MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2025

Tim Miles

Donavan Yap

Sadaidriene Hall

Thomas & Mack Center

San Jose State Spartans

Postgame Press Conference

San José State 66 - Wyoming 61

COACH MILES: Just an electric start for San José state, right. We were active hands, running off our defense, making shots. It was really a great start to the game for us, but and these two guys were excellent. I think day-day-in the first half was 15, 16 points, and Donavan followed up a career high of 30 with 19. But Wyoming is going to fight you. Like we knew this was going to be a close game, and they're not going to go away. And they just kept fighting and kept fighting, and we just hung around and did enough and got enough stops at the end to win.

Q. Donavan, what was the inspiration behind the "Doubt Us" T-shirts that you wore pregame?

DONAVAN YAP: Since the beginning of the season, we knew everyone counted us out. We were never predicted to be a top team. A lot of people probably didn't think we could win this game. But as far as our circle goes, we believe we can win every single game and we put the work in for it. So that was the meaning behind it.

Q. And then you guys got off to a 12-0 start. You guys played great defensive intensity in the first half. Just what was working for you guys out there?

DONAVAN YAP: Just sticking to the game plan really. Coach Miles put in a good game plan defensively for us to follow and we followed it. That was the prime example of that.

Q. Sadaidriene, it's the seventh time this year you scored double digits. Three of those games have come in wins against -- in wins against Wyoming. Just what about playing against this team gets you going?

SADAIDRIENE HALL: I'm not really sure. I just like playing against them. It's always competitive, and I like playing competitive basketball. So I feel like if you're going to give me a tough game, tough matchup, I like that. I feel like I take that very personal, and I try to go out there and win my matchup.

Q. Donavan, tonight is the first time you've had four 3s, at least four 3s in consecutive games in your career. What has been working for you, and how much of a groove do you feel you're in right now?

DONAVAN YAP: Number one, I would say God. Without Him, none of this would be possible for me. And then just always staying in the gym. I like to get shots up before practice, after practice, and my teammates and Coach Miles have a lot of confidence in me. So that really helps me when I'm out there.

Q. For both of you guys, they make that run late. They cut it close. They cut it to three. So what's the messaging during those timeouts to finish it out?

SADAIDRIENE HALL: I just feel like, in those type of moments, we just gotta stick together and like every time we build a lead, we somehow start to like mess up and like give the game back to them. But I feel like today, we kind of like stopped it because we want to win, and we know how important it is to make it to March Madness.

Q. Donavan, with what you're doing there with Obi, I believe, was mostly covering him. What is that? He was trying to shut you down basically. Is it more of a pride thing? What was he trying to do to maybe hold you back, but you answered pretty well?

DONAVAN YAP: You know, he was just talking a little bit, trying to get in my head, nothing that I'm not used to. I just wanted to stay mentally locked in and focus on getting a win. That's all.

Q. And what do you say to Rob. He was out there guarding and basically blocked him and went on a fast break and everything. Can you speak to what Rob means to you guys?

DONAVAN YAP: Rob means a lot. He's able to move his feet, too. So we're not worried about him having to guard any guards and stuff like that. He's a great kid. He's always working hard, always puts the team first and that shows for sure. It's very contagious.

Q. Donavan, going back to last year, do you feel like you have Wyoming's number a little bit in this gym?

DONAVAN YAP: I wouldn't say that. I think knowing I've been on the good side of fate. And every year that I've had to play them, I've been able to get to the next round.

Q. What do you think was the biggest difference for you guys to be able to build that 22-point lead in the first half?

DONAVAN YAP: Just staying locked in. I feel like sometimes when we get up, our guys get a little too comfortable, honestly. And we just gotta stay with the same intensity that we have to start off the game. And I think we'll be okay.

MODERATOR: Questions for the coach.

Q. Coach, I felt you made Agbim a little uncomfortable, especially to start, force a couple of turnovers. What was the game plan for him and what did you feel worked?

COACH MILES: He makes you pay, and he's a dynamic scorer, and so he's gotta feel you at all times. I thought we did a good job staying into it.

Q. You mentioned in your opening statement you turned defense into offense. You get a season-high eleven steals. Just what was working for you?

COACH MILES: Yeah, I just thought our guys were really active in the gaps, tough on the ball and anticipating the plays, right? And the ball travels through the midline, and our guys got to the middle of the floor, and we were able to turn their offense into our offense.

