Louisville vs. Middle Tennessee Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach David Padgett
(Opening statement) "The game was kind of a pretty blistering start thanks to the guy here on my right [Ryan McMahon]. We shot the ball very, very well, we played unselfishly. Every time we have done that this year where we shoot the ball, we pass the ball, passed up a good shot, to get a great one, we played really, really well. We defended pretty well in the first half. They made a run in the second half which we knew they would, our defense was not great. But offensively we played very well tonight. Obviously, very happy with this win. That's a heck of basketball team that had an incredible season, so hat's off to them, absolutely. We've got a quick turnaround here, so we've got about 48 hours before we've got a Mississippi State team coming in here that will be hungry. So a good win, but we've got to move on to the next one."

(Is this the best your offense looked in a while you think?) Padgett: "It always helps when you make shots, there is no question about it. Sometimes you have nights where you pass the ball really well, and take great shots, and you just do not make them and people say what is wrong with your offense. It is amazing what seeing the ball go through the basket can do. I thought we defended well in the first half too, I really do. I thought our zone was pretty effective, they did a good job adjusting in the second half. We had to go man, but our offense was good tonight. We really shared the ball well and it was fun to watch these guys play together like that."

(On the crowd's enthusiasm) Ryan McMahon: "They've been great. They've done a great job at getting us hyped up, and whenever we're on a run making it more difficult for the away team. They have been great, and we are looking forward to Tuesday and seeing it again."

Padgett: "That's the first time I think I've seen a wave in this building in eight years. I don't remember seeing a wave in Freedom Hall, so Kenny (Klein) will have check the stats on that one. Not to get off topic, but our crowd has been absolutely incredible these last two games, and it's a big reason we have played the way we have. Hopefully we can replicate that one more time and get a chance to send our seniors off right this time."

(On making shots. The second quarter you held them to 10 points, what did you guys do so well defensively.) Padgett: "They run a lot of really good sets man-to-man-wise and it was going to be tough to prepare for all of them, so we felt like our zone could be effective and it was. We did a good job of coming out in our zone, going man when we needed to and just doing a good job of getting them to take tough twos. The way this team shoots this ball from three, we wanted to try to make them make a lot of twos to try to beat us and that was effective. We did a good of rebounding in the first half, only gave them four or five offensive rebounds in the half. We just racked it, we had 20 deflections in the first half, and it seemed like every guy we put in there did something good to contribute."

(On getting a chance to play in front of this crowd) McMahon: "Anytime we have a chance to play in front of this crowd, that's a blessing. Anytime we put on the uniform, we are going to go out there and give our best and try to win. Any day we can play in front of all those people, it's definitely a fun time."

(On the change in three-point line) McMahon: "I shoot most of my threes from back there, just because people push me back so far already. So I don't think there was too much of an adjustment."

(On playing carefree and having fun) McMahon: "We feel like we have nothing to lose. So we go out there and play hard and it's another chance that we have, a couple more weeks that we have to play with our brothers and finish out the season strong. Who doesn't like more basketball?"

(On Deng Adel only taking one shot) Padgett: "Our bench just gave us a big lift. I mean they scored half of our points, 42 of our 84 points. He (McMahon) obviously came out and gave us a big boost, Darius (Perry) gave us a big boost, Jordan played very well. We found a lineup that seemed to work, and we stayed with it. That's kind of been the beauty of this team at times throughout the year. If one guy isn't playing well, not that Deng wasn't playing well, but these other guys were just playing well, so it wasn't anything other than the fact that the guys who were on the floor got us going."

(On Jordan Nwora's hot-shooting streaks) Padgett: "I've been saying since day one in practice, maybe even before that, when Jordan takes good shots he's a very good shooter. It's something he had to learn throughout the year, as a high school player coming in as a freshman. There's a difference between taking a good shot and a challenged shot, and he's learned. I thought one of the best plays of the night to me was, I think we got a steal or something, Jordan had a fast break he could have gone one-on-one against the guy to get to the rim, but he threw it to him (McMahon) on the wing for a wide open three. I think he missed it and we got an offensive rebound, but those kinds of plays don't show up in the stat sheet, but they say a lot about how your team plays for each other. To me, the plays like that are a lot of fun to watch."

(On defending Giddy Potts) Padgett: "We knew we had to be there on the catch. The way he shoots the ball, he can get hot in a hurry. We did a really good job of knowing where he was at all times. Man or zone, we just said, 'You can't leave him. You can't help. You've got to stay at home because he's a great three-point shooter.' We did a good job when he did get a look at challenging it and trying to make it tough and make him take challenged jump shots."

(On the 17 assists on 29 baskets) Padgett: "It gets us great looks. We knew coming into this game this was a team… we weren't going to be able to run a lot of ball screens, because of the way they blitz and or trap it, similar to a Virginia Tech team. We just tried to dribble penetrate, kick. If you have a shot, shoot it. If not, you dribble penetrate and kick and just try to get the ball moving. Obviously, with playing four guards, predominately the whole game, it's easier to do that because you have better ball handlers. We went inside to Ray (Spalding) when we needed to, and we did a good job of sharing the ball. That's how these guys have played all year. They've played well together. They've played for each other. We kind of have this little motto that we came up with a couple weeks ago. It's 'play hard, play for each other, and play together.' These guys have literally bought into that 100 percent."

