News Conference: Xavier Sweet Sixteen Postgame

Coach, an opening statement
. COACH MACK: Well, obviously an
emotional game, a game I'm really proud of our kids, our
guys. They battled tooth and nail. We got down eight points
with about four and a half minutes to go, and I just told
them to not try to get it all back in one or two possessions
but it's gotten to the point where they already know that.
They just sort of echo Coach we got it, we understand, and that
hasn't always been the case. And for us to be able to go out
and put together consecutive stops and come down and execute
execute, it says a lot about how much our team's grown.
I personally have so much love for Sean and his staff. I know
it's heartbreaking for them because they had a special year
year, a special season. And I know it's tough. But
today is a Xavier day and I'm proud of these guys here at the
dais. THE MODERATOR: Questions?

know it's tough. But today is a
Xavier day and I'm proud of these guys here at the dais.
THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. I know I haven't been on the
beat the longest, Chris, but that was the most animated I've
seen you on the sideline. Are you able to verbalize what this
means to you and the program and how you feel for these guys?
COACH MACK: I just think that any team that can get through
the eye of the needle to get to an Elite Eight, you're playing
unbelievable teams. And I told these guys that after our first
week in Orlando, which I thought we played selfless basketball.
I thought we competed and played hard. A lot of people
were talking about how we had a favorable draw. And I think
that bothered our guys. You know, it was almost like we beat
the second place Big Ten team pretty convincingly in the
second half. We throttled Florida State a 3 seed and all
of a sudden it was all about how Florida State wasn't the team
that everybody talked about. And I think our guys earned a
lot today. But they had already earned that in my book, the way
we battled back in the six-game losing streak a long time ago.
It was emotional and really happy that our guys played to
win every possession tonight. Q. I know you just won the game
but your thoughts on facing Gonzaga on Saturday?
COACH MACK: I have no thoughts about Gonzaga at this point.
And I'm not being flip, I know Karnowski. If I mispronounced
his name I apologize. I know they have Nigel Goss and Mark
Few has done a great job and Johnathan we tried to get on a
transfer and he didn't give us much. I put all our efforts
into focusing on Arizon
a. Q. Can you take us through that
last play play; was that something you drew up with the
intention of getting it to to Sean Ristic off the court?
COACH MACK: When we came to the timeout it was 50 seconds left
in the game. And I called a play. I think two series
series, two pairs, and felt like it was too long developing
and by the time the shot would have gone up, whether we had
made it or not, Arizona would have had the ball with less than
a shot clock's worth of posses sion. So I opted to go with a
little bit of a quicker play. And that one worked for us
earlier in the game. We felt like they didn't press us. So Q
was able to get the ball near half court because we wanted to
go two for one down the stretch and fortunately Sean was able to
catch a great pass by Tre and put it in through all that
traffic and gave the guys a boost of confidence, and then we
had to defend
. Q. Can you talk about solving
Ristic and Markkanen, because they gave you guys fits earlier
on there, how tough was that and how big was Sean and RaShid?
COACH MACK: It's just a challenge. We wanted to keep
the ball in front of us. They have elite athleticism an
ability to get to the rim whether we play man or zone. I
said at halftime I didn't want to come into the locker room and
just blast our guys for not blocking out, because that
wasn't the case. The problem was we weren't containing the
ball on dribble penetration and zone. So when the shot went up
our bigs were helping and no position to block out. I said
if we can figure out a way, whether we're man or zone, to
keep the ball in front of us, at least it will give us an
opportunity to rebound the ball. And we weren't perfect in the
second half. But we were in the last three, four , four
minutes of the game. And that's the reason that we were able to
win. I told them first shots won't beat us. Second shots
will and we didn't give up any second shots down the stretch.
Q. Q.
Q. Trevon, J.P., you lost to this Arizona team in the same
spot when you were freshmen. What does it mean to come back
in your junior year and advance to the Elite Eight?
TREVON BLUIETT: It feels good, just for one just to be able to
kind of get that revenge that we have been looking for. And,
two, just to make it to the Elite Eight. It's been a while
since the program has done it. And just to get back there it's
a surreal feeling. J.P. MACURA: I'd say I'm
extremely happy on how we played together today. And I'm very
proud of everyone on our team. We got a lot of tough guys. We
