Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Quotes from today's NCAA Press Conference
3/17/2016 2:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Kermit Davis, Reggie Upshaw and Perrin Buford
NCAA Men's 1st and 2nd Rounds: St. Louis
Thursday, March 17, 2016 St. Louis, Missouri
Kermit Davis Middle Tennessee
KERMIT DAVIS: Thank you. It's good to be in the regional. Obviously we're playing a team who right now, when you start really scouting them on tape, looks as good as anybody in college basketball. I enjoy our team. We have -- our team has played 10 tournament games over the last two years and are 9-and-1, so they have a good tournament feel. They have the confidence. They know the challenges tomorrow afternoon versus Michigan State. They've been a great group to come to the locker room every day with. And I think our team will play with good confidence and play with a good physicality tomorrow.
Q. As you prep for the game, do you stay away from the whole 15-2, the upset thing, and do you just try and focus on what's happening on the court and just prepping like you would any other opponent and stay away from all that shock the world type of stuff?
KERMIT DAVIS: We have. I just said guys you gotta be who we are. We understand who we're playing. And we've scouted Michigan State like we would scout every other team. Obviously their talent level is extremely high and so well coached. I used a typical analogy, I said, if we just show up in Nashville, nobody had their colors on, and you go to a park and play a pickup game, every college player thinks you're going to win the pickup game, and you kind of pick guys. And that's the way you approach it. You can't worry about Michigan State. You just gotta go and play and be who we are. And over the last four or five years, our team has beaten UCLA, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Ole Miss a couple of times. I do think they have a quiet confidence, but they also understand the challenge.
Q. You have a team that you've got five starters who can shoot the 3 from all over the place. But what kind of game are you expecting tomorrow, more a defensive battle, maybe just wide open from beyond the arc from both teams?
KERMIT DAVIS: Obviously we need to get more into a defensive battle. I think if this game, if Michigan State gets in the 80s, it will be tough for us. So the less possessions probably the better for us. Now, in our semifinal game against Marshall we scored 99 to win. And in the championship game it was almost like the Purdue/Michigan State game in our league, Old Dominion is a half-court team and it was in the 50s. So we like to get easy opportunities in transition, but a big key is you've got to get back defensively against Michigan State because Valentine is just so good, and a lot of their 3s come in offensive transitions.
Q. As a coach you guys are obviously champions, they deserve to be here. How do you transition as the head coach from that euphoria of being in the tournament to the reality of facing a Michigan State?
KERMIT DAVIS: I really haven't thought a lot about it like that. And I don't think our players really have. I mean, I think they expected to win our tournament championship, our team's been through a lot of adversity with injuries. Like I said, I think they do have a quiet confidence. We understand Michigan State's a team that can win the national championship. But I just think our guys have just prepped like we have all year long, and I think they're looking forward to playing well tomorrow.
Q. Another thing, your team really stands out as unselfish on defense. They love to help each other. On a team like Michigan State, though, that will go 10, 11, 12 deep with a lot of weapons, do you almost need them not to help as much and take a chance of leaving somebody open?
KERMIT DAVIS: You know, we changed defenses a lot. That's kind of who we are. And we do different things, not tricky, but trying to disrupt tempo. Michigan State is probably the best offensive rhythm team in college basketball. So hopefully that will take into play. We've had two injuries to two starting guards during the year that won't play tomorrow night. Our team was playing 11 guys every night. So tomorrow we'll play nine, possibly 10.
Q. What school would be the closest comparable to Michigan State on your schedule?
KERMIT DAVIS: You know, this year, God, it would be tough to name one this year. We have a home-andhome series with VCU, but their styles are different. VCU is a really good physical team but a more of a pressing, trapping in a zone, and Tom's team is obviously a real tough, conventional, man-to-man team. We beat Auburn early in the year in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville when their team was playing well, but to try to compare somebody to Michigan State, probably style of play in our league, Old Dominion, but obviously not as talented.
Q. Who is a player this week that really stuck out in practice? I know you mentioned Darnell Harris, how he might be a key to the game in the post and he might be able to stretch it out from the 3-point line. Who stuck out to you most in preparation ahead of Michigan State?
KERMIT DAVIS: Although one particular guy, we do need Darnell Harris to play well because he's a 5-man who at times he's as good as any center 3-point shooter in college basketball. So we need him to be able to stretch defenses like that. Just our core guys have been good -- Perrin's been good. Giddy, Reggie, our whole team has had a good week of practice, not in an elated sense but in a workman-like sense of looking forward to the game.
Q. You mentioned Darnell, and I was wondering, how has he done in the post when you do go man against the bigger guys. And as a guy like Gamble more of a factor in a game like this?
KERMIT DAVIS: Karl is young. Karl is going to be a really, really good player. He's about 6'10", 6'9". He's young. He's going to get his chance tomorrow. Darnell is not a real physical guy. So kind of what we've done is we've had to change defenses. So we'll play some 1-3-1, we'll play some 2-3, we'll play some different kind of mans and double team. So we've had to do some things defensively just for reasons like that.
Q. As a peer of Tom Izzo's how do you describe and analyze his March resumé?
KERMIT DAVIS: When you watch Tom's team casually during the year, we love to watch his team. But when you really start scouting, it's the first time I've ever played a team that Tom's coached. But you really start scouting them. What makes him so good, and I think him and Bill Self are about as good as any, is they can coach their best player the toughest and nobody blinks. I think when you do it at this level of program, that's why teams just play like they do. And they're so physical. They play unselfish and they play fast. So I think it's just who he is. I think he's just consistent. And I think it just goes back -- and Popovich is probably the best in the NBA at doing it -- but when you can coach your very best players the hardest every day, and that's what he does with every different team, that's why your team in March will play just like his teams play.
Q. You touched on the ability to stretch the defense with the 3 ball from the post. Can you talk about Michigan State's defense, what kind of things do they do in the post and how do they defend the 3- point arc, because it's obviously a big part of your game?
KERMIT DAVIS: You know, their team is just -- they're just conventional, physical, man-to-man, nothing tricky. They'll switch at times 1 through 3. But they're so long around the goal. Their help-side defense is tremendous. They make you make tough 2s. When you get within 15 feet, they don't foul a lot. Their bigs stay walled up and they really try to make you score over them. And then they're the best rebounding team in college basketball, so you're not getting a lot of cheap offensive put-backs against them. What we've gotta do is we've got to move them around. And it's nothing we haven't done. It's just who we are. Is that our 4 is our leading assist guy. He's going to run around, we're going to move him around and motion and different things, and hopefully we can drive the ball and create some opportunities that way.
Q. Wondering if you could describe your personnel a little bit, it seems like you've got a lot of similarly sized guys in the 6'6", 6'8" range. How much can you switch and what does that do for you guys?
KERMIT DAVIS: That's been a part of what we've done. A couple of injuries hurt us a bit. Giddy Potts, our guard that leads college basketball in 3-point field goal percentage, he's 6'2" and about 220. And then you've got Perrin Buford, Reggie Upshaw, both about the same size. Darnell Harris is around 6'7", 6'8". Jaqawn Raymond, a guy we'll start at point tomorrow, is 6'4", 6'5", 200 pounds. So we do have a lot of alike players and hopefully that will help us tomorrow.
Q. Coach, you mentioned earlier that one of the keys for you guys is just to do what you do. How do you keep the team, say, relaxed, playing relaxed, and maybe avoid getting caught up in the moment or even overwhelmed by the moment?
KERMIT DAVIS: It's a great question. I think it depends on the leadership you have in the locker room. And I think we have three seniors, Darnell and Perrin and Jaqawn have done a great job with that. I could just tell by their approach. Now, whether it's good enough tomorrow afternoon I don't know, but I can just tell they do have a sense that they think they're going to play well and they think they deserve to be in the game. And that's what matters. And we're going to have to have Michigan State maybe do a few things they normally don't do to win, sure, and that's just kind of how upsets maybe can happen.
Q. You mentioned Giddy. What will this game be like -- you're talking about the two leading 3-point shooters between him and Forbes. As a coach, what's the thought of seeing those two guys go head to head more or less?
