BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2023

Rodney Terry

Tyrese Hunter

Dylan Disu

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Postgame Press Conference

Texas 60, Oklahoma State 47

MODERATOR: University of Texas, Coach Rodney Terry. The athletes tonight are Dylan Disu and Tyrese Hunter. Dylan will show up in just a bit. We'll go to coach for our opening statement.

RODNEY TERRY: First of all, I would like to extend some prayers and best wishes for Coach Self. He's an elder statesman in this league, a guy we have a lot of respect for, and we just pray for a good recovery for him today.

Played a game today against a well-coached team. Mike's team has always played extremely hard on defense, one of the better defensive team in the country. Thought we did a good job of taking care of the basketball and attacking on our terms. Thought we did a great job of rebounding, especially early in the game as well.

I thought our guys really had a great defensive effort themselves, so again, another really hard-fought win in the Big 12, but a lot of respect for our opponent.

Q. Can you just talk about the hot start you got off to and kind of the flow of that game because you both were playing great defense, there was some scoring droughts.

TYRESE HUNTER: Yeah. I think everything for me started on the defense and within the team, it started on defense. We knew they were going to come out and be aggressive. They are aggressive on defense, too, but that's what we take pride in. And I think all my shots came off the defensive end. Just hitting singles out there and playing smart and just stepping in rhythm and being myself. I've been feeling pretty good shooting the ball, so I just continued to do that.

Q. When did you know that Timmy wasn't going to play, and did you think, well, how is this going to affect what I do in this game?

TYRESE HUNTER: I found out -- I really don't know when I found out, but I know it's always the mentality of next guy up. Timmy was cheering the whole game, supporting us, just letting guys know. What my role is, just play harder, play defense and that's the same mentality every game.

Everybody coming in each and every game playing hard. We got some Arterio coming off the bench and probably feeling a little bit of a gap without Timmy, but overall, everybody played good.

Q. We talked the other day about Arterio, and you just mentioned him, but how much of a boost did he give you in the first half with ten points and a couple steals?

TYRESE HUNTER: That's something we are not surprised by. He's working his tail off and learning as much as he can from the older guys and just being in the program. I seen Arterio grow up since he came in here, and he just stayed true to himself in the ups and downs. Even games he don't play, he's having a positive mindset, so for him to have that success is not a surprise for nobody in the program.

Q. How did Timmy do this? He was looking good in the shoot around yesterday. What happened and how did it change things?

RODNEY TERRY: Well, Timmy got nicked up a little bit in the Kansas game, and we immediately started working on his recovery. We got one of the best trainers in the country, Joe Reilly, strength coach. They have been working with him the last couple days, and we just made a decision that we are going to go day-to-day, and he's getting better each and every day. But we'll put him back out there when the opportunity presents itself to where he's 100 percent.

Yeah, it's just a day-to-day situation right now, lower leg situation.

Q. How did it change things?

RODNEY TERRY: Well, Jabari has played starter minutes all year. He is sixth man in our league and sixth man nationally as well today, but he's played starting minutes all year. Could have easily been in the starting lineup for us this season. Again, it was a Next Man Up mentality. He had an opportunity and also an opportunity for Arterio Morris to see significant minutes as well, and both those guys have been working really hard to be prepared for this moment.

Q. With Timmy out, I think Dylan played season-high minutes. Did you anticipate that he would play a larger role with Timmy out?

RODNEY TERRY: Disu's been playing great for us down the stretch. He really has. He was rebounding the ball at a very high clip today and rebounding was a big emphasis in this game here because Oklahoma State is really big upfront, and they really crashed the board really hard.

I thought he did a nice job for us in the first half and had some tough rebounds in the second half as well, but he needed to get some extended minutes. We knew Brooks was going to have to play quite a bit as well and CB. This is one of the biggest front lines in the Big 12, so we knew we were going to need those guys up front to be on the floor for an extended period of time for us today.

Q. Going off of that, you know, last year was really tough on Dylan coming off that knee injury. How different is he mentally, physically, emotionally from where he was at this point last year?

RODNEY TERRY: He had a full summer and he had all of the fall to prepare for the season, which made a wonderful difference for him going into the season. Had a great fall camp and put himself in position to start for us this year.

I think he's had a stellar year. I really do. I think his confidence has been extremely high. I think early in the Big 12 play, he was a really good rim protector for us, one of the best shot-blockers in the league. And then his scoring started coming. All predicated on how much work he's put in in the course of the year. When guys' roles change during the year, that's just a product of them working hard, and he's given a great lift scoring the ball as well.

MODERATOR: We are now joined by Dylan Disu.

Q. What's going on with your coach, a couple of technical fouls here. Tough guy. What's going on?

DYLAN DISU: He got ten push-ups for us, that's all I can say.

RODNEY TERRY: Got ten good push-ups. You know, again, heat of the battle, I thought our guys were playing hard. We didn't finish the game the way we wanted to in terms of taking care of the basketball. But sometimes you think there's some extra contact out there, and that was on me probably a little bit too much, saying too much to her and things. So a lot of respect for our officials in the Big 12. They have done an incredible job officiating the best league in the country.

It's been physical throughout the entire year. And our crew, they have done as good as you can do at this level terms of officiating. That's on me in terms of that technical foul. You can't get that at that juncture of the game, and I said that to our guys.

Q. I asked Coach this, with Timmy out, did you anticipate maybe playing more minutes because I think you had a season-high in minutes?

DYLAN DISU: Yeah, I think a lot of guys, me and CB were both out and taking minutes with Timmy going down. But we know we can both play that position, and so we kind of expected, you know, more from us tonight.

