Utah's Cole Bajema, Craig Smith and Deivon Smith join Pac-12 Network

Utah’s Cole Bajema, Craig Smith and Deivon Smith join Pac-12 Network | 2024 Pac-12 MBBT First Round

What Cole badima was able to do for the youths as he joins us here and Craig Smith is over here as well look at this all right Cole we’re going to start right with you this was an impressive you guys just tied for the largest margin of Victory ever in a pack 12

Tournament game you have a career-high 22 points killer from behind the ark six and nine what was going right for you tonight no I mean I was just a great week of practice leading up to it executing the game plan coaches got us ready for that and my teammates finding

Me when not so yeah coach taking self yeah let’s do it all right it’s just like we’re at the Oscars here I’m the only one face for radio Craig Smith you know what you should be capturing this moment you know why because it is your first Pack 12

Tournament win it’s your first win against ASU they’ve given you some fits but tonight you flip the script and you guys gave them everything they could handle I kind of have to ask you about Devon Smith did you know you knew he was one assist away from a triple double am

I right well I didn’t know that until uh we took them until a couple minutes after some of this assist and said that and I thought about putting them back in but then sometimes not good things happen so we just wanted to finish that thing out thought we had a great team

Effort you know you can you can get all those assists when you got guys like Cole the way he came out firing and Gabe got us off to a good start and you know good shooting can be contagious and we saw that ball go in the hole early and

You’re right these guys have had our number and we made sure to remind these guys uh all week and our guys came out ready to compete coach I have a question for you these games can be Trap game so you stay in this moment you give it away

You get ready for it tomorrow what’s your main focus with the team knowing you have to win game by game and keeping them in the moment well for us this was not a trap game uh they had beaten us the first two games uh and and they just

Made three after three uh they had the lowest percentage three-point percentage in conference play but against us they look like they had Ray over the place yeah and so is that right Cole and um and our guys we had a great week of practice you know uh every team comes

Here with March Madness right survive in advance you just got to figure it out find a way to win somehow and tonight we did that and now we’re going to play a very good Colorado team who um is playing their best basketball of the year I don’t think there’s any question

About it I think they’ve won whatever it is in a row and and the last time we played them at their place uh they manhandled us quite frankly and so uh they’re an excellent team and very very well coached and so you just got to approach this I know it’s cliche is but

It’s truly one game at a time and and try to do some damage here in March Madness Cole from a player’s perspective what is the mindset in your locker room as you take on your your Mountain rival tomorrow with a survive and Advance attitude no definitely I mean coach us

On it with the survive and advaned stuff but obviously we didn’t like how it ended last time when we played him at their play so it’s kind of a Revenge game a little bit how did you play by the way last game uh not good enough not

Good all right here we go you got a chance so I I know I know these guys will be ready tomorrow we’re we’re excited for that battle and uh yeah we’ll leave it all out there so we’re just survive in advance like he said you

Guys shot 70% in the first half of your 60% for the game what what was going right out there offensively you told Elise Woodward at halftime that it just felt like the communication and the connection was was really there well on both sides uh you know when you see the

Ball go in the whole early I just thought we made so many simple plays like we weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel out there specifically the first half we weren’t overh handling we were playing connected make the first simple pass against their pressure defense where they’re pressuring and denying you

Know you can’t allow uh our we could not allow our offense to be their best offense and so in our two games when we played them 42% of their scoring was off of our turnovers and in transition and so uh but our guys are just making the right play Simple basketball they really

Stun hard and fled hard to the ball so when you draw two boom we got to play uh five basketball we got that from you by the way you did our Colorado game and since then that’s been a staple in our program and uh we we just got to play

Five basketball make the simple play and and when our guys saw the ball flowing and getting into the hole um you know uh it just gives everybody energy and then sometimes you play better defensively because you are scoring the ball you feel good you get juice in your legs and

And that whole thing so for us we I think I said this at half time we can be a little bit of a quiet team we’re making good progress here spe specifically since that Colorado game of communicating on that end of the floor and I thought it showed tonight do you