KERMIT DAVIS: I think it will be great for the fans. Forbes is such an outstanding -- didn't he make 11 3s, I think, against Rutgers? And their team is so fun to watch. I hope it's not fun to watch tomorrow for us in transition when they start making 3s in transition. But that's where they are. That's what makes Valentine so good. You have good shooters. He just delivers the ball at the right time, at the right place, convenient for guys to catch and shoot. And those guys are just great rhythm shooters in the break. But, yeah, college basketball will see, because I'll tell you what, Giddy is like Forbes, whenever he lets it go you think it's in. He just shoots it like that all the time.
NCAA Men's 1st and 2nd Rounds: St. Louis
Thursday, March 17, 2016 St. Louis, Missouri
Reggie Upshaw and Perrin Buford
Q. Obviously there's excitement when you win and get in the tournament, but then there's the realization that you're going to play a Michigan State, their 19th straight tournament, seven Final Fours. I'm curious, will you talk about -- because you are a champion, you deserve to be here -- but would you talk about that going from the excitement of being in to realizing that you're playing Michigan State?
REGGIE UPSHAW: As far as just the excitement and realizing who we're playing, I think our coaches have done a great job leading up to us coming up here, just telling us, I mean, it's just another team. Yeah, they have a lot of history. But I mean we've played against great competition all year. We had a really tough nonconference schedule. So I feel like we're prepared to play just about anybody.
PERRIN BUFORD: Kind of just based off what he said. We did have a really good non-conference schedule that I feel like prepared us for this moment. And I know me and my teammates have put in a lot of hard work all season long. The coaches have done a great job during the scout, just to get us prepared for this moment. So, yes, we're here and we're ready to go.
Q. When you see Michigan State's defense, what type of challenges does their defense present to your offense? And do you feel that they are better in the paint at defending or on the perimeter?
REGGIE UPSHAW: As far as the challenges their defense presents us, they're really physical. A lot of the Big Ten teams are. They're really big around the paint. They've got a lot of length at each position. But I feel like we have a lot of mismatches. I know for like myself and Darnell, who really stretches the floor at the 5 position, and then Perrin as well.
PERRIN BUFORD: Yes, kind of just based off what he's saying. Yes, they're big. They're 6'10". They're true post players. But I feel like our posts are more like stretch 4s that can really drive the basketball. So I feel like rebounding and things like that, they might have a little bit more advantage. But I feel our bigs can really drive their bigs.
Q. Reggie, one thing is that Middle Tennessee might know more about Michigan State than Michigan State knows about Middle Tennessee. How do you use that as an advantage?
REGGIE UPSHAW: Just use it as motivation. We're not really one of the bigger teams when it comes to college basketball, but we know we're just as talented as everyone else in the tournament. So we just have to use this game to kind of make a statement to the rest of the country. Q. Denzel Valentine, national Player of the Year, does a lot of things differently, what stands out to each of you about him when you watch him on film?
PERRIN BUFORD: Like you said Denzel is a great player. He's a great talent. What stands out to me is how unselfish he is. He just moves the ball, always has his head up and things like that. So that's what really stuck out to me watching film on him. REGGIE UPSHAW: What stuck out the most for me is just how he makes his teammates better. A lot of the times he'll penetrate and get in the paint and he'll finish over a lot of guys. But at the same time he does a great job of hitting open shots. We saw that in edit film today.
Q. You guys, conference championship game, very, very tightly contested. Winning the way that you did and with that momentum, how does that propel you forward, even though it was a week ago now?
PERRIN BUFORD: That was a big booster because all year we've been winning close games. I feel like this team that we're a part of, we really know how to close out a tough game and know how to grind out games down the stretch. So I feel like they give us kind of an edge and momentum. But like my coach said, you've got to recreate momentum every day and that's just going hard in practice, during shootaround, just taking it serious and taking no opponent lightly.
REGGIE UPSHAW: Like Perrin said, we're really resilient coming down the stretch in games. A lot of that showed in the championship game against Old Dominion. But I think we're 10-1 in games decided by five points or fewer. So just to kind of have that on our side, it shows a lot about who we are as a team and how we have great leadership.
Q. You won a semifinal game in the 90s, you won the championship game in the 50s. Where do you want this game to be in terms of pace tomorrow?
REGGIE UPSHAW: I know Coach Davis said we have to really limit them on fast break points. Transition will be a huge part in the game. He wants us to be able to set our defense after each bucket. So as far as scoring 90, I'm pretty sure that won't be one of those kind of games, but it will definitely probably be over 50 or 60 points, I'd say.
PERRIN BUFORD: I feel as if this team, we can play a lot of different ways. We can get out in transition, but then again, we can also play in half court and get our defense set. But with a team like that, who thrives in transition, I don't really think we want it to be a track meet, honestly, but I feel we'll throw a lot of different looks at them that they probably haven't seen or not used to.
Q. One of the things your team does extremely well is help defense. On a team like Michigan State that goes 11-12 deep, that has a lot of weapons, how much is it discipline maybe not to help as much and leave guys open?
PERRIN BUFORD: It will be very important. But basketball is a team game. So help defense is just a part of it. We're really going to need that tonight when we play them tomorrow. So I just feel like everybody has to be locked in on the defensive end and it's going to be a unit effort. And I feel like if we really buy in to what coach is saying in the game plan we'll have a great chance of winning the game.
REGGIE UPSHAW: Going off what Perrin said, I know Coach Davis has a great game plan as far as keeping us in help defense. A lot of the things that they run is based off of whether or not you help or not. If you don't help, then they'll hit the role guy. If you do help they'll skip it for a three. As far as the defenses and things like that, Coach Davis has a great game plan for that, and we just have to execute his game plan.
Q. As a senior, how are you balancing sort of the sense of urgency and what are you saying to your guys since you guys are moving to this game?
PERRIN BUFORD: Being a senior, it really hasn't hit me yet until today. It just hit me today it's like, okay, this could be my last game tomorrow. What I've really been telling these guys is just do what we've been doing all year. Don't try to go out and do anything different. Do what got us here, and that's just playing as a team, just being collective and just staying together through adversity and whatever else may come.
Q. A lot of people watching the game tomorrow will be watching Middle Tennessee play perhaps for the first time. What's one thing that they should know about your team or need to know about your team?
REGGIE UPSHAW: One thing that I'd say a lot of people need to know about our team is that we're really unselfish. I know myself and Perrin, we do a great job of getting in the paint, making others better. We kick it out to Giddy. He's a great three-point shooter. And then we also have Darnell who can knock down an open three as well as cause mismatches for a lot of post players inside the paint and Jaqawn as well. So as far as for someone who hasn't seen us play, I would just say take notice in how unselfish we are.
PERRIN BUFORD: For me, I feel like we have a lot of guys that play similar positions or like size, like Coach likes to say. So we can really switch which bothers a lot of teams, because they're used to people just switching 1 through 3, but we can switch 1 through 5 at times, and just depending on the personnel, and we really don't have a set defense. We go from zone to man to half-court press and just throw different looks at the opponents.
Q. Guys, the 15-2 upset is more common in the past few years than it has been ever before. So do you kind of look back at the teams, like the Florida Gulf Coasts of recent history, and kind of look at them saying, we can kind of do this as well and we can shock the world and shake up the tournament?
PERRIN BUFORD: Oh, yes, most definitely. It's something Coach has been talking about it. He was saying how teams all over upset the conference and win a tournament and upset a big team. So we've just been really focused in practice, just trying to execute his game plan, just really put it into play. So we know that's possible. And we're just going to go out and play our hearts out and just leave it all on the line and whatever happens happens.
REGGIE UPSHAW: As far as the 15-2 upsets we know that they always happen. It seems like just about every year there's a 15-2 upset, and the 15 seed always makes a deep run into the tournament. As far as having that kind of history your side, it's always great to have that. But at the end of the day we know we have to go out and execute, kind of like what Perrin was saying.
Thursday, March 17, 2016 St. Louis, Missouri
Kermit Davis Middle Tennessee
KERMIT DAVIS: Thank you. It's good to be in the regional. Obviously we're playing a team who right now, when you start really scouting them on tape, looks as good as anybody in college basketball. I enjoy our team. We have -- our team has played 10 tournament games over the last two years and are 9-and-1, so they have a good tournament feel. They have the confidence. They know the challenges tomorrow afternoon versus Michigan State. They've been a great group to come to the locker room every day with. And I think our team will play with good confidence and play with a good physicality tomorrow.
Q. As you prep for the game, do you stay away from the whole 15-2, the upset thing, and do you just try and focus on what's happening on the court and just prepping like you would any other opponent and stay away from all that shock the world type of stuff?
KERMIT DAVIS: We have. I just said guys you gotta be who we are. We understand who we're playing. And we've scouted Michigan State like we would scout every other team. Obviously their talent level is extremely high and so well coached. I used a typical analogy, I said, if we just show up in Nashville, nobody had their colors on, and you go to a park and play a pickup game, every college player thinks you're going to win the pickup game, and you kind of pick guys. And that's the way you approach it. You can't worry about Michigan State. You just gotta go and play and be who we are. And over the last four or five years, our team has beaten UCLA, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Ole Miss a couple of times. I do think they have a quiet confidence, but they also understand the challenge.
Q. You have a team that you've got five starters who can shoot the 3 from all over the place. But what kind of game are you expecting tomorrow, more a defensive battle, maybe just wide open from beyond the arc from both teams?
KERMIT DAVIS: Obviously we need to get more into a defensive battle. I think if this game, if Michigan State gets in the 80s, it will be tough for us. So the less possessions probably the better for us. Now, in our semifinal game against Marshall we scored 99 to win. And in the championship game it was almost like the Purdue/Michigan State game in our league, Old Dominion is a half-court team and it was in the 50s. So we like to get easy opportunities in transition, but a big key is you've got to get back defensively against Michigan State because Valentine is just so good, and a lot of their 3s come in offensive transitions.
Q. As a coach you guys are obviously champions, they deserve to be here. How do you transition as the head coach from that euphoria of being in the tournament to the reality of facing a Michigan State?
KERMIT DAVIS: I really haven't thought a lot about it like that. And I don't think our players really have. I mean, I think they expected to win our tournament championship, our team's been through a lot of adversity with injuries. Like I said, I think they do have a quiet confidence. We understand Michigan State's a team that can win the national championship. But I just think our guys have just prepped like we have all year long, and I think they're looking forward to playing well tomorrow.
Q. Another thing, your team really stands out as unselfish on defense. They love to help each other. On a team like Michigan State, though, that will go 10, 11, 12 deep with a lot of weapons, do you almost need them not to help as much and take a chance of leaving somebody open?
KERMIT DAVIS: You know, we changed defenses a lot. That's kind of who we are. And we do different things, not tricky, but trying to disrupt tempo. Michigan State is probably the best offensive rhythm team in college basketball. So hopefully that will take into play. We've had two injuries to two starting guards during the year that won't play tomorrow night. Our team was playing 11 guys every night. So tomorrow we'll play nine, possibly 10.
Q. What school would be the closest comparable to Michigan State on your schedule?
KERMIT DAVIS: You know, this year, God, it would be tough to name one this year. We have a home-andhome series with VCU, but their styles are different. VCU is a really good physical team but a more of a pressing, trapping in a zone, and Tom's team is obviously a real tough, conventional, man-to-man team. We beat Auburn early in the year in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville when their team was playing well, but to try to compare somebody to Michigan State, probably style of play in our league, Old Dominion, but obviously not as talented.
Q. Who is a player this week that really stuck out in practice? I know you mentioned Darnell Harris, how he might be a key to the game in the post and he might be able to stretch it out from the 3-point line. Who stuck out to you most in preparation ahead of Michigan State?
KERMIT DAVIS: Although one particular guy, we do need Darnell Harris to play well because he's a 5-man who at times he's as good as any center 3-point shooter in college basketball. So we need him to be able to stretch defenses like that. Just our core guys have been good -- Perrin's been good. Giddy, Reggie, our whole team has had a good week of practice, not in an elated sense but in a workman-like sense of looking forward to the game.
