Friday, March 17
Sacramento, Calif.
3:30 p.m. (approx.)
Creighton University
25-10
72
vs
84
Rhode Island
25-9
1
2
F
Rhode Island
33
51
84
Creighton
26
46
72
Ronnie Harrell Jr. scored a career-high 15 points on Friday vs. Rhode Island
Photo by: Creighton Athletics
Men's Basketball Falls in NCAA Opener To Rhode Island
3/17/2017 5:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays end the season 25-10
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The 2016-17 Creighton men's basketball season came to an end on Friday, with the Bluejays falling 84-72 to Rhode Island in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
The sixth-seeded Bluejays (25-10) never led in the contest, snapping a streak of eight straight postseason appearances with at least one victory.
With the win, 11th-seeded URI (25-9) advances to meet third-seeded and ninth-ranked Oregon on Sunday. A start time and television network will be announced later on Friday night.
Rhode Island held the Bluejays without a field goal for the first 4:48 of the game before a trey by Khyri Thomas cut URI's deficit to 6-4. The Rams led the entire first half, with Creighton tying the score at 17-all on a corner three-pointer from Cole Huff. URI responded and led by as much as nine (33-24) before a Justin Patton basket in the final 25 seconds of the half.
Patton and Thomas paced CU with eight points in the first half, while URI was led by nine from Jeff Dowtin. The Rams won the rebound battle 23-18 and outscored the Jays 14-10 in the paint.
URI scored the first four points of the second half to take its first double-figure lead of the afternoon at 37-26.
Creighton continued to battle, slowly cutting into the lead. Thomas scored on one end, then ran through a pass for a steal on URI's ensuing trip. Thomas led a fast break and fed Ronnie Harrell Jr. for a slam as URI called timeout with 8:53 left and a 53-48 lead.
Creighton would come no closer, as the Rams hit their free throws and staved off a Bluejay comeback with timely buckets.
Harrell Jr. had a career-best 15 points to go with five rebounds and four assists, tying him with Foster for team scoring honors. Also in double-figures was Thomas, who had 10 and seven rebounds. The Bluejays shot 40 percent for the half and shot 30.4 percent from three-point land (7-23).
URI was paced by a career-high 21 points from Dowtin and 17 more Kuran Iverson. The Rams made 28-of-29 free throws to start the day before missing its final two shots. Rhode Island won the rebound battle 38-37 and led 12-7 in fast break points.
The game was the final one for Creighton seniors Cole Huff, Isaiah Zierden and Zach Hanson. Creighton went 114-60 in the past five seasons with three NCAA Tournament trips.
NOTES: Creighton's 2,864 points were a school-record for one season ... Creighton's 1,078 field goals were also a record for a single-season ... Creighton made a three-pointer for the 783rd consecutive game ... Khyri Thomas has made at least one three-pointer in 14 straight contests ... Marcus Foster has scored in double-figures each of Creighton's last 18 games ... Creighton's reserves outscored the Rhode Island bench, 32-4 after the game featured no bench points at halftime ... Justin Patton shot 3-of-12 from the field, finishing at 67.6 percent from the field on the season. That ranked second-best in NCAA history among freshmen, trailing only Hampton's Michael Freeman (67.8 percent) in 2006-07. The best previous mark by a "major conference" freshman had been 66.5 percent by Arkansas' Sidney Moncrief in 1975-76 ... Patton led the team with 72 dunks, as well as with 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game ... Marcus Foster led Creighton with 18.2 points per game, 73 three-pointers made and 75 free throws made, while Khyri Thomas led the team 52 steals.
Sacramento, California
Rhode Island - 84, Creighton - 72
THE MODERATOR: For the Creighton Bluejays we have Isaiah Zierden, Cole Huff and Zach Hanson along with Coach Greg McDermott. Coach, would you start us off with the impression, analysis of the game today?
GREG McDERMOTT: I would like to congratulate Rhode Island. Coach Hurley has done a terrific job throughout the season and obviously has them playing their best basketball at the right time.
For us, we really needed to play defensively in the second half like we did the first half and play offensively in the first half like we did the second half. Our offensive numbers were poor the first half, but defensively we did enough to keep us in the game. The second half we had a hard time guarding them without fouling, and even though we moved the ball and put 46 points on the board, it was a little bit too little, too late.
