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Everything Steve Lutz and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Said About Alabama Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Texas A&M-Corpus Christi opens up its NCAA Tournament journey on Thursday at Legacy Arena against Alabama basketball. On Wednesday, Islanders head coach Steve Lutz met with reporters alongside players Simeon Fryer and De'Lazarus Keys to preview the matchup.
Here's everything they said during their press conference:
Steve Lutz Transcript - March 15, 2023
Opening Statement
COACH LUTZ: Well, thanks for being here. Obviously we're excited about the opportunity to continue our journey here in the NCAA Tournament. Obviously Alabama is the No. 1 overall seed and is a really, really good basketball team that's very well-coached and has great players. So we know that we're kind of up against it a little bit. But that's why you do this, that's why we play this tournament. You have an opportunity to come into what will essentially be a home environment for them and shock the world, so we're excited about the opportunity.
Q. How tough is it getting here more late than other teams and then, like you said, a home environment. It's kind of a double negative. What do you tell your guys with that?
COACH LUTZ: I tell them be thankful to be here and don't bitch. There are a lot of teams sitting at home that are wanting this opportunity. It is what it is. They deserve to have every opportunity afforded them, they are the No. 1 seed and overall seed in the tournament. We had to play the playing game to get here. I wouldn't trade this for anything. We have a chance to go play them, and everybody in the country and most of the world will know who the heck we are if we beat them tomorrow. This is what you dream about when you're a little kid. This is what you dream about when you're a coach. You have this opportunity. So you have to enjoy every moment. Life's too short not to do that.
Q. You mentioned everyone would know you guys if you pull it off tomorrow. Have you talked to the team about the UMBC-Virginia game from a couple years back, the last time and I think the only time.
COACH LUTZ: We have not talked specifically about the UMBC game. As I said before in other interviews, we have been on the road at Mississippi State and had the lead. We have been on the road at Arizona and had the lead when they were top five in the country. We have been to Notre Dame, on and on and on. The difference is we're not going to get a guarantee check for this game. But if we win this game, it's more important than any guarantee check that you're going to get. I promise you that. We talk about living in the present. We talk about enjoying the moment. We talk about doing your best every single day. If you do your best and we beat Alabama, man, they will never ever forget it. If they do their best and they lose to Alabama, they will forget it because they did their best. And that's what matters.
Q. With your team and the current makeup, the guys were mentioning you have a couple bigs hurt right now. What's the recipe for the upset. What are you going to have to do?
COACH LUTZ: I think we'll all go to Mass before the game. We'll start there. But no. We've had some injuries. We lost Terrion Murdix, he's a First Team All-League Player, he's a Defensive of the Year in our league. That hurts. But we beat Northwestern State without him; we beat Southeast Missouri without him. Now, I would be an idiot to think that Southeast Missouri State and Northwestern State, no offense to them, are of the same quality and caliber as Alabama. We have to do what we do every single game. We have to get ourselves easy opportunities on the offensive end through our defense, and then we've got to get our butts back in transition and not allow them to excel, because they are fantastic in transition. You got to guard the three-point line with these guys. Almost every other shot is a three. And that's different for post players because post players typically run back to the rim. Well, now you have to run back and guard somebody who can shoot a three. So you have to make some adjustments there. You can't foul them and put them to the free-throw line. And we obviously have been one of the better free-throw shooting teams in the country. We have gotten to the foul line at a high rate, and that's been a great recipe for success for us. We have to stick to what we do and be great at it.
Q. What did you talk about stepping up in the absence of several players that are absent, Jalen Jackson has shouldered a lot of the scoring for you guys the last two games. He had his career-high last night in winning against Southeast Missouri. What have you seen from him and how has he been able to pick it up and add to what you do without Murdix?
COACH LUTZ: Jalen Jackson, this is his fourth NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, he was on the other team, he was at North Texas when they beat us when I was at Purdue. We were a 4-seed, they were a 9-seed. He's got a lot of experience. And he's a really good basketball player. The thing about it is we played both point guards together, we played Murdix and we played him. He didn't get as many opportunities to score, but now the ball's in his hands a little bit more and he's taking advantage of it. He's as powerful and fast a downhill driver as I have coached in a while. So he's got physical abilities and now he's getting a chance to showcase his talent. Couldn't be more excited for him. And for him to make all the free throws last night, man, that got us over the hump. I'm obviously very thankful for that.
Q. Coach, what are your thoughts on facing Brandon Miller and having to have the guys guard him tomorrow?
COACH LUTZ: I was kind of hoping he would get the flu or something tonight, not to wish ill will upon the young man. I think he's fantastic. We're going to all have to all guard Brandon Miller. I know there's a lot of good coaches they have played this year, and they have all tried to guard Brandon Miller, and it wasn't always successful. Again, kind of like I said a minute ago, we have to do our best. You can't put one person on Brandon Miller and expect to hold him below his average. It's going to have to be a team effort. And we're always going to have to know where he's at. And give the guy his credit. He has a chance to have a lengthy, lengthy NBA career.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Players Transcript
Q. A couple years ago UMBC had 16 seed blueprint of knocking off Virginia. To what extent have you guys talked about putting your name in history books in that context against Alabama tomorrow.
