PLAYERS ERA POWER COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

November 30, 2024

Greg McDermott

Jamiya Neal

MGM Grand Garden Arena

Creighton Bluejays

Postgame Press Conference

Creighton - 80, Notre Dame - 76

GREG McDERMOTT: It's a gutsy win, especially when you consider the circumstances. This team's dealt with a lot of adversity the last week, and it's not easy to fix things when they go wrong when you're away from home for three games. You can't get into your routine. You can't get your extra shots up.

Then to show up to the game and find out Kalkbrenner is not playing and Pop's really sick. We had to have some guys step up. Jamiya really stepped up in a big way obviously on both ends of the floor. I thought he did a great job on Davis and then offensively made some plays for himself and plays for other people that we felt he's capable of making.

Then all those guys off the bench from Jasen to Ty to Isaac to Mason and Shane. Fred hadn't played a lot. He answered the bell with a pretty efficient game.

Really proud of them, extremely proud of them, because it would have been easy to show up here early in the morning and find out two of your teammates probably aren't playing and hang your head, and these guys were up for the challenge.

Q. Coach, the way you had to mix and match with the five today, discuss a little bit about the play of Jasen Green and Isaac Traudt.

GREG McDERMOTT: It's another example, some guys might be better for Jackson; some games might be better for Isaac. I thought Mason gave us some good run. Saw some open shots, saw one finally go down, which we needed to do.

But I thought Isaac's physicality today was going to be important on the backboards, and he's just got a little more experience than Jackson.

We felt Jasen could be a mismatch at the rim with some of the guys when they went small, and we did a good job executing a couple things to get him the ball down there and he made some big plays.

Q. Jamiya, you match your career high today with 21 points. What was going for you today, and how did it feel to have a performance like this where you hit four threes and kind of play on the defensive end too?

JAMIYA NEAL: It sure feels good to get over that hump and see a few go in tonight. Obviously, like Coach said, getting news that Kalk wasn't playing right there in the locker room, we all knew we had to take a step up. That means offensively I had to take a step, so I figured tonight why not be the day?

Q. With that, career day obviously, and then almost a double double with 9. What was the feeling like among the players coming off a three-game losing streak? Was there a sense of urgency in wanting to leave Vegas with a victory and sort of a sense of pride as well in bringing that losing skid to a halt?

JAMIYA NEAL: For sure. We definitely didn't want to leave Vegas without a win. We wanted to stick with it and not get down on ourselves, not feel bad for ourselves. Everyone goes through adversity. We knew we just had to stick together and try to get one, so that was definitely the plan.

Q. You talked about the resiliency that you guys have shown through this week, but just kind of in a vacuum in this game in particular, you guys had a run, then they had a run, then you had a run, then they had a run. What was it, down two starters, that allowed this team to keep punching, keep fighting?

GREG McDERMOTT: I think this team, they've been really fun to coach. I think they're connected. I think guys are trying to figure out their roles. When you have young guys that are trying to figure out their roles, they don't understand that you just have to prepare yourself every day with enthusiasm and emotion and effort, and then if your number's called, chances are you're going to be ready for it.

But to see the bench, they go 8 for 12 from the field and we don't win the game, our bench has not played great this year, as good as what I think they could play. So today it was good to see Ty out there zipping it around making a couple plays; Shane making some big defensive plays on a back cut late in the game for a basket after not playing the whole game.

You talk about it all the time, be ready if your number's called. That doesn't mean your number is going to be called, but I think the confidence that group will get from today that not only was their number called, but we really needed them because of injury and illness to some of their teammates, that they were able to step up and do some really good things.

Q. Jamiya, we talked the other day about how you had great looks and great shots and just not falling if you could ever get a couple to go. You got a couple to go. How great was it to see some of your teammates who struggled from three too knock some down? Did that give you more confidence?

JAMIYA NEAL: Yeah, it did. Obviously me, Isaac, and Mason, talk a lot about we can't see them go in. We all work every day at practice day and there's not a lot of missing going on.