But extremely proud of our team and especially these three guys that are up here with me. Zach and Isaiah have been part of a team that was a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and they've also been part of a team that finished 9th in the Big East and went 4-14. That was Cole's redshirt year. The three of them are hugely responsible for getting our program back to where it is today and I'm forever grateful for them. Not just for what they've done for us on the court, but the way they've conducted themselves off the floor. They've been first-class representatives of Creighton, of our basketball program and certainly of their families. They're going to be successful in whatever they choose to do, and it's been 100% my pleasure to have the opportunity to coach them.
Q. Isaiah, the natural question is what did they do defensively to knock you off kilter? They pressure well and extend out, but just what was it about their playing that knocked you off in the first half?
ISAIAH ZIERDEN: It wasn't anything that we weren't ready for, just got a little sped up. They try to body you, push you around, make you go where they want you to go and catch. And they did a good job and tried to speed us up and that's exactly what they did.
Q. Coach, what went into the decision of starting Ronnie, not starting him, but playing Ronnie Harrell at point guard a lot today?
GREG McDERMOTT: A couple things. Part of it is he played really well against Villanova when we put him in in the second half. I thought he gave us a great lift at both ends of the floor. He's continued to practice well since that time. Because of the length they had across the guard court his ability to see over some of their -- they were aggressive on ball screens and he could see over it better than Davion and Z and Tyler.
So we went with it and when he went out there he played well. So we rolled with it and it's been that case with this team all year. When a guy's number is called we expect him to be ready, and fortunately Ronnie was ready today because he impacted the game in a positive way.
Q. For all the players, I don't know how you sum up this season. I know it hurts at this moment, but given the adversity and trying to reshape your team the way you did down the stretch, what do you take way from the way you finished and what it meant the last few weeks to still stick together and get wins despite not having your full squad?
ZACH HANSON: I just think top to bottom from our coaching staff to all the guys on the team, I think it really speaks to the character of everybody on this team because with all we went through with injuries and just adversity and everything, it could have been easy for us to divide as a program and at times even give up a little bit. That's never what we did. We always stuck together. We always kept our heads up. We always showed up and worked and we always kept our goals in mind. We never let things that could have brought us down and I'm really proud of our guys and our program in general because I think it speaks to how good of people we have in this program.
Q. Coach, how much did they maybe resemble a Big East team defensively in terms of their physicality on the perimeter and their depth among their guards?
GREG McDERMOTT: I would say very similar. As you watch them over the course of the season, watch their early games and obviously watched the run they've had the last two or three weeks, there's noticeable improvement in what they're doing defensively and their attention to detail. They're extremely physical and today they were able to play that physical defense without fouling. They've had times during the year where they fouled a lot and we were the ones that fouled a lot today. This is a very good basketball team. That's a top-25 basketball team and a team that can on the right night can beat anybody in this tournament.
Q. Greg, what did you see that you guys didn't do effectively offensively in the first half that once you got settled in you figured out and started having a little bit better possessions offensively?
GREG McDERMOTT: We had opportunities early with some shots that came as a result of Justin or Zach getting to the rim after a ball screen and we sprayed it out and missed some of those, missed a few shots around the rim and when you're not making the shots you don't really make them adjust.
You're not going to adjust as a coach until something is really hurting you, and we weren't able to do enough in the first half to force any adjustments with how they were defending with their pressure. They're really good. They're really good, and obviously we didn't have our A game today and to win today we were going to need that.
Q. Defensively you mentioned fouling too much, but it seemed like you assign Khyri to guard E.C. their best player, but their point guard, Jeff Dowtin, got into the teeth of the defense and hurt you a little bit maybe off ball screens. What did he do and why did he find a way to bring you guys down the way he did?
GREG McDERMOTT: I thought he played with a great pace. While he didn't have any assists, he also didn't turn it over. If you would have told me E.C. and Terrell were going to be 6 of 20 between 'em, I would have said we're probably winning the game, until you tell me that Justin and Marcus went 9 of 31, so that kind of trumps that.
Obviously, Hassan is special in there because he doesn't require the ball all the time, but when they need a basket you can go to him. He kind of got what he usually gets and we did a good job on those other two. Jeff Dowtin hurt us and Kuran Iverson, the 3-point shots he hit were really critical, especially the ones late in the half.
I thought our defensive plan was good enough, certainly good enough the first half and we just couldn't score and once we got behind we fouled a lot and that's got a lot to do with the free throw differential.
Q. Cole, how tough is it to swallow knowing that you guys didn't play your best, that there was more to show, like Coach mentioned, layups and shots that you there you just didn't finish? How do you come to grips with the season ending in this fashion?
COLE HUFF: It's tough just like any other loss. You're always going to look back at the few plays that you wish you could have had back, things you could have done differently. Unfortunately, this time there is nothing to look forward to, moving on to a next game or preparing for something else. It definitely hurts, especially in the NCAA Tournament, us three, I know these two have been, but Isaiah was hurt the first time and Zach had a minimal role.
So this was our first appearance in the NCAA Tournament and we wanted to put out a better effort than we did. It hurts. It sucks, but at the same time we don't have anything to hang our heads about.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen.
Sacramento, California
Rhode Island - 84, Creighton - 72
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Rhode Island. Coach Hurley, give us your analysis of what happened out there today.
DAN HURLEY: Obviously, thrilled to come out of here with a win against a program of the caliber of Creighton. One of the very best coaches in college and obviously a high-level players. Our goal going in, obviously, was to try to take away the three-point line as much as we could, force them into two's and make them uncomfortable on offense. That was our plan. Another goal we had defensively was to try to keep that dynamic combo of Marcus Foster and Thomas to 25 points or less, and that was obviously a big factor in the game, holding those guys, you know, to the numbers they had.
But that win was about these guys to my right. These guys were awesome. We really showed our depth and really just wore on them with our defensive intensity and play making.
Q. Congrats. Jared, I watched you skip off there a little bit and you guys posed for a photo. Seems like you did all the little things down the stretch, got stops, second chances and do you guys always make free throws like you did and chase loose balls the way you did?
JARED TERRELL: I thought we were locked in defensively and we were confident going to the line and being able to knock down our free throws, sticking on our principles on defense and rebounding very well. I'm just glad we came out with the win.
Q. Hassan, you were matched up with Patton who is probably a future lottery pick. He fouled out, didn't shoot well, didn't score many points. What can you say about dominating a guy like that who is probably going to be playing in the NBA next year?
HASSAN MARTIN: Feels great, you know, he's a great player. My mindset was to be physical with him. He's not that strong of a guy, but he's tall. So I had to push him off the block and box him out real hard and that's what I did and got him in foul trouble and he fouled out.
Q. Dan, given how long it's been since the school has been here, your first appearance, given the trouble with the free throw shooting how shocked are you to see these numbers?
DAN HURLEY: Justice there, you know. I've taken a lot of flack for our free throw shooting and on the overnight as a coach I finally figured out how to teach it. Tongue in cheek obviously. This is great for these guys. These guys committed to this program on a plan, kind of like a dream of what we could accomplish as they got older. We feel like maybe we could have been in this position last year if the guy to my right didn't get hurt and a guy couple more spots over to my right didn't get hurt.
This is so amazing for the players, for the school, for our fans who have suffered for many years and for the state. It's such a great state with great people, a beautiful place to live. We're just so happy to bring a shine to Rhode Island right now. Obviously, these guys are high-level players to my right and now they get the chance to perform on a national stage and show people how good they are.
Q. E.C., it looked like the team picked up where you left off after the A-10 Tournament. How did it feel to you guys?
E.C. MATTHEWS: We did what we needed to do. The coaches assigned us a great game plan going into the game. We just wanted to slow them down to the amount of threes they was making and we wanted to get the ball and push it. We were making shots beyond the arc that made us even better because we're playing great defense and feeding off that. Just came down to making more winning plays.
Q. Kuran, you made a three with 5 minutes to go, looked into the crowd, gave 'em a sign. You looked confident there. How has this team been able to carry that over the last nine games playing so confidently, whether it's a conference tournament or the NCAA Tournament.
KURAN IVERSON: I have a lot of good players on my team. I didn't think I was going to have a good offensive night I thought I was going to have a good defensive night. But once I made that shot I kept telling myself the next one is going to be in, and I am going to make the next one. I was trying to do whatever it takes to help my team, and I guess it worked.
Q. Dan, I saw your brothers in the crowd. I'm not sure if your dad was here, but it feels like this team was built in the image you grew up with, physical, tough, defensive-minded group. Is that a fair assessment?
DAN HURLEY: I think we're built in the image of my family. Obviously, we're all very intense, very passionate about basketball, very passionate about helping young people develop and I think we also -- this team reflects a little bit of the city I grew up in, Jersey City, hard-nosed group of guys that plays as hard as any team in the country and these guys are high-level players, too. When you add high-level players and then they play with grit, real, true grit you have a chance to have something really great.
Q. Jeff, 23 points in your first NCAA Tournament game. Did you feel any jitters or you were ready to go tonight?
JEFF DOWTIN: I felt a couple of jitters in the first couple minutes of the game, but once I was able to get my confidence up, get a rhythm going, everything else settled in and my teammates told me keep playing the same way you've been playing the rest of the year and after that I was good to go.
Q. Coach, initial thoughts on Oregon next.
DAN HURLEY: You know what? To be honest with you, we have a couple coaches on staff here that were at the earlier game. We were so locked in on Creighton. We didn't get ahead of ourselves. We knew how great of a team they are. We wanted to show them the respect they deserve with our preparation. Obviously, we're going to hustle now and I'm going to lean on brother Bob for a little Pac-12 intel. They played them very well at Oregon and played them really well in the first half in particular in the Pac-12 tournament. Bob is here and now it becomes -- it was type of a vacation-type trip for him, and now it becomes a working trip for Bob. I don't know if he's allowed to unofficially join our staff. Gotta check with compliance.
Q. Hassan, have you thought about what this moment means for Rhode Island, for this program and you guys leaving your mark on this program going into the future? Also, how special was it to see everybody do the little things and knock down the free throws when it mattered?
HASSAN MARTIN: Honestly, it feels like I'm dreaming. This is what I've asked for when I first got here and it took three, four years. But to finally just be here to experience this is amazing. The way we're playing is outstanding. I couldn't be more proud of my team and my coaches for getting us prepared; and, like I said, my team is real confident no matter who we face and I'm having fun. These guys are having fun, and I wouldn't want to do this with any other group of guys or coaches. I'm real excited for this, for Rhode Island.
Q. Coach, you guys have defended the 3-ball well all season, second in the country three-point percentage, you held Creighton to 30%. How satisfying is it to win on something you've been doing all year, defending the three? How do you get guys to buy into that, it's not a real -- in this day and age with the 3-ball being so important, how did you get them to buy into it and how satisfying is it to hold your own?
DAN HURLEY: We do close-out drills ad nauseam. These guys don't like it. They don't like starting practice with two-line close-out, three or four row to communicate. They don't love those drills. They probably ask themselves why they're doing it, 99 straight practices during the course of the season.
But we work a lot on close-out technique. We work on scrambling, rotating and we knew we had to get great contests today. I think what's unique about our defense is that we do a really good job of contesting the three-point line, but also contesting the front of the rim, just because of the way that our guys compete and rotate and just keep scrambling and they never stop playing.
Q. Kuran, I think you played in a game at Memphis in the NCAA Tournament for maybe two minutes. How does it feel to get back here and play a lot more minutes?
KURAN IVERSON: Them two minutes, I enjoyed them. I had 2 points as well. Getting here is exciting and I want to keep going. Especially for these guys. They put together something special and I joined and I want to contribute to the team.
Q. Jared, you played well against Matt Mobley in the conference tournament, St. Bonaventure and Marcus Foster struggled today. Is there anything you try to do in common when you're playing against a high-scoring guard?
JARED TERRELL: Pressure and contain, know my spots, when to be aggressive and watching the film before the game and have a good idea of what he likes to do, his tendencies, know his moves and stay in be front of him.
Q. Coach, it's been 18 years, obviously, and long-time coming. 3,000 miles way, what does it feel like to see a crowd like that from Rhode Island representing here?
DAN HURLEY: I thought it was amazing. Across the bench it was amazing that they were there and we could see 'em and they were loud, and it was, like, you know, the emotion from them was -- it almost felt like 18 years worth of excitement, you know, and they really inspired the guys. This team has developed such a freight connection over the last month or so with our fans because of the way we won home games down the stretch.
Kind of running through that A-10 Tournament and getting out here, it's like -- now it's like this program with the run we've been on has made that connection with our fans and it's exciting.
THE MODERATOR: E.C., it looked like you went off for treatment either early or sort of like the 13-minute mark of the second half you went to the locker room. What was going on there?
E.C. MATTHEWS: I was stiff. My right knee got stiff on me and I wanted to go back and the trainer stretched me out and readjusted my brace and got back out there. So nothing serious.
