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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 9, 2018A.J. DavisJohnny DawkinsB.J. TaylorOrlando, Florida Houston - 84, UCF - 56 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from Coach. JOHNNY DAWKINS: Well, Houston's a very good basketball team and I thought they got off to a fast start. That's difficult in the first day, but they have so many guys that are capable of making shots and they did. You have to tip your hat to what they were able to do, getting off to a good start. I thought our guys, as always, competed, gave a winning effort. I just thought that it was hard to sustain that for 40 minutes at the level they were and at the pace they were playing. So I thought we got a little bit tired in the second half, trying to keep playing catchup, and but that's a credit to them for keep their foot on the gas. Their guys were running hard, cutting hard, and they played really good basketball tonight. THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. I know it's a little fresh, but with all the injuries and everything that happened this season what's kind of your overall assessment of the year you guys had? JOHNNY DAWKINS: Well, I haven't had the opportunity to really look at it yet. Our season is just coming to an end at the moment. But I said it all season long, as we faced the adversity I'm just really proud of our guys. I loved coaching this team because every night they gave us a winning effort, and that's what you want to see from your players. Result may not have always been what we wanted, but the effort was always there and the intent was always the right intent, and that was to represent our university at the highest level on the court and I think they did that. Q. B.J., in that second half with A.J. in foul trouble, how much did you feel that you needed to take that game over? B.J. TAYLOR: I just wanted to lay it all on the line for my team. In that second half it was the last 20 minutes to try to make the NCAA Tournament, so that's the only thing that was going through my mind was just leave it all out there on the floor for my team and my brothers. Q. B.J., A.J., can you guys talk about the gut check of like runs that they were responding with. You guys came out at halftime, you hit a three, and then you guys knocked down another basket, and then they come back with a flurry. What was the feeling kind of with the team after those runs were happening? B.J. TAYLOR: I think that like Coach said, you got to give them credit, every time we made a run they did, they were mature and they responded. We had some defensive lapses that we wish we could have had back, but you got to give them credit for making the plays that they made and that's why they're a top-25 basketball team. Q. You said your season over for now, do you think this team has played its way into a post-season tournament of some kind? JOHNNY DAWKINS: Well, I think we have, but that's not for me to decide. But I think our guys have had a really good season, and I think they're deserving of continuing to play. But like I said, that's not my decision. That's going to be decided elsewhere, and that's why we're just waiting to find out what's going to happen with our basketball season. Q. A.J., what were the emotions stepping off the court after the game when you checked out for the final time? A.J. DAVIS: A little bit of everything. One heck of a year and proud of our team, proud of our guys, proud to be a part of this organization and this community, this university, and just sad that it ended like that, but just proud of everything that we accomplished over this year. Q. A.J., as you checked out saw you consoling Dayon. Could you take us a little bit into what you tried to do, tried to tell him? A.J. DAVIS: Yeah, just that there was more basketball to be played, whether for him and for me there is more, more basketball, more life, it's not the end of the world. I didn't want him to feel like he let me down as a senior because I feel like all our whole team gave it everything they got and they always put everything on the line for me and our team. Guys like B.J., Dayon, our whole team, I could go down the line gave it everything they got through anything that we went through this season, ups and downs. So I just told him to keep his head up, just keep his head up and continue to grow as a person, a man, a basketball player, and there was more to life than just this game; that it's not the end of the world. Q. A.J., as a senior, and might be your last game here in Orlando, would you like to see a little bit of a better crowd tonight of Knights fans here? A.J. DAVIS: Yeah, I think our crowd does a great job. If it was up to me, I would like to see the whole thing packed with UCF fans, the whole entire arena. But our fans are loyal and have supported me and this team as long as I've been here. So we have great fans, and I think they always do a great job of supporting us and showing us love. Q. As a senior, how much are you actually hoping that you do get a chance to play in a post-season tournament? A.J. DAVIS: I would love that. I would love to just be able to keep on playing for Coach as long as possible and play with my brothers as many games as I could. If I could, I would play with them forever. I would keep this thing going forever, but that would be great. And I think any post-season is an honor, like Coach is telling us. Just because we didn't make the NCAA Tournament, I think just to be able to compete and still be able to play the game of basketball with this team and this university would be an honor, and I would be proud just to compete for this university and put this jersey back on. Q. What has A.J.'s leadership meant to this team this year, especially in light of all the adversity that you guys fought through? JOHNNY DAWKINS: Well, A.J.'s been amazing for us this year and last year as well, but more so this season because of, like you said, everything we have faced. He was the one rock that we had, he was the one constant that was there through all the ups and downs that we faced and he really steadied us a lot on the floor, but also off the court with a lot of our younger players. Having gone through the experience he's had at UCF over the years, I thought he brought a lot of insight for our younger players, and I think that helped them develop as they moved forward through the season. So he's made us better and I told him that. I said, you know, you want to leave a place better than the way you found it. You want to leave your legacy, and those are all things that A.J. was able to do for us over the last two seasons. He's helped build a culture that we want to have here at UCF, and I'm just very proud of him for that. Q. Coach Sampson commended you for the season, 19 wins with the adversity, with the injuries. Having said that, you have a NIT résumé; you touched on it earlier. Do you expect that phone call? JOHNNY DAWKINS: Again, like I said, I've been in this a long time. I mean, you just never know. You just have to wait and see. Like I said, if it was up to mean, I think that we would be in, but that's not my decision. That's going to be decided elsewhere. But I think our résumé is good enough to continue to play, and I'm hopeful that that will happen. THE MODERATOR: UCF, thank you. JOHNNY DAWKINS: All right, guys, take care. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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