It was a struggle to figure out why we couldn't make it. I started off making a couple, then IT came in and made a couple, Mason seen one go in, so it was great.

Q. What do you think of Fred's minutes today? He kind of was a big part of the offense early in the first half, and then you guys came into the locker room and he had that dunk down the lane too.

GREG McDERMOTT: We tried to establish him. We felt like Fred had a strength advantage down there and that we were going to be able to get it to him. Who knows what Notre Dame's plan was going into the game, assuming Kalkbrenner was going to play. Were they going to pack it up and have people in the lane, and when he wasn't, I think they played their more standard defense.

I wanted to get Fred some touches to get him going more than anything, but he's got to work on that foul trouble. It's been a problem of his.

Besides what he did offensively, and he made a couple of really good plays at the rim defensively as well at critical times. The one on the shot clock violation they were over there looking at. This will be really good for him moving forward.

Q. Jamiya, kind of on that note, what does today do, one, for your confidence moving forward and, two, for the team's confidence moving forward? Just you having the big day, and then obviously you guys snapping the three-game skid?

JAMIYA NEAL: Today, just seeing us finally get a win, we can at least hang our hat on that, going back home, resting up, and just using that momentum to get prepared for next week.

Obviously we've got a big one next week, and I think this will fuel us to go hard next week and try to get a win.

Q. What does this do long term for guys like Fred moving forward through the season? You're going to need him at different points in this conference season especially.

GREG McDERMOTT: As I said, it takes a lot of maturity to prepare yourself with energy and enthusiasm when you're not sure how much you're going to play. Obviously we've got some veterans that are going to be on the floor, but we didn't know Steven was going to sprain an ankle, we didn't know Kalk was going to be out, we didn't know Pop was going to miss a game or two or come down with the flu.

That's why you get ready. What it does from a team standpoint, their teammates have more confidence in them now because of their ability to perform under pressure when they're asked to, and obviously from the coaching staff's perspective, I just had a gut feeling to go with Shane defensively down the stretch. He made some really, really good plays for us, and he's got a physical body.

What he maybe lacks on offense, he makes up for on the other end. I felt like the game was going to be decided there. Went with Ty the first half and with him the second half.

Q. Did you have an update on Kalk?

GREG McDERMOTT: I don't think it's going to be long term. More precaution, I think, at this stage; get him home.

Pop just got the flu. Based on what I saw before the game, surprised he tried to play. You saw he had to leave a couple times, so he was feeling pretty rough.

Q. Jamiya, did you hit the (indiscernible) after the 4-3?

JAMIYA NEAL: That's something Jackson and I do before the game, we hit the ball and make one together. Do our little one-two. That's me and my guy, the freshman.

GREG McDERMOTT: I'd rather he go back and play defense.

JAMIYA NEAL: It was a timeout.

Q. Just for the local media, you got two locals on your squad, the local talent here in Vegas is growing obviously. Can you speak to it and what you've seen these guys do for your roster?

GREG McDERMOTT: Actually, I have three because Sterling Knox is from here as well. Went to high school here along with Shane and Pop. We've recruited a lot in Vegas over the years, and we'll continue. There's a lot of good high school coaching here in the city. These guys have come in here and done a great job for us.

I'd be remiss too, I know there's a lot of questions about this tournament going in from the national media, some that might be present, but this is incredibly well organized.

The way they treated our staff and our team and the organization of the event from the time we arrived until we're going to hit the road here soon has been absolutely incredible.

I think you try to put something new together that's unique, and we were really excited to be part of it, and we're excited to be part of it moving forward in the future. I think all the questions were certainly answered. I think they knocked it out of the park with the way this event was run and organized.

From my perspective, I've been doing this 36 years, I'd have never, ever guessed this was the first year of an event the way that it was pulled off. Kudos to Intersport and everybody else that put this together. It was great.