MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 15, 2024

Niko Medved

Joel Scott

Isaiah Stevens

Thomas & Mack Center

Colorado State Rams

Postgame Press Conference

New Mexico 74, Colorado State 61

THE MODERATOR: For Colorado State we have student-athletes Joel Scott, Isaiah Stevens, Coach Niko Medved. Let's get some thoughts on tonight's game, Coach.

NIKO MEDVED: Congratulations to New Mexico. Give them credit. You know, we knew they would be amped up. It's a huge game for both teams. A lot on the line. Obviously they punched us right away 11-0. We came back.

I thought the run at the end of the first half was critical. They kind of went into the locker room with momentum. They made a lot of plays. They made shots. They made plays. They were active defensively.

We just weren't able to get enough shots down or come up with a timely rebound, or we had a key turnover. We just got really outplayed I thought on both ends of the floor. Disappointing, but we'll move on and get ready for what's coming on Sunday.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Did you feel like they created a frenetic pace of play that kind of contributed to some of your shooting woes tonight? It looked like you felt rushed on offense at times?

ISAIAH STEVENS: That's what they do. They speed the game up and execute on both ends at that pace. We were able to generate some good looks, like you said. Maybe rushed at times. We just have to settle in.

Honestly in the first half there were some shots out there we just have to hit.

Q. You come back and tie it up after an 11-0 run. What changed after that when they got the spurt at the end that set the tone for the second half?

ISAIAH STEVENS: I think that's just high-level basketball. Two high-level teams just trading runs and making plays on both ends. They really started to get out in transition a little bit, started to turn the corner on a lot of their ball screen actions, and that's something that we worked ad nauseam about, and it just didn't show up for the full 40.

Q. Isaiah, so can you take me through the play at the end of the first half where something happened with your calf, and then in the second half you were able to find your shot, and you had a pretty solid second half, but just how is the calf feeling?

ISAIAH STEVENS: I'll be fine. Nothing to it more than that. I'm excited to keep playing, moving forward.

Q. Joel, obviously their guards get a lot of attention, but they have good big guys inside too. What was the difficulty that they create in the interior battle?

JOEL SCOTT: It's tough. They're physical bigs. They were doing what they needed to do. They were flying around. Again, playing physical. That was kind of the biggest thing to it. They played really well and executed their game plan really well.

Q. Obviously this isn't the way you wanted to kind of go out of the Mountain West Tournament, but I was just kind of wondering what kind of legacy you hope to leave at CSU, Isaiah?

ISAIAH STEVENS: Hopefully one that contributes a lot of wins. Just being a good person, good teammate, somebody that they wanted to come out to Moby and see on a nightly basis; somebody that they hope that their kids could try to model themselves after and be like and just be a role model in the community.

Hopefully I feel like I did that. I love Fort Collins to death. It's going to be hard leaving it, but it was a great five years.

Q. Joel, you have players like Isaiah Stevens, but also the rest of the senior class on the team. What have you learned from them?

JOEL SCOTT: Man, I've learned a lot. It's really special to be able to play with guys like Isaiah. I mean, he's a CSU legend at this point or he is going to be.

Even the guys like Pat Cartier, Joe Palmer, Josiah Strong, and all of them, I mean, we grew pretty close together throughout this short time, so it's been really special to get to know them on and off the court.

Q. Joel, this was your seventh straight game in double figures. Over the last month or so, what has been working especially well for you offensively?

JOEL SCOTT: I think it's just been physicality, trying to set the tone in the paint. My teammates are looking for me in there, and I think we're just playing off of each other. I think when we set the tone in the paint, me, Pat, and even our guards, it helps us out in the long run.

Q. Joel, when you have the type of success that you did have tonight, can you describe how hard it was to work for that considering they blocked nine shots, they made it a pretty physical game inside?

JOEL SCOTT: Yeah. I mean, that's just, again, high-level basketball. It's going to be tough, especially inside the paint. Everyone is going to be battling in there. It's going to happen. Blocked shots are going to happen, so you just have to move on, keep playing, and they played very physical down there tonight. That's just how it is.

THE MODERATOR: Let's dismiss the student-athletes at this time. Thank you, men. Questions for Coach.

Q. Did you feel like the pace of play that they were able to establish took you out of some of the things that you really wanted to do or avoid tonight?

NIKO MEDVED: I don't think the pace of play bothered us as far as we're not comfortable running that much. I mean, I do think in the half court sped us up a little bit at times where we didn't catch and see what was in front of us, whether it was a simple post feed or a drive. You have to give them credit for doing that.

I think what happens that way is you get not just sped up physically, but you get sped up mentally. Just I think some of the guys maybe just kind of got out of character a little bit and maybe trying to do a little bit too much in some of those situations.

Again, I thought we had a chance, again, coming out of halftime. We just couldn't quite -- we had a chance to make a run, and we would turn it over, maybe force a bad shot, or even miss a good one. Yeah, you have to give them credit too, but I don't think the pace was too fast for us at all. I just thought maybe in the half court they sped up some of our decision-making.