Q. You mentioned Darnell, and I was wondering, how has he done in the post when you do go man against the bigger guys. And as a guy like Gamble more of a factor in a game like this?
KERMIT DAVIS: Karl is young. Karl is going to be a really, really good player. He's about 6'10", 6'9". He's young. He's going to get his chance tomorrow. Darnell is not a real physical guy. So kind of what we've done is we've had to change defenses. So we'll play some 1-3-1, we'll play some 2-3, we'll play some different kind of mans and double team. So we've had to do some things defensively just for reasons like that.
Q. As a peer of Tom Izzo's how do you describe and analyze his March resumé?
KERMIT DAVIS: When you watch Tom's team casually during the year, we love to watch his team. But when you really start scouting, it's the first time I've ever played a team that Tom's coached. But you really start scouting them. What makes him so good, and I think him and Bill Self are about as good as any, is they can coach their best player the toughest and nobody blinks. I think when you do it at this level of program, that's why teams just play like they do. And they're so physical. They play unselfish and they play fast. So I think it's just who he is. I think he's just consistent. And I think it just goes back -- and Popovich is probably the best in the NBA at doing it -- but when you can coach your very best players the hardest every day, and that's what he does with every different team, that's why your team in March will play just like his teams play.
Q. You touched on the ability to stretch the defense with the 3 ball from the post. Can you talk about Michigan State's defense, what kind of things do they do in the post and how do they defend the 3- point arc, because it's obviously a big part of your game?
KERMIT DAVIS: You know, their team is just -- they're just conventional, physical, man-to-man, nothing tricky. They'll switch at times 1 through 3. But they're so long around the goal. Their help-side defense is tremendous. They make you make tough 2s. When you get within 15 feet, they don't foul a lot. Their bigs stay walled up and they really try to make you score over them. And then they're the best rebounding team in college basketball, so you're not getting a lot of cheap offensive put-backs against them. What we've gotta do is we've got to move them around. And it's nothing we haven't done. It's just who we are. Is that our 4 is our leading assist guy. He's going to run around, we're going to move him around and motion and different things, and hopefully we can drive the ball and create some opportunities that way.
Q. Wondering if you could describe your personnel a little bit, it seems like you've got a lot of similarly sized guys in the 6'6", 6'8" range. How much can you switch and what does that do for you guys?
KERMIT DAVIS: That's been a part of what we've done. A couple of injuries hurt us a bit. Giddy Potts, our guard that leads college basketball in 3-point field goal percentage, he's 6'2" and about 220. And then you've got Perrin Buford, Reggie Upshaw, both about the same size. Darnell Harris is around 6'7", 6'8". Jaqawn Raymond, a guy we'll start at point tomorrow, is 6'4", 6'5", 200 pounds. So we do have a lot of alike players and hopefully that will help us tomorrow.
Q. Coach, you mentioned earlier that one of the keys for you guys is just to do what you do. How do you keep the team, say, relaxed, playing relaxed, and maybe avoid getting caught up in the moment or even overwhelmed by the moment?
KERMIT DAVIS: It's a great question. I think it depends on the leadership you have in the locker room. And I think we have three seniors, Darnell and Perrin and Jaqawn have done a great job with that. I could just tell by their approach. Now, whether it's good enough tomorrow afternoon I don't know, but I can just tell they do have a sense that they think they're going to play well and they think they deserve to be in the game. And that's what matters. And we're going to have to have Michigan State maybe do a few things they normally don't do to win, sure, and that's just kind of how upsets maybe can happen.
Q. You mentioned Giddy. What will this game be like -- you're talking about the two leading 3-point shooters between him and Forbes. As a coach, what's the thought of seeing those two guys go head to head more or less?
