NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - CREIGHTON VS KANSAS

March 19, 2022

Bill Self

Ochai Agbaji

Remy Martin

Jalen Wilson

Dickies Arena

Kansas Jayhawks

Media Conference

Kansas University - 79, Creighton - 72

THE MODERATOR: We'll be joined by the Kansas Jayhawks shortly, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Martin, and Mr. Agbaji will be the student-athletes joining Coach Self.

Remember, no video here in the room, other than our friends at Hammond in the back. It's a hybrid press conference, so we'll have questions from the room and from Zoom. If you're watching on Zoom, raise your sure to raise your hand virtually so we know to call on you.

We welcome the Kansas Jayhawks, Head Coach Bill Self, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Martin, and Mr. Agbaji joining us here in the room. We'll start with an opening statement, followed by questions from media here in Fort Worth and those on ZOOM.

Coach Self.

BILL SELF: Well, it was a great game. Creighton played great. Shot unbelievable from the arc. And we didn't do a very good job defending it the first half.

But, you know, you got to win games when it's kind of ugly. And I don't know that we could have won this game two months ago playing this way. So I'm proud of our guys. I thought we defended and rebounded, for the most part, most of tonight. And then we had some guys step up and make some big free-throws and some plays late.

THE MODERATOR: Questions will start on the left-hand side, second row.

Q. Hey, Coach, when you're playing a team that's missing some guys like they were and hitting shots like they were, does it add more pressure? I mean, does it feel more of a relief than, I don't know, a win?

BILL SELF: I would say it's probably both. I'm a little relieved. I don't know how you guys feel. But I'm also very happy. You know, we've won some games in the NCAA tournament that were a lot like this, and we've also lost some games that were a lot like this. So we'll take it.

They played -- you know, I heard Max say before the game they're going to let it fly and they did. You know, even though Hawkins and O'Connell are, obviously, capable of doing what they did, you know, Kaluma shot the ball so well. He was shooting like 25 for the year.

But they had -- and I thought Trey played a terrific game and controlled it. And we did our best to sit on his right hand, but he still got right several times.

But it's a relief, but it also feels great. You can't apologize for winning games in this tournament.

Q. Bill, with Kaluma hitting the way he was, it made it tough because there's not a traditional big, right, for Dave defensively. How did you think he handled that? And also his block late that he switches on. What did you think of that?

BILL SELF: I actually thought that Kaluma made two to start the game, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know how many he ended with. I think he ended with three or four for the game.

But I thought David did a better job on ball screen getting back to him in the second half. It's a hard game for Dave. And Mitch isn't quite 100 percent yet. So that was a hard matchup.

But, you know, inside the arc, I'm not great at math, but nine of 31 inside the arc. And so we just let them shoot too many.

And then the play that David made late, too, when we were trying to take away the three and they drove it, and he blocked -- was it Alexander's shot? Yeah, that was a play that -- he didn't ice the game, but that basically put it out of reach right there.

Q. Another play kind of like that, Agbaji, you get the steal off the deflection and the dunk to put you guys back up three. What did you see on that and how big was that? And following up on that: It seemed like you guys had a lot of those moments where it was three-six, and then they keep coming and keep coming and keep coming, and how hard was it to push it back every time like that?

OCHAI AGBAJI: Yeah, no, they were battling hard the whole game. Credit to them. But we just knew -- there was just those possessions that we knew we had to get, even late in the stretch, whether it was a rebound or executing a play, just to break away from getting in that range of them being close.

But, no, I'm just proud of my team for today's performance.

Q. It's kind of a popular thing this week. Can Ochai and Jalen talk about Remy tonight, 20 most as a Jayhawk. It really got cooking in the first half again. What did he bring tonight and how important was it?

JALEN WILSON: I mean, he was the player of the game, you know, with his energy. Him being able to creating his own shot, especially when we needed a shot late in the clock. For him to be so much of a good teammate throughout the year and show leadership throughout the year, no matter what going on. And now for him to step up like this is huge. He makes our team go farther than what we could without him.

OCHAI AGBAJI: No, just same. Basically what J Will said. You know, his attitude the entire year I think is what has gotten him prepared for this moment. For him to shine, you know, for him to go on out there and just be Remy. It was really nice to see and, you know, I'm just so proud of him, too.

Q. A couple things. First, Bill, you said in your opening statement you don't know if this is a type of game you win a couple months ago. Could you just expand on that?

BILL SELF: Well, I think we have been a team that has scored easier than we've actually defended. And tonight, we -- I mean, we didn't defend great, don't get me wrong. They still got over 70.

But when the offense was bad, we defended and we did some toughness things, especially late-game possessions, which I thought was very positive.

They played us different than anybody's played us all year long defensively. And we never really figured it out. But we had enough guys make shots and make enough plays that we were able to overcome it.

Q. Ochai, what just this past few weeks been like for you as you're trying to figure out your shot and get back to what it was over the season?

OCHAI AGBAJI: I wouldn't say anything different. I'm not stressing or, you know, pressing or anything as far as my shot. But my teammates they're telling me to shoot every time I'm open. They have full confidence in me, so I'm going to keep shooting it.

BILL SELF: He did -- not to interrupt. But, you know, he didn't shoot it well the first half, but he made some big-time shots off of two feet the second half that really -- the three he made behind, the dribble handoff and a couple of plays off of pindowns that were huge for us.

Q. Hey, Ochai, just wondering: You're up one late and you do get the steal and dunk. What's going on in your mind? Do you see it or are you thinking next possession? What exactly is going through your head at that point?