Q. How much of an emphasis was on the perimeter defending the night? You held them to 10 percent from three.

COACH MILES: Yeah, 100 percent. You've gotta get to those perimeter guys or you've got a real problem, and I thought Wyoming did a great job of getting downhill, and Nesbitt especially hurting us inside and punishing us at the rim, and we're going to have to be better tomorrow.

Q. Coach, that's three wins for your guys against Wyoming this season. What has been integral for your success in that regard?

COACH MILES: It's interesting. The first night, like it was kind of like it was tonight. We turned it over, it felt like and really squandered opportunities, it felt like, when we played them at our place. And then we were searching at their place. I mean, we were dead in the water, down 12, 14 points late in the first half. And we went small and that sparked a fire, and we got a lineup that scored 12, and pretty soon that got us going. And it was really important. But you've gotta do a good job on the perimeter guys because they're so tough.

Q. You obviously have a long history with Sunny. Wyoming can be a tough job. How much respect do you have for the job he's been able to do this year in such a short amount of time?

COACH MILES: I told him after the game, the way you guys battled the second half, that didn't surprise me. That's who you are. Keep doing who you are. Sunny is all about the right things. He's super competitive. He's got great energy. And he's been there. Like the way Sunny is now is the way Sunny was when I knew him in, I don't know, 1999, 2000, whatever it was. And I think that he's a great representative for Wyoming basketball.

It matters to him like you wouldn't believe, and he wants to represent Wyoming the right way. And I know he'll work to get it done that way.

Q. How special is it, I saw you guys hugging before and after the game, just to kind of have that relationship with somebody in this profession?

COACH MILES: Yeah, it's cool, right? We both went to the same -- he graduated from Northern State in Aberdeen, and I went through grad school there, and then I was the assistant for five years. And when you look at a guy like Sunny and me, and then Steve Smiley played there at the same time. Paul Sather played there, who's a Division I head coach. Smiley is at Northern Colorado playing for the Big Sky Championship.

Paul had the big upset, and he's got the Eagle Staff kid that had 51 in the Summit League. Craig Smith, who is the former coach at University of Utah, who was my assistant for a long time, also went through grad school at Northern. So here's a small regional college in the middle of South Dakota where I grew up, and there's a lot of really, I think, high-level coaches that come out of there. And Don Myer had a lot to do with that. Bob Olson had a lot to do with that. And it's pretty cool to see.

And so seeing a guy like Sunny, like you said, we're so privileged to be able to have this as our way of life. I said it beats working for a living, doesn't it, brother?

Q. How tough are those games to coach when you get that early lead, knowing who you know in the other locker room? I guess, what was the message at halftime?

COACH MILES: Well, first of all, like when I was ten years old, I had seven rules of basketball for my little P.E. team I was coaching, and I said get a big lead and keep scoring if you can. And somehow I knew even at the age of whatever, keep scoring if you can. You know those big leads are hard to keep. Guys just naturally relax a little bit or whatever.

And knowing how much pride Sunny has and how much Wyoming is going to have, you knew it wasn't going to be easy. I don't think I even smiled in the first half, even when we were -- but our kids were electric, man. They were on it. So it was fun to watch. But at the same time, you knew what was coming.

Q. So you know what's coming tomorrow. What do you guys need to do to compete with them?

COACH MILES: I think it starts with, one, their physicality. They're a super physical, they're physical defensively. And you've gotta match that. And then once you get by that, you've got Donavan, the player of the year, who -- talk about electric, right? He is just an extraordinary guard, one of the best in the country. And then you got a lot of guys around him that know how to win.

So we'll have our hands full.

Q. Coach, we were on the radio saying that Dai-Dai Hall's first half outburst was very reminiscent of who years ago with Sage Tolbert in the final game. How good does it feel to have that depth that you have this year that you didn't really have too much last year, and how much is that going to be crucial in a game versus the Lobos tomorrow?

COACH MILES: Those guys have kind of emerged from a rotation all of a sudden do something extraordinary or really, really good. They keyed a victory. There's no doubt about it. And you need that, and we're going to need our best guys to be our best guys and someone else to emerge tomorrow. We gotta get Rob scoring a little more and get him kind of going back, get him back into the rhythm that he was, and God, his layup almost didn't go in. I mean, so we've got some work to do here in the next 24 hours, 23 hours or whatever it is, but we're excited about the matchup.

MODERATOR: Okay. That's all the time we have. Thanks for your time, Coach.