KERMIT DAVIS: I think it will be great for the fans. Forbes is such an outstanding -- didn't he make 11 3s, I think, against Rutgers? And their team is so fun to watch. I hope it's not fun to watch tomorrow for us in transition when they start making 3s in transition. But that's where they are. That's what makes Valentine so good. You have good shooters. He just delivers the ball at the right time, at the right place, convenient for guys to catch and shoot. And those guys are just great rhythm shooters in the break. But, yeah, college basketball will see, because I'll tell you what, Giddy is like Forbes, whenever he lets it go you think it's in. He just shoots it like that all the time.
NCAA Men's 1st and 2nd Rounds: St. Louis
Thursday, March 17, 2016 St. Louis, Missouri
Reggie Upshaw and Perrin Buford
Q. Obviously there's excitement when you win and get in the tournament, but then there's the realization that you're going to play a Michigan State, their 19th straight tournament, seven Final Fours. I'm curious, will you talk about -- because you are a champion, you deserve to be here -- but would you talk about that going from the excitement of being in to realizing that you're playing Michigan State?
REGGIE UPSHAW: As far as just the excitement and realizing who we're playing, I think our coaches have done a great job leading up to us coming up here, just telling us, I mean, it's just another team. Yeah, they have a lot of history. But I mean we've played against great competition all year. We had a really tough nonconference schedule. So I feel like we're prepared to play just about anybody.
PERRIN BUFORD: Kind of just based off what he said. We did have a really good non-conference schedule that I feel like prepared us for this moment. And I know me and my teammates have put in a lot of hard work all season long. The coaches have done a great job during the scout, just to get us prepared for this moment. So, yes, we're here and we're ready to go.
Q. When you see Michigan State's defense, what type of challenges does their defense present to your offense? And do you feel that they are better in the paint at defending or on the perimeter?
REGGIE UPSHAW: As far as the challenges their defense presents us, they're really physical. A lot of the Big Ten teams are. They're really big around the paint. They've got a lot of length at each position. But I feel like we have a lot of mismatches. I know for like myself and Darnell, who really stretches the floor at the 5 position, and then Perrin as well.
PERRIN BUFORD: Yes, kind of just based off what he's saying. Yes, they're big. They're 6'10". They're true post players. But I feel like our posts are more like stretch 4s that can really drive the basketball. So I feel like rebounding and things like that, they might have a little bit more advantage. But I feel our bigs can really drive their bigs.
Q. Reggie, one thing is that Middle Tennessee might know more about Michigan State than Michigan State knows about Middle Tennessee. How do you use that as an advantage?
REGGIE UPSHAW: Just use it as motivation. We're not really one of the bigger teams when it comes to college basketball, but we know we're just as talented as everyone else in the tournament. So we just have to use this game to kind of make a statement to the rest of the country. Q. Denzel Valentine, national Player of the Year, does a lot of things differently, what stands out to each of you about him when you watch him on film?
PERRIN BUFORD: Like you said Denzel is a great player. He's a great talent. What stands out to me is how unselfish he is. He just moves the ball, always has his head up and things like that. So that's what really stuck out to me watching film on him. REGGIE UPSHAW: What stuck out the most for me is just how he makes his teammates better. A lot of the times he'll penetrate and get in the paint and he'll finish over a lot of guys. But at the same time he does a great job of hitting open shots. We saw that in edit film today.
Q. You guys, conference championship game, very, very tightly contested. Winning the way that you did and with that momentum, how does that propel you forward, even though it was a week ago now?
PERRIN BUFORD: That was a big booster because all year we've been winning close games. I feel like this team that we're a part of, we really know how to close out a tough game and know how to grind out games down the stretch. So I feel like they give us kind of an edge and momentum. But like my coach said, you've got to recreate momentum every day and that's just going hard in practice, during shootaround, just taking it serious and taking no opponent lightly.
REGGIE UPSHAW: Like Perrin said, we're really resilient coming down the stretch in games. A lot of that showed in the championship game against Old Dominion. But I think we're 10-1 in games decided by five points or fewer. So just to kind of have that on our side, it shows a lot about who we are as a team and how we have great leadership.
Q. You won a semifinal game in the 90s, you won the championship game in the 50s. Where do you want this game to be in terms of pace tomorrow?
