Here’s a transcription of the press conference held following the Huskies’ semi-final win over Colorado tonight in Vegas. They now advance to the championship game tomorrow night at 7:30 PM.
MIKE HOPKINS: “Well, you know, the first half, Colorado came out like they’ve been. They came out really aggressive defensively, offensively, and shot 47 percent from the field, 50. They went to the foul line. You know, down 6, we just challenged these guys to play defense. When you’ve got the National Defensive Player of the Year, who he should win it, it changes things. And our guys battled.
“We played better defense, held them to 20 percent from the field, 12 from the 3 point line. That’s why we win, has been our defense all season. And we’re lucky, Colorado gave us a great fight. They’ve got a lot of heart. They’ve got a great coach.
“And they just kept coming at you and coming at you and coming at you, and it’s hard to do that when they were on the third day. Got to tip our hats to them. These guys were resilient enough to come out with a win.”
MATISSE THYBULLE: “I think some guys stepped up huge for us today. Jamal Bey brought us some energy, because we came out flat, and we need someone to be a spark to us. And he came out in a huge way. Nahz did what Nahz does, and he was able to exploit some matchups. The guys stepping up in that way is huge for us, and every game it’s someone different.
“And we know it’s the next guy up. With this tournament, having played back-to-back days, guys are banged up and tired. We know we’ve got to have each other’s backs.”
NAHZIAH CARTER: “I feel like I came in, gave a lot of energy. Offensively, but more defensively. We held them to five points for the majority of the second half. So I just like how much emphasis we put on the defensive end in the second half and how we came out at the start of the game down 8-0.”
