PLAYERS ERA POWER COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

November 27, 2024

Buzz Williams

MGM Grand Garden Arena

Texas A&M Aggies

Postgame Press Conference

Texas A&M - 77, Creighton - 73

Q. What did you make of the way your team finished, especially in the final seconds of a close game like that?

BUZZ WILLIAMS: Creighton, they just put so much stress on you offensively. A lot of it has to do with your decision on how you're going to guard 11.

I think they're a completely different team with 1. And analytically they're fast. And you watch them and you think fast means in the full court. They're just really fast in the half court.

And 2, 1, 5 is a one-man fast break. 11 is a First-Team All-American in many respects. And then 23's been playing really well.

So, I do think down the stretch we had really good offensive possessions. And then in the middle of the half I thought we were fouling too much. And then I thought we stopped fouling and were able to get consecutive stops and then make good decisions on the other end.

Q. You said the key was stopping Kalkbrenner, 11. I think he only had one basket in the first half, couple in the second half. How did you want to approach defending him?

BUZZ WILLIAMS: So we didn't explain too much to the guys because we didn't know the health of 1. And so we just probably kind of balanced the two -- like, are we going to play the team that played last night or are we going to play the team with 1. I thought our guys handled all of that the right way.

I think their play catalog is a little different when 1's playing, rightfully so. I think 2 is probably more comfortable off the ball. He made big shot after big shot tonight.

It's hard to win when a team scores 24 more points than you from 3. So you have to play with a low turnover rate to have a chance. I thought we did a really good job on the offensive glass to be able to shoot more balls than they did. But I don't think you can guard 11 at the rim one-on-one.

So, so much of what Coach McDermott does, I think he's a savant offensively and probably doesn't get the credit he deserves, but he's constantly manipulating the low man on your second defender guarding 11.

So I know statistically this year they haven't shot it from 3 at the same level as they have in the past. But when they had 1, that's different than the back end of Nebraska and yesterday's game.