NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - SAINT MARY'S VS UCONN

March 19, 2023

Dan Hurley

Jordan Hawkins

Adama Sanogo

Tristen Newton

Andre Jackson

MVP Arena

UConn Huskies

Media Conference

UConn - 70, Saint Mary's - 55

THE MODERATOR: We welcome University of Connecticut coach Dan Hurley and the student-athletes.

Coach, first your opening comments. Thank you.

DAN HURLEY: Obviously thrilled to advance in the Tournament, get to the next round of it. Obviously beating a team of Saint Mary's caliber to get there, it wasn't an easy draw. Iona and Rick Pitino and then one of the hardest teams to beat with the way they play and how well coached they are.

Thrilled to be going to Vegas for the Sweet 16.

THE MODERATOR: We'll now take questions for the student-athletes.

Q. This one's for Jordan: It seems like you guys can kind of get into a second gear where you feel impossible to beat a lot of times. That comes with your shooting. I'm just curious what that feeling is like on the floor when you guys are locked in and going on those runs, especially in the second half of games.

JORDAN HAWKINS: It feels like we're unbeatable. The last two games in the second half, we just took off. When we're playing like that, I think we have a really good chance to win it all.

We're going to continue to do that and put that together for two halves.

Q. Adama, did you feel like they just couldn't stop you down low? Second game in a row you really dominated the low post. Do you kind of feel they had no answer for you almost?

ADAMA SANOGO: Not really. Like you said, I think going into the game, I was like thinking for us to win I have to be at my best. That's why like today I was ready to like do something positive, if it was scoring or something else. But for us to win, I had to be at my best. That was my mindset, be at my best today.

I didn't think like -- I was not thinking like that, but I was definitely looking for a goal every time on the court.

Q. Jordan, coming out of the third media timeout, you guys are up 11, and you hit back-to-back threes. How did that feel? And did you feel like that was going to be the end?

JORDAN HAWKINS: I mean, it felt great hitting those shots. Finally found a rhythm. They played great defense on me all game, but my teammates did a tremendous job scoring, carrying the load, defense, offense.

They found me open and just kept giving body blows, body blows till they were done.

Q. Andre, obviously it's been a long season. At what point did you realize that this team has what it takes to get to the Sweet 16?

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: I think at the beginning of the season I felt the confidence in the group. Unfortunately to start the season, I think we went through a little rough patch. Through all that, we knew what we were capable of. It was about reaching our potential and staying true to ourselves and staying true to the work honestly.

Q. Just wondering, if such good performances from members of the bench, what you thought of their performances, particularly Clingan?

JORDAN HAWKINS: I said from the beginning, I think our depth is going to win us the championship. They've been playing great this whole tournament. So if we just continue doing that with our second group, our first and second group, how they're playing, I think we're unbeatable.

Q. What is it about your team that's enabled you to kind of flip the switch and kind of pull away in the second half of these games?

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: It's our depth honestly. We have so many guys we can go to. No matter if somebody is having an off-day or an off-game, somebody is going to step up in those shoes and be ready for the big moment.

We have a ton of guys that have played under big pressure. Nahiem Alleyne coming off the bench, he's a big player. Came from Virginia Tech and did some big things. Every player coming off the bench is just as good as the player that's out there. So we have one of the deepest teams in the country.

Q. Andre, you came back home to your home area, got two wins. I saw you met Bill Murray. Pretty good weekend for you?

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: Sure, definitely.

Q. For you guys up there, what did Coach did to kind of alleviate the pressure coming into this weekend? The last two years obviously one-and-done, a lot of expectations, kind of bull's eye on your back coming in here. What did he do to kind of get you guys loose under all that pressure?

ADAMA SANOGO: I would say definitely Coach he makes us ready for this moment because, like you say, this is the most pressure of the year, but we've been to games like this. Coming to this game, like you said, the last couple years, March Madness was not good for us. But that was a different team. So Coach makes sure like we are not thinking about that too much, and he makes sure that we understanding that this is a different team and this is one of the best teams like he ever coached. So he make sure we're confident enough to come to this tournament. He make sure we don't think about what happened the past couple years.

Q. Can you just answer what was the feeling like differently coming into this tournament than maybe last year? Why do you think you guys were looser?

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: I think we had a better team. We all knew our identity, we all knew our roles, and we all knew what we had to do to win a game. Coming in, it's a lot more confident team. A lot of guys stepped up in big moments honestly, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Coach Hurley.

Q. Second game in a row with a tight first half. What were you thinking through that, and how did you know your team would get through?

