NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - GEORGIA VS GONZAGA

March 19, 2025

Blue Cain

Silas Demary

Intrust Bank Arena

Georgia Bulldogs

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We have Blue Cain and Silas Demary Jr. for the Georgia Bulldogs. Questions, please.

Q. What was it like making the SEC Tournament? What was it like making the March Madness tournament in the tough SEC conference you were in?

BLUE CAIN: You said what was it like making the March Madness tournament and playing in the SEC? The SEC was a great conference. I mean, every game was a Quad 1 opportunity. It was a lot of great teams, so every night was just an opportunity to get better.

Then making March Madness was just a blessing. Excited to be here. Looking forward to the opportunity.

SILAS DEMARY JR.: I would say just playing in the SEC you have a hard matchup every night. I think every Wednesday and Saturday you can't take any game for granted. You look at some different conferences, you might not get a chance to play a top-25 team every other night.

I think it was a lot of fun, and it tested us a lot throughout the year. Just being in March Madness, it's kind of like a dream come true. It's a dream I've always had as a little kid. To be able to live it out and showcase my skills at this stage, I just can't wait to do it.

Q. Can you after getting into the tournament in the first time for a long time for Georgia, what does this mean in terms of establishing legitimacy for you guys as a program?

SILAS DEMARY JR.: Like you said, it's just growth. We appreciate being able to be in the NIT last year and then making the jump to be able to make it to the tournament this year.

Like I say, it's just growth. Being able to build every year. You don't want to look ahead. You want to be able to be where your feet are. Now we're just looking to make a run in the Tournament right now and worry about that after the season, so...

Q. Kind of just piggybacking off of that a little bit after the season you've had where you started off hot and then you hit the down during SEC play and then finished strong. What is it like to be sitting up here in the NCAA Tournament and the fact that a lot of you guys haven't really been in a place like this before?

BLUE CAIN: I mean, it's definitely awesome to be up here. I mean, throughout the whole year I thought our team stay connected and responded well to good and bad. We didn't get too high, didn't get too low. We just always, like Silas said, were where our feet are and just competed every night.

Q. During Selection Sunday, Coach talked about the resiliency of the team. How important do you feel like -- or how well do feel like this explain y'all's team?

SILAS DEMARY JR.: I would say resilience was a big part of our team. I think we went through two four-game losing streaks, and I think some teams can break during those times. I think we kind of grew together.

I think going on our two-game road trip where we were gone from five days from school, we went and played a tough Texas team and followed up a couple of days later and played a South Carolina team. I think us just being together and being with each other all the time kind of made us grow together.

I think we played Auburn on a Saturday. I think our effort was a lot better than the game we played before that. Even though we lost, we learned a lot from that game. Following it up, we had a great lift on that Sunday. The camaraderie was off the charts. I think it's one of the best we had all year, and then played a tough Florida team on Tuesday and came out with a big win.

That resilience, we were able to go through that and then go through our breakthrough and ended on a strong 4-0 run and lost a tough one against Oklahoma.

Like you see, our resilience, we never gave up on ourselves and always believed in our team.

BLUE CAIN: Absolutely. I mean, Coach White talks about that every day in practice. That's just a core belief, but yeah, Silas said it.

Q. You mentioned this being a dream come true. For both of you guys, take me back to your first memories of the tournament and where were you when you were counting down and taking shots and pretending you were winning? Was it the driveway, park? Take me to that place.

BLUE CAIN: Every kid dreams of it. Like you said, just being in the driveway counting down, you miss a shot, you add a couple of more seconds, shoot it again. Absolutely.

Yeah, it really is a dream come true, and I'm excited to be here.

SILAS DEMARY JR.: Yeah, like Blue said, just being in that driveway. Might have missed a shot, added a few seconds, but I think my core memory is probably just being in school when the teachers turn on those games. You are asking the teacher, can she turn on the games? Those are my core memories.

Just thinking what I'll doing work in class, man, I want to be there one day, I pray and hope to be there one day. To finally be here is a dream come true and a blessing from God.

Q. (Off microphone).

SILAS DEMARY JR.: I went to Millbrook High School.

Q. I don't know if you pay attention to history-wise, but Georgia hasn't been to the Tournament in a while. Do you take that on your shoulder and kind of use it as a force, like, hey, we have to win? I think it's been almost 30 years since Georgia has won in the NCAA Tournament.

SILAS DEMARY JR.: I would say we kind of don't weigh on our shoulders. I think it's just, like you say, obviously a big-time moment to be in, but you want to take it as it's just another game. Just a game to have fun, a game to get better, just enjoy the team you have. You don't want to put too much pressure on one game.

Obviously we haven't won a game in a long time. Everybody wants to win a game, but just to be here and to finally know that Georgia is kind of moving back in the right direction and this team has helped do that, I feel like we're in a good spot. We're just going to go out with confidence tomorrow.

BLUE CAIN: Yeah, it's definitely been a long time since we have been back here, but we're not just really satisfied being here. We're here to compete and win. Yeah, we're just here to compete.

Q. Kind of building off that history question, Gonzaga is a contrast where they've been 26 years in a row. What does that say about the dominance of the program, and does that kind of change how you view this team?

BLUE CAIN: They're definitely a very good program. They've had a lot of success over the years, a lot of great players, great coaching, but again, we're just here to compete. We're not really worried about the name. Yeah, we're just here to compete.

SILAS DEMARY JR.: I mean, they're a well-respected program. Like Blue said, we're just here to compete. Obviously they have a history of making it to the Sweet 16. I think we're just going out there, competing, and putting our best foot forward and not worrying about the name and just have fun, compete, like Blue said.