Jordan Hawkins, UConn Speak on DOMINATING Gonzaga to Head to Final Four | CBS Sports
It feels good and it feels good. Definitely we put in a lot of work to get here and we used to have first round agent the last two years to start the season. AIM have us in the top 25. So we got a lot to prove. We still got a chip on our shoulder and we had a goal and it was to make it to the final four, but more importantly to win a national championship. So that's what we're still pushing towards. Right here.
John Tytel from Hoops HD for Jordan. Gonzaga made two threes. You made six. Was it just one of those things where you felt in the zone and everything was going in? I mean, I seen the first one going and I felt good. I was getting a lot of open looks so I was letting it fly. I knew my teammates was going to do a great job giving me the ball. So all credit to them.
We're also now joined by UConn head coach Dan Hurley. Coach, congratulations. Thank you. You'd like to make an open statement? Yeah. I just want a performance by the boys to do what we did to a team of that caliber, a program of that caliber. Obviously we were just playing at a super high level. But I don't think we're obviously surprised by the margin of victory, but not surprised about where we're going next because this is who we've been for a large part of the season.
Questions for coach or any of the student athletes? All right, right here in the middle. This is for kind of everyone, but throughout the game you guys were the energy was high with the coaches, with the staff. You were getting the crowd involved. So what is it like to go to war with the whole university of UConn and staff and everyone? You could feel the energy. Everybody is all in. We all in. And it's a family over here.
So coaches, players, managers, GAs, we all family, cheerleaders, everybody's a family. UConn Nation showed up. So it definitely feels great to be a part of this university and really be represented on this level. Back here in the back, please. Bengal over Washington Post for coach and Andre. In the first half. Oh, sorry.
Sorry. Coach and Andre, in the first half they were kind of dropping off of you. And it seemed like maybe you guys were trying to find your rhythm early. Then you had a run of assist for two or three point shooters. Just how did you make that adjustment? And coach, how did you unlock that as well? I mean, we've figured that out. That doesn't work anymore. From, to be honest with you, it was just a coaching mistakes during the season where it just took me too long to get Andre to the places where he could still be one of the biggest impact players.
And in terms of winning or losing, so many players in the country that impact the game the way this guy does. So once I just got better as a coach and Andre, I wasn't putting him in positions to be successful. And since we've unlocked that code, he's been unbelievable. Right here in the front. Gavin Key from the London Day for Adama. Adama, you had a career high, six assists. I think you had five in the first half.
Let's go with Adama. What was that part of the game playing? Obviously, when they doubled you, they looked for the open man? Yeah, definitely. Going to a game, I know they are playing for me on the post. So every time I saw them double teaming, I was like, all right, if you're going to double team me, I'm going to fight my team. So that's why I was definitely ready for it, because I know they had a game playing for me. So every time they double team, I was ready for it to pass. Passable.
Right here in the front. Joe Ruder-Herford, current. Jordan, you hit that step back towards the end. You flex your jersey, you flex your UConn across the front. Just what did that shot feel like to go in, and what does it mean to play for UConn? It means everything. I'd like to thank Coach Early for giving me this opportunity and just being able to play in March Madness to lead eight games. It's something you dream of.
And my emotions just took all of me. And I just had to flex UConn, because UConn's back. Back. Back. All right. That's what we never left. Jay Thomas, UNLV TV.
This is for Coach Early. So Jordan is known for to be a volume shooter, but he's been a three-level score, especially throughout this tournament. And Andre has shown on defense that it's more than just offense. So what is it like to have players that are so versatile? Yeah, I mean, they're NBA players. They're obviously, you know, the two guys, they have long NBA careers. You know, when they're done at UConn, obviously they stylistically, they play the game in, you know, two different ways, but the two of the most exciting wing players in the country. Jordan, you know, right now Jordan is playing like a junior, like he's, right? He's like, you know, at points, maybe early in the year, middle of the year, he, you know, he was still a young player, but he's playing like an upperclassman, you know, in a high-level draft pick.
And, you know, and Andre's, you know, again, Andre's one of the best all-around players in the country in terms of impacting the game. And, you know, and Andre's an NBA high draft pick. So I could only screw it up when you're sitting next to three NBA players, right? We shouldn't be going to the final four. Okay, Dan. Yeah, Dan Wolken, USA Today for Dan. As Jordan just mentioned, we're back. Was it easier or harder than you thought to get you coming back to the final four when you look at it in the big picture? Yeah, yeah, harder, you know, harder.
And probably met, you know, the, you know, because like the history and tradition doesn't really, I mean, it helps you in recruiting, you know, we sold it to these guys, right? We've done it here before, we could do it again. But, you know, I think it becomes, it becomes Dan a little bit of a mental hurdle, especially like early rounds of NCAA tournament where, you know, you feel like maybe the burden of the history and tradition in first round games, maybe even second round games. Or it also feels like, you know, when you coach at Rhode Island, Wagner, you're not always getting everyone's best shot every single night. And when you play or coach at UConn, you get the other team's best shot every single night. It is their Super Bowl. So, you know, the climb to get to this point has been real. And it's been, it's been, it's been more challenging than I thought.
Brian. Brian Feldman, Adeline Fox, sports radio Las Vegas. Coach, after, since the two-point loss to the semifinals of the Big East tournament, you guys haven't had a close game in the NCAA tournament. What do you attribute the play of your team to this point? Yeah, I just, listen, the Big East, the Big East, especially if you look at the top four in our league, it was the best top four. Even when Providence was playing really at a high level, it was the best top four, top five of any conference in the country. And it wasn't, in my opinion, it wasn't very close. So, you know, people were seeing us for a second time.
In some cases, a third time. When you play us for the first time, and we're very unique with what we have with Adama in these two wings, and then you're looking at, you know, Klingon coming in at 7-2 and the shooting off the bench, and, you know, we're an elite defensive team, we're a top five offensive team, and we generally beat the other team up on the glass. And sometimes when people are seeing us for the first time, it's overwhelming. you.
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