DAN HURLEY: Just taking body blows, it's what we've been able to do through even quality teams through the course of the year. Nonconference, Alabama, Iowa State. In conference, Marquette and Providence. Eventually our depth, elite rebounding, top 20 defense, top 5 offense, with the depth just eventually I think we're able to break some teams.

To do that to a team of that coaching and culture and quality, obviously losing Ducas there was unfortunate for them. He's a helluva player. It was sad to see him not being able to play that game out.

Q. You obviously knew you had the talent to get this far? But when did you have the mindset that you'd think this was going to be possible?

DAN HURLEY: I think just in the nonconference -- actually, probably closed scrimmage versus Virginia. I've talked about that. We played that without two starters, and we played them very competitively. Then obviously you get into the nonconference, and the Iowa State, the Alabama, beating Oklahoma State and Florida when they were fully healthy, like right when the center was healthy for Florida and beating Oklahoma State with Avery there.

I think we just believed that -- the fact that we could beat you inside with dominant center play, and we could also be the type of team that could go eight, nine, ten, twelve threes, we could go on runs, and obviously we hang our hat on our defense.

Q. I don't know what you say to your team at halftime, you drew back the curtain a little bit in the Iona game. You said you went up to Adama and told him you needed what you needed from him in the second half. What did you say to your team at halftime?

DAN HURLEY: Really nothing great because there's been some times they've played horrible in the second half, and I think I've said something great. Listen, this is about this time of year, having players that step up and do what Jordan Hawkins did in the second half. I mean, there's nothing but like really excellent coaches left in this tournament and teams that are really hard to beat. It's just a matter of which players have that little bit of magic that can go out and have the performances that Sanogo's had, Jordan second half, Andre doing everything, Tristen Newton's first half. Yeah, I'm no halftime guru.

Q. These second-half runs you folks have been going on, it seemed like one of those games midseason when you guys were losing games, it seemed like you couldn't get to that second gear. What's different now, and how overwhelming is this team when they are making shots down the stretch?

DAN HURLEY: We were bricking threes. We went through a stretch where our bench three-point shooters were in a rut. Credit obviously the Big East. I mean, it's a tough league. The league kind of wears on you physically and mentally because of the environments and the style of play.

So I don't know, I think maybe just the days off after the Big East season I think has kind of refreshed Adama, and it's refreshed the team, and we look more like the team that was really alive and flying around the court during the nonconference.

Q. Dan, as skilled and talented as these guys are, do you feel like their confidence has now kind of caught up with that ability?

DAN HURLEY: Yeah, playing at UConn, it's just you deal with a lot more pressure and criticism and like immediate meltdowns on social when you lose. I think in the first and even second round of tournaments, it's more of a burden to play at UConn than it is an advantage.

I think that, especially in the first-round game, just being able to get that first one, I thought the team just was a lot looser today. Obviously now you get to the Sweet 16, you can really just kind of go out and just let it rip.

Q. You have a lot of weapons, but the last two games, when Hawkins woke up, the team woke up. Is that a coincidence, or is there something about him being sort of a lever on your team?

DAN HURLEY: Obviously you have to have a perimeter weapon this time of year that can deliver big performances and create some separation during the game. Obviously we have the interior attack, but Tristen Newton's first half kept us in a great spot to have a lead at halftime and getting nothing from Jordan. Nothing from Jordan at the half, we were up one. We felt great about the position we were in because we knew that he was going to get hot.

Q. This is your first Sweet 16 as a head coach. Program's first Sweet 16 in eight years. What does this mean to you and maybe to where this program is at the moment?

DAN HURLEY: Just really happy. I'd say two things: Number one, just I love this team. I love coaching these guys. These guys are -- we've got some imports, some transfers that just fit right into our culture and have accepted their role. And they've supplemented some incredible, home-grown kids that we've recruited out of high school and we've developed and put in this position to go out here and play in the most exciting time of year.

And for me personally, I'm still haunted by -- I had an unbelievable Rhode Island team that year five that lost a brutal game against Oregon in a game we should have won that we played great. I think we were up four at the under four media timeout versus the Oregon team with Dillon Brooks and Joe -- the kid Bell that was -- they had three draft picks. We ended up losing in that round of 32 game in Sacramento.

So maybe I won't have as many nightmares about that because that game -- that game haunts me. It has haunted me. And now I'll think about it less.

THE MODERATOR: Well, think about next Thursday. Best of luck in Las Vegas, Coach. Thank you very much.