March 8, 2007

An interview with:

BAYLOR

CHARLIE FISS: We are joined now by the

Baylor Bears. Congratulations on your victory

tonight. Coach Scott Drew and his three student

athletes, Aaron Bruce, Henry Dugat and Curtis

Jerrells.

Coach, your thought on tonight's game?

COACH Scott Drew: I want to thank

everyone for staying up for us. I know it is getting

late. Anyway, we are very happy right now from

the standpoint we felt like we really executed well,

did what we wanted to do offensively, attacking the

press and trying to get easy buckets.

Now we just got to get focused and ready

for tomorrow.

Q. C.J., can you talk about how you got

through your press? It didn't seem like you

had very much trouble with it at all.

Curtis Jerrells: Like I told you

before, our team is just -- like I said, we guard.

When we got both going, we are really hard to

beat. You know, they played into our hands really

because we got four good guards on the team plus

a couple guards off the bench who can really play.

There was three of us in there breaking it

down and we had another freshman coming in.

We did a good job of handling the ball, getting

open and attacking.

Q. Curtis, what is it about Missouri that

brings out the best in you? Last year you had

a 28 against them, a career high and you have

another one tonight?

Curtis Jerrells: Basically it is a love

for the game. I love to play. We played them and

they beat us up there. Our whole team had a little

bit of that on our mind. We wanted to come out

and give it our all and win it here.

Q. Do you guys feel like this is the way

you maybe could have played all year had you

all been healthy?

Aaron Bruce: We knew what we were

capable of. Obviously we would like to play like

that and shoot like that in every game. Basketball,

you have to deal with different things, different

defenses and you are going to have off nights.

As far as tonight is concerned for us, it is a

great feeling right now. It is also over right now.

We have to start the preparation for Texas. They

are a great team. We have go out and stretch out

and get ourselves ready for that.

Q. Curtis, can you talk about the

mind-set of the team when they closed it to

within three points early in the second half?

Curtis Jerrells: I didn't know they

closed within three (smiling). Coach did a good job

of keeping us focused. That's been kind of a

downpoint for us all season. We get a lead and

then in between a certain frame time like in the

second half, we would lose our leads.

We just didn't want to go down like that

again. We wanted to change the way we played.

We did a good job with the intensity level. They

press a lot and run around a lot. They were going

to get some steals and get some scores. It was

just a matter of us keeping our composure.

Q. Curtis, you guys played Texas tough

twice. Can you talk about the confidence you

have now going into that game.

Curtis Jerrells: We played them

pretty tough but not good enough. I think

everybody on the coaching staff and our team

knows that. We will have to give a better effort

than we did tonight in those other two games if we

want to be able to beat them.

Q. Curtis, being from the Austin area,

and I'm sure you have been asked this before,

did Texas look at you very hard? Did you ever

want to go to UT?

Curtis Jerrells: Oh, yeah, early on.

But in that time frame they had Daniel Gibson -- or

they had T.J. Ford and Daniel Gibson going. They

were pretty stacked. But they looked at me early

on, but took one visit to Baylor University and I

found my home.

Q. This is for Henry. You all came in

playing well, coming off a win and then played

well tonight. Can you maybe just talk about the

confidence of the team right now.

Henry Dugat: I think it goes toward my

teammates for getting me open shots and

everybody keying in on them. And also just

everybody on the team being put in the hard way,

pushing each other to get better and better every

day.

Q. Curtis, I know you're not on the

selection committee, but do you think you

might have just cost Missouri an N.I.T. slot?

Curtis Jerrells: I don't know. I don't

know what they deal with or where they are going.

The only thing I am focused on right now is Baylor.

Q. If you were on the selection

committee, would you invite Missouri?

Curtis Jerrells: I don't know. That's

not up to me, man.

Q. For anyone, first tournament win

since 2001. Can you just talk about what this

means for the program?

Aaron Bruce: I think it means a lot to

the program. We went through some hardships

that we personally didn't go through but the

University has been through hardships. I think this

proves you put a pretty good system in place,

recruit the right people, have the right coaches and

you can really turn something around. That's been

our goal all along. I think we are starting to see

some fruits of our labor. We have worked

extremely hard. We deserve a tournament win.

We have worked very hard. I am happy for our

guys and happy for our staff.

Q. C.J., I don't know if you have gone

over this, can you tell me the tale of the tooth,

please?

Curtis Jerrells: Just a little sore, got

a little puffy, took a little medicine and I'm fine.

Q. Coach Drew says you are going

back to the dentist every game day from here

on out. What do you make of that?

Curtis Jerrells: I see him pretty

often, just checkups. It happened to act up and

swell up on me. I took a little medicine and I was

okay.

