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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: AUBURN HILLSMarch 21, 2013Ryan BroekhoffErik BuggsBryce DrewAUBURN HILLS, MICHIGAN Michigan State – 65 MODERATOR: We'll begin with opening statements by Valparaiso Coach Drew. COACH DREW: A special group of guys, special group of seniors. I'm sorry, a couple of minutes getting late. We have six. I think these two, you know, I told them I was most proud the last five minutes of the game. There was no way I was going to take them off the floor when they were playing with that much character, that much heart. They wanted to play to the final buzzer and they deserve that, that right to. Michigan State, excellent team. Very physical. We knew coming in we were going to have to rebound. We knew we were going to have to get back in transition, and we knew our margin was going to be small, that we were going to shoot the ball exceptionally well. I was very pleased as a coach with the looks that we got. I thought we got quality looks. And like we told our guys, sometimes we can't control shots going in. We can control our effort, we can control our character, and I thought over the 40 minutes our effort and character made their coach proud today. MODERATOR: The student-athletes are available for questions. Q. Ryan, can you talk about trying to get free with Branden Dawson on you? RYAN BROEKHOFF: He's a fantastic athlete. So, you know, he's long and athletic and quick. Was getting through screens very well. I was able to shake free a few times. With his length I kind of rushed my shot a little bit in the end. He did a tremendous job guarding me. Q. Ryan, does this amplify the hurt because the shots were there and they just weren't going down? RYAN BROEKHOFF: A little bit. Like coach said, we did get good looks from three and inside the paint as well I missed, you know, too many layups. But it's just the game of basketball. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't. I think what really struck us is to the end of four year -- five years for him and that special group that, you know, we have in the locker room. Q. Eric, first half, difficult to get to the basket. What was different about the second half? ERIK BUGGS: I mean, the first half, I just rushed a lot of my finishes, and half time, coach calmed us down. Told us that if we get to the rim, just concentrate on finishing, and having shooters -- being surrounded by shooters made it a little bit easier to get there. And second half, just concentrate on finishing a little bit more. Q. Ryan, can you talk about Derrick Nix? RYAN BROEKHOFF: Yeah, he's definitely a big guy down low. He just sealed us, you know, a little bit too low, too close to the rim. And with his side and his skill level around the hoop, it's almost impossible to guard him. I thought we did a good job at times. I pushed him out and then we'd trap him and try to get the ball out of his hands. Over the course of 40 minutes, he found his spots and was able to convert. Q. The first eight minutes of the game, you seemed to really rattle them. What kind of in-game adjustments did they make? ERIK BUGGS: I mean, they just got a little bit more physical and they were a little bit quicker to the ball. We just, you know, turned the ball over a little bit and when they started making shots. We kind of got a little bit tight, but after that, we kind of loosened back up. We cut into the lead a little bit and went into half time, you know, making a couple threes. MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student-athletes and take questions for Coach Drew. Q. Coach, going from a 27-point deficit down to 11, can you take a moral anything out of that? COACH DREW: You know, I think what I said earlier, just the character and the heart. We met those last few timeouts, especially the last one and we told them that we're going to win this last segment. Guys worked too hard. You know, kind of boiled down to our character and I was really proud of the guys that they dug deep and finished the game out strong. Q. Coach, you talked about Nix, especially in the first half and at one point he knocked one of your players on his back. COACH DREW: You know, we knew he was a load coming in, and again you got to credit Michigan State. When he came in as a freshman to what he is now, you know, he's a totally different player. You know, and Kevin van Wijk's defense, he hasn't practiced since last Tuesday's championship game with a bad ankle, and I feel bad he didn't get to play his best. The country didn't get to see how good he's been for us. Nix gets great low post position, but I thought he really did a good job passing the ball tonight. We doubled him a couple times and he was able to get it out and hurt us for some shots. That kind of made us readjust our defense where if he wasn't doing that then maybe we could have clashed on him a little bit more. But the nine offensive rebounds, I think you got to credit him for getting great position and then having nice good hands to grab the ball and lay it back in. Q. Coach what did you share with them in the locker room? COACH DREW: Told them we were proud of them. Personally wouldn't want to trade this team for any one in the country. They're such a joy to be around not only on the floor but every day at practice our coaching staff enjoys coming to be with them every day. And they have a lot to be proud of, a school record, 26 wins, two straight conference championships, and then, you know, kind of pretty much showing their character today. And we told them this will help them in life, what they did in the last five minutes, when things are bad in life and down, you can remember this and you fight through to the end. MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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