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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS: PROVIDENCE

March 18, 2010

Omar Samhan

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

St. Mary's Â– 80
Richmond - 71

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by St. Mary's, student-athletes, Ben Allen, Mickey McConnell and Omar Samhan along with head Coach Randy Bennett.
Coach, would you like to begin with an opening statement.
COACH BENNETT: Sure. We played a really good team. Richmond, familiar with the team. Chris Mooney, very good coach. So we had a lot of respect for who we were going against and prepared, put a lot of hours in to get ready for that match-up and how they played. And with them it's not just one end of the court it's both ends of the court. They run their offense different than anybody else. Most other teams in the country, you don't see it very often and so is their defense.
These guys did a great job of taking it all in and then executing it when they played. We didn't get off to a great start, but after that I thought we really played well. Our guys did a great job of taking care of the ball, moving the ball and getting good shots all night.
I couldn't be more proud of a team than I am of this one right now.

Q. Mickey, for you, I'm sure none of you were excited to see Omar get his third foul in the first half. He was going off real well. Was it a blessing in disguise, because it seemed to get everybody else more involved at that point?
BEN ALLEN: Yeah, it was a big point in the game where he got his third foul. We were going inside a lot up until then and I think that's when Beau Lavesque he came in and gave us great minutes to move the ball. We kind of were on a run a little bit without Omar.

Q. Omar, can you talk about the foul problems and playing with foul problems? Most coaches these days sit a guy down with two in the first half. Have you done that often this year to continue on?
OMAR SAMHAN: I think it's game to game. Coach doesn't always take me out with two or leave me in with two. Fouls are something that for some reason this season I've been finding myself in foul trouble a lot. You have to play smart. Coach was fired up at me, and I was trying hard not to get any in the second half. It is one of those things you can't really control, you can to a certain extent, you've just got to keep playing.

Q. Omar, were you surprised to see Beau go in for you, and did you see anything in practice maybe the last few that led you to believe that if you did get in foul trouble he would be the guy?
OMAR SAMHAN: Who came in for me? Coach told Beau earlier today to be ready. The guys that don't get a lot of playing time on this team are great. I had full belief in Beau, when I saw him get in there I was excited, I know he can really play. It wasn't who I expected to come in for me, but he was ready and that's what we needed.

Q. Talk about the fact you had a rebound advantage of 40 to 17 and how much of a factor that was. You don't usually see numbers like that.
OMAR SAMHAN: Well, defense and rebounding wins games. Going into the game we talked about that, that they don't block out well, with the defenses and all the switching. We wanted to get out on the boards. It's hard to win when you lose the rebounding by that much.

Q. Ben, can you talk about the historical significance of this win, first tournament win for the Gaels since '59. Was that in your mind at all this week, kind of knowing the history of the program?
BEN ALLEN: I think a combination of that and the fact that no one picked us to win this game was a bit of a chip on our shoulder. We hadn't done this in 50 years, it was something we wanted to prove. We are a team that's done so many things this season, and add that to the stack. So we're advancing in the dance.

Q. Omar, they didn't seem to be doubling down on you that much, did it surprise you that they were going to play you so man up like that?
OMAR SAMHAN: I was surprised. I knew they were going to do that going into it, because we worked on it a lot with Coach B. After I got going they didn't double team me, I haven't seen that a lot this year. I've been doubled a lot. It was good. It's hard to double with the four we have out there, because they can shoot it. They are the reasons I have good nights is the other four guys on the court opened it up for me, they're shooting unbelievable from three. I was surprised, but not really, because Ben and Mickey will make them pay.

Q. Can you talk about the job you guys did on Anderson in the second half. He had 11 points in the first half, but really didn't get too much going in the final 20 minutes.
MICKEY McCONNELL: Yeah, he's a great player. That was one of our main focuses coming into the game was to limit his scoring opportunities. But I thought our bigs did a great job showing on the on ball, and staying as long as they needed to. It's hard to finish over these two because they're so big. We made them finish at the rim a little bit and I think that bothered them a little bit.

Q. What's more satisfying, beating Gonzaga or winning an NCAA Tournament game?
OMAR SAMHAN: Both are equally satisfying. On Saturday hopefully we get that, that would be the most satisfying win. I'm real proud of this team. Coming into the year nobody thought we were going to be good. Nobody expected us to both the Zags. Now we're in the situation we're in, and coming into Saturday, nobody expects us to win that, that's our next stepping-stone. Every win is building. Every time it just builds and builds. It's a huge chip on our shoulder and we love that nobody expects us to do it.

Q. Mickey, so many teams Richmond's played this season are confused by what they do on defense. You obviously weren't confused. What were the keys to attacking?
BEN ALLEN: I think one of the main keys is we have really unselfish players. And they all have high basketball IQ's. When you have Ben who can pass and see the floor so well, it makes it easier to play against that kind of defense. They switch everything and they kind of junk it up a little bit. We did a good job of getting to the middle and finding the gaps against their defense.

