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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: BUFFALO

March 15, 2017

Nathan Davis

Buffalo, New York

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We are joined the Bucknell university head coach Nathan Davis. Coach, welcome to Buffalo. Glad you're here safely. Getting ready to play West Virginia in our second game tomorrow. Go ahead and raise your hand if you have questions for Coach Davis at this time. We'll get a microphone you to.

Q. Hi, Coach. When you took over this program, could you talk maybe about the junior class, and was there a buy-in period and what you've been able to do and seen them maybe grow in these two years?
NATHAN DAVIS: Well, I think I was very fortunate. Typically you don't take over a program that's in such great shape. What Coach Paulsen had done prior to me getting there, we had a group of guys that wanted to be good and were expecting to win and wanted to be coach. I think the junior class has been a big part of why we've had success. I think their buy-in and belief in what we're doing kind of brought everyone one else along with them.

They've been completely about the team winning. They haven't worried about individual success, people that got it, when your best guys are doing that, it's hard for anyone else to do anything different.

Q. Just wondering if you could talk a little bit about the match-ups and how you think your team matches up with West Virginia?
NATHAN DAVIS: Do I have to? No, I think that obviously, they're a very talented team. Coach Huggins is a Hall of Fame type coach for a reason because he does a great job. His guys really compete at a high level. They play hard. They're unselfish, they're relentless at both ends of the floor. We have our work cut out for us. I have a lot of confidence in our guys' ability and what we're capable of doing. And we're going to go out there and give them everything we have.

It's certainly going to be a challenge. They're very long and athletic. We can't simulate the way they play with the guys we have. We've done the best we can, but there will be an adjustment period as the game gets started and we get used to the length in athleticism. But I think that when all is said and done, we'll be to compete at a pretty high level.

Q. Coach, you had a couple of common opponents. Do you go back and watch those films as part of your scout, and what did you -- it did you see the press early when scouting them originally, Mount St. Mary's and such?
NATHAN DAVIS: We look to some of those, but we looked more at some of the recent games and then more of some of the mid-majors they play later in the year to see what they did differently against some of those teams. Obviously, Jamion Christian at Mount St. Marys is a good friend of mine. We worked at Bucknell together and have know each other a long and have talked to each other about it. But at the same time, that was a long time ago. They've adjusted and developed as the years went on, and they're doing some things a little differently. We focused more on the recent stuff than what we were doing back in November.

Q. Along those lines, when you're -- West Virginia's first in turnovers. How do you go about planning, or trying to get your guys ready for a team that has that kind of pressure and that kind of defense?
NATHAN DAVIS: There's a lot of sleepless nights. No. I think that -- again, we don't have the same saga, that we can simulate what they're doing. We can kind of show them and watch a lot of film and try to get them to understand our concepts, but some of it, there's just no way for us to simulate it. So it will be on the fly, when they get in those games.

The good thing is, we play a lot of good teams with good size and good athleticism. So our guys should have a good feel for what that's like. West Virginia plays a lot different than a lot of other teams. Really outside of a couple teams we played in the last couple years, they're very different in style of play from what some other teams are. So there's going to be an adjustment period. I think we've got bright guys. I think they've got a good idea about what to expect and we'll go out there and do the best we can.

Q. Coach, from Sunday until now is obviously not a lot of prep time. Can you change anything to really take advantage of things that you see on film, like, say, attacking the press or attacking their defense, or do you really have to stick a lot more to your core principles?
NATHAN DAVIS: I think that throughout the year, we've been fortunate -- we've seen a lot of different styles of play. So, we've had to deal with the press. We've had to deal with half court, we've dealt with zone. We've seen it all. It's more of just trying to refine it or make slight adjustments based on what we think is going to be different. You said you don't have time to go back and reinvent the wheel. It's about taking what we do and what we do well to trying to adjust and take advantage of some opportunities.

Q. I guess along the same line of questioning, what is it about a Bob Huggins' team that is renowned for its pressure defense, but the way they're scoring, what added dimension does the -- you know, and challenge does this team present?
NATHAN DAVIS: I think you say Coach Huggins is not good, he's great at his job. So they're well-prepared. They are disciplined. They really compete at a high level, so you've got to understand it's going to be about you competing at that same level or at your best for 40 minutes. And that's what we're trying to do all year. It's really nothing new we're trying to do, but it's definitely going to be a big part of what is going on.

Q. Couple questions. One, West Virginia is obviously a team that got upset in the first round last year, so I'm just kind of wondering, did you even look at that game or bring it up to your players? Is it a factor a year later at all on number two. The three-point shot how much of an equalizer can it be for tomorrow?
NATHAN DAVIS: First of all, we know from experience that what happened last year doesn't matter this year. We got upset in the first round of our league tournament as the No. 1 seed last year. That has little impact, if any, impact on what happens this year. I don't think their experience lat year will have much impact what happens tomorrow.

Three-point shot is one of those things that can be an equalizer, but it's about getting good ones. We don't want to chuck them up to just chuck them up. We want to make sure we're getting them inside out and our feet are set. We have guys that are capable of making shots from a lot of different areas. As long as they're good ones.

And that's part of the big challenge with they way they play, not just not turning it over, but playing at a pace you're comfortable with, so when you get those shots you're in a position to knock them down.

Q. Okay. Not seeing any other questions, Coach, we appreciate your time. Good luck tomorrow against West Virginia?
NATHAN DAVIS: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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