SIMEON FRYER: Well, it's March, I feel like at this point anybody can beat anybody. We did not really come here to lose, obviously. And we're actually coming here to shock the world, I would say. De'LAZARUS KEYS: And we have a game plan, so we're going to stick with it. Whatever happens, happens. We're going to play to our fullest. It's our last game, win or lose.
Q. Obviously, Brandon Miller is one of the best players in the country. What have you seen of him on tape that's allowed him to be so successful? SIMEON FRYER: Just the fact that he's 6'9" with guard skills, can shoot the ball, can basically score all three levels. He's a great player and he's fun to watch.
De'LAZARUS KEYS: Really fun to watch. Being able to play against him and probably end up guarding him, it's going to be really good. And he's a very talented player, and he's going to do what he has to do to get his team to win. So it's going to be very exciting.
Q. How much, kind of, loose are you all knowing the pressure is on Alabama? Does that take some pressure off of you? Make it easier to relax and go out there and play.
De'LAZARUS KEYS: Not really. They are number one in their seed. They are number one for a reason. They are really good. I have been watching them throughout the year on TV and YouTube and stuff like that. The pressure is really on us still because we have to compete. If we end up losing we can't lose by a lot. That's not our goal. We're here to win by one or two, whatever it takes.
Q. Obviously, a core disadvantage of a First Four game is being able to play while other teams rest up. Now that you have been through a First Four Game, do you think it benefitted you guys, like you have more rhythm and got a chance to play before Alabama?
SIMEON FRYER: I would say, yes. We can catch like a rhythm. I mean, it's March. So anything can happen in March, basically. Anybody can beat anybody. So I think it's good that we got our win, our feet on the floor kind of. So yeah.
Q. Over the course of the season, what do you think you have grown as a group, are you playing your best ball right now?
De'LAZARUS KEYS: Definitely. Ever since it was middle of the season when we lost two games back-to-back, Coach told us last year this is when we started the six-game losing streak. After that we picked it up. Next practice started practicing harder. Every game we play, our first mindset was to win, win, win, win, win it all, and go as far as we can go.
Q. Can you just talk about what everybody's had to do in terms of picking up the slack after Terrion went down in the championship game. Obviously losing such a key part of your team in the conference tournament. How has everybody stepped up and been able to kind of fill that role in their own way?
SIMEON FRYER: I feel like everybody stepped up good. And it kind of happened before Terrion. When Tyrese went down, Big C went down. We actually have, I believe, what is it like five players who are out right now with injuries. And we basically -- some people that are used to playing guard have to play big now. We're all trying to step it up, do whatever is possible for the team so we can win.
Q. Talk about the quick turnaround. You got in from Dayton about 1 o'clock in the morning. Did you guys get to sleep it in a little bit? Are you feeling it at all today?
De'LAZARUS KEYS: We got to sleep in a pretty good. Woke up, ate breakfast, lunch, got some stretching in, and of course watched film. Got a lot of rest in.
SIMEON FRYER: Got a lot of rest. Almost feels like AAU a little bit with the crazy quick schedule. It's fun for sure. A blessing being here.
Q. You have been through a lot in your careers. Now third year. You are the oldest guys on the team. What does it mean to you to be part of Texas A&M Corpus Christi history. You guys had never won the tournament game before. You won five games in your first year as a school. What does it mean to be a part of the history that you have made so far in the season?
De'LAZARUS KEYS: It's actually pretty crazy. When I first came here and I actually got injured the first half of the season, so I wasn't playing. I was at home. And COVID hit, and I wasn't allowed to travel. I was watching them on TV playing every game. We kept losing and stuff. And then Lutz came in and we had a talk and I believed in him. He said he's going to get some guys in who want to win. Got guys in, first time we played pick up, I seen it, I was like, "yeah, we have a chance." We won the conference and repeated, and now we're here again. It's a great feeling. It's truly a blessing.
SIMEON FRYER: I would say the same thing. It's a great feeling, the first year here we only won five games. And we basically get a whole new everything; coaching staff, players, only three players who returned which was myself, Laz, and Myles Smith. And after that, you couldn't kind of get worse than that. We had no real fear besides playing your heart out every game. Then when Lutz game, he changed the whole mindset to a winning mindset. After that, we won the conference tournament, made the March Madness, lost first round, and then we knew since we did it last year, we can do it again. It's possible. We had majority of the guys returned. So it's a good feeling to know that we're winners, actually, now. It's a good feeling.
Q. Playing about 50 minutes from Tuscaloosa, what do you think the atmosphere is going to be like here tomorrow playing in that?
SIMEON FRYER: It's going to be great, it's going to be amazing. I know they are going to bring as many fans as possible. We also have our fans. It's going to be a great atmosphere. I'm ready to play at this point.
De'LAZARUS KEYS: Excited to play.
Q. An audience member who's not going to be as familiar with you guys tomorrow turning on the game, how would you describe your team's brand of basketball and how you guys potentially match up against a team like Alabama?
SIMEON FRYER: I would say just being very aggressive on defense, trying to turn them over as much as possible. Crashing on the boards, just doing all the dirty work as possible, and just locking in.
De'LAZARUS KEYS: Alabama they are a lot more lankier than us, taller than us, they have more bigs than us right now. And we're focused on having to box out and battle them. They are a good offensive and defensive rebounding team. That's one thing we have to work on. And hopefully, we can do good.
