, having fun with it, executing the game plan that the coaches give us, and trusting your teammates and, again, just having fun and going out there and playing your game.

Q. Obviously growing up close to each other in the Pikes Peak area, what does it mean for you both to have the game you did on this stage and representing where you are from on this stage?

NIQUE CLIFFORD: It's pretty cool. It's pretty special to play with guys that you grew up with and see them be successful as well. There's a lot of people back home supporting us and sending their love out this way. So we definitely feel the love over here. And just proud to be able to represent them on the biggest stage.

JOEL SCOTT: Kind of like what Nique says, it's pretty cool playing with people that you grew up playing against, playing with. We've been playing against each other for, I don't remember how long at this point, but him and Javonte.

So it's pretty cool to be able to play with them now and see them do what they're doing. And we're not done yet, and it's exciting. And it's cool to have, like Nique said, the support we have from back home.

Q. There was obviously some surprise with the seedings. Was that any kind of motivation, prove-it-wrong type of factor or mindset for you guys all, or did it not really play in at all?

NIQUE CLIFFORD: We definitely took it a little personal. We felt like we were better than the seed we got, but we were super grateful to be a part of the tournament. Especially to go against a team, like Coach Medved said, that has the history that they do. We were just excited to go against an opponent like that and just be able to prove ourselves and the things that we've been able to do all season.

JOEL SCOTT: Again, pretty much like Nique said, we're excited to be in the tournament. We worked all year to get here. And so to finally be here, play someone like Virginia, it's a special opportunity. So it's super exciting to be here and be where we are.

Q. It felt like it was kind of easy for you guys because they play a slow tempo. Do you think that played to your advantage? And how did it feel to play in the arena in front of a national audience like this?

JOEL SCOTT: I don't think it was easy. I don't think anything against them is easy. I think we executed Coach's game plan the way he wanted us to, which it definitely helped.

But I also just think playing in an arena like this is special. I walked in and just took a moment just to look around and see all the fans that came out to just watch. And it's just a super cool experience, something you dream of as a kid.

NIQUE CLIFFORD: Can you repeat the question one more time.

Q. Just the experience, the arena.

NIQUE CLIFFORD: Like Joel said, it's never easy. They're a really good team, but I feel like we did execute at a high level. Took away their strengths that they're really good at. And then we didn't let them take us out of our game plan. We stuck to what we do and just were confident in it.

Q. Nique, I've watched your career. One of the numbers, besides the shooting numbers, that's jumped out to me is your assist numbers. You had six more today. What do you kind of credit this season for kind of getting that aspect of your game kind of more front and center this year?

NIQUE CLIFFORD: True, credit my teammates for making shots, you know what I'm saying? I wouldn't be able to get assists if they didn't make shots. I just give credit to them. And then the coaches just putting me in perfect situations to be able to make plays and distribute the ball.

Q. Were you almost as impressed with just how persistent your team was, not just offensively and waiting to get the shot you wanted, but defensively in continuing to apply pressure?

NIKO MEDVED: One of the things we talked about -- and, again, I don't want to keep gushing about Tony and his team -- but they're one of the slowest, if not the slowest-playing team offensively in the country. But if you look at us, we're one of the top two in the country on defensive tempo, meaning we force teams to play late in the shot clock.

Like I told our guys, that's nothing new for us; that's what we do every day. We're not afraid to guard for long periods of time in the half court. So I think we felt comfortable in those situations defensively.

So our guys, I thought, stayed really, really disciplined, communicated well. And our mindset tonight is we just wanted to grind out possessions, just grind it out on both ends of the floor, because that's the kind of game that it was.

I think that's something that we practiced. And we had that mindset. And I thought our guys executed it beautifully.

Q. I think they went scoreless for about almost 14 minutes, it was, like, an hour of real time. What kind of went into that from your end? And what does that do to an opponent when it's that long without scoring in a big game?

NIKO MEDVED: They're used to doing that to opponents. They've kind of made a living on doing that. Again, as you say that, I didn't realize that. At the time it was just our guys did a great job I thought of challenging shooters, defeating screens, helping appropriately in the lane, helping the helper. When they got into the paint we did a great job of challenging without fouling, and we held them to one shot for the most part.

So that's a pretty good recipe right there. We tried to make them take difficult shots. I thought for the most part we were able to do that.

Q. Over your three wins in the last week, it's been different guys. It hasn't been Isaiah Stevens leading the charge. It's been Jalen Lake, Joe Palmer. Tonight it was Nique and Joel. How important is it to get those guys going, not just last week, but heading into this tournament, especially when Zay hasn't played his best.

NIKO MEDVED: It's huge, and we talked a lot about trusting our training and trusting ourselves. And, again, you look at our team and what have been some of our strengths, and it's been this for a while -- high assists, low turnovers.

We're one of the top teams in the country in assist rates. What's that mean? Our baskets come off assisted field goals. And that's sharing the ball, playing to the next guy.

And against this team, if you want to try to play one-on-one against Virginia you've got no chance. And our guys bought into that. I explained to them today at shoot-around, I said, it's not about getting frustrated at all if you're not getting a shot or you're not getting averages. We just play the way we want to play.

It ended up being certain guys tonight. Nique did a great job of driving closeouts, getting in the lane, attacking when they loaded.

Obviously Isaiah draws a ton of attention. But he didn't panic at all. He just played the right way, like he does. And obviously Joel Scott got it going inside. Just a tremendous job by our guys, just playing the way we wanted to play.

Q. Curious, your defense on Beekman, it was very solid. Did it help that the outside guys weren't hitting shots to allow you to do sort of a little bit of packing it in yourselves?

NIKO MEDVED: Of course. Beekman is just a terrific player on both ends of the ball. Tremendous amount of respect watching his game throughout the year, and we were able to do a good job of trying to stay in front of him or keep a chest in front of him in the lane.

They did miss some good looks, but I also thought we did a really good job of challenging shooters. I thought we did a good job of closing out and making it difficult on those guys.

But he's such a good player. When he put the ball on the floor in the lane, we didn't step up too early and over-help because he's such an elite passer. If you do that, he's going to find the open guy. Try to make him a finisher as best we could. He's good at that, too. But it ended up over the long run paying off for us.

Q. After the Selection Show Sunday, you kind of addressed the room and said, a lot of these teams in these play-ins kind of create momentum and go on big runs. Could tonight have gone any more perfectly for kind of building that foundation for potential momentum heading into...

NIKO MEDVED: I'll tell you what, hard to imagine tonight going any better for us. But I'm just so proud of our guys, the way they've handled the last 48 hours. It's just been incredible, the preparation, the travel, the mentally having to from Selection Sunday to now. They've just done a beautiful job, and their mindset is just thankfulness, grateful to be here. Playing the greatest tournament in the world.

I told the guys today, listen, only 9 percent of the teams get an at-large bid. It's pretty special to do that. So let's go play. We did tonight. We're excited to go to the next one. Get on a plane to Charlotte here and get ready for Texas Thursday.