Jared Cohen
The sixth seeded Arizona Wildcats face off against the 11th seeded Belmont Bruins at 4:20pm from the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Coach Sean Miller as well as members of the team met with the media on Wednesday leading up to their first round game. Here are some notable quotes from the press conference.
The enjoyment of being a part of the NCAA Tournament?
SOLOMON HILL: Just enjoy the process. You know it’s a great show of our work during the regular season that we’re here. This is what you work for throughout the season. Guys are not upset about the Pac-12 season or the Tournament Championship, because when all is said and done, you want to do something big in the Tournament. So we’re grateful to be here.
NICK JOHNSON: It’s my first time in the tournament. I’m really excited, thought we had a great year and looking forward to continuing it in the tournament.
Belmont being a trendy pick from national perspectives, motivational factor
SOLOMON HILL: I don’t think it’s a motivator. If you need something to motivate you at this point you’re here for the wrong reasons. I think everyone on our team wants to win. I think we all dial into what we are going to do on the court and not about the opponent.
Has this been a special season and do you think it can continue to be?
MARK LYONS: Yeah, I think it has been a great season for us so far. You can’t win every game. We started out hot, 14-0. Our conference is one of the best conferences in basketball, if not the best. So we had our ups-and-downs, but we fought hard and feel we’re playing our best basketball right now. We got a bunch of guys who want to win, so our will to win is at a high level and as long as it stays like that we should be in this tournament for a while.
Follow-up on the Pac-12 fine, response, protest, apology?
SEAN MILLER: That was last week. We’re in the NCAA Tournament now. Our focus is on our players and Belmont.
What the game (against Belmont) is going to come down too
SEAN MILLER: If you take that 3-point shooting away your’re going to be successful. That’s the furthest thing from the truth when watching them. Their free-throw attempts from the point guard position alone and their ability to score inside 3. As a matter of fact, the percentage they make from inside the arc is one of the nation’s best.