(On having Ryan McMahon and Jordan Nwora on the floor at the same time) Padgett: "It stretches the defense because you've got to account for where they are, obviously. You've got Q (Quentin Snider) out there, who shoots the ball very, very well. Darius (Perry) who shoots the ball well, and then you've got Ray (Spalding) inside and you have to pay attention to too. We have skilled basketball players that can score. We have good offensive players, but they're not good offensive players unless they make each other better, and they did that tonight."

Middle Tennessee Coach Kermit Davis
(Opening Statement) "I thought Louisville is playing pretty well. I told David (Padgett) before the game that for a first-time head coach to take over under the circumstances. He has done an unbelievable job. He really has. Your team has played at a high level tonight. Our thought our team competed. There was about a four minute period when we were tied at the first timeout of the second quarter and we are one of the best defending team in the country from the three point line and they got eight threes off the bench. Points off turnovers was just critical and the threes and a three or four minute period when the game got to 15 and really kind of stayed like that. We made a good run in the second half but we just couldn't get enough stops to beat a really good Louisville team. The fans were outstanding as always for an NIT game. We wish Louisville the best of luck."

(About the foul situation in the second quarter) Davis: In this high level game, we need to take advantage, there is no question about that. We didn't handle it very well and both those guys were on the bench. We let our guard down and we couldn't score. We broke down and had some lapses. That was a critical time. I brought Nick (King) back in and he picked up his third so I said I see if we can just hang on and get to the second half. Then we got to the second half and we couldn't get enough stops.

(About MTSU having 10 assists and 15 turnovers, what made UofL defense so much harder to score against) "They played unconventional and they've done that, where they've played 2-3 Zone through the first part of offense and then switch to ma,n kind of like we are unconventional and our unconventional defense wasn't great tonight. Our 13, they kind of played through it. It caused us problems. In the second half, we were fine and we shot 51 percent so we got shots. Our deal was it was 22 to five off turnovers. I told our guys its live ball turnovers when we get live ball turnovers in this building and this crowd gets going and that's what happened and it kind of broke it loose"

(For Coach Davis, on what is going through his mind as this 16-year run comes to an end) "It's not racing through my mind right now, but I wish you could've been at my first practice in the spring of 2002 when I got there and see how the program evolved, the facilities and even how that first team ended up that year. I guess you kind of think about the former players the great players that have come through here just like these two right here. It's been really fun to build a program here. It has. I think they are going to hire a really good coach this program is going to be in good hands I think it's in good foundation and looking forward to going to Ole Miss to see if we can create a national brand in basketball in a good SEC."

(For Giddy Potts as a senior what on his four years on the team) "It's been a hell of a run. I have done everything that I could possible do to help this program and getting nationally ranked. To beat top seed Michigan State, I gave it my all."

Coach Davis: "I've been around college basketball now for thirty years and I have had some unbelievable leaders on some great teams. This guy has got to be the best leader that I have ever been in the gym with, I've never seen anything like it. Just come to my gym at 3 o'clock on a weekday and there is nobody in there and you can hear his voice and I'm going to miss his voice, I promise you that. I'll look for it because his leadership is off the chart."

(What did Davis told the team just afterwards?) "I told them just how proud I was, we won a championship ring we won the regular season championship. You see all these upsets in the NCAA Tournament, that's conference tournament for us that's what that is that's out games for us. So, everybody sees upsets in the NCAAs but a lot of those teams got beat in conference tournaments but it's no big deal because they keep playing. I just told them how proud I was of this team. You could come to practice every day, 25 games after losing Reggie Upshaw and JaCorey Williams, that's amazing and the schedule that we played, the tenth hardest non-conference schedule in college basketball. We had an unbelievable ride and then you get into the post-season. We should've gotten in the NCAA Tournament but 25 wins, I couldn't have been prouder and I'm going to miss these guys a ton."

(For Nick King about going through his mind now that career is over?) King: "Just adversity. Going through adversity as a young teenager. People from my city, they probably would've gave up after the second year, but just keep fighting no matter what comes at you, God has perfect timing, the time will come, no matter what just do everything that you can. At MTSU, I gave it my all. I'm just proud to be a Blue Raider."

(About players main takeaways from their time with Coach Davis) Giddy Potts: "We had some great times, bad times, and crazy times. I love this man until death. I might not show it, but I do, I promise you, I do. He gave me the opportunity to come to MT and play and I gave it my all. I worked my tail off for him and the program and I just can't be anymore happy that I played for a coach like him."

(For Coach Davis about leaving the program in a better place) "It feels good, it really does. It feels good and we're losing some really good players this year and so it's going to be, even if I stayed, it's going to be a rebuilding thing next year and so fans got to go back to being patient and keep working, but it's going to be in good hands. But these guys are hard to replace. Nick King, for a new player impacted our team better than any first year player in college basketball this year. No question about it, for a first year guy. No bigger impact than what he did and I'm so proud of Nick. I'm so glad that Nick finally got the roll that he deserved at the Division I level, I really am. And both these guys are just outstanding, I promise you that and I mean that."

(For Nick King on how much of his success this year came from his coach) "All of it. Every single bit of it, I mean everybody says they want what's best for the players and it's all about the players, but just coming in here and he gave me the opportunity that I've always wanted. I fall for it and I deserved it, but he said I had to come here and I had to work. I told him I'll ride with you until the wheels fall off and that's exactly what we did. We may have bumped heads every now and then, but at the end of the day I trust him with all my heart and I know he trusts me."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Ryan McMahon

Jordan Nwora

Quentin Snider

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