NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

April 1, 1995

Tyus Edney

Jim Harrick

Ed O'Bannon

George Zwikker

COACH HARRICK: I thought our defense in the second half was outstanding and really was the key. When you hold that team to 32 percent from the field in the second half, and 24 points, I thought that was the difference. Big Country had 18 the first half and 7 the second half. And, you know, I thought big George Zwikker did a great job the second half on him. And we really did a nice job on Rutherford. Bailey and Cameron Dollar, Cameron came up big, Charles O'Bannon on the other end had a strong, strong game and carried us. But down the stretch of the game it was the ability of Tyus Edney to penetrate and take his man to the hole, and it really kept them off balance. And we made our foul shots down the stretch.

TYUS EDNEY: I just try to avoid them as much as possible, I guess you could say. I try to get in the lane, and try to get in there before they can react. Or if he can react, I dump it off. And I was able to get in there a couple of times and get the shot off.

TYUS EDNEY: That was conscious, I think. You know, Coach just said try to penetrate, create something. Or try to get in the side to create something. And I thought the flow of the game went where I could get in the lane and penetrate and get some baskets for us.

GEORGE ZWIKKER: It was pretty physical. But he's really heavy, he's 295, it's quite a weight. And in the second half I think I moved my feet more than I did in the first half. And I was trying to fight for the position with him more in the second half. So, that's how I think I got a little bit more off balance for him. Plus he played the whole first half, and I played about a half of the first half. So, I was more rested than he was for the second half.

TYUS EDNEY: No, I don't think -- I don't know. It's playground when you're growing up, and you kind of learn how to do shots like that. And it just happened, I guess, basically. That's the only way I could get the shot up, I remember.

ED O'BANNON: Well, I think Charles played a great game. He stepped it up in all phases of the game, rebounding and shooting and scoring, and defense. And he played a very good game. It was what we expected of him basically. And in the zone, the big fellow, you can't really do much to stop him, so what we try to do is get as many people around him and get as many hands in his face once he got it, and try to make him kick it back out, basically.

ED O'BANNON: I think it actually goes further than the end of this game. It actually goes our whole career. I think one thing that Tyus does very well is control the tempo of the game. And we expected him to do that today, and he did that throughout the game. I think he actually stepped it up even more at the end of the game. And it's a tribute to him, he's played with injuries. He's carried this team for four years, and he's brought us to where we are today. So, I say it all the time time; I'm happy I'm playing with him.

ED O'BANNON: Yeah, I think so. I think people underestimate our defense. And I think they underestimate our half court offense. But that's fine, I hope they do it again on Monday. I think we're strong, when we play our type of game. And I think when Tyus controls the game and controls the tempo, we're very successful. And hopefully that can happen again on Monday.

ED O'BANNON: No.

TYUS EDNEY: Not really. I've usually found that I've been able to get in the lane and cause problems for a lot of the teams. And hopefully that will remain the case. If I can keep getting in the lane and causing problems, that's what I'm going to keep doing.

ED O'BANNON: I don't know. I was -- it threw me for a loop. It was a great shot. He was very much under control. And he just put it off the glass, and I was going off as much as the guys on the bench, so it was a great shot.

TYUS EDNEY: I fell in the first half, I took a bad fall early. And it's just a little sore. It's more preventative.

TYUS EDNEY: Actually I did see him come over, and I felt that I could get the shot up, and it didn't really intimidate me or anything like that. I don't think I remember him blocking any of them before or anything like that. I just knew I had an angle on him and I could probably get the shot up.

GEORGE ZWIKKER: I don't think we really care. We're going to play the next game, our team is based on defense, and if we play intense defense, I think we can play both of the teams. We don't really care.

TYUS EDNEY: It's kind of hard to say. I think both of those teams I feel match up with us pretty well. North Carolina probably has a little more size, and in that sense they probably match up with our size a little better. It's hard to say. Both teams play excellent defense and shoot well on offense. I think either team will be a tough battle.

GEORGE ZWIKKER: What shot are you talking about? I've seen those shots so many times during the four years I've been on the team, so I just chalked it up to it wasn't anything that unusual. After the game I told Country that he played a hell of a game and he was a great player.

COACH HARRICK: Are you talking about the first or second half?

COACH HARRICK: I thought at the four minute mark on that timeout we came out in zone, didn't we? We came out in the zone, exactly what happened. And as soon as I looked out there, Reeves put his hand up looking at Coach Sutton, and I know they talked all the time out about a man-to-man play. They're a very strong man-to-man set offensive team. That's their whole mentality. Their whole goal is setting screens and running their plays. Boy, are they good at it. We wanted to change it up. I wanted to make those couple other guys chase us, if they could.

COACH HARRICK: No, we planned on that when J.R. Henderson was in the game, because I know it would be a load for him to guard him. We wanted to look at the zone early in that first half to see how they would react to it. The Big Eight conference is primarily a man-to-man conference, and in our small lineup, we cover the court very well. And I think that might be the most zone we've played all year long, but we hoped we could be effective in it. We wanted to look at the first half and see how they reacted. And I wanted to change it up the second half, because, boy, when they get into the flow, they were 1 for 7 in the zone the first half and then they hit three straight. So, we went back to the man, and in the second half we played man. And then we got four on J.R. and four on George, and the last 7 minutes we went into the zone, I think -- we went into about the 4:40 mark, and timeout. And I know they talked about their man-to-man play, and then we came out in the zone, and that really helped us. But more importantly, Edney got into the middle. I was just telling him, take him, because he's hard to guard, fellows.

COACH HARRICK: Huge. Charles O'Bannon was huge tonight. 7 for 9, 5 for 5, six rebounds, 2 assists, a turnover and a steal, and a blocked shot. I don't see it, but I saw it on Collins's jumper at the end of the game, big time block of a two or three point jump shot. Big time block. Tell the statistics guys they missed one.

COACH HARRICK: He's played that way four years for us, he's really a very, very difficult guy to guard, he's got great moves, he's deceptive, you think he's small and wiry, but he can shoot to three. He can get in the key. I told him before the game, I said Tyus get into the paint and pull up, because there will be a lot of trees in there and they'll take the charge. But you give the guy a little bit of direction, and you let him go, and that's the way I coach him. And I tell you something, I'm so happy for Tyus Edney that the Country got to see what kind of basketball player he really is. And he's been certainly a terrific player in this tournament. He's come up real big.

COACH HARRICK: I can't answer that, because it gives them too much fuel. I really don't know, honestly, the answer to that question about who to play. You know, as a basketball coach I'll go home now and we'll stay up most of the night watching tape. And it really -- it really doesn't -- I don't have a reaction, I'm just getting ready for the next game. And I hope maybe by July my voice is only good enough for one more game, and then I'll have to yell "fore" -- that was a joke. But sometime this summer it will hit me that we're playing for the championship. And that's a goal and dream and aspiration of every coach that's ever come on the floor to bring your team to this game, and hopefully win it. It's a great, great feeling for me, from where I've come from to where I am now, it's a great feeling.