Texas men's hoops First Four press conference live thread

[Jeff Howe]

That's it for the players. Rodney Terry is at the podium.

[Jeff Howe]

Terry: "We're super excited about being here. You never take it for granted, being in the tournament."

[Jeff Howe]

Terry is talking about a great setting Dayton is for college basketball. He's encouraging the Dayton fans to show up and root against Xavier tomorrow night.

[Jeff Howe]

Texas has been "March basketball" since January, Terry said.

"Every possession matters," Terry said.

[Jeff Howe]

Terry said Xavier is "maybe the fastest team we've played all year."

[Jeff Howe]

Terry said Sean Miller has done a great job getting his team to play with great pace.

[Jeff Howe]

Terry: "This is a terrific basketball team we're competing against tomorrow."

[Jeff Howe]

Terry said it takes trying to impose your will on an opponent and playing with a great sense of urgency to win in the NCAA Tournament. That's how Texas needs to attack tomorrow's game.

[Jeff Howe]

Terry reiterating that they wanted to play Tramon Mark more at the point this season, but they couldn't do it like they wanted until Chendall Weaver came back. 

[Jeff Howe]

Just now, Jeff Howe said:

Terry reiterating that they wanted to play Tramon Mark more at the point this season, but they couldn't do it like they wanted until Chendall Weaver came back. 

Putting the ball in Mark's hands has allowed Jordan Pope to move off the ball and be more of a shooter than a facilitator, which is where he's more effective.

[Jeff Howe]

Xavier's Ryan Conwell played with Jayson Kent and Julian Larry at Indiana State. Terry said they've got to do "a great job by committee" to try and slow him down (Conwell averages 16.8 points per game).

[Jeff Howe]

In preparing for Xavier, Terry said they've used everything from tape study to analytics to get ready for an unknown opponent in such a short amount of time.

[Jeff Howe]

Terry credits Greg Sankey and the SEC powers that be for gradually building men's basketball into the powerhouse it became this season. If you look at what teams in the SEC did outside of the conference, it puts into perspective how there were no nights off during conference play.

[Jeff Howe]

Just like the Big 12, going through an SEC schedule prepared Texas for the NCAA Tournament.

"Our team is battle-tested," Terry said. "Now, we've got to go out and do it when it counts most."

[Jeff Howe]

Terry said the staff expected Tre Johnson to immediately be one of the best players in the SEC and be everything he was cracked up to be coming out of high school. Terry said he's focused on helping Johnson grow every day, including learning to trust his teammates.

"I think you saw a guy grow every single game," Terry said.

[Jeff Howe]

Terry: "Tre Johnson has always played the game to win... He's going to make the simple play. He's not a hog. He's not a pig. He's going to pass the ball. When it's his time to take shots, he's going to take shots."

[Jeff Howe]

Terry on Johnson: "He lived up to the billing."

[Jeff Howe]

On the 2011 Arizona loss when Terry was a Texas assistant under Rick Barnes, Terry said he's never given Sean Miller grief over the Longhorns coming out on the short end of a five-second call.

"Before we could get to the locker room, Coach Barnes wanted a computer to make sure it was the right call," Terry said.

[Jeff Howe]

Terry said Sean Miller "has been a great coach for a number of years... His teams are very well-coached. They don't beat themselves. They always play together."

[Jeff Howe]

Terry said Vic Schaefer "is first class in everything he does" as he's asked about the success of the women's team.

[Jeff Howe]

Just now, Jeff Howe said:

Terry said Vic Schaefer "is first class in everything he does" as he's asked about the success of the women's team.

"They have an opportunity to cut the nets down," Terry said. "Madison Booker — she could come play for us."

[Jeff Howe]

Terry: "Much respect for what Coach Vic has done at the University of Texas and we're pulling for them to win the whole thing."

[Jeff Howe]

You try to have a great relationship with one-and-done guys so that you can coach them, Terry said. Johnson wanted to be coached to be one of the best players in the country, which meant the coaches had to coach him harder than a freshman.

Johnson has room to grow, but he's "matured in a number of different ways."

[Jeff Howe]

Just now, Jeff Howe said:

You try to have a great relationship with one-and-done guys so that you can coach them, Terry said. Johnson wanted to be coached to be one of the best players in the country, which meant the coaches had to coach him harder than a freshman.

Johnson has room to grow, but he's "matured in a number of different ways."

This is in reference to Terry being asked if there's a balance between coaching Johnson to be a good college player and getting him ready for the NBA.

[Jeff Howe]

Terry said one of the things that Johnson has embraced is having the ball in his hands in clutch situations.