Q. Curious last year was so difficult on you coming off the knee injury and I know you didn't play a ton down the stretch. How different do you feel this year mentally, physically, health-wise?

DYLAN DISU: I feel great for sure. I talked about this before, it takes awhile with those, like, really, really big knee injuries. And even like minor knee injuries, I had a meniscus before my freshman year at Vanderbilt.

So my first year, I didn't really feel fully 100 percent. And I kind of was like a little bit last year, just trying to get my legs back under me. And this year, I know I feel great. I had a great summer, fall camp. And now I'm having a great season I feel like.

Q. Brooks said he's coming back for a sixth year. Do you have an idea what your plan is for next year?

DYLAN DISU: I have no idea right now. I'm just, you know, trying to play this season, trying to win a championship and focus on what's at hand right now. When the end of the season comes, I'll sit down with my family and discuss that.

Q. What's allowed you to have so much success against OSU this year?

RODNEY TERRY: A lot of respect for Mike. His teams play extremely hard. One of the best defensive teams in the Big 12, all year long. Elite level rim protection and just a highly competitive team that never is going to quit. They are going to play 40 minutes, and you're going to be in those type of games with him.

I think missing Anderson, Anderson is a big piece out of the lineup right now. And he really pushes the pace for them, and he sets the table for the other guys to shoot the basketball. You know him not being in that lineup is a really big piece missing out of that lineup right now.

But I don't know. I think we've just kind of willed our way in terms of knowing we have to have a physical mindset when we play against his team and know we have to do a really good job of trying to execute offensively because they are so good defensively.

Q. I was wondering if you could walk me through, how would you describe the style of basketball play that's in the Big 12? Obviously it's physical; it's tough; it's deep. I mean, in this league, in football, everyone plays a little bit of a different style, but basketball seems like it's a little bit different. How would you describe what that is and have you noticed it changing or being different at all this year?

RODNEY TERRY: I think, one, we have got incredible coaches in this league. We've got Hall of Fame coaches. We've got guys that won national championships, guys that have been in the Final Four. I think there's not one team we played this year that's not prepared.

I think the preparation is at a very high level in this league, which at the end of the day really requires your team to have to really out-execute other teams, whether it be defensively, offensively. And again, we've got really good physical players in this league as well and good players, but again, I think this year's league, I think a lot of times we had a chance to lead the league in scoring. We tried to play faster, even with the physicality, teams still tried to play at great pace, which has been a challenge as well.

I think that's what's made the league this year. I think the coaching, I think the players, and teams trying to play a lot faster. Baylor can really score the ball from the perimeter, as well.

Q. Do you think the ability for these coaches and teams to reload with transfers and have a second pipeline of talent has influenced the depth of the league at all?

RODNEY TERRY: For sure. It's an older league, everyone in this day and time in college basketball and even college athletics as a whole likes to stay older in terms of the transfer portal and things of that nature. But there's still some good young players as well. We have two young players that are developing every day and getting better every day, but I think, again, everyone wants to stay older.

Q. Marcus is obviously not shooting well the last five games, like 30 percent, 20 of 10 and 0-for-3 and he got to the foul line tonight, which he had not done a couple games where he's been struggling shooting. Is he taking the right shots? Is he forcing some things? What are you seeing?

RODNEY TERRY: You had to remind me of that. He's working extremely hard right now, and I think his best basketball is still ahead of him. I think he's taking and getting really good open looks. Teams game plan for Marcus. They trap and put the best defender on him, and he is still getting good looks. He's still getting good looks. He got to the foul line tonight.

And my message to him is keep shooting the basketball. You're open, you're taking open shots. Don't pass up any shots because you miss a shot. You put the work in. We expect you to make those shots and take those shots.

Q. Jabari has been a starter in his career and he has not started this year. What's the biggest challenge for a guy to come in and be a starter for one game? And for you as a coach, what was your biggest challenge in your rotation with Jabari starting?

RODNEY TERRY: I think again, over the course of Jabari's career, he's been a starter. When we recruited him, we recruited him as a guy to come in and give us incredible energy off the bench, and he's gave us a nice touch with the scoring piece as well.

But he fully embraced that role from the very beginning. He played starting minutes. So for him going into the lineup wasn't really that big of a change for us. He's just starting the game now, and he hasn't tried to play without fouling. Sometimes he'll pick up quick early fouls in the half, and he really couldn't do that. That's probably the biggest adjustment for him starting the game; you can't pick up quick fouls.

But he's played well throughout the course of this year. I think it's shortened our rotation obviously with not having Timmy in there, but other guys were ready to step up. They have been working hard and really happy for the minutes that Arterio was able to get today.

We said all along to him that there was going to come an opportunity where he was going to have to come in and be an impactful player for us at some point in the season, and he had an incredible opportunity today, and he did a great job.

Q. I wonder how you think it helps you that your resumé has a lot of variety in terms of places, regions, levels, situations.

RODNEY TERRY: Yeah, again, I think having that experience, there's nothing like experience. You know what I mean? And a lot of times you start dating yourself when you start talking about your journey and where you've been. You look up and people are like, man, Coach, you're really young. But we're young every day because we work with young people that keep us young at heart.

No. It's really helped me in a number of ways. This year in particular, my demeanor with my team, I've really just tried to embrace and enjoy this journey, you know, live where my feet are right now and just take these guys as far as we can take them. You know, I think in the past, I think I've kind of coached hard, kind of still coach hard right now as well, but really enjoy to enjoy the interaction I have with my players during the game, and in practice, as well.

So I don't know, I've just taken a whole different approach in that regard, and I think the experience and the different backgrounds and people I've worked with over the years have really helped me to this point right now.

THE MODERATOR: Okay, Coach, thank you so much. Congratulations. We'll see you tomorrow.