REGGIE UPSHAW: I know Coach Davis said we have to really limit them on fast break points. Transition will be a huge part in the game. He wants us to be able to set our defense after each bucket. So as far as scoring 90, I'm pretty sure that won't be one of those kind of games, but it will definitely probably be over 50 or 60 points, I'd say.
PERRIN BUFORD: I feel as if this team, we can play a lot of different ways. We can get out in transition, but then again, we can also play in half court and get our defense set. But with a team like that, who thrives in transition, I don't really think we want it to be a track meet, honestly, but I feel we'll throw a lot of different looks at them that they probably haven't seen or not used to.
Q. One of the things your team does extremely well is help defense. On a team like Michigan State that goes 11-12 deep, that has a lot of weapons, how much is it discipline maybe not to help as much and leave guys open?
PERRIN BUFORD: It will be very important. But basketball is a team game. So help defense is just a part of it. We're really going to need that tonight when we play them tomorrow. So I just feel like everybody has to be locked in on the defensive end and it's going to be a unit effort. And I feel like if we really buy in to what coach is saying in the game plan we'll have a great chance of winning the game.
REGGIE UPSHAW: Going off what Perrin said, I know Coach Davis has a great game plan as far as keeping us in help defense. A lot of the things that they run is based off of whether or not you help or not. If you don't help, then they'll hit the role guy. If you do help they'll skip it for a three. As far as the defenses and things like that, Coach Davis has a great game plan for that, and we just have to execute his game plan.
Q. As a senior, how are you balancing sort of the sense of urgency and what are you saying to your guys since you guys are moving to this game?
PERRIN BUFORD: Being a senior, it really hasn't hit me yet until today. It just hit me today it's like, okay, this could be my last game tomorrow. What I've really been telling these guys is just do what we've been doing all year. Don't try to go out and do anything different. Do what got us here, and that's just playing as a team, just being collective and just staying together through adversity and whatever else may come.
Q. A lot of people watching the game tomorrow will be watching Middle Tennessee play perhaps for the first time. What's one thing that they should know about your team or need to know about your team?
REGGIE UPSHAW: One thing that I'd say a lot of people need to know about our team is that we're really unselfish. I know myself and Perrin, we do a great job of getting in the paint, making others better. We kick it out to Giddy. He's a great three-point shooter. And then we also have Darnell who can knock down an open three as well as cause mismatches for a lot of post players inside the paint and Jaqawn as well. So as far as for someone who hasn't seen us play, I would just say take notice in how unselfish we are.
PERRIN BUFORD: For me, I feel like we have a lot of guys that play similar positions or like size, like Coach likes to say. So we can really switch which bothers a lot of teams, because they're used to people just switching 1 through 3, but we can switch 1 through 5 at times, and just depending on the personnel, and we really don't have a set defense. We go from zone to man to half-court press and just throw different looks at the opponents.
Q. Guys, the 15-2 upset is more common in the past few years than it has been ever before. So do you kind of look back at the teams, like the Florida Gulf Coasts of recent history, and kind of look at them saying, we can kind of do this as well and we can shock the world and shake up the tournament?
PERRIN BUFORD: Oh, yes, most definitely. It's something Coach has been talking about it. He was saying how teams all over upset the conference and win a tournament and upset a big team. So we've just been really focused in practice, just trying to execute his game plan, just really put it into play. So we know that's possible. And we're just going to go out and play our hearts out and just leave it all on the line and whatever happens happens.
REGGIE UPSHAW: As far as the 15-2 upsets we know that they always happen. It seems like just about every year there's a 15-2 upset, and the 15 seed always makes a deep run into the tournament. As far as having that kind of history your side, it's always great to have that. But at the end of the day we know we have to go out and execute, kind of like what Perrin was saying.
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/ Men's BasketballFacility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
Wednesday, July 30
2025 Blue Raider Blitz Media Panel
Thursday, July 03
MTSU Men's Basketball Coach Nick McDevitt interview at 2025 Blue Raider Blitz
Monday, June 30
MTSU Men's Basketball Post Game Press Conference vs Chattanooga NIT 3/18/25
Tuesday, March 18
