PC: Seton Hall Talks NC State

Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard and seniors Khadeen Carrington and Angel Delgado met with the media to discuss NC State.

Seton Hall Head Coach Kevin Willard

Opening Statement...
It's great to be here. I think it's a really good matchup for both teams. I think we're both very evenly matched. Their guard play is some of the best guard play we've faced all year. Love their big guy, love the way he can play inside and out.

So really looking forward to the challenge and just happy to be here in Wichita.

Kevin, NC State coach and players when they were up here talked a lot about Seton Hall's physicality, the Big East physicality. How much of a priority is that for you guys tomorrow to bring some of that to this game?
Yeah. Obviously I think conference play, when you watch us in conference play, just the way our league plays, it's extremely physical. But I've been impressed with how physical they are. Dorn, for a power forward, is -- he's a lot like Ish. Can really play defense tough off the dribble. Their guards are physical. I think they defend and get after you. And it's a really unique matchup in the sense that both teams play physical basketball.

And obviously anybody coming from the Big East, if you watch us on film, that's what you're going to see just because of the way the league is kind of set up.

What do you think this game means for your seniors' legacy? They've kind of done everything except win a tournament game.
No matter what, I think these four guys have left a great mark at Seton Hall. I think more than anything, the way they've brought the fan base back from the way they've played, obviously it's going to help if you win a game. But I just think how they've interacted with the fans, how they've kind of won a lot of big games, I think their legacy will be pretty good either way.

Could you sense, though, how important it is for them to win a game in the tournament?
Yeah. I definitely have a different sense with them this year than I have last year. It's been less me trying to get them to understand the importance of being in this tournament and how hard it is to get into this tournament.

I think they realize the opportunity that they have now, where I think after their sophomore year they were just happy to be there. Last year, you know, we had a chance to win the game. We were up four with a minute and a half to go, and I think that loss really hurt them. It really kind of haunted them a little bit this year.

So I think they understand now more than ever they have a chance.

You mentioned a little bit about their guard play, but this is also a team that likes to take a lot of threes and they like to put up shots at a fast pace. How do you try to slow them down a little bit defensively?
Yes. It's not an easy task, to be honest with you. I think the hardest thing about them, as I watch film, is how balanced they are. It's just not one guy. I wish I could say, well, it's just Freeman or it's just Braxton. It's not. I mean, they are so well balanced, and I think Markell Johnson does as good a job as anybody I've seen on film of getting in the lane and creating really good opportunities for his teammates.

So I love the pace they play at. And I just think they put so much pressure on you. They put four guys out in the perimeter, and they drive it and they attack you. And you never know who's going to get you. I think that's the hardest thing about it when you watch film is that they're extremely balanced. They really technically have five guys scoring double-figure points, and over the last five games they're shooting almost 50 percent from the three.

Then you add Hunt into the equation, which over the last five games he's playing over 20 minutes a game, you know, there is -- at times they have five guys on the floor that can make shots. So I think that's what makes them so hard to defend.

Just to follow up. You mentioned you get a different sense from these guys, you don't have to tell them the importance of this. Any examples of that? Anything they've said that's different?
No, I really feel the biggest difference has been in practice. We've been -- it's really hard this time of year when towards the end of February you kind of wind practice down a little bit. You're only going for like an hour, hour and 15 minutes. And then all of a sudden you have four or five days where you have to kind of start practice back up.

And I haven't had a hard time getting them to practice again. We practiced yesterday for almost two and a half hours, and usually -- last year there's no chance I would have been able to do that. I had no problem getting them to practice. We'll practice again for probably a good solid two hours. And they're looking forward to practice.

So I think from that mentality, that's the biggest thing I've seen.

Angel Delgado And Khadeen Carrington

With your seniors being together as long as you have and the way the last two NCAA Tournaments have gone, what's been kind of the talk to where this is the year, this could be the year for you guys to make an impact and get that win the first round?
KHADEEN CARRINGTON: The last two years was a great experience for us. My sophomore year was our first time getting here, and it was kind of new to us. And last year I think we played a great game and just made a few mistakes at the end. So that was a great experience for this year. This is our last go-around.

