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NCAA MEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: ST. LOUISMarch 23, 2012D.J. CooperJohn GroceNick KelloggWalter OffuttST. LOUIS, MISSOURI North Carolina – 73 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student‑athletes. JOHN GROCE: Awful proud of our guys for the way that they fought when things weren't going well during the game. And there was some stretches where we had to fight through some adversity; they have done that all year. But as I told them in the locker room, there's nothing I can say to them at this point that's going to take away the sting of getting beat in that one. They got a lot of pride and they believed all year that we could compete and beat anybody that we played. That was no different heading into tonight's game and, unfortunately, they just made a few more plays than we did. We had our chances, and they did as well. They took advantage of some of their chances a little bit more, especially in the overtime than we did. And obviously they end up surviving and advancing. And it's it never feels good when you're into tournament and you got to go home. The biggest thing I'll miss is I enjoy being around these guys. I've enjoyed this team, the fact that we don't get to practice any more this season hurts me probably more than anything because of how much I've enjoyed being around them. THE MODERATOR: Take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Did you guys just feel like just kind of ran out of gas in the overtime or just physically just seemed like a big exhale kind of came over you? D.J. COOPER: No, they made some big plays in overtime. They made a big three Bullock made a big three and Harrison Barnes made a big shot too. So they just stepped up and made some plays and we didn't. Q. Walter, could you kind of put into words the emotion of being that close to what would have been an epic win really for the program and then to see it kind of slip away there at the very end. Talk about the emotions that went into that. WALTER OFFUTT: Obviously, this feels terrible. One free throw away. As a leader on this team, I take responsibility that I got to hit that free throw. Obviously it didn't come down to some other things that we could have done well. But it just feels terrible to kind of let my team down in that sort of way. But I'm proud of the guys, I'm proud of the coaching staff, I'm proud of the university. Q. For Nick and Walter and D.J., what did y'all get straightened out at halftime from a shooting standpoint. That a first half was sort of a nightmare. And were you surprised to be a little bit still in it at that point? NICK KELLOGG: We didn't really change anything at halftime. Coach just told us to continue to be shot ready because we knew we were getting pretty decent looks there in the first half. They just weren't falling for us. So coach told us to stick with it, continue to be ready to shoot the ball, and eventually they would start falling. Q. D.J., that play late in regulation you took some contact going to the rim, Bullock hit the three at the other end. Did you feel that there was enough contact to warrant a stoppage of play there? D.J. COOPER: You talking the play I got hit in my eye? Yeah, I feel like I got fouled, but they didn't call it. I could have got back on defense. Like I said, they just came down and stepped up and hit a big shot. Q. D.J., your shooting night, what was wrong out there? Were you not getting good looks? What didn't feel right out there tonight? D.J. COOPER: I've been getting those same shots all tournament, I've been making them, and tonight I just didn't get the job done. Q. Walt, I know there's no good feelings about tonight, but touch on how good the last month felt and the way you guys ended the season. And it's hard to identify that now, but can you describe what the last three weeks means for this team moving forward into next year and beyond? WALTER OFFUTT: I just think it's great for the program, again great for our university, great for our fan base in Athens and for our community. Obviously we went on a heck of a run. If we didn't win the MAC tournament, we wouldn't be in this situation that we're in. We had to win three games in three days and really it came down to a one‑possession game against Akron in the championship, the tournament, whether we was going to be in this tournament or not. So it's just a humbling experience to know that we came together as a group and were able to achieve what we did. Obviously we're not happy with this loss, but we're fortunate to win at least two games in the NCAA tournament and advance into the Sweet 16. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you. We'll take questions for coach. Q. What were you guys able to do to bother Harrison Barnes? And also was there anything you could exploit with the point guard play of theirs with Marshall out? JOHN GROCE: Obviously Barnes is a terrific player and he made some big plays for their team late in regulation and in the overtime. We just tried to battle him and compete, to be honest with you. We had some of our better defenders on him as well. Offutt's a terrific defender, Johnson's a great defender, and Hall has gotten better and is 6'6", and has some size. But he's a tough cover because he can score such a variety of ways. We were fortunate tonight with the effort that we gave on the defensive end and we just tried to make it hard on him and force him into tough twos. And I thought we did a good job of that the majority of the night. In terms of the point guard play, I thought the young man did a really good job. Coming into the situation, I thought he and Watts did a really good job. They were steady, obviously their interior play. And then I thought Bullock made some really big threes. We got hung up on the screen there in the overtime. We lost him in transition when D.J. was down under the hoop when we were trying to scramble five on four. So he made some big plays as well. I just thought he was really steady. I thought he did a nice job. In terms of exploiting, I thought we got in the lane a little bit, certainly I'm not saying that's his fault. Thought Cooper did a good job of getting the ball in the lane in the second half and spraying the ball out as we spread the floor and we tried to attack in that manner. Q. 63 to 30 on the boards, is that just size or is that a little bit of execution difference between the two squads tonight? JOHN GROCE: I have to watch the film to tell you how much of it was execution. They're huge. They get 40 percent back on the season which is Top‑5 in the country. So we're not the only team that they have done that to. I would have liked to have competed a little bit better there. But fortunately for us what was able to cancel that out was the fact that we turned them over 24 times to our 13.  So the possession battle ended up being about even and thank goodness. Because that helped us offset that a little bit. Q. What did you tell your guys at halftime? JOHN GROCE: I just tried to encourage them. I told them the shots that we got in the first half were as good, or I felt like as good or better than we did in the first two games that we played in the tournament. We just didn't knock them down. And then we needed to stay aggressive, and that they would fall. But we couldn't give up our relentlessness on the defensive end. The only reason we were in the game at that half because of our shooting struggles was how well we defended the last 10 minutes of the first half. I thought we really defended well, forced them into I think it was maybe 13 turnovers. I don't know. I don't have the halftime stat sheet in front of me. But I thought we defended really well and that kept us in the game until we started making some plays and some shots in the second half. Q. Could you talk about seeing Walt and the way he played tonight and what your feelings were when you saw that free throw come up short in the end of regulation. JOHN GROCE: Well, to be honest with you, there's so many plays that go into a game that it's just like him to take responsibility for the loss. Because that's who he is. He's a pretty mature guy. But the reality of it is that doesn't fall on him. There's so many plays during the game that make up the game and in a 45‑minute game, and if anybody deserved to make that free throw, it's him. It just didn't go in. Q. Is there any way to explain the free‑throw disparity, eight trips for your team compared to 24 for North Carolina. JOHN GROCE: Well, I thought they did a great job of posting the ball. That's what they do. So there's going to be some disparity there. We knew we were going to have to make some shots due to their size. We attacked the rim a little bit with D.J. and Walt and some of those guys got to the basket. Ivo made a couple plays. I think that Reggie would probably tell you if he had to do it over again he would have went through them a little bit more. I thought he tried to kind of play around them a little bit. But the disparity's the disparity. I think it's logical from the fact that they were posting the ball as much as they were and as active on the glass as they were throughout the 45 minutes. Q. Could you talk about fan support throughout the tournament both in Nashville and here and even back in Athens, and how the team keeps going? JOHN GROCE: Well, it was tremendous. Our fans have been great all year. Student body's been great. They traveled well to not only St. Louis but to Nashville as you alluded to. We have great support. People in Athens and Ohio University care a lot about our program. And I think these kids certainly made them proud of the way that they played with their effort and their toughness and their togetherness throughout the course of the season. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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