Q. Scott, was this the biggest victory

you've had since you have been at Baylor?

COACH Scott Drew: Is this the

biggest win? I don't think it is the biggest win, but it

is big for a couple reasons. One, we haven't won a

tournament game since 2001. Two, it is the most

wins Baylor University has had since 2001. And

shows we are on the right path.

Q. Coach, after the two close games

with Texas, how much confidence does it give

you as a head coach going into round three?

COACH Scott Drew: I think that's a

rivalry game. Whenever you have rivalry games, I

think you are excited to play. We have a lot of

guys on our team that know their guys, D.J. and

Tweety grew up playing each other. I know we will

be excited and ready to go.

Q. Coach, after having a big lead at half

time and they made their run to make it a

five-point game, what did you do to step on the

throats?

COACH Scott Drew: We knew going

in it was going to be a game of runs. You could be

up 20 or down 20. With their style of play, you

need to weather the storm. Our guys knew that.

We needed to make sure we could handle that, not

panic and let an 8-0 run or whatever run it was

lead to bigger run.

Again, credit the maturity of our guys to be

able to do that.

Q. Scott, do you feel like your guys

have clicked in to some new gear here or what

is your thought process?

COACH Scott Drew: I like the way we

shot tonight. I won't say anything about that, but

as far as a new gear, I think we have been playing

well.

I mean, if you come to our practices, you

probably wouldn't see that because the last two

days we haven't had Kevin practicing or A.B.

practicing. C.J. missed because of his abscessed

tooth. Maybe we practice too much. So we will

keep people out for a while, I guess.

An interview with:

MISSOURI

CHARLIE FISS: We are ready to begin

with the Missouri Tigers. Our head coach, Mike

Anderson, and his two student athletes, Marshall

Brown and Matt Lawrence.

Coach, your thoughts on tonight's game?

COACH MIKE ANDERSON: First of all, I

always say when you get to this part of the year, it

was about surviving and advancing. We did

survive tonight. A lot of credit goes to a Baylor

team that is steadily improving. They shot the ball

extremely well. At the same time, I didn't think we

came out with the energy that you got to have in

order to guard players of that magnitude.

They had some quickness. They made

some shots. You got to give them credit. I just

didn't think -- we came out a little tight, and you

can tell when you look at the stats, the starters

shot 63%. I think that's a record this year, maybe

in this tournament. They scored 97 points. That

tells you getting into this setting I think maybe a

little nerves were going. But at the same time, I

didn't think we played the type of defense that has

been typical of our basketball team all year long.

Let's give Baylor some credit. I think they

are the team that's steadily improving. They shot

the ball extremely well.

Q. Both players, just talk about what's

going through your mind at the end of the first

half, I think it was 18-5 run to close things out.

MATT LAWRENCE: Well, we knew that

their guards were playing real well and we need to

stay in front of the ball. Going into half time, we

need to have adjustment and keep the ball in front

of us.

With that kind of lead, I think we need to

play with some reckless abandonment and

scramble. We tried to but our guys, you know,

they fought all the way to the end. You got to

They hit some shots today and their

guards were pretty incredible.

Q. Both players, do you look at this

game as kind of a missed opportunity for you

with how everything went down tonight?

MARSHALL BROWN: It was definitely

disappointing any time you get to a conference

tournament. I felt like we were playing good

basketball coming into it. I am disappointed the

way we came out. I thought we came out of the

second half and gave ourself a chance. We just

couldn't finish it.

Q. After Jerrells' three-pointer at the

end of the first half, how demoralizing was that

after you cut it back to ten for him to hit that?

MARSHALL BROWN: He was in a

groove. He was hot. He was hitting pretty much

everything he threw up. That was kind of the way

the game went. Going into the second half, I think

we turned our defense up, turned pressure up and

started playing the style of basketball we wanted.

We just couldn't finish it.

Q. How much different was this Baylor

team than the one you faced back in Columbia?

What were the differences?

MARSHALL BROWN: I think it is pretty

much the same team. They didn't have Aaron

Bruce when we played them in Missouri. But I

think their movement was great. Their space was

great.

It also helps when you are knocking down

shots.

Q. Mike, since you didn't have any

guards up here, can you talk about your guard

play and kind of their inability to kind of settle

down Jerrells and Dugat?

COACH MIKE ANDERSON: It was kind of

shocking to me in terms of how we did defend. It is

something we work on and something we talked

about. I think that was the strength of Baylor's

team, their perimeter guys.

We just played these guys three weeks

ago. But as Marshall alluded to, they made shots.