THE MODERATOR: Okay, gentlemen, thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
The sixth-seeded Bluejays (25-10) never led in the contest, snapping a streak of eight straight postseason appearances with at least one victory.
With the win, 11th-seeded URI (25-9) advances to meet third-seeded and ninth-ranked Oregon on Sunday. A start time and television network will be announced later on Friday night.
Rhode Island held the Bluejays without a field goal for the first 4:48 of the game before a trey by Khyri Thomas cut URI's deficit to 6-4. The Rams led the entire first half, with Creighton tying the score at 17-all on a corner three-pointer from Cole Huff. URI responded and led by as much as nine (33-24) before a Justin Patton basket in the final 25 seconds of the half.
Patton and Thomas paced CU with eight points in the first half, while URI was led by nine from Jeff Dowtin. The Rams won the rebound battle 23-18 and outscored the Jays 14-10 in the paint.
URI scored the first four points of the second half to take its first double-figure lead of the afternoon at 37-26.
Creighton continued to battle, slowly cutting into the lead. Thomas scored on one end, then ran through a pass for a steal on URI's ensuing trip. Thomas led a fast break and fed Ronnie Harrell Jr. for a slam as URI called timeout with 8:53 left and a 53-48 lead.
Creighton would come no closer, as the Rams hit their free throws and staved off a Bluejay comeback with timely buckets.
Harrell Jr. had a career-best 15 points to go with five rebounds and four assists, tying him with Foster for team scoring honors. Also in double-figures was Thomas, who had 10 and seven rebounds. The Bluejays shot 40 percent for the half and shot 30.4 percent from three-point land (7-23).
URI was paced by a career-high 21 points from Dowtin and 17 more Kuran Iverson. The Rams made 28-of-29 free throws to start the day before missing its final two shots. Rhode Island won the rebound battle 38-37 and led 12-7 in fast break points.
The game was the final one for Creighton seniors Cole Huff, Isaiah Zierden and Zach Hanson. Creighton went 114-60 in the past five seasons with three NCAA Tournament trips.
NOTES: Creighton's 2,864 points were a school-record for one season ... Creighton's 1,078 field goals were also a record for a single-season ... Creighton made a three-pointer for the 783rd consecutive game ... Khyri Thomas has made at least one three-pointer in 14 straight contests ... Marcus Foster has scored in double-figures each of Creighton's last 18 games ... Creighton's reserves outscored the Rhode Island bench, 32-4 after the game featured no bench points at halftime ... Justin Patton shot 3-of-12 from the field, finishing at 67.6 percent from the field on the season. That ranked second-best in NCAA history among freshmen, trailing only Hampton's Michael Freeman (67.8 percent) in 2006-07. The best previous mark by a "major conference" freshman had been 66.5 percent by Arkansas' Sidney Moncrief in 1975-76 ... Patton led the team with 72 dunks, as well as with 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game ... Marcus Foster led Creighton with 18.2 points per game, 73 three-pointers made and 75 free throws made, while Khyri Thomas led the team 52 steals.
NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: SACRAMENTO
March 17, 2017
Greg McDermott
Isaiah Zierden
Zach Hanson
Cole Huff
Sacramento, California
Rhode Island - 84, Creighton - 72
THE MODERATOR: For the Creighton Bluejays we have Isaiah Zierden, Cole Huff and Zach Hanson along with Coach Greg McDermott. Coach, would you start us off with the impression, analysis of the game today?
GREG McDERMOTT: I would like to congratulate Rhode Island. Coach Hurley has done a terrific job throughout the season and obviously has them playing their best basketball at the right time.
For us, we really needed to play defensively in the second half like we did the first half and play offensively in the first half like we did the second half. Our offensive numbers were poor the first half, but defensively we did enough to keep us in the game. The second half we had a hard time guarding them without fouling, and even though we moved the ball and put 46 points on the board, it was a little bit too little, too late.
But extremely proud of our team and especially these three guys that are up here with me. Zach and Isaiah have been part of a team that was a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and they've also been part of a team that finished 9th in the Big East and went 4-14. That was Cole's redshirt year. The three of them are hugely responsible for getting our program back to where it is today and I'm forever grateful for them. Not just for what they've done for us on the court, but the way they've conducted themselves off the floor. They've been first-class representatives of Creighton, of our basketball program and certainly of their families. They're going to be successful in whatever they choose to do, and it's been 100% my pleasure to have the opportunity to coach them.
