Q. Tournaments, always quick tournament around with the next game. What's the biggest thing Coach has stressed to you guys in preparation for tomorrow?
AARON WHITE: Obviously, with a quick turn around the biggest thing for us is mentally being locked in. Last night, we obviously were introduced to Gonzaga, got used to their personnel. Today we watched some of the personnel clips and a game. But really locking in mentally to statistics, what guys do, what they don't do. Kind of how they can beat us. So that's kind of what you lock in here. Obviously, you can't do much in two days physically, so a lot of it is mentally being locked in, being professional about it. Our coaches do a great job and I think that as players, as a group, I think we do a great job of locking into the game plan and following our scouting reports.
Q. Aaron, you guys have won seven road games, but looks like this will probably feel like a road venue tomorrow. How has that been a strength? Why is that a strength of this team, playing well on the road?
AARON WHITE: I don't think I can put one thing on it. I just don't think we really care where we're playing or who we're playing. I think we just go out and play our game. I think that when you watch us, I think we're a group that's really together, that loves one another, that plays for one another. I think that helps us in tough situations. Whether the fans are on us, or whether a call doesn't go our way, or a team goes on a run. I don't really think that phases us because of the fact that we're so together and we like playing with one another. So, like you said, I think that tomorrow will be a great atmosphere. Obviously we're close to Gonzaga, they're going to have a lot of support here. But I think we got a lot of people out here too that are supporting us and should be a fun environment and a fun game.
Q. For Mike, defense has been a hallmark of this team over the last month of the season, and your win streak and then of course yesterday. You seemed to be very locked in on Gibbs, especially. You've got a new test tomorrow in Pangos. What have you seen of him on film and what's the challenge going to be like for you to defend him?
MIKE GESELL: It's going to be another fun matchup. Seeing it all year. We have played some of the best point guards in the country and Pangos is another one of them. He can do a lot of things. He can shoot, pass, he's kind of the heart and soul of his team. So, really we want to take pride in that matchup and try to disrupt his rhythm a little bit.
Q. Adam, you guys had a big size advantage last night. Now you're playing a team with a lot of size on the front line. How does that differ the approach at all going into this game?
ADAM WOODBURY: The game plan's a little bit different. But during the Big Ten season we saw a lot different size. Played against Carolina and Syracuse and Texas, played against big front lines. We have done it all year long and we're very well tested against our front line. We do it every day in practice. It's one of those things we got to be ready for. It's a little bit of a different game plan than we had last night but we're still trying to impose our will on the glass and get out and run and do the things that we always do.
Q. Aaron, from what you have seen of Kyle Wiltjer, do you see a lot of similarities in both of your games and if there are differences, what are they?
AARON WHITE: There's some similarities. We're both scorers, we're both versatile forwards for our teams. He sets up a lot of his drives with his shot fake. He shoots really well from deep, catch and shoot. Whereas I might do a little bit of my work more off the slashing and use my athleticism to my advantage. But both big versatile forwards that can score and help their teams in multiple ways. It should be a fun matchup.
Q. Mike, last night's game was about as well played of a game as you've had. I think you had 15 points, six assists, no turnovers. How have you -- in what ways do you feel like you've progressed as the season has gone on, and then how did last night -- how were you able to execute the offense as well as you did?
MIKE GESELL: Well, I just was looking to be aggressive. I feel like our offense flows a lot better when me and Clemmons are being very aggressive from the point guard spot. Just opens everything else up for our shooters we have on the wings and our bigs and helps our transition game to get going. So I think throughout the year I've slowly gotten more comfortable and looked to be more aggressive with my game.
Q. Aaron, being the basketball junkie you are, how much did you know about Gonzaga? How much really when you started breaking them down last night?
AARON WHITE: Quite a bit. When you got a team ranked Top-10 basically all year, they're on TV a lot. I watched them. I was with Pangos this summer at LeBron camp, so I know him a little bit. Wiltjer is big name in college basketball, I watched him. So, yeah, I'm pretty familiar with them. They're very similar to us, to be honest, with the size, the way they want to play. They want to get out and run, they want to score the ball. So it's a team I watched a lot. It's a team that when the bracket was all set up, you kind of looked at them that we might get them in the second round and I was excited about the matchup. And tomorrow should be a great one.
Q. For Aaron, you guys have a chance to do something special that hasn't been done in this program for a long, long time. In order to do that, you have to stay locked in on the moment. Have you guys allowed yourself to kind of take a step back and enjoy what you're doing or is it right now you're too focused on the present to worry about the big picture?
AARON WHITE: No, I wouldn't say that -- I would say we enjoyed last night. We were a happy group after yesterday's game. I thought we earned that victory. I thought we were really locked in the whole week. But once this morning came up, actually once last night came up and we introduced Gonzaga, we knew we had them. I thought we were very professional about it. We locked into kind of what this team is going to do personnel-wise and scheme-wise. So, yeah, we enjoyed it from basically from when our buzzer went off until their buzzer went off and we were introduced to them by our coaching staff. So we definitely enjoyed it in the locker room and as a group. But like you said, we're focused on the next task at hand and excited for tomorrow.
Q. For Aaron, early on you were motivated I imagine by not being as heavily recruited as others like when you were a freshman. How much of that still exists now as a motivator?
AARON WHITE: Yeah, I've always been a kid that's kind of tried to put a chip on my shoulder. Even when I had success I still kind of looked at other guys across the country that might have got a little more pub than I have or a little bit more national recognition than I have. But, so, you always got to take the floor with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder and I think I've done that my whole career. No matter what's happened, positive or negative, just tried to be motivated by little things. So definitely carried that over into my senior year here now and tomorrow.
