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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 11, 2016Mick CroninTroy CaupainOrlando, Florida UConn - 104, Cincinnati - 97 (4OT) THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student-athletes. MICK CRONIN: I want to congratulate UConn on their victory. Got nothing but utmost respect for Kevin and the job he does, how hard his kids play. But I felt we won the game and the game was taken away from us, so that's my opinion. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Troy, in what ways throughout the game did you see your shots start falling and things like that? How were you starting to feel as the game wore down and stamina was going down? TROY CAUPAIN: Just to fight through it. It just brings you back to all the work that you put in during the off season when you're going through workouts with coaches that, when you're tied, they tell you to push through it, keep playing, as long as there's time on the clock, you just got to keep fighting. Q. What do you say after a game like that? Most of us will probably never see another game just an epic like that. That's kind of a broad question, but how do you, what do you take out of this game after such an effort by both teams, really? TROY CAUPAIN: The game's never over until it's over. Until one team wins. As you see, we went into four overtimes and the game was never over. But we thought the game was over too early and he hit a shot that put it into another over time. Which let us know that the game wasn't over and we had to fight another round, another battle. I wouldn't say that we gave up. We fought to the finish. The game ended how it did. THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll take questions for coach. Thank you, Troy. Q. Can you just elaborate on the last thing you just said about the game being taken away from you? MICK CRONIN: In .8 you can't catch the ball, take two steps and then shoot it. You can't catch it, turn, bring it below your waist, and then shoot it with enough force to shoot it 80 feet in .8 seconds. The clock didn't start nearly on time. I've already watched it five times. So it's unfortunate that that happened to my kids. So, in defense of my kids, I'm obviously upset, but like I say, congratulations to Kevin and his team. Q. Can you talk a little bit about Troy's performance? MICK CRONIN: Troy played great. Q. Do you think your players relaxed a little after that, after the shot went in? MICK CRONIN: No. No, I think my players know that a guy can't catch the ball, turn, bring it below his waist, and shoot it 80 feet with force in .8 seconds. Q. In the second half, I guess, what enabled them to, I don't want to say take control, but they did erase a 13 point lead? MICK CRONIN: They made a lot of big shots, their kids showed a lot of heart, I congratulate them. They were definitely a team with their back against the wall and it's a credit to their coach. They made a lot of big shots. Q. Obviously you're not going to make any excuses, but we understand Gary hurt his ankle yesterday. MICK CRONIN: We had four players injured. That's really all I want to say about our injuries. Q. Would you care to address your tournament hopes NCAA? MICK CRONIN: Not at this moment, no. What I would say is, I don't even know why anybody would ask us the question, based on what we have accomplished this year versus the rest of the field. But I understand that our conference doesn't get as much respect by the people on TV a lot as some other people. That's all I have to say on that. Q. Can you share at all what you said to your team after a game like that? MICK CRONIN: Well, it wasn't our best defensive effort. But UConn made some great shots. But they scored 44 points in the last 20 minutes. The four overtimes. That's not who we are. So we got away from who we are and it's a shame, because we had a lot of kids make some big time plays today. Obviously we struggled mightily against SMU on the offensive end, mightily. So I feel bad for the guys, one, because the game was taken away from them when it's -- if the clock starts and goes off when it should have gone off, the game is over. And then if the people that were watching the replay would have handled it correctly, the game is over. But even more so, because we got guys playing injured, we got guys making big time plays, and I was proud of them and they deserved better, which is why I'm so upset about what happened. But our defense wasn't near what it needed to be. We made a lot of mistakes we don't usually make defensively, the guys wearing Cincinnati jerseys, as the game went on. That's, I like to wrap it up always, you always give the other team credit. They made some big time plays. THE MODERATOR: All right thank you, coach. MICK CRONIN: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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