March 16, 2007

Opening Statement:
It was a great college basketball game and I want congratulate Creighton and coach Altman and his staff on a terrific game. I have a great deal of respect for them and I know how they feel over there. Both teams were evenly matched as I said going in and it was hard-fought. We had a lot of guys play well and our balance was key for us.

Thoughts on finishing the game without Nick Fazekas:
It was disappointing to see Nick walk off the floor with his fifth foul in a tight ballgame, but I have confidence in all of these kids because we have been in that situation before. We didn't panic and we kept playing. Javel was certainly a big key to the game. He played like a sophomore not a freshman and didn't try to do things that he couldn't do.

Problems that Creighton's matchup zone caused them:
Everyone that we had talked to prior to the game had talked about this defense that they had been playing the last few weeks and how nobody had been able to solve it. We new it would be an issue and we did turn it over way to much, but we grinded it out and found a way to make baskets. Certainly Marcelus is a playmaker and we let him have some freedom to make plays. We are a balanced and we found a way to get different guys shots and our balance offensively was key.

On the play of Ramon Sessions late in the game:
Ramon was disappointed that he turned the ball over earlier, but he has the heart of a lion and has made a lot of big plays for our program over the years. That layup was one of the bigger ones. It was a difficult shot and he had to put just enough English on the ball to get it to go in.

On facing Memphis on Sunday:
I've never coached in an NBA game, but from what I have watched of them it looks like we will be playing one on Sunday. They are a terrific team and Coach Calipari has done a terrific job with that team this year. He has won at a lot of places and he is doing a good job of organizing the great players that he has and that is why they are one of the premiere teams in the country.

How much of an advantage was the rebounding edge:
It was a big part of the game and I thought going in we would have an advantage. We had to force them into misses to get those rebounds. We had one bad stretch where we had three turnovers in a row and they got the lead, but we had better defense late and rebounded better. We locked in defensively from that point forward.

On Nevada giving up a lot of points on turnovers:
I did think we were nervous to start the game, but I have to give credit to Creighton. They have a good defensive team and made us make mistakes. We will have to do much better in that area against Memphis. We will have to take care of the basketball. Memphis is a team that uses a pressure defensive and it is going to be a key for us to play better offensively than we did today

Process of getting Kendrick Davis and Calvin Watson:
We worked Kendrick pretty hard coming out of high school and had worked the Houston area. We thought we were in pretty good position with him, but Arkansas changed coaches and that is where he decided to go. We did an excellent job of recruiting him on the front end. His first year there he was either their second or third leading scorer, but when he was looking to leave, with the work we had done on the front end, we were a viable option for him. Calvin, on the other hand wasn't one of those kids who was highly recruited. He was on a team with Vince Young and I guess that was his claim to fame. He's come in and done a tremendous job. When you talk about potential, he's come in and worked hard. When you tell him something he needs to work on, he continues to work on it.

You've played and coached in the tournament, can you relate what it is like to play in this event to your players:
That's been my mission. I was fortunate enough to play and be part of March Madness. I told them there is nothing like it. You can talk about press, you can talk about fans. But being a part of this event as a player is special. Now that they are here, you can talk about what's at stake and the level of the competition.