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NCAA MEN'S 1ST ROUND: DAYTONMarch 17, 2014Will BrownPeter HooleySam RowleyDAYTON, OHIO Q. When you're O and 5, was it anything you dreamt could happen? I realize you played good teams to start, but to be here, did you think there was any possibility this could be? PETER HOOLEY: We pride ourselves on always believing we can win any game we can play. We know that in our conference we can play with any team on any given night. So we kept harping on that, knowing when it came down to it, we were going to be playing our best basketball at the right time, and that's what we managed to do. Q. For both of you, last year you drew Duke in the NCAA Tournament and really no one gave you a chance at all, and not many 2s will lose to a 15. Is it better, you think, now that you're in this play, and even though a lot of people don't like to be here, thinking it's not the real tournament‑‑ no offense to Dayton‑‑ but is there more of a chance to win a game, do you think it's a better situation, do you think? SAM ROWLEY: Sure, absolutely. We're not playing a 2 seed or a 1 seed, we're playing a team who is far more similar to us in terms of their record and in the same ballpark of us, in terms of talent. So it's a very realistic game for us to win. PETER HOOLEY: As he said, it's a great opportunity for us to get our program's first win in the NCAA Tournament. It's still a game that other teams wish they were probably still playing if they had a chance, eight other teams would probably want to trade spots with us if they could. And it just gives us a chance to get that win, really. Q. It's one thing to get into the tournament; it's another thing to actually win and have your name out there a lot. What would it mean? Both these programs are trying to win their first NCAA Tournament game. What would it mean to actually go to that next level and win a game in this? SAM ROWLEY: It would be huge. That's the next step for our program. It's as simple as that. We've been to the tournament a few times before but never won a game. So that's the next logical step for us and that's our goal for this game. PETER HOOLEY: It's a tremendous opportunity for everybody involved. It's been a great run for us over these last couple of weeks and we're really excited to try and continue that tomorrow night. Q. You guys have had a little time to find out something about Mount St. Mary's. We know they shoot the 3 very well. When they shoot the 3, they're very good. And you guys have had some games where teams have really crushed you with 3‑point shooting. How much of a conscious effort will it be to make sure it doesn't happen for you tomorrow? PETER HOOLEY: We know they're shooting 3 at a high rate. One through four starters can let it go at any time and fill up the stat sheet pretty quick. We have to know that we have to run them off the 3‑point line and make them uncomfortable with what they want to do. So that's our big goal going into tomorrow. And they also like to press up and down the court a lot, so we have to make sure we control tempo and try to play our style of game. SAM ROWLEY: Yeah, just going on from what Peter said, trying to run them off the 3‑point line is a huge part of our game plan. And also just they play very high‑tempo, high‑pace style of basketball. So we're just going to try to slow them down, take our time getting shots, and just sort of take them out of their game. Q. For both of you, it would be a big thrill to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. You're constellation prize is to win the No. 1 overall seed. If you do win. I don't want to get you ahead of yourselves. But could you talk about what ‑‑ you get up to play a game and then you have a quick turnaround on Thursday and have to go to Florida's home state if you do win. SAM ROWLEY: If we do win, getting up to play the No. 1 team in the country in the atmosphere that that game will be in will not be hard. Those guys are the highest calibers some of us will ever play against. And it's not an effort to get up for that in the context that it will be in that arena. PETER HOOLEY: Yeah, I think if that happens to be the case, with the short turnaround, in our conference tournament we showed that in 24 hours we could really concentrate and focus on what we needed to accomplish going into a big game against Vermont. So I'm sure we'd get the best game plan possible as quickly as possible from the coaches and be well prepared going into that game. Q. We know both of you guys are from Australia, Sam, and your family I guess is coming over. And, Peter, you said that for the Stony Brook game your family gathered to watch like, what, 2:00 in the morning. Sam, can you talk about where your parents are at right now and why they decided to come and, Peter, what the plans are for your family for this game? SAM ROWLEY: With my parents, it's just any excuse to get out of work, I think. But they have a week to come over here and watch us play, me and my brother on the team. So it just makes sense. It's such a great opportunity for us, and they want to see us in that setting. But I think they just arrived like about now in LAX, so they'll be flying‑‑ in Dallas, actually, and they'll be making their way here. They didn't even know where we were playing when they left. So they just found out. And they should be on their way here soon. PETER HOOLEY: I think my parents and family probably will do the same thing. They might switch out whose house