NCAA Men's 1st and 2nd Rounds: Hartford Wednesday, March 20, 2019 Hartford, Connecticut Markus Howard assignment you have tomorrow? Sam Hauser SACAR ANIM: Definitely. I play against a lot of top players in the country. Since this is my first time Sacar Anim playing them, I haven't had that much time to watch a Marquette Golden Eagles lot film on them. But I played against a lot of great opponents in the Big East, so I think that's prepared Q. Markus, Ja talked about when you met at CP3 me so I'll be ready to go. camp. What's it going to be like playing against him and a lot of fun, too? Q. Again, Markus, what is your philosophy to MARKUS HOWARD: Me and him were pretty close. successfully play your position especially in a big We got close over that time in camp. We've been in game like you have tomorrow? contact throughout the season, supporting each other. MARKUS HOWARD: I think definitely just leading my To be able to share the court with him on Thursday is team in different areas, being a vocal leader, making going to be pretty cool. He's had a great year, their sure I'm taking care of the ball. And then when the team has had a great year, and, us as a team, we're time present itself, maintaining and being aggressive, looking forward to playing against a great opponent. finding my guys in open spots. I play with a bunch of great teammates that can really make plays. So being Q. Sacar, you're probably going to get the tough sure I get them going to start the game. assignment of Ja Morant tomorrow. After studying him for a few days, what is the important thing in Q. I'm sure you guys are used to this any time you defending against him? go into a game, Markus gets the attention and SACAR ANIM: Obviously, he's a terrific player with a lot against the other top scorer or whatever. For the of speed, the way he can create for his other players two of you, could you talk about what it's like? and also get his own shot. Like I said, just being able This game's getting so much attention because of to stay in front and making sure we don't get on the the high profile match-up. When you're playing, do side where we let them get a head of steam going to you ever get caught watching Markus and the other the rim. guy sometimes, or is that too much of a distraction? Do you just focus on what you have to Q. Markus, can you give us an update about your do. wrist and how you're feeling? SACAR ANIM: Basically, I just focus on what I got to MARKUS HOWARD: My wrist is all good. I've been do. Obviously, Markus is a terrific player. When he seeing our athletic trainer each and every day about it. gets to playing his game and gets the hinge shots, I But taking really good precautions with it, so I'm ready just worry about doing what I can do to help the team, to go and I'll be perfectly fine for tomorrow. just focus on that. When he gets hot, we let him do his thing. We have a big mission. We're just focusing on Q. Sam, what is the defensive philosophy going to winning the game. be tomorrow. Murray State is a pretty versatile team. How do you start that? SAM HAUSER: Kind of piggybacking off that. We're SAM HAUSER: It starts on the offensive end, taking not a one-man show; we're a great team. Markus care of the ball, taking good shots. They're very good knows that as well. Usually the teams we are playing in transition, very athletic. So taking them out of against are great teams as well like Murray State. transition and blocking them out because they're a very They're not a one-man show. I just focus on that, not good rebounding team as well. And then obviously getting caught up in the hype and focus on what sets guarding the drive. us up in the game. Q. Sacar, you had guarded a lot of the really good Q. Has he done anything that just kind of stops in guards from the Big East, Myles Powell, all those your tracks and makes you go wow? guys. Do you think that prepared you for the tough SAM HAUSER: He's had 40 like five times this year, so that kind of speaks for itself. Rev #1 by #448 at 2019-03-20 16:55:00 GMT page 1 of 2 experience? Can you see his game developing? Q. Sam and Markus, in your minds what makes MARKUS HOWARD: There is some play where he just Sacar such a good defensive player, and how nice displayed his athleticism. There's some alley-oops is it to have him on your team to take on tough thrown where his torso was above the rim. Just seeing assignments that he's done. that, I was blown away by that. Yeah, there's some SAM HAUSER: Sacar, he's very athletic and very crazy plays that he made throughout the camp in terms versatile. He's been able to guard multiple positions of him playing above the rim. That was definitely over his years here. He really takes pride in it. I think something that caught my eye. that's what makes him great, his competitive edge on that end, and he continues to show it. MARKUS HOWARD: Yeah, a lot of people -- just playing with Sac for so long, he's has one of the quickest first steps I've ever seen. Him having that in his arsenal, he's able to defend players really well. Sac's one of the most competitive people I've been around. When he competes on the defensive end, he can guard anyone in the country. I think he's one of the best defenders in the country just based off his competitive spirit alone. Q. Sacar, you redshirted a couple seasons ago when these guys last made the NCAA Tournament. What are you most looking forward to tomorrow and your NCAA Tournament debut, and have these guys told you or given you advice or anything? SACAR ANIM: I was looking forward to just going out there and competing, honestly. Like you said, I was off that year and didn't get to play, so I was just watching. I'm looking forward to going out there and compete. The NCAA Tournament is something you grew up wanting to play in, competing on the big stage. I'm just focusing on going out there with my boys, competing, and getting the win. Q. Markus, can you talk a little about your own personal approach when you know you're going into a Big East game or whatever it is. Whoever you're playing, it's kind of another high profile, maybe all-American kind of guy. Do you prepare any differently? MARKUS HOWARD: No. I treat every game the same in term of how I prepare. I know I'm with a great group of guys that have my back no matter what. So going into games, I don't worry about doing anything too extra. I just stick to the plan, stick to the game plan that our coaches draw up for us, and then just trust our guys. I play with amazing teammates with amazing ability. So just relying on that each and every game is how I prepare. Not really thinking too much into it, just going out and playing our game. That's really we focus on each and every time we step out and play. Q. Markus, going back to that Chris Paul camp experience. That was when Ja started generating a lot of buzz. What stood out for you in that Rev #1 by #448 at 2019-03-20 16:55:00 GMT page 2 of 2 NCAA Men's 1st and 2nd Rounds: Hartford Wednesday, March 20, 2019 Hartford, Connecticut Steve Wojciechowski Marquette Golden Eagles to make this a one-on-one duel. But, from our perspective, this is Marquette versus Murray State. COACH STEVE WOJCIECHOWSKI: First and foremost. We're incredibly excited to be a part of the Q. I was wondering if, drawing on your experience NCAA Tournament, for all of our players and coaches. both as a coach and before that, there's this whole It's something that, as a young person, you dream of thing where, of course, you want to win every being a part of, and so we're certainly excited to be game, especially you want to win your conference here. We know we have a huge challenge in Murray tournament. But a loss in a conference tournament State, having been able to watch them and study them could be used towards like kind of waking your since Selection Sunday. Have a great deal of respect for their program, their players, their coaches. They team up and being like, you know, that's the last really do things the right way, and they're an loss you guys can take before the season's over. outstanding team. And I'm wondering how you've, you know, kind of lead your team on that thinking over the past week.