Q. Isaiah, the natural question is what did they do defensively to knock you off kilter? They pressure well and extend out, but just what was it about their playing that knocked you off in the first half?
ISAIAH ZIERDEN: It wasn't anything that we weren't ready for, just got a little sped up. They try to body you, push you around, make you go where they want you to go and catch. And they did a good job and tried to speed us up and that's exactly what they did.
Q. Coach, what went into the decision of starting Ronnie, not starting him, but playing Ronnie Harrell at point guard a lot today?
GREG McDERMOTT: A couple things. Part of it is he played really well against Villanova when we put him in in the second half. I thought he gave us a great lift at both ends of the floor. He's continued to practice well since that time. Because of the length they had across the guard court his ability to see over some of their -- they were aggressive on ball screens and he could see over it better than Davion and Z and Tyler.
So we went with it and when he went out there he played well. So we rolled with it and it's been that case with this team all year. When a guy's number is called we expect him to be ready, and fortunately Ronnie was ready today because he impacted the game in a positive way.
Q. For all the players, I don't know how you sum up this season. I know it hurts at this moment, but given the adversity and trying to reshape your team the way you did down the stretch, what do you take way from the way you finished and what it meant the last few weeks to still stick together and get wins despite not having your full squad?
ZACH HANSON: I just think top to bottom from our coaching staff to all the guys on the team, I think it really speaks to the character of everybody on this team because with all we went through with injuries and just adversity and everything, it could have been easy for us to divide as a program and at times even give up a little bit. That's never what we did. We always stuck together. We always kept our heads up. We always showed up and worked and we always kept our goals in mind. We never let things that could have brought us down and I'm really proud of our guys and our program in general because I think it speaks to how good of people we have in this program.
Q. Coach, how much did they maybe resemble a Big East team defensively in terms of their physicality on the perimeter and their depth among their guards?
GREG McDERMOTT: I would say very similar. As you watch them over the course of the season, watch their early games and obviously watched the run they've had the last two or three weeks, there's noticeable improvement in what they're doing defensively and their attention to detail. They're extremely physical and today they were able to play that physical defense without fouling. They've had times during the year where they fouled a lot and we were the ones that fouled a lot today. This is a very good basketball team. That's a top-25 basketball team and a team that can on the right night can beat anybody in this tournament.
Q. Greg, what did you see that you guys didn't do effectively offensively in the first half that once you got settled in you figured out and started having a little bit better possessions offensively?
GREG McDERMOTT: We had opportunities early with some shots that came as a result of Justin or Zach getting to the rim after a ball screen and we sprayed it out and missed some of those, missed a few shots around the rim and when you're not making the shots you don't really make them adjust.
You're not going to adjust as a coach until something is really hurting you, and we weren't able to do enough in the first half to force any adjustments with how they were defending with their pressure. They're really good. They're really good, and obviously we didn't have our A game today and to win today we were going to need that.
Q. Defensively you mentioned fouling too much, but it seemed like you assign Khyri to guard E.C. their best player, but their point guard, Jeff Dowtin, got into the teeth of the defense and hurt you a little bit maybe off ball screens. What did he do and why did he find a way to bring you guys down the way he did?
GREG McDERMOTT: I thought he played with a great pace. While he didn't have any assists, he also didn't turn it over. If you would have told me E.C. and Terrell were going to be 6 of 20 between 'em, I would have said we're probably winning the game, until you tell me that Justin and Marcus went 9 of 31, so that kind of trumps that.
Obviously, Hassan is special in there because he doesn't require the ball all the time, but when they need a basket you can go to him. He kind of got what he usually gets and we did a good job on those other two. Jeff Dowtin hurt us and Kuran Iverson, the 3-point shots he hit were really critical, especially the ones late in the half.
I thought our defensive plan was good enough, certainly good enough the first half and we just couldn't score and once we got behind we fouled a lot and that's got a lot to do with the free throw differential.
Q. Cole, how tough is it to swallow knowing that you guys didn't play your best, that there was more to show, like Coach mentioned, layups and shots that you there you just didn't finish? How do you come to grips with the season ending in this fashion?
COLE HUFF: It's tough just like any other loss. You're always going to look back at the few plays that you wish you could have had back, things you could have done differently. Unfortunately, this time there is nothing to look forward to, moving on to a next game or preparing for something else. It definitely hurts, especially in the NCAA Tournament, us three, I know these two have been, but Isaiah was hurt the first time and Zach had a minimal role.