played together. And I'm happy I'm happy that we're
advancing. Q.
Q. Q. J.P., you played a great game
. You kept your composure. How were you able to do that
especially when you guys get down and then how do you keep
your composure to bring this team back into it?
J.P. MACURA: Just staying level headed. My teammates have
extreme confidence in me. I get riled up a little bit I get
into the game a little bit. TREVON BLUIETT: Noel a little
bit. J.P. MACURA: Yeah, a little bit
and I've just got to stay poised and know my teammates
have my back at all times times.
Q. Q.
Q. Malcolm, you shot very efficiently tonight. How much
was the idea of this run ending going through your mind
throughout the game, and how do you feel right now?
MALCOLM BERNARD: I feel incredible. Happy. I'm very
excited. And I just really didn't want our season to end.
We worked so hard. Not only in the offseason but throughout the
year battling adversity. And I just didn't think it was time
for our season to en
d. Q. For the three of you, Coach
said he's got no thoughts on Gonzaga, but I'm wondering if
any of the three of you saw them at any point during the regular
season and what you think about them?
TREVON BLUIETT: No, I didn't get to catch them during the
regular season. My answer is the same as Coach's. Really no
thoughts. We were just preparing for the next team and
that was Arizona. J.P. MACURA: I don't know much
about them. I just know they got a big guy. That's about it.
That's all I really know. MALCOLM BERNARD: Same here. I
don't know much about them but Nigel Nigel Goss.
COACH MACK: That's not dis respectful. Our guys are tucked
in bed by 10:30, 11:00 they don't necessarily watch west
coast I'm sure Gonzaga hasn't seen Xavier play much either.
Coaching staffs are well prepared I'm sure for both
programs. We've done advanced scouting with a couple of
assistants. So those guys will tutor our team and myself here
over the next 24 hours. Q.
You kind of mentioned this already, but when you look at
the kind of matchup where you don't see very often between
your team and Gonzaga, is that kind of what makes March Madness
special? COACH MACK: It makes it special
for me. I'm shur sure fans are going to choose their
favorite teams. But I don't know what you're insinuating
because we're small Jesuit schools or anything like that,
but we're about good basketball basketball. And
we've got competitive guys. Both programs have a storied
tradition and started well before me, and started before
Coach Few, with coach Mons Coach Mons Monson it's
going to be a great game and we look forward playing it.
Gonzaga has had our number a couple times we've played them
so we've got to figure out a way to do better
. Q. Can you guys talk about re
grouping after the loss of Sumner and how long it took you
to do that, and what have you been able to -- how did you over
come that? TREVON BLUIETT: Well, I mean,
losing Ed was tough just because he was a key part to our team.
And just whenever you have a guy that's playing the majority
of minutes at the point guard position it's going to be tough
to kind of really get back into rhythm. But I think Ed going
down, I think think Quentin stepped up pretty big
for being a freshman. You know, I feel like it was, the click
was always there we just had to learn how to play for a full 40
minutes. Obviously that's all it really was.
J.P. MACURA: Obviously Ed went down and then Tre had an ankle
injury shortly after that. And honestly the main thing is we
stuck together. We're all tough guys. We stuck together. And
we've been playing tough together together. And
we're not really backing down from anybody. And if you have
that mentality mentality, you can beat a lot of
teams. MALCOLM BERNARD: I feel the
same way as these guys. So they said all the words
. Q.
Q. Q. Coach or Malcolm, or any of
you guys want to touch on saw David West in the crowd proud to
be an alumni, great career, if he talked to you what message
and what kind of leadership he can give you guys?
COACH MACK: Dave's as big of a Xavier fan as our program has.
He's arguably the greatest player that ever wore a Xavier
uniform. Special career in the NBA. Equally as important, Dave
's an awesome person. He's a great man. And like I said
before, he loves Xavier. So when he found out that we were
going to be out here and it was an off day, got shoot-around
tomorrow morning at 8:30 but he's planning on coming back on
Saturday. So it says a lot about not only Dave but we have
a lot of former players that support our program immensely.
Guys come back in the summer, play with these guys, work out
with them, talk to them. Tell them about their experience.
And Dave's no different. I think he went around the locker
room for a few minutes after our game tonight just being a proud
alum
. THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
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News Conference: Xavier Sweet Sixteen Postgame

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