Want to talk about five basketball 5.5 a second drive it pass it shoot it don’t hold it but call I’m going tell you like this shootter shoot right so it doesn’t matter every every shooter think the next shot is the best shot this guy right here exemplified that throughout

His entire career point five catch it shoot it got it hey last one Brandon Carlson we know he wasn’t healthy but he gave it a run and what does that say uh about your teammate and what he was able to bring tonight I mean it means a lot I

Mean obviously he got a little bit bumped up in the last game but he he he wants it just as much as we do and he he wants to fight for us so we’re excited he’s out there and he we know he’s going to give it it his all and we got his

Back and same way for him so we’re excited he’s here well we are excited he’s here we’re excited you guys were here to join the set congratulations on your first Pack 12 tournament win coach send us the selfie and I just will say Matt muach just texted and said he’s

Going to buy you a beer for Poland Devon Smith so that now Mount muach is still the only player in the history of the tourament I know that’s saying you might make a different decision next time a couple of our guys too our staff was saying it but save it for tomorrow night

Exactly he still hopefully has a few more games to join in the set now we were just talking to your coach he sat you because you guys had this thing well in hand when you were just one assist side I’m assuming you knew your numbers um I did know my numbers honestly I

Think they might be missing about two assists so I’m I could live with all good we’re going to have somebody go back you know Matt muach was keeping the box score probably for this game so he mighten too fast he probably missed it do you know who Matt muach is by the way

I’ve met him once I’ve met him once okay did he tell you about that he’s the only guy in the Pack 12 tournament history that has a triple double did he tell you that that’s usually what he leads with so I’m surprised that’s why we’re bringing it up he’s the only guy he

Works for pack old Network you’re going to see him tomorrow and he’s worried he’s sweating CU you’re the only one really in this tournament that could that could break the record I got three more games son I like that I like that and he actually came on set today and

Said that if there’s anyone he thinks that would be able to get a triple double it was obviously going to be but walk us through this game Devon what what was it it felt like you guys were just making the simple plays is what your coach said but you came out just

With a different level energy tonight um we we lost to them twice uh home and away we just had that that that grit that that mindset that we had to win this game of course we had to win because we’ll go home and our season would go way we wouldn’t but we just

Wanted to win super bad we were all connected on defense and offense uh we communicated at a high level and we just played for each other tonight so we resol to in the win Devon you process the next action really quickly like counters for yourself and others how do

You walk us through that process and when you attack what do you see and how do you see the next play to make the defense rotate to get the assist or the score I I kind of feed off of my teammates I kind of use the First Media

Timeout to read the game and see what’s going on and just see what level everybody’s on whether I need to have a scoring game whether I need to uh get everybody involved or just read and React to what the defense is doing some people are going under screen some

People are are letting me shoot so each and every game is it’s a different feel it’s a different feel out there so I just try to I just try to adjust during the game to what what’s give and thrown at me Devon this is your first year at

Utah your first year in the Pack 12 obviously your first game in the Pack 12 tournament and there’s a lot of change that’s going to happen in the next year but as we celebrate this conference what is this year in this conference meant to you as an individual it’s meant a lot to

Me honestly uh it’s been one of my toughest year I had to sit the first half out with the waiver issue um you know just coming from so far from Atlanta coming to Utah and just connecting with this group of guys coaching staff um it’s been a a blessing

Like in every interview I say they ask me it’s probably one of the best group of people and teams I’ve been on um and like the stats and and the the numbers show it uh I wouldn’t be able to do any of that without my team so I just think

Is every game is a collective effort they help me I help them and I think the sky’s the elit for us once we put everything together in only one season this guy’s going to be like in the record books already it’s impressive no it is impressive and I I hope that you

Get that triple double just so Matt muach will stop talking about it I’m afteron Smith thank you so much for joining us uh we appreciate it and we’ll see you back here tomorrow night thank you thank you guys

Cole Bajema, Craig Smith and Deivon Smith caught up with the Pac-12 Network crew after Utah advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament on March, 13, 2024.

Utah’s Cole Bajema, Craig Smith and Deivon Smith join Pac-12 Network | 2024 Pac-12 MBBT First Round

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Utah Postgame Press Conference | 2024 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament First Round

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