So this was our first appearance in the NCAA Tournament and we wanted to put out a better effort than we did. It hurts. It sucks, but at the same time we don't have anything to hang our heads about.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen.
NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: SACRAMENTO
March 17, 2017
Dan Hurley
Kuran Iverson
Jared Terrell
Hassan Martin
Jeff Dowtin
E.C. Matthews
Sacramento, California
Rhode Island - 84, Creighton - 72
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Rhode Island. Coach Hurley, give us your analysis of what happened out there today.
DAN HURLEY: Obviously, thrilled to come out of here with a win against a program of the caliber of Creighton. One of the very best coaches in college and obviously a high-level players. Our goal going in, obviously, was to try to take away the three-point line as much as we could, force them into two's and make them uncomfortable on offense. That was our plan. Another goal we had defensively was to try to keep that dynamic combo of Marcus Foster and Thomas to 25 points or less, and that was obviously a big factor in the game, holding those guys, you know, to the numbers they had.
But that win was about these guys to my right. These guys were awesome. We really showed our depth and really just wore on them with our defensive intensity and play making.
Q. Congrats. Jared, I watched you skip off there a little bit and you guys posed for a photo. Seems like you did all the little things down the stretch, got stops, second chances and do you guys always make free throws like you did and chase loose balls the way you did?
JARED TERRELL: I thought we were locked in defensively and we were confident going to the line and being able to knock down our free throws, sticking on our principles on defense and rebounding very well. I'm just glad we came out with the win.
Q. Hassan, you were matched up with Patton who is probably a future lottery pick. He fouled out, didn't shoot well, didn't score many points. What can you say about dominating a guy like that who is probably going to be playing in the NBA next year?
HASSAN MARTIN: Feels great, you know, he's a great player. My mindset was to be physical with him. He's not that strong of a guy, but he's tall. So I had to push him off the block and box him out real hard and that's what I did and got him in foul trouble and he fouled out.
Q. Dan, given how long it's been since the school has been here, your first appearance, given the trouble with the free throw shooting how shocked are you to see these numbers?
DAN HURLEY: Justice there, you know. I've taken a lot of flack for our free throw shooting and on the overnight as a coach I finally figured out how to teach it. Tongue in cheek obviously. This is great for these guys. These guys committed to this program on a plan, kind of like a dream of what we could accomplish as they got older. We feel like maybe we could have been in this position last year if the guy to my right didn't get hurt and a guy couple more spots over to my right didn't get hurt.
This is so amazing for the players, for the school, for our fans who have suffered for many years and for the state. It's such a great state with great people, a beautiful place to live. We're just so happy to bring a shine to Rhode Island right now. Obviously, these guys are high-level players to my right and now they get the chance to perform on a national stage and show people how good they are.
Q. E.C., it looked like the team picked up where you left off after the A-10 Tournament. How did it feel to you guys?
E.C. MATTHEWS: We did what we needed to do. The coaches assigned us a great game plan going into the game. We just wanted to slow them down to the amount of threes they was making and we wanted to get the ball and push it. We were making shots beyond the arc that made us even better because we're playing great defense and feeding off that. Just came down to making more winning plays.
Q. Kuran, you made a three with 5 minutes to go, looked into the crowd, gave 'em a sign. You looked confident there. How has this team been able to carry that over the last nine games playing so confidently, whether it's a conference tournament or the NCAA Tournament.
KURAN IVERSON: I have a lot of good players on my team. I didn't think I was going to have a good offensive night I thought I was going to have a good defensive night. But once I made that shot I kept telling myself the next one is going to be in, and I am going to make the next one. I was trying to do whatever it takes to help my team, and I guess it worked.
Q. Dan, I saw your brothers in the crowd. I'm not sure if your dad was here, but it feels like this team was built in the image you grew up with, physical, tough, defensive-minded group. Is that a fair assessment?
DAN HURLEY: I think we're built in the image of my family. Obviously, we're all very intense, very passionate about basketball, very passionate about helping young people develop and I think we also -- this team reflects a little bit of the city I grew up in, Jersey City, hard-nosed group of guys that plays as hard as any team in the country and these guys are high-level players, too. When you add high-level players and then they play with grit, real, true grit you have a chance to have something really great.
