Texas 119, Chaminade 78
Q. Coach, what did you like about watching your team this evening?
ERIC BOVAIRD: Not a lot, honestly. No, Nate Medina, he made some really good threes and so forth, but we wanted to compete better than we did tonight. We thought we could at least hang in the game for a good while with a chance to win at the end.
But it didn't pan out that way. I know we can play better than that, so hopefully we turn around and do it tomorrow.
Q. As Coach was saying, you thought you would be in it for longer. At what point did things start to go? What were they doing early on that made it more difficult for you?
NATHAN MEDINA: I think in the first half they went 1 for 9 from three, and they went 10 for 15 in the second half. We gave them probably seven or eight wide open ones and they converted, so that's where things started to unravel. But I think we competed hard, we just gave up a couple of second-chance points and then they went on that run where they railed off like 10 straight threes.
NATE SASSER III: So piggyback off what he said, it's a lot of the same thing. A lot of the second-chance points they had in the first and second half is what really killed us. We've just got to do a better job at rebounding. But as far as effort, I think we played really hard.
Q. What do you think it'll take against Boise State and to salvage either effort-wise or outcome-wise to leave this tournament that you guys as a program have not been on Maui since 2019?
NATHAN MEDINA: I think yesterday against Washington State we competed really well. We were in that game the entire time. So just trying to remember when we play together, when we play hard and when we share the ball, it's hard for even these D-I teams to stop up at times.
I think for us, remembering to just be unselfish, play together, and I think if we play like that and play our gold, we're going to be tough to play with no matter who we play against.
NATE SASSER III: Yeah, just moving the ball, playing together. We've just got to come out with the same intensity we did in the first game. In the first half we came out super hard and just ready to play. When we do that tomorrow, we're going to hopefully get a lead and just keep that lead going. Yeah, we can't let off the hook with them boys because they're good.
Q. Nate, you are a great shooter. In the off-season what does the average shooting routine look like for you?
NATHAN MEDINA: A lot of quality over quantity. I think that's something that I changed this summer, not just going into the gym and shooting up as many shots as I can, but knowing I was going to be playing on a stage like this, I had to really work on getting my shot off quick. So a lot of it was just rhythm, footwork, and then just trying to be as consistent as I can.
Sometimes I didn't want to get in the gym, but then getting in the gym regardless, and that's kind of the key to it all.
Q. Nate, does that include some half-court shot practice attempts?
NATHAN MEDINA: It does, yeah, quite often.
ERIC BOVAIRD: I take that back. The one thing I did like tonight was his half-court shot. That was actually pretty cool, wasn't it?
Q. What do you think it'll take to turn around for Boise and either based on what you had seen of them in this tournament or beforehand --
ERIC BOVAIRD: Yeah, I know that they have improved a lot. They beat Hawai'i Pacific -- I'm sorry, Hawai'i Pacific beat them to open up the season, but have watched some tape of them since then. They are so much better than that game. They're really good.
It's going to take maximum effort. It's going to take -- they don't want to go out of here 0-3. They've already lost to one Division II team from Hawai'i. We're going to get their best shot, no doubt about it, and we'd better be ready to match that because it's going to be a challenge for sure.
They've got a couple guys that are playing really, really well right now. They almost won that first day. I thought they were right there in the mix.
It's going to be a challenge. We have to be really good in our type of defense, and we can't just get pounded on the boards. Some of these D-Is like we played tonight, I don't know what it was, 59-20 or something like that? 59-20, yes. We can't just get pounded on the boards like that.
Q. Yesterday you talked a little bit about the different layers around your process and getting back. It seemed like the corner three, just the rotations getting back, is that more of the depth issues you talked about not having, people getting tired, or is there still some things around that execution of getting back and getting into rotation?
ERIC BOVAIRD: Yeah, there's multiple layers to it, and people try to break or press in numerous different ways. Over the years ever since I was at West Liberty 20 some years ago, we've seen just about every kind of press break, but being able to make adjustments on the fly.
But the one thing is it takes maximum effort from all five guys out there, so if one guy isn't in the correct position, then boom, they're off for a three on two.
It's something we've got to continue to teach and continue to get better at.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports