Everything Texas Tech’s Mark Adams said following victory over Montana State
Texas Tech coach Mark Adams called it one of the best games his team has played this season.
The Red Raiders shot a blistering 67% from the field, cruising to a 97-62 victory over 14-seed Montana State to open the NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arena. Texas Tech, the 3-seed in the West Region, will face 11-seed Notre Dame in the Round of 32 on Sunday.
Adams addressed his team’s performance afterward.
Opening statement: “I want to change the mood a little bit. We’re elated we get to this first game. So excited for this bunch of guys that they get to advance. They survived and advanced. Getting ready for our next opponent on Sunday.
“Couldn’t be more thrilled the way we played. One of the best games we’ve played all year. Excited that our guys are showing some improvement. That’s the thing we want to do is continue to grow as a team. I thought our guys did that. With that said, again, we did a great job preparing. We took Montana State very seriously, a very good program, well-coached. Like I told (Montana State coach Danny Sprinkle) after the game, ‘It’s one of the best, if not the best game, we’ve played all year. We can build on that.”
On Chibuzo Agbo, a San Diego native who scored eight points in six minutes: “So excited, hometown player, got in the game, played so well. That’s not surprising at all to our team. He’s made shots all year for us, one of our best 3-point shooters. He took a charge and just played well on both ends of the floor. Extremely happy for him. He’s such an unbelievably nice young man. He’s a gym rat and glad to see him get a chance to play and play so well.”
On no player playing more than 29 minutes to stay fresh for Sunday: “We talked about on the bench as the game progressed, if we could, give our starters and guys to rest a little bit and not have them out there for too many minutes so they can be rested for Sunday. That was one of the real positives about the game. We played a lot of guys and they all played well and had a chance to contribute and had a chance to rest our starters.”
On the team’s offense and setting program-record for points in NCAA Tournament game: “I was a little concerned. I don’t want our guys thinking too much offense. We start scoring too many points. I want them to stay with our identity on defense. But seriously it’s one of the best offensive games we’ve had. We really shared the ball.
“We had 23 assists. It may have been the most all year. That’s one of the emphasis, if we wanted to grow offensively we’ve got to share the ball. We’ve got a lot of guys that can shoot 3s and make plays and drive.
“Our biggest challenge is to spread the floor and get some space and get those guys to move the ball and just trust in our offense. So we did that. And I thought we really worked on that a lot this week on trying to do some things to get more ball movement. So it was great to see these guys do that.”
On what he wanted to see as a “new season” starts with March Madness: “One of the great things about this team is they love basketball. They want to be coached, want to be coached hard. So we do that. And because of that they really take preparation seriously.
“But our theme or motto is just together we attack. Every game we’re playing we’re trying to attack on both ends of the floor. I thought that was something that was a big difference at the start of the game. We came out of the gate, both ends we were pushing the ball up the floor, got easy baskets. And we were able to turn them over and score off our defense. And the first five minutes set the stage for the rest of the game.”
On Clarence Nadolny’s injury situation: “Yes, he would have (played if necessary). He’s been wearing a boot around just to protect that ankle. He could have played, wanted to play, but we thought it best just to rest him for Sunday.”
On what he saw from Montana State going into the game: “They can really shoot the ball and that was a huge concern for us. And they continue making some of those 3s. They’re a very balanced team. They have inside scoring, outside scoring, point guard that is really good off the bounce.
“I thought we did a great job of containing him, and them on the inside, at least the first half, the inside game. The guys that scored were a lot of their perimeter players that maybe are not used to carrying that load. I thought that was really good.
“But we wanted to take advantage of our athleticism against them, and I thought we were able to do that.”
On confidence gained from offensive performance like this: “I think it’s certainly easy to build on. Anytime we’re shooting the ball well it’s hard for me to take any credit for that. When they’re shooting the ball, shooting 3s, easy, winning comes a lot easier, and you don’t have to rely on that defense as much. So if we could shoot the ball Sunday and throughout the tournament, then we’re going to be in great shape.”
On getting bench players Daniel Batcho and KJ Allen involved: “I think it’s great. We wanted to give Daniel Batcho, both those guys, but especially Daniel Batcho, a 6-foot-11 guy that we’ll need. And so to get him some experience in the game, and he played quite a few minutes, is going to be good for him. I don’t know if I could have scripted this any better. It was a great game for us.”
On message moving forward: “It’s a stressful time for any team because, like I told our guys before the game, you look around, you love these guys. We have such a great relationship. It’s been such a wonderful journey for us, but this is kind of a do-or-die situation. Every game is. And it’s how you handle that pressure and believing in yourself and trusting in what you’re doing.
“It was a great win. We can build on that. I know this team wants to play as long as we can, and we’ve talked about that. Let’s forget about this first game. Let’s get ready, because we did a great job preparing for Montana State. If we do the same, we’ll have a chance to win that one.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 4:15 PM.
