NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - OHIO STATE VS VILLANOVA

March 20, 2022

Chris Holtmann

E.J. Liddell

Malaki Branham

PPG Paints Arena

Ohio State Buckeyes

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We welcome Ohio State. We are going to start with an opening statement by Coach Chris Holtmann.

COACH HOLTMANN: Yeah, obviously a painful loss. I hate it for our players, but let's give Villanova credit, particularly how they started both halves, I thought those were critical stretches for us. Give them credit. Congratulations to them for moving on.

Obviously love this group and loved the fight they showed here in this game and obviously in the last week.

Q. E.J. you've talked about legacy and what you wanted to accomplish coming back this year at Ohio State. I know it's hard with it just being over but what is going through your head right now and what do you think you were able to do this year?

E.J. LIDDELL: I don't think reality has really kicked in yet that I wouldn't be able to -- this certain group of guys, a lot of guys these last games, older guys, seniors. It's tough, man. I'm really hurting inside. I wish I could have done more to help get did done. This group of guys was really determined are. We fought through a lot of adversity and injuries this year. I gave my all this year. I wish I could have done a little bit more, though.

Q. Malaki, same question for you. Evaluate your freshman year, how things went for you personally and your development?

MALAKI BRANHAM: Feel like they went good. Started shaky but found my improve the second half of the season. Just trying to help the team win, that's all I was trying to do.

Q. For either of you does it sting a little more you came so close there in the end, cut it down to two points and what did you think went wrong in the final five minutes and why the you couldn't close it out and complete the come back?

E.J. LIDDELL: Credit to Villanova they're a really good team. They've got a lot of older guys and they were composed. Gotta take care of the ball a lot more and credit to them. They played hard. I thought we went out there and played hard but we've got to take care of the ball a little bit more.

MALAKI BRANHAM: Like E.J. said take care of the ball a little bit more and we should have came out with a little more bite as Coach said. First and second half we gotta come out more aggressive than they did.

Q. E.J. you had three fouls early in the second half, you had to sit for quite a while. When you reentered the game, how important was it to just get going immediately and get back on track so you could try to help Malaki complete that come back?

E.J. LIDDELL: My teammates were picking me up, they needed me, is I started out the second half and felt like I let them down on the defensive side of the ball but over there reflecting on the bench I felt like I came back in and did better than what I did. I was trying to do my best to help this guy out right here. He was having a really good game and some shots weren't falling for me tonight.

Q. E.J., I think we've all kind of operated this year under the assumption that this was your final season at Ohio State. Does this ending give you anything else to think about as you make that decision moving forward?

E.J. LIDDELL: Right now I'm just reflecting on enjoying the moments I have with these guys, not even thinking about that, really haven't thought about that process yet. But this one stings. I'm not going to say I have thought about it, because I really haven't. This moment right here, I didn't want it to happen, ever.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen. Questions for head coach, Chris Holtmann.

Q. Coach, I know everyone is going to ask about Kyle Young, his testimony to come back and play with faith and resilience so if you could talk more about what happened and talk about his play when he was on the floor?

COACH HOLTMANN: Yeah, he makes a difference for us, for sure. I love Kyle, love Kyle. He represents everything we want. He competes at the highest level and, yeah. We obviously -- he's a special, special kid and special player.

He's being evaluated now, and I think more than anything he's disappointed about the loss.

Q. Chris, what Malaki and E.J. were able to do today was phenomenal but you didn't necessarily get a lot of offense out of anybody else. Villanova had four guys in double figures. You're missing Justin and Seth, how valuable is it to have depth not necessarily two guys who may be NBA pro's, how valuable is that?

COACH HOLTMANN: We have been searching for that third and fourth guy, it's been Kyle a lot, other guys at times but it's been Kyle when we have been at full strength, sometimes Zed. I thought he gave us a good lift on the glass, he missed a couple of baskets but I thought he gave us great lift on the glass. We have been kinda searching for that and we have missed that third, fourth and sometimes fifth option.

Q. You guys are 3-1 I think in first round at Ohio State. What do you need to do to get over the hump?

COACH HOLTMANN: Gotta keep getting here, gotta keep growing. Listen, when we got here a few years ago with a different program, you keep getting here, you get here enough, you get here consistently, and it will happen.

Q. Every end of the season brings different emotions and different teams bring out different things I'm sure. When you look at this year and I know it's fresh but do you feel you got everything you could out of this team? Do you feel the ceiling was higher?

COACH HOLTMANN: I think the injuries played a major role. We didn't have the team we anticipated having. But I was really proud of our last kind of -- this week, really. I didn't like how we started either half to be honest with you. I thought those two starts really -- we just were not as physical or as detailed as we needed to be. But in terms of the season in review, I would have to kind of think about it and put it in perspective.

Q. It was a five-point game and you had four trips to try to get it down to two or three. I think E.J. missed a shot and had a turnover, Brandon missed a three and then they called an illegal screen on Zed Key, and he tried to double but wasn't home for the three point shot just that entire sequence from your stand point on offense -- did you consider a timeout at any point in there maybe after a couple of fruitless possessions --

COACH HOLTMANN: Did we miss a free throw in that stretch? Two or five-point game in that?

Q. It was a five-point game through that entire stretch, neither team scored.

COACH HOLTMANN: I would have liked to have saved my timeouts, I think I had two left at that point, if I'm accurate, I would have liked to have saved those for the last two or three minutes because I thought it was going to be a one or two-possession game and that was my thinking there. I thought we had -- we needed to be better in that stretch. That stretch was critical.

Q. Chris, Jay Wright was in here talking about how he also struggled, they also struggled to get out of the second round. He talked about he didn't change anything, he just trusted the process. Is that what you have to do? Do you start to think maybe we have to change things up? How do you handle that?

COACH HOLTMANN: No, I appreciate the question but, no, listen, it's hard to win in this tournament. We've had four opportunities. We haven't had -- I've been here five years, and we have had four opportunities. We performed pretty well in this tournament in three of them. We just haven't been able to push through to that second round. I believe in what we're doing and I'm more than confident it's going to happen.

It's hard to win in this tournament. If you go back and look at the number of years I've been a head coach and the number of NCAA Tournament wins, it's pretty good. We feel good about what we're doing. We've obviously got to do some roster construction here, given some of what we're losing, but we will deal with that when we get back.

Q. You mentioned yesterday about kind of the comparison between how Jay built up his program at Villanova and how you are building your program. I'm curious, is what Villanova can do with versatility and depth, is that what you see as the future of Ohio State? Do you see the potential of kind of building something similar? Is that what you want your team to look like in an ideal scenario?

COACH HOLTMANN: I think there are some things that I would take from it. As I mentioned earlier, but I think there are some things that I take from a lot of programs that I really respect and certainly Villanova is one of them.

In terms of how they play and they build their roster and in terms of their -- he plays about seven or eight guys and that's kind of consistently how he's done it. I wouldn't necessarily get into those specifics and be nailed down on that, but certainly there's some things that I have taken and will take.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. Appreciate it.