OCHAI AGBAJI: Before or after the dunk?

Q. Before, during the net.

OCHAI AGBAJI: Yeah, I think we caught a break there. They were running that same play where it was a ball screen and they were lifting the guy. It was just a bad pass, but he mishandled it there. And then, obviously, we got a break there and got the steal and the dunk.

But after that, just that's a momentum changer in games like this. So it was just a big play.

Q. For whoever the players want to answer it. Y'all talked about shifting the mindset after the Big 12. What was kind of the mindset in the locker room after this?

JALEN WILSON: I mean, coming into this tournament, you know, you never know who we're going to play, you never know the style. Like Coach said today, the way they guard us was pretty different than what we've seen before.

So just coming in and having to play our same type of game and even though teams adjust, we still got to stick to what we do best.

REMY MARTIN: I would say just being ourselves and tightening up on the little things. You know, the little things down the stretch are magnified. So I think just being ourselves, play freely and just, you know, on the defensive end, just lock in a little bit. Everything just needs to get tightened up. So that was just the mindset shift.

OCHAI AGBAJI: And I would say just being present in the moment, not regretting anything when we're out there on the court. Knowing that it is on us to make these plays and to -- you know, we want to be successful to make those plays to be successful.

So just being present in the moment, not getting too ahead of ourselves.

Q. A couple things about pregame for Remy and Ochai. Second game in a row, you guys had to wait for overtime before you. I saw you go back to the locker room. Take us through how challenging that is, what's the process and how much is it that affect you?

And then also pregame, the one seeds in this tournament are kind of a fraternity, right, everybody's keeping an eye on what the ones are doing. And right out there, one of them you know really well, went down. Are you aware of that? Does that get in your heads at all? Do you even realize that that happened?

OCHAI AGBAJI: I would say that's when you really have to be focused, even more focused. You know, usually you go into games and everything is on schedule, everything's on time, you warm up and then you go and take the court, and then you have a situation where the game is going into overtime.

So you just got to stay focused, keep your body ready, keep your mind ready. Just your approach to the games.

Q. Remy, is it as easy as --

REMY MARTIN: Yeah, it's been simple, man. You know, we're here to play basketball. It's just tough when you want to go out there and it gets pushed back. But the mindset still stays the same, keep getting ready, make sure your body is warm.

But we're here to hoop. So once we get on the court, everything's forgotten.

Q. Yeah, Remy, can you describe and put into words this run that you're on? And was there a point maybe at some point in the season where you didn't think you'd be able to be back at this form?

REMY MARTIN: No, I mean, the guys and my family, the group, I have a pretty tightknit group. So they keep my confidence going, they keep my mental going. So I always felt like, you know, I had something in me.

But there's nothing to it. I just keep it simple. I just go out there and try to give it my all and play. I wasn't going out there and trying to do anything different. They were giving me shots and I just had to knock it in in the first half.

So I just like wearing this uniform. I love everything about it. I just love playing the game itself. So I'm just happy.

THE MODERATOR: We have time for a few more for the Jayhawks.

Q. Bill, this is the round you lost in a year ago. And after that game you said, you know, you felt like you needed to go add a couple of things, needed to get more athletic. Do you feel like what you added and the way this roster could kind of -- you can be a chameleon, like play different styles, you had to adjust to Creighton. Where do you feel like you are there and just having different pitches than you had a year ago?

BILL SELF: I think we're, obviously, a better team than we were a year ago. Of course, last year in the tournament, we also had two starters get COVID, too. So that didn't -- and one of them had a broken foot. So that didn't help a lot.

But we needed to add a couple of pieces and we were able to. But the biggest piece we added, obviously, was Remy. I think -- I still think this, that we're still yet to be our best yet.

I mean, I still believe we got another gear or another step we can take. And even though teams can defend us a certain way and give us problems, I've said many times in the NCAA tournament, and it happened with Creighton tonight, you've got to have some guys take some marginal shots and make them.

And Remy, obviously, took good shots. But, you know, you don't expect a guy -- I don't know what he was from the field the first half, six of eight, or six of nine, and you don't expect point guards to do that. But that kept us in the game. And then second half we kind of spread the wealth a little bit.

But we're a different team with him. And certainly, if they're going to put their four man on Juan and back all the way up underneath the basket, we're not going to throw it inside much that way. So we've got to have some guys make some shots and he bailed us out, you know, once again.

Q. Bill, do you have an idea of how you guys will handle this next handful of days ahead of making your next trip out?

BILL SELF: Yeah, I think so. I would think that we'll definitely take tomorrow off. I would think that -- I'll ask the guys what they want to do, if they want to have Monday off, or we could do a walk-through on Monday and then just, you know, practice Tuesday, Wednesday or whatever. But I'm going to find a way to get them off their feet two days.

I think that -- even though they didn't earn it today, I think that would be something that would probably benefit us right now with our tired bodies.

Q. This question is for Ochai. Your first field goal didn't come until the second half. Did your teammates or coach say anything to you at halftime that helped you kind of turn it on?

OCHAI AGBAJI: It was really, really progressive throughout the first game. Even in the first half, everyone was like keep taking those shots. They're all good looks. Even Coach Self was saying those were good looks.

So when I know they have that confidence in me, you know, it makes it a lot more easier to step up and make those shots and not a lot of pressure. So...

THE MODERATOR: All right. Men, congratulations. Good luck next weekend.