Gonzaga - 100, Maryland - 61
Q. The 3-point shooting came alive today. What were you guys to create the looks? And what credit do you give the guys for knocking them down, especially Emmanuel and Steele?
MARK FEW: These guys have been working hard, put in a lot of reps. Just the way they collapse on the ball, I think it was just kind of, their style of play kind of lends itself on some of those throw-aheads we were able to collapse the defense so much.
And we were also playing out of the post double. We did a nice job, a little choppy there for a while, but we found some good shots and some good actions out of the post double again tonight.
Q. I assume you knew going into the game what you need to win by in order to play for the championship?
MARK FEW: No, not really, no. We were watching the Michigan game a little bit, but no.
Q. What do you think about this format, where it is? It's very AAU, point differential?
MARK FEW: It's actually FIBA. That's how the Olympics are played and how the world cups are played. I've got some good experience with that.
So, yeah, I think it's a good thing. These guys are old enough and mature enough to handle it. I don't think you need to always sub everybody and feel bad about scoring at the end of the games. I never do when somebody puts it on us.
Q. I wondered what you all thought of, Vegas is like Spokane south. Your fans are used to traveling here. What have you thought of the environment, the games? There's a lot of empty seats, but it's tough to compare with the WCC championship because that's a much smaller arena.
BRADEN HUFF: Zag fans are great. They're always going to travel and show love. All the support we get from them, we're super grateful and glad to have them out here.
EMMANUEL INNOCENTI: I feel it was a great thing that every time they're supporting us. Wherever we're going they're showing. I feel like there's not everywhere like that, so it's a good thing.
Q. Wanted to follow up on the triples. Season-high 14 3s tonight. Was there an effort to convert beyond the arc or was it just what the Maryland defense gave you?
MARK FEW: No, I spend a lot of time talking to the guys about just making the right basketball play. And tonight, obviously with 30 assists, we did a really good job of making the right basketball play.
Maryland had our full attention because they're really handsy and they're in the gaps and they kind of chunk it up. They try to switch a lot of actions. And sometimes that can get you to kind of just stop and not do your normal movements or your normal actions. And I think these guys did a really nice job of just playing the game the right way and finding those.
And that's what was open today against their defense, is they were really clogging the lane with our bigs and switching a lot of our action.
Q. Emmanuel, what went into your shooting tonight? How good did that feel? And what did you get the technical for, what happened?
EMMANUEL INNOCENTI: I did what I did. I made a bad decision, and I shouldn't have done that. And I think that's it. There's nothing much to say about it.
We've been working hard every day to get ready, feet ready, hands ready to take open shots. My teammates did a great job to find me when I was open and I took them.
MARK FEW: He's got a beautiful shot, one of the best shots on the team. I mean, it was just a matter of time before the dam broke because he's been putting his reps in, and every time he shoots it, it looks like it's going in.
Q. Buzz and the Maryland coaching staff said they were up until midnight or past hours of the night last night in terms of prepping for you guys and how prep is so different in playing back-to-back nights. What was your prep like last night in terms of the staff?
MARK FEW: It's the same thing. Everybody, everybody -- it's interesting, you know, the hotels remind me so much of the bubble right now. There's literally 10 meeting rooms over at the Park MGM and there's, Tennessee is in one. Obviously we're in one. Creighton's in one. Baylor's in one, Maryland is in one, right down the row.
And of course, I don't think people really understand how hard the staffs work. The staffs have to hustle back after these games and start putting together scouting reports and edits.
And then my job is to kind of get it so that the guys can absorb it, because there's a tremendous amount of information. And I think there's only a slight amount that can be absorbed in that short of time.
These guys did a great job with that. I understand that's how we got those 3s. I think we took -- it was high-possession game again. We took pretty good care of the ball. And we didn't play great defense.
Q. You mentioned the choppiness of the first half. You had the technical and the flagrant. What was the message in the locker room and how do you think they responded in the second half?
MARK FEW: Again, guys, we played so many good stretches of basketball. I'm not really going to spend a lot of time on the part we didn't.
But, yeah, the message was the same. Hey, when we play the right way, when we're making the right decisions, we're making the right basketball play, we're fun to watch, we're successful and things are going good. When we don't, you know, we're definitely vulnerable.
Q. I'm presuming it will be you and Michigan in the final, if I decipher things right. Quick thought on them and what did you see when you watched them?
MARK FEW: Again, just watching them, my mind wasn't exactly dialed in. I was just thinking about Maryland. But it was on in the coach's locker room. Very big, incredible size, probably one of the biggest teams in college basketball. Old. And Dusty does a great job putting those guys in the right spots. They looked really, really good. When I was watching them, they looked really good. They blasted everybody down here. We know it's going to be a really, really tough game. It's going to be a fun game. We're looking forward to it.
Q. Braden, that frontline they have, you probably have taken a look at them. What do you think of that match-up?
BRADEN HUFF: It's going to be a battle down low tomorrow. I think we're excited for the challenge. I think we feel like we've got a really good frontline ourselves, so it's going to be a fun battle.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports