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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: ORLANDOMarch 19, 2014Will BrownD.J. EvansPeter HooleyORLANDO, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: If we could get DJ and then Peter to talk about the quick turnaround and how you deal with that and some of the challenges. PETER HOOLEY: Yeah, it's definitely a quick turnaround. We got on a flight late last night, about 12:40, got in about 3:00. We had some rest in the hotel, we had a nice easy day, and we've got a good game plan set from the coaches, and we should be ready come tomorrow. DJ EVANS: Just like Pete says, it's a quick turnaround, but it's very exciting to be here. It's a blessing for us, so just got to take advantage of this opportunity. Q. This is for both: A 16 seed has never beaten a 1. What gives you confidence that you think you might be able to be the first team ever to do that? PETER HOOLEY: We've been playing great basketball the last three weeks especially, we've been a resilient group. Every time our back is against the wall we've managed to keep fighting and staying together and coming out with some good results. We know that all of us are going to be prepared well and we're going to be staying together and really believe that anything can happen, so why not us? DJ EVANS: Like Pete said, we've been playing some good basketball lately, the last four games. We've been through a lot of adversity this year, so we just have to go out there and play our game, and we just have to have faith and trust each other and be sure that everything will work out for itself. Q. Can you talk about what time you did get to bed this morning and just the bizarreness of flying in that late and getting ready to play the No.1 team in the country? DJ EVANS: I probably went to sleep around 4:30, but actually I couldn't even really sleep because I was so anxious to play tomorrow. I'm just thinking about going out there and just being able to put all for Mississippi and Albany University. It's just exciting right now. PETER HOOLEY: Yeah, I probably got to sleep about 3:45 when we got to the hotel, just put my bag in and then just laid in the bed. I was pretty tired. Managed to have a decent night's of sleep and was a bit relaxed throughout the day. It's a very anxious time back. Everyone just wants to get back on the court and play and I'm sure when that time comes we should be ready. Q. Do you guys feel like playing yesterday will help you guys going into tomorrow? DJ EVANS: Of course. That game yesterday was very intense, and we got our legs from under us. I think it helped us out. It's going to help us out, so yeah. PETER HOOLEY: Yeah, I think it definitely will. Especially the main core of this group was here last year when we had a whole week to prepare for a game, so everyone is really anxious waiting until that game. Everyone just wants to play. It's the NCAA Tournament, so I think getting that game out of the way first, everybody's nerves probably have settled down a little bit, everybody is just ready to go now knowing we have a big task ahead of us, and we have to do everything we can to get a win. Q. When you guys jumped out to that pretty huge lead in the beginning of that game and started storming back hitting shot after shot, what was the mentality in your huddle and on your team? PETER HOOLEY: Well, we knew they were a great team. Every team here is a great team so we knew they were going to make a run, and we really had to weather the storm. We went on a run after this and they came back with another run and pretty much that's the way the game went. We knew they were going to make plenty of runs at us and they're a great shooting team, and when their shots are dropping like that, you just have to make sure that you keep scoring on the other end and you keep trying to get as many stops as you can and we really managed to pull it out at the end, which is great. Q. You guys are one of four teams from the state of New York to be in this tournament. Do you take pride in that interstate rivalry? Do you want to be the best team in the state of New York, that being kind of a basketball state? DJ EVANS: Of course. It's an honor to be representing New York, so we just have to just go out there and try to play for each other and just try to play for New York, also. PETER HOOLEY: Yeah, I definitely think every team wants to be the best team they can possibly be. I think if we had it our way we'd want to be the best team in the entire world, so New York, we'll settle for that. Q. Peter, you just said why not us? What has to happen for why not us to happen against Florida? PETER HOOLEY: We really just have to focus on the game plan and not get rattled. We know it's a huge task ahead of us, they have the No.1 overall seed. We can't see it as that. We have to see it as just another game for us try and execute the game plan and try and play our kind of game. There will be times when they go on runs. We can't get rattled with that. We've done that well, especially in the past two games. Stony Brook jumped out to a quick lead against us in the championship game, we managed to draw that back in, and then we managed to really stay calm down the stretch last night. It's going to be all about controlling our tempo and how we play. DJ EVANS: Yeah, but I feel like all the pressure is going to be on Florida this game because they are the No.1 seed, and a No.16 seed and No.1, so I just feel like we need to have confidence in each other and just go out there, play hard, and just try to play our game. WILL BROWN: We're excited to be here in Orlando coming off our first NCAA Tournament victory in the history of our program, so we're real excited to represent the America East Conference and our University. We're also very excited to see some sunshine. Q. Can you just talk about you guys knew it was going to be an ordeal to play, win, and then get down here. Can you talk about some of the logistics and when you guys did film study, for example? WILL BROWN: Yeah, it's been a long few days. We played our championship game on Saturday, Selection Sunday, you find out about 6:15 you're going to Dayton. You get there on Monday, you play on Tuesday, you're told if you win, right around midnight you're jumping on a plane and coming down here. We got to our hotel about 3:30 a.m. We had a very difficult game against a talented Mount St. Mary's team, and we only played seven guys. So the biggest thing from the time that game ended until tip‑off tomorrow is we're doing a lot of mental preparation. We've got to try to keep our legs fresh, make sure our team is energized, as we have a tremendous task to try and beat the No.1 overall team in this tournament and the best team in the country. Q. You're a basketball junkie. You've seen Florida. How good are they? WILL BROWN: They're the best team in the country. What's so impressive about Florida is they bring it every single night. When they have‑‑ when they don't play well, they still win. I do not believe that they've lost a game this year with their starting five intact. I know one of their starters missed a few games earlier in the year. They've won 26 games in a row, undefeated in the SEC, tremendous accomplishments, Hall of Fame coach, just very impressed with all the film that I've watched. I had a chance to see them play in the SEC title game against Kentucky, and again, they're just a very, very good basketball team, and they do it on both ends and they do it very unselfishly. Coach Donovan has those guys understanding their roles, embracing their roles. I've been very impressed with Florida, and it's the best team that I've seen this year. Q. How long was it after last night's game that your son came up to you and asked you if you guys were going to get killed, and is he a little more optimistic today? WILL BROWN: Well, he said to me, probably within 15 minutes after the game, he said, dad, do we play Florida now, and I said yes. He goes, are we going to get killed? So it took about 15 minutes and I looked at him and I smiled, and I said, we'll be okay, buddy, I'll watch some film but I'll let you know how we're going to do. Q. How old is he? WILL BROWN: He's 11. My little guy's 11. Q. What are some things that you think your team does well that could cause the Gators some problems tomorrow? WILL BROWN: Well, for the most part we do a pretty good job of controlling tempo, but against a team like Florida, I think they can play fast or they can play slow. We play very unselfishly. We know our strengths. We play to our strengths. We understand our weaknesses. We play through Hooley and Rowley. We try to do that consistently. With that being said we've gotten great contributions from Evans and Johnson. I think one of our strengths down the stretch has been our balance. We play the game the right way. We play unselfishly. We try to beat you the old‑fashioned way. We defend, we rebound, we try to win the free‑throw battle. We're an opportunistic three‑point shooting team. But I think you're going to see a team that's really going to fight, they're going to compete, and they're going to play the game the right way. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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