Q. Just comment on how that team switched from an inside game to a perimeter game at the turn of a foul, really?
COACH BENNETT: Yeah, what's funny on that, Beau hasn't played a lot for us in critical times this year. He's a freshman. But he played in a program that ran the same exact system. They ran the Princeton system. They defended similar. He's been playing well and we went into this game and said Beau could really help us in this game if we need him. So we were really confident putting him in. And that changed the game a little. We were going smash mouth with Omar.
I thought we could do that. We haven't struggled against teams that are small all year. We beat -- every one of them we beat. The only teams that beat us were teams that have pretty big bigs. And so we were going to go -- I thought our guards do a good job moving the ball around and putting it inside, we had to make sure we didn't turn it over. That was our whole key, don't turn it over and we'll get good shots. And whether it's going to be inside or whether it was going to be off and on ball or guys moving around.
But I think it's a game of match ups, and I think our offense, our personnel, is suited to play against zone and teams that -- if they're not big inside.
So in some ways I thought we got a bad draw and in some ways a good draw. We can play against those teams. We haven't been beaten by a team that zones all year.
Our guys had to do it and play well and execute it, but they did. I thought our guards did a great job. They handled a lot of things. Della didn't shoot that well but they're running the show out there, directing traffic, and Ben Allen helps in that area, also. He's a very smart player. He's 6-11 but he's a really good passer, a good ball handler, and has a great brain for the game.
So the combination of all of that is why we're able to be successful against that match up.

Q. You said Beau had played with a similar system. But it's one thing to play with that system, but another thing to play in national television on a NCAA tournament. What about you made you think that he could handle that kind of situation?
COACH BENNETT: You know, I think he's a real good competitor. He has been in the minutes he's played this year, he's been really good. He was really good early for us in scrimmages. He didn't get in that -- looking back on it, maybe issued have been playing him all year. But every time he's been put in that spot he's produced, he doesn't play afraid. And it's your fight or flight mechanism. And his is fight. That's good. I felt pretty confident that he would be able to handle the magnitude of this game. And some other guys I wouldn't have felt that way, but with him, he's been nails on it all years and I think that's how he'll always about be.

Q. You talked about how you match up well with the zone perspective team and not a big inside and I was just curious with Villanova being a way majority man-to-man team, and the freshmen seeming to perjure with a post presence, could you talk about the match up Saturday?
COACH BENNETT: To be honest with you, I have not watched them much all season. I know they're good. I'm familiar with Jay's system. And they have good players and all that. But I saw them a little bit, we were watching in the locker room the overtime and all that. Yeah, it will be a different game. They're going to play more traditional man, quick. They play down size. They play with guards and wings as opposed to two posts. I don't know, we'll see. We're going to find out Saturday how it works out.

Q. When you look at your whole season after today what would you probably say are the two or three biggest strengths of this ball club as they head into the second round Saturday?
COACH BENNETT: Probably in order, this team is a team, and they're tight. And they're -- we said this first couple weeks of practice, these guys are great to coach. And they let you coach them, they have all year. Our best player, Omar, is -- you can yell at him, you can get on him, you can sit him on the bench. You can do all the things you need to do. You don't have to very often, but he let's you coach him. And that's good leadership. I think when you can do that everybody else follows suit.
But the rest of the guys are the same. If anything, you have to be careful about not beating these guys down, because they're going to let you coach them.
So that's No. 1. Two, we're a very good shooting team. And three, we're a very good passing team. I think all year our defense has been our offense. And, yeah, those -- the combination of those three. Like a team, we share the ball. Nobody cares. Omar doesn't care if he shoots 26 or sits on the bench. And Mickey has gone big the last couple of games. Clint had to make big shots tonight and he did. They're a tight team, they get it and understand their roles. And the thing that matters most to them is that we're successful.

Q. Can you talk about your philosophy on letting guys play with two fouls with ten minutes left in the first half. And three at the start of the second half?
COACH BENNETT: I've never bought into that sub guys out for two. I will if I can. It doesn't make sense to me, if you have a guy like Samhan, why would you sit him when he only has two. So you play him 25 minutes of the game instead of 32. I haven't been a big believer of that, I haven't been a big believer of sitting them down when they get a third foul in the second half. It depends on how smart your player is. Omar is a key player to us. He was tonight. The more minutes we can have him out on the floor, no question he's better for us.

Q. Samhan was obviously a difficult match up for Richmond tonight. Were you surprised at the final rebounding margin?
COACH BENNETT: I was surprised at the final rebounding margin. I didn't realize it until somebody said it and I looked. I was surprised. It was one of our keys against their -- pretty much zone, we thought we could get -- we'd get them scrambled up. They'd have their five guard on our point, and takes their five guard away from the basket and first of all they're not very big. The numbers said if you go to the boards you should do well getting offensive boards. So that was one of our keys.
It was, don't turn the ball over, get a shot and smash the boards, that's kind of what we did. They didn't have a match-up for Samhan. When people don't have a match-up for him, our guards and Ben Allen are good enough passers, smart enough players, they'll make you play if you don't have a guy down there who can guard him.

End of FastScripts

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