Q. Everybody has projections for brackets. What's your expectation of what's going to happen Sunday?

NIKO MEDVED: I don't know. God, it looks to me at least like there's just not a ton of separation in seeding between so many of these teams right now. You never know.

Obviously another win tonight would have helped us, so I don't know. Part of the fun of it is not knowing and having that on Selection Sunday. You have no idea what your seed is going to be, where you are going to go, who you are going to play, and that's some of the beauty of it.

You know me. I'm such a competitive guy. I hated the way that -- wish we would have played better here tonight, but at the same time, this group has given us a lot, and we have to wake up tomorrow and strong chin and stick our chest out.

Selection Sunday is a really, really special time. That's what these guys dream about, so we can't let this take away from that on Sunday.

We will tonight, which you should as a competitor, but wake up tomorrow and look forward to what's next.

Q. You mentioned maybe being sped up a little bit. Do you think in the first half there was maybe a shot that isn't a bad shot, but maybe could have found a better shot?

NIKO MEDVED: I don't think there's any question about that. Some of them, like -- we didn't shoot the ball well from three, but I think what happens is we took some rushed ones too, so you take a few rushed ones, and then you miss a few you rushed ones, and then you get the open one, and so yes, I do. I thought we rushed a little bit. I didn't think we did a great job like we did last night of really attacking the close-out and getting in the paint and making good decision.

Yes, I think it was a combination, so I did. I thought we maybe forced or took some quick shots, some shots that we didn't need. That contributed.

Q. You have spoken about this a little bit before. We're heading into a very unique period of preparation before the tournament right here. What does that look like for you guys not knowing your first round opponent? What does it look like for practices for the team just kind of reset and get mentally refocused?

NIKO MEDVED: I mean, we'll get back. I mean, obviously we've just played three games. We'll get back home. I don't even know exactly our travel schedule, and then we'll take Sunday off and enjoy Sunday. Then we'll take it from there. Some of it depends on if you play Friday or you play Thursday, so it depends on that.

Typically you're going to travel out two days before, so once we get our opponent and know what day we're playing, we'll kind of figure it out from there.

Q. Tonight felt almost like a home game for New Mexico in a neutral site typically. What's your message to the team after an 11-0 run to start the game for New Mexico, and what's your message for the team going forward in situations like this on neutral sites that may feel more like a home game for the other team?

NIKO MEDVED: I mean, you have to remember we beat Creighton in Kansas City. You want to talk about a home game? (Laughing).

We've been there and done that. We responded to those situations all year. We didn't panic being down 11. We made a run. I thought the end of the first half was critical. The last six minutes of the first half, that game was close, and we just -- we needed to end the half a little bit better and get momentum going into halftime. We're used to that.

Believe it or not, there's as many Blue Jay fans in Kansas City as there were here today, but it's awesome. Our fans showed out. The Lobos have a great fan base. They've had that for years, and you know they're going to show. I remember being here for years when they've been good, and they've got a great turnout. That's what makes it awesome. You want the energy in the arena.

Q. The points off turnovers that the Lobos generate, they did it for three straight games. They always seemed to be at their best when they were able to not just turn you over but actually turn those into points at the other end. What are you able to do to kind of combat that, if anything? Is it just as simple as don't turn it over?

NIKO MEDVED: Yeah, you have to make great decisions with the ball. They do a great job. With that sometimes, they would probably tell you too, it can be feast or famine sometimes too, right?

When we say be strong with the ball, it's drive it. You have to play off two feet. You have to be strong. They force you to make quick decisions with the ball. If you hold it too long or you hesitate when you have a guy open and then you try to make the pass, that's when they turn you over.

I think another thing you have to do is you're going to turn the ball over. 14 turnovers for us wasn't terrible tonight. Some of them came in really key moments where we just couldn't afford the turnover because we were down, but you can't compound. If you have a turnover -- we had too many turnovers that led to touchdowns tonight, right? Turnovers that just led to a direct score for them.

So those are really back-breaking. If you turn it over, you have to regroup and make the next play, but that's what they do. That's how they're built.

Q. One more question about them is you kind of already talked about you're looking forward to Selection Sunday. They're a team that if you look at projections, I know there's some expert bracketologists at places like SI.com and stuff that know what they're talking about that still have New Mexico as one of the Final Four out or even on the outside looking in. Do you think this New Mexico team should be in the NCAA Tournament?

NIKO MEDVED: 100%, but I'm not smart enough to be a bracketologist, Jeff. I'm just a basketball coach here, so those guys, they are a lot smarter than I am.

There at NCAA -- after winning tonight, I don't see how they're not in the tournament. I know some people are, like, oh, the Mountain West is going to get six. Come on, man. For sure there's six teams that deserve to be in. A couple more bounces go the other way, UNLV was that kind of a team too.

I believe it. Nobody cares what I think, but yes, I believe after tonight for sure New Mexico deserves to be in the NCAA Tournament.