ANGEL DELGADO: Yeah, I think right now we've been here three years in a row, so we're right now kind of on these type of events and stuff like that. So I think we're ready, we're ready for the battle.

For both you guys, how do you think this game impacts your legacy at Seton Hall? You guys came in when the program was at a low point, and you've kind of put it back to being relevant and being a winning program, but what do you think winning a game would do to your legacy in this tournament? How does that impact your legacy at the school?
KHADEEN CARRINGTON: I think we've left a pretty great legacy so far, but like you said, winning a game in the NCAA Tournament, that's something that we haven't done, and we're looking forward to doing it tomorrow. I think it's going to just add to our legacy if we do so.

ANGEL DELGADO: Like Khadeen said, we never won a NCAA Tournament game, so we're coming with the mindset that we gotta win the game. We gotta represent our school and represent our league. So we gotta be in the right way and play as hard as we possibly can.

NC State's players were up here before you. They talked a lot about the concern about Seton Hall's physicality, Big East physicality. How much of a priority is it for you to play that type of game, bring that type of game tomorrow?
KHADEEN CARRINGTON: The Big East is a very physical league. Every game is a grinding-out game. Every game goes down to the end. So we're just going to try to impose our will on them. We know that their league is not quite as physical as us. So we'll just try to show our physicality, like you said.

ANGEL DELGADO: Yeah, we just gotta come with the mindset that we gotta come and play physical with these guys and just play hard. Like it's a team anything can come and play physical, too. So we cannot say like stuff like that. We just gotta come with the mindset that we gotta play hard and do the best we can.

This is really for Khadeen. NC State is a team that prides themselves in turning people over, creating turnovers and kind of getting up in your face. What have you seen on tape and how have you tried to prepare for their pressure defense?
KHADEEN CARRINGTON: Yeah, we pay attention a lot to the pressure defense. We know they like to press you and turn the ball over. I think it starts with me to stay composed, just get guys in the right spots and not turn the ball over, and I'm going to try to do that tomorrow.

For both guys, what do the two of you know and what do your teammates know that NC State might not because they have a roster filled with a lot of guys who have never been to the NCAA Tournament?
KHADEEN CARRINGTON: I'm not sure, to tell you the truth. At the end of the day, we're in the NCAA Tournament, but it's still basketball. You know what I'm saying? So you still gotta go out there and play. It's just another game.

ANGEL DELGADO: Yeah, like Khadeen said, this is another game. It's a regular game. It's two teams. Both got great talented players, so we just gotta come with the mindset that we gotta play hard and play great.

Angel, they've obviously got a big in Omer who can stretch the floor a little bit. How do you prepare for that? You mentioned getting physical, but how do you prepare going against a guy like that and knowing you want to stay down there in the block area?
ANGEL DELGADO: I watch a lot of film on him, and he's a really good player and I got a lot of respect for him. But at the same time we got a lot of players like that in our league, too. They can stretch the floor, they can shoot threes and other stuff. By this time right now I'm kind of used to it and I'm ready for it.

Khadeen, have you guys at all thought about or talked to each other about -- I mean, tomorrow could be -- I mean, you obviously want to win, but just how it's coming to an end? Have you guys talked about that or thought about that at all; that you seniors, whether it's Thursday or Saturday or next week or whenever, it's going to end soon? Is that something you think about at all?
KHADEEN CARRINGTON: No. We haven't spoken about that because we don't want it to end yet. We'll speak about everything after the season, whenever that may be. So we haven't spoke about the season ending yet.

You said have I thought about it? I mean, you think about it, it's the senior year, I've been thinking about it since the start of the senior year. It's my last year. It's my last time to do something special. So I've been thinking about it.

The fact it is your last, how much does that push you and motivate you to win tomorrow knowing you don't want it to end?
It motivates me a lot, you know. I'm real focused right now. I think my teammates are focused. Coach Willard and all the coaching staff is focused. So we're just going to go out there and play our game, play hard and try to get the W.