Q. Jeff, 23 points in your first NCAA Tournament game. Did you feel any jitters or you were ready to go tonight?
JEFF DOWTIN: I felt a couple of jitters in the first couple minutes of the game, but once I was able to get my confidence up, get a rhythm going, everything else settled in and my teammates told me keep playing the same way you've been playing the rest of the year and after that I was good to go.
Q. Coach, initial thoughts on Oregon next.
DAN HURLEY: You know what? To be honest with you, we have a couple coaches on staff here that were at the earlier game. We were so locked in on Creighton. We didn't get ahead of ourselves. We knew how great of a team they are. We wanted to show them the respect they deserve with our preparation. Obviously, we're going to hustle now and I'm going to lean on brother Bob for a little Pac-12 intel. They played them very well at Oregon and played them really well in the first half in particular in the Pac-12 tournament. Bob is here and now it becomes -- it was type of a vacation-type trip for him, and now it becomes a working trip for Bob. I don't know if he's allowed to unofficially join our staff. Gotta check with compliance.
Q. Hassan, have you thought about what this moment means for Rhode Island, for this program and you guys leaving your mark on this program going into the future? Also, how special was it to see everybody do the little things and knock down the free throws when it mattered?
HASSAN MARTIN: Honestly, it feels like I'm dreaming. This is what I've asked for when I first got here and it took three, four years. But to finally just be here to experience this is amazing. The way we're playing is outstanding. I couldn't be more proud of my team and my coaches for getting us prepared; and, like I said, my team is real confident no matter who we face and I'm having fun. These guys are having fun, and I wouldn't want to do this with any other group of guys or coaches. I'm real excited for this, for Rhode Island.
Q. Coach, you guys have defended the 3-ball well all season, second in the country three-point percentage, you held Creighton to 30%. How satisfying is it to win on something you've been doing all year, defending the three? How do you get guys to buy into that, it's not a real -- in this day and age with the 3-ball being so important, how did you get them to buy into it and how satisfying is it to hold your own?
DAN HURLEY: We do close-out drills ad nauseam. These guys don't like it. They don't like starting practice with two-line close-out, three or four row to communicate. They don't love those drills. They probably ask themselves why they're doing it, 99 straight practices during the course of the season.
But we work a lot on close-out technique. We work on scrambling, rotating and we knew we had to get great contests today. I think what's unique about our defense is that we do a really good job of contesting the three-point line, but also contesting the front of the rim, just because of the way that our guys compete and rotate and just keep scrambling and they never stop playing.
Q. Kuran, I think you played in a game at Memphis in the NCAA Tournament for maybe two minutes. How does it feel to get back here and play a lot more minutes?
KURAN IVERSON: Them two minutes, I enjoyed them. I had 2 points as well. Getting here is exciting and I want to keep going. Especially for these guys. They put together something special and I joined and I want to contribute to the team.
Q. Jared, you played well against Matt Mobley in the conference tournament, St. Bonaventure and Marcus Foster struggled today. Is there anything you try to do in common when you're playing against a high-scoring guard?
JARED TERRELL: Pressure and contain, know my spots, when to be aggressive and watching the film before the game and have a good idea of what he likes to do, his tendencies, know his moves and stay in be front of him.
Q. Coach, it's been 18 years, obviously, and long-time coming. 3,000 miles way, what does it feel like to see a crowd like that from Rhode Island representing here?
DAN HURLEY: I thought it was amazing. Across the bench it was amazing that they were there and we could see 'em and they were loud, and it was, like, you know, the emotion from them was -- it almost felt like 18 years worth of excitement, you know, and they really inspired the guys. This team has developed such a freight connection over the last month or so with our fans because of the way we won home games down the stretch.
Kind of running through that A-10 Tournament and getting out here, it's like -- now it's like this program with the run we've been on has made that connection with our fans and it's exciting.
THE MODERATOR: E.C., it looked like you went off for treatment either early or sort of like the 13-minute mark of the second half you went to the locker room. What was going on there?
E.C. MATTHEWS: I was stiff. My right knee got stiff on me and I wanted to go back and the trainer stretched me out and readjusted my brace and got back out there. So nothing serious.
THE MODERATOR: Okay, gentlemen, thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Team Stats
URI
CU
FG%
.448
.400
3FG%
.190
.304
FT%
.903
.684
RB
38
37
TO
8
11
STL
8
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
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