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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2012Sean CarterDerek KelloggJesse MorganChaz WilliamsATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY UMASS: 77 COACH KELLOGG: We played a great second half, let's not worry about tomorrow, let's try to get a win here, obviously I have much respect for Temple and Coach Dunphy and how they've been able to do and that program. And I'm hoping we can make some noise down here, I think the kids feel good about where we are in the program and the greatest thing about it was with 4 minutes and change we didn't have any timeout's left and I told the guys this is exactly where I want to be. It's up to you guys now. So I feel confident with this team and enjoyed watching the game today, I thought it was a great basketball game. Q. Can you talk about coming out in the second half after being in foul trouble in the first half and breaking out the way you did? JESSE MORGAN: My teammates telling me to keep my head, keep playing and go, it worked out. Q. Coach, were you pleased with your teams poise after you took the lead and Temple came back and took a lead of their own and your guys answered again? COACH KELLOGG: I thought our guys responded after Temple made their run, I thought our guys responded and we didn't take as many bad shots and even though Moore put 'em on their back for a few minutes, they were deep and Fernandez hit a deep one and I was hoping the tide would turn and fortunately it did, we got good offensive shots and it's nice when you make them. Q. Did you feel like at the end of the first half that you guys missed opportunities to have it be closer and take a lead going into the second half? COACH KELLOGG: I thought Freddie had a few open looks, those two were 0 for 6 at the half, and we gave them a couple of rebounds, I know Jefferson, specifically, the tip‑in, so I felt good where we were but when you're playing a top‑25 team who has done well sometimes you're not certain how things are going to work out. Q. Coach, what was your message at the halftime break? COACH KELLOGG: I thought it was a toughness thing. I thought if we could rebound the basketball and not turn the ball over and match their toughness, I thought we would have a chance in the second half and I'm happy that our guys would play with a little more toughness. Q. The last time you guys played against Temple, how much did that help you guys confidencewise when you took them into overtime? JESSE MORGAN: It was a big thing, we knew we could come and play tough and compete with them. Q. Chaz, to beat these guys you had to be extremely confident can you talk about what you guys learned from the last game? CHAZ WILLIAMS: We tried to learn from our mistakes in the last game and move on from that. Q. Chaz, a lot of loose balls, you guys got your hands on 'em and controlled them, was that an energy thing that you guys bring to this group? Was that something you had to do down the stretch to finish it off? CHAZ WILLIAMS: Yeah, and watching the last time we played Temple I could have got more of those 50/50 balls that I couldn't get, and I take most of the blame for that. But, You know I try to make up for the lack of my performance last game. Q. Sean, can you talk about what Chaz has brought this season to have a guy like him that can handle of everything, run the show? SEAN CARTER: He's brought great poise to our team, young guy, came in early in the season and he brought it, couple of games, a few mistakes but he learns quick, he's a smart player. He's mature on the court and he can‑‑ he drives, it's his passion. Besides basketball, his whole summer is waking up 6:30 in the morning, the Coach harped on us to bring energy, bring energy, it's crazy, playing hard some of the weirdest things happen, loose balls fall in your hands, getting the tips, that's the thing that Coach harps on us about is making the tough man's plays. Q. Coach, you guys have improved overall was today another step for what you're trying to build toward? COACH KELLOGG: I think so, it builds confident in the teams that we can compete with others in our league and we can get over the hump and win a game against a team like Temple. I think we have played since the Dayton game, played very well since then. When we're clicking on all cylinders and making shots and rebounding, the team feels like they can compete with other teams nationally, and today was a great step in the right direction and we can enjoy it for about an hour and focus on tomorrow and another big‑time challenge ahead of us, two very good teams that are going to represent challenges in their own way. Q. Derek, is this your biggest win? Talk about this, your biggest win at UMASS today, do you think? COACH KELLOGG: Some would say so, I don't know. If it leads to a win tomorrow and the next day, then absolutely. If it doesn't then, to me it's another win. I'm looking at a team that is very good and a top‑25 team, but I like all the wins, I'm greedy, I like every one of them. Q. Coach, you've talked about "there is no tomorrow" and "living for today." How has that played out? What has today done to that? COACH KELLOGG: They played like we speak, like we're playing today and we haven't tried to look too far into the future all season long, it's been one day at a time. Let's take care of business on the court and we have won games lost games and this team has kept an even keel after big win and tough losses and I think we have been able to rebound because of the resilience and how hard they work. These guys are basketball players, it's one of the first groups you've been around that they like to play, you will come into the gym and they will be playing 2 on 2 or 3 on 2, so when you have guys that are gym rats and get in there, it's great. I will look out of my office at 8 a.m. in the morning and Jesse is there shooting or Chaz is shooting free‑throws, so it's nice to see there that when you work hard there are dividends, there are dividends. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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