it's at, but they'll go down whatever time the game is in the morning, they'll all crowd around there in support. And my mom always sends me photos of everyone crowded around together, so I see that afterwards. That's always a nice feeling. Not ‑‑ would be great to have them here, but some things just can't happen. THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for players? Okay. Congratulations on making the NCAA Tournament. Good luck. Introducing the head coach of the University of Albany, Will Brown. Congratulations on making the NCAA Tournament. If you would like to start out with an opening statement. COACH BROWN: We're excited to be in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. It's a tremendous accomplishment. Very proud of my players and my coaching staff. Wonderful opportunity for our university and our athletic department. A lot of people are involved in the success of our program, and we're going to try to do our best to represent those people, represent the city of Albany, and we're going to play extremely hard tomorrow night against a very good opponent in Mount St. Mary's. And we'll enjoy that two‑hour spotlight and give it our best shot. But we're really looking forward to it and we're excited to be here. Q. The school's come close to winning before in the NCAA Tournament and played well. What are the benefits from winning in the tournament, from actually getting a first win? COACH BROWN: Well, we've run into some tough opponents. This is our first trip to the NCAA Tournament. You know, we played‑‑ in'06 we played UConn, who was the best overall team, and we were tied with about five and a half minutes to go in a 1‑16 game and we ran out of gas. In 2007 we played against Virginia, co‑regular champions in the ACC, and I think maybe we were a little overconfident because of how way we played the year before when I think we made one of our first 18 shots and the game was over, and then we really challenged Duke last year. This is an opportunity for us to win an NCAA Tournament game against a very good opponent who is playing really well right now, a well‑coached team and I'm sure Coach Christian feels that Mount St. Mary's has just a good of an opportunity right now as well. Whoever wins the game will have to play really good basketball 40 minutes and we're excited to have this opportunity, and it will mean a tremendous amount to our university athletic department and program if we can get an NCAA Tournament win. Q. How much of an edge do you think Mount St. Mary's has because they've had more time in between games, even though they only found out they were playing you yesterday? COACH BROWN: Well, we both have the same amount of prep time. I think they've had a lot more rest than we have. We've been going with what I call the iron seven. We've been playing seven guys. I think it can work both ways.  You can be well rested and that can help you, but you can also have so much time off having not played in a game in a while that it could take you a while to get going again. The one thing we've done is after we won on Saturday, we wanted to make sure that our guys were, number one, well prepared for this game but also well rested for this game. We have to have fresh legs, and I think that we've tried to do a good job making sure our guys are going to be able to compete at a high level tomorrow, because they're going to be focused and they're going to be well rested. So we're looking forward to the opportunity. So if we win, it's tremendous. If we don't win, it's not going to be because we played on Saturday, it's going to be because Mount St. Mary's played better than us, and hopefully that does not happen. Q. Is there one particular area, one particular statistic that you feel you have to do very well in and/or is perhaps something that they do that you need to hold them down on? COACH BROWN: I think the team with the most Australians is going to win. No. All kidding aside, I think this is going to be a game of tempo. They want a lot of possessions. They want to play fast. They play just like VCU, where we want to be physical. We want to play inside out. We want to control tempo. We want to get them out of their rhythm. So I think this is going to be contrasting styles, which could lead to a very interesting game. Q. Will, they shoot the 3‑point shot pretty well and you've had games against teams that have really hurt you with the way they shot 3s against you. How much of a concern is their 3‑point shooting to you? COACH BROWN: Their 3‑point shooting is a concern. It's a strength of theirs. They'll have four guys on the floor at all times that can shoot the 3. They play four guards, they spread you out, space you out. They do a really good job of getting out in transition, penetrating, kick. They're going to take 3s no matter what. I think the biggest thing is we cannot allow them to get in a comfort zone, can't allow them to get in a rhythm. We do have to force them to make some 2‑point shots. And another way for us to defend the 3 is to make sure that we control tempo and don't allow them to get in a rhythm. The more possessions, the faster the game, the better chance they can get in the rhythm and get a lot of 3s. We've got to try to frustrate them with the way we play. THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for Coach Will? Congratulations, Coach. Good luck tomorrow. COACH BROWN: Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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