I just don't think our guys played one of their better

games. I don't think they played well at all

defensively.

Who knows why you know. I take the

blame on that. I didn't get them ready enough in

this particular setting. But I will do better, I promise

you that.

But, again, it was kind of interesting just to

see the expression on our guys' face even as we

talked about the first and second time out. I just

didn't think we were defending like we have all

year long.

We have defended -- especially guys on

the perimeter. But tonight for some reason, it

seemed like we were a half step slow. We didn't

have that energy.

Q. Mike, in conference play you guys

have relied a lot on that matchup zone you like

to use and kind of went away from that tonight.

Was there something about Baylor's make-up

that concerned you with playing the matchup

zone?

COACH MIKE ANDERSON: It didn't seem

like we were playing anything else. We played the

matchup, trying to mix it up. We didn't have the

energy. We tried to scramble when we came back

in the second half.

One thing about us, 13-point lead at half

time, that's no big deal. We have been behind

before. But it was one of those deals -- hills we

had to climb. I thought we climbed back pretty

good. We cut it to four. We even cut it to three.

So now you really got to dig in and make

stops. We just weren't able to. And they made

some tough shots. Even the shot he made --

Jerrells made at half time. As a player you have to

understand they have that kind of range.

But we tried to play a lot of different

defenses. It just didn't work tonight.

Q. Mike, do you have a sense of maybe

your chances to keep on playing in the N.I.T.?

Have you looked into that at all? Could you

make a case for you guys to keep on playing?

COACH MIKE ANDERSON: Absolutely. I

think we've had a pretty good year. When you talk

about day one with this basketball team to see

where they are right now -- even as we start out in

the Big 12, we started off 0-4, 2-6, there has been

steady improvement.

From a coach's standpoint, you want your

team to get better. You want players to get better.

And I think as a whole, our team has gotten better.

If there is an opportunity for us to play in

post-season play, which hopefully there is, we will

continue because I think it would be great for this

basketball team.

Q. Mike, you talked about day one.

Can you assess your first season as coach and

what your goals are for your second season?

What you need to improve on?

COACH MIKE ANDERSON: I think

coming in and trying to assess what we have, it is

one thing to assess it when you are talking about

working out and practicing and all that. Now that

the season is going on, this team -- these guys

have bought into what we're doing. They are trying

their hardest.

They got better as the season went on, but

you also get a chance to assess and evaluate

them when you start playing nonconference,

conference play. You find out a little bit more

about your guys. One of the things I know we got

to get, we got to get a little bit more tougher.

Toughness is defined even from a defensive

standpoint.

Overall, there was steady improvement. I

think from a coach's standpoint, you could -- you

don't mind that. I think we just got to -- hopefully,

we can get some additions that will help our

basketball team and some of these guys will be a

whole lot better next year.

Q. With so many juniors returning for

next year, what did you -- compared to what

you thought at the beginning of the year, do

you think this year was a success?

COACH MIKE ANDERSON: Absolutely. I

think when you talk about where this team came

from to where it is now, these are some of the

same guys that played last year. You got to

remember that.

We added some guys. It is a brand-new

basketball team. For these guys to amass 18

wins, and of course winning seven games in the

Big 12, I think that's improvement.

I think if you want to call it being

successful, I think these guys have. Who knows,

they may still have some more basketball to play.

Q. Coach, going back to what you said

about possibly having more basketball to play,

how much tougher does it make this loss

knowing that your team could have all but

sealed up an N.I.T. bid with a win tonight?

COACH MIKE ANDERSON: I think, first of

all, we are playing to the Big Dance. Everyone

who comes in with an opportunity -- I always say

the most important game is the first game. For

some reason, I think the nerves got us caught up.

That's what happens to a lot of teams, the nerves

catching them in this particular setting.

But at the same time I think it was a good

opportunity. This is a Baylor team that's steadily

improving.

I got a feeling, I said it before, we are

heading for something, I don't know what. Maybe

that means going to the N.I.T. We'll see.

Q. Coach, having said that, with every

team's goal being reaching the NCAA, how

would you look at an N.I.T. bid concerning

where this program has been and hasn't been

in the N.I.T. in the past few years but not

reaching that goal of the NCAA tournament?

COACH MIKE ANDERSON: I think, again,

any post-season play with this basketball team is

going to benefit. You got to remember this team

here is a brand new -- if you look at my basketball

team, they are all like freshman. When you talk

about playing the up-tempo basketball and true to

form, we looked like freshmen tonight. At the

same time if they can continue to play in

post-season play, they played in the conference

tournament and maybe can play -- I think it will

benefit us I think in the long run.

I think our -- my goal is to win a national

championship.