AARON WHITE: Obviously, with a quick turn around the biggest thing for us is mentally being locked in. Last night, we obviously were introduced to Gonzaga, got used to their personnel. Today we watched some of the personnel clips and a game. But really locking in mentally to statistics, what guys do, what they don't do. Kind of how they can beat us. So that's kind of what you lock in here. Obviously, you can't do much in two days physically, so a lot of it is mentally being locked in, being professional about it. Our coaches do a great job and I think that as players, as a group, I think we do a great job of locking into the game plan and following our scouting reports.
Q. Aaron, you guys have won seven road games, but looks like this will probably feel like a road venue tomorrow. How has that been a strength? Why is that a strength of this team, playing well on the road?
AARON WHITE: I don't think I can put one thing on it. I just don't think we really care where we're playing or who we're playing. I think we just go out and play our game. I think that when you watch us, I think we're a group that's really together, that loves one another, that plays for one another. I think that helps us in tough situations. Whether the fans are on us, or whether a call doesn't go our way, or a team goes on a run. I don't really think that phases us because of the fact that we're so together and we like playing with one another. So, like you said, I think that tomorrow will be a great atmosphere. Obviously we're close to Gonzaga, they're going to have a lot of support here. But I think we got a lot of people out here too that are supporting us and should be a fun environment and a fun game.
Q. For Mike, defense has been a hallmark of this team over the last month of the season, and your win streak and then of course yesterday. You seemed to be very locked in on Gibbs, especially. You've got a new test tomorrow in Pangos. What have you seen of him on film and what's the challenge going to be like for you to defend him?
MIKE GESELL: It's going to be another fun matchup. Seeing it all year. We have played some of the best point guards in the country and Pangos is another one of them. He can do a lot of things. He can shoot, pass, he's kind of the heart and soul of his team. So, really we want to take pride in that matchup and try to disrupt his rhythm a little bit.
Q. Adam, you guys had a big size advantage last night. Now you're playing a team with a lot of size on the front line. How does that differ the approach at all going into this game?
ADAM WOODBURY: The game plan's a little bit different. But during the Big Ten season we saw a lot different size. Played against Carolina and Syracuse and Texas, played against big front lines. We have done it all year long and we're very well tested against our front line. We do it every day in practice. It's one of those things we got to be ready for. It's a little bit of a different game plan than we had last night but we're still trying to impose our will on the glass and get out and run and do the things that we always do.
Q. Aaron, from what you have seen of Kyle Wiltjer, do you see a lot of similarities in both of your games and if there are differences, what are they?
AARON WHITE: There's some similarities. We're both scorers, we're both versatile forwards for our teams. He sets up a lot of his drives with his shot fake. He shoots really well from deep, catch and shoot. Whereas I might do a little bit of my work more off the slashing and use my athleticism to my advantage. But both big versatile forwards that can score and help their teams in multiple ways. It should be a fun matchup.
Q. Mike, last night's game was about as well played of a game as you've had. I think you had 15 points, six assists, no turnovers. How have you -- in what ways do you feel like you've progressed as the season has gone on, and then how did last night -- how were you able to execute the offense as well as you did?
MIKE GESELL: Well, I just was looking to be aggressive. I feel like our offense flows a lot better when me and Clemmons are being very aggressive from the point guard spot. Just opens everything else up for our shooters we have on the wings and our bigs and helps our transition game to get going. So I think throughout the year I've slowly gotten more comfortable and looked to be more aggressive with my game.
Q. Aaron, being the basketball junkie you are, how much did you know about Gonzaga? How much really when you started breaking them down last night?
AARON WHITE: Quite a bit. When you got a team ranked Top-10 basically all year, they're on TV a lot. I watched them. I was with Pangos this summer at LeBron camp, so I know him a little bit. Wiltjer is big name in college basketball, I watched him. So, yeah, I'm pretty familiar with them. They're very similar to us, to be honest, with the size, the way they want to play. They want to get out and run, they want to score the ball. So it's a team I watched a lot. It's a team that when the bracket was all set up, you kind of looked at them that we might get them in the second round and I was excited about the matchup. And tomorrow should be a great one.
Q. For Aaron, you guys have a chance to do something special that hasn't been done in this program for a long, long time. In order to do that, you have to stay locked in on the moment. Have you guys allowed yourself to kind of take a step back and enjoy what you're doing or is it right now you're too focused on the present to worry about the big picture?
AARON WHITE: No, I wouldn't say that -- I would say we enjoyed last night. We were a happy group after yesterday's game. I thought we earned that victory. I thought we were really locked in the whole week. But once this morning came up, actually once last night came up and we introduced Gonzaga, we knew we had them. I thought we were very professional about it. We locked into kind of what this team is going to do personnel-wise and scheme-wise. So, yeah, we enjoyed it from basically from when our buzzer went off until their buzzer went off and we were introduced to them by our coaching staff. So we definitely enjoyed it in the locker room and as a group. But like you said, we're focused on the next task at hand and excited for tomorrow.
Q. For Aaron, early on you were motivated I imagine by not being as heavily recruited as others like when you were a freshman. How much of that still exists now as a motivator?
AARON WHITE: Yeah, I've always been a kid that's kind of tried to put a chip on my shoulder. Even when I had success I still kind of looked at other guys across the country that might have got a little more pub than I have or a little bit more national recognition than I have. But, so, you always got to take the floor with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder and I think I've done that my whole career. No matter what's happened, positive or negative, just tried to be motivated by little things. So definitely carried that over into my senior year here now and tomorrow.
