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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: DALLASMarch 15, 2018Jaylen AdamsMatt MobleyMark SchmidtDallas, Texas Florida - 77, St. Bonaventure - 62 MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, all the credit goes to Florida. I thought they had a great game plan coming in. They did a really good job on us defensively. You know, especially on Jay and Matt. They just seemed like they were quicker than us. They were longer than us. At times they dominated us on the ball. I thought our defense in the first half, we didn't play very well offensively in the first half, but I thought being down by five going into the locker room was a moral victory. I thought we were right there. We had the ball coming out in the second half, and we always talk about -- talk to the team about the first five minutes of the second half, the first ten possessions were going to be critical, and they jumped on us. The first four minutes of the second half, it went from five to 14 or whatever, and then we were fighting an uphill battle from there. I'm proud of what we've accomplished. I'm proud of these two guys, along with Idris, the three seniors, the things that we've done, that they've done, not only this year, but through their career. It was disappointing the way it ended, but I was proud the kids kept on fighting. We just lost to a better team today. Q. The three-point shot was something that you really could rest on all season, and lately it kind of went away, especially today, missing, I think, it was just 3 of 18 or 19. Can you just talk about what happened to the shot and how bad that was for it not to be falling versus a team this good? JAYLEN ADAMS: Credit Florida's defense. They were long and they were active early, forced us into some tough shots. I think we played a lot of one-on-one early and really moved the ball, took some bad shots, and it kind of affected the rhythm. From there, we couldn't really stick any after that, so it's going to be rough to win the game without the three. Q. Guys, four games in the last six days, travel to Dayton, travel from D.C. and then fly all the way to Dallas. How much was fatigue a factor in this loss? JAYLEN ADAMS: I mean, I'm not one to make excuses, but it's one of those things. We were a little gassed, you could tell. We weren't used to that many games in that many days. But I think you have to credit more Florida's defense than anything. Give all the credit to Florida. MATT MOBLEY: Yeah, definitely Florida's defense was the credit for us losing energy. That's about it. Not really any excuse to be tired. We've played a lot of minutes before, we've played a lot of games before, but yeah, just credit to Florida. They did a great job today. Q. Matt, you really led the charge during that comeback late in the first half. Momentum seemed to be swinging in you guys' favor, you had a big three, started at the free-throw line, then that dunk in transition. What happened to start the second half? Obviously Florida's defense came out great, but where did that momentum go? MATT MOBLEY: They came out, punched us in the mouth, and we couldn't really get over the hump after that. So that's about it. Q. Best season this program has had since 1970. It's hard to think about it right now, but can you guys talk about what this year and this run meant? You guys are forever going to be remembered by that fan base that has showed up for you guys all year. JAYLEN ADAMS: It's kind of hard to look at it right now. Historic season. I couldn't be prouder of my teammates for the way we fought all year, from losing that first game to that 2-4 start in conference, the way we battled back and we fought to get here. I couldn't be prouder, like I said, of my teammates and the seniors just for battling all year. It's not something that we could think about, obviously, right now. It's a tough way to go out. But like I said, I'm proud of my guys. MATT MOBLEY: I mean, yeah, can't really reflect on it right now. Maybe in a couple days it'll really sink in how great we played this year. But just sad that it had to end like this. But it is what it is. I mean, we had a great year. Proud of my guys, like he said, and there's no one else I'd rather be able to do it with than these guys, so I'm just thankful that we were able to have a great year. Q. Mark, do you think that ultimately it just kind of caught up to you guys in the end? Like Jay, four years, he's had such a leadership position, he had done so much this year, Matt, also, that it just looked like they were emotionally wiped out? MARK SCHMIDT: I don't know if emotionally. I think it's hard sometimes when you get down, and we got down to Florida, especially in the second half. But I thought today was the first day that our guys looked fatigued, both Jay and Matt looked fatigued, and I don't know if that was because we had just played 48 hours ago or -- and some of it from a mental standpoint, when you play -- when Florida plays the defense that they played and it made it difficult for them, it's hard sometimes to show emotion. You're just trying to fight to stay alive. But Florida was ready. They did a really good job, and kudos go out to them. They did a really good job of -- their game plan was good, and they executed it and have great athletes. They played well. Q. Speaking to Jay just a few minutes ago, he said that he felt like it started to catch up to him late in the season. If you watch your team close enough, I think that's probably accurate. MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, you know, I don't know. They've played a lot of minutes. Jay played a lot of minutes, him and Matt played a lot of minutes over their whole career. I think it might be -- we knew when we were 2-4 that every game -- when we talked about the seventh game mentality, that every game we had to win if we were going to get to this point. So there was a lot of pressure. And those guys worked. People don't realize, it's just not practice. It's getting into the weight room. It's individuals. It's a grind. You know, and when we were 2-4, to win 13 games, and we won some close games, and those guys worked. Jay -- particularly Jay, he has the ball in his hands all the time, so it is draining. But I don't know if it was -- I don't know when it started to affect him. You could tell today that he was a little bit fatigued. Even, I think, in the conference quarterfinals against Richmond, he asked to come out early in the first half, and usually -- even if I want to take him out, he doesn't want to come out. So there was some fatigue. But that's not an excuse, like I said. Florida, they deserved the win. They were the better team tonight. Q. What about the emotions, the range of emotions over the past week where there's the uncertainty coming out of D.C., then you get in, and it's like a short trip to Dayton, then you beat UCLA, you were emotional yourself, and then you have to come down here. To get back up again, it's like a -- MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, but this is a dream of a lifetime, for our players, for the coaching staff. This doesn't happen every day. You know, so if this was something that went on for two or three weeks, then it would be -- that wouldn't be good. But we were on a high, and I think you can fight through for a couple days, just through adrenaline. But I think when you get down by 15, that adrenaline rush that you have is out the window, you know. And like I said, give Florida credit; they got us down, and it was hard to fight through it. Q. He wasn't out here with Jay and Matt, but can you talk about what Idris has meant to this team over the last four years? MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, I've been doing this a long time, and he's one of the top five most unselfish players that I've ever coached. We don't run anything for him. He never complains. He plays the hardest guy offensively. You look at him tonight, and he had 13 rebounds. That sucker wasn't going to quit. He doesn't have great skill, but he epitomizes the toughness that we try to play with and the grit and the blue-collar approach. He's just a great teammate, someone that -- winning is the most important thing. He could care less if he got one point or 21 points. He wants to win, and it's been a pleasure coaching him. He's come a really long way. But he's the glue of our team. Mat and Jay get a lot of the credit, and deservedly so, but without Idris in that -- he brings us together. He's the glue. He makes all the big plays. People that don't know basketball don't appreciate it, but people that really know the game really appreciate a guy like that, and for me, being a head coach, he's -- I'm lucky to have the opportunity to coach him because there's not a lot of guys, especially in today's world, where they would sacrifice that much for their teammates and not shoot, and they'd be complaining about, Coach, run a play, I'm not getting enough shots. He's all about winning, and that's going to -- he's going to have a lot of success in his career because of that. Q. You talked about the defense, their defense, a little bit in your opening statement, but it seemed like every time you guys would get it back to nine, ten, 11, they came up with a turnover, got an easy transition bucket. Can you speak more specifically about what the Gators did that it seemed like they were able to clamp down a little bit every time you got almost there? MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, when a team is more athletic, longer and stronger -- I was telling my SID, that's a bad trifecta, and Florida was longer, more athletic and longer. So in a game like this, every -- it was hard to get open looks. But when you do get open looks, you've got to knock them down, and we didn't do that. When we got open looks for the most part, we missed, and they sped us up. They were long. They did a good job getting to our shooters, knocking them off the long. Then when we drove, their length really affected us in the passing lanes. They did a really good job getting to our shooters, getting into the gaps. They averaged 16 points off of turnovers, and one of the keys going into the game was try to not allow them to get more than 16, and they got 25, so we lost that battle. I'm a big guy on the columns in the right-hand corner. That tells a lot about the game. And we lost every one of them. That's a credit to Florida. Q. Mark, if you can, put the season in perspective. 26 wins, obviously the 48 seasons, and what a year really. MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, it's hard as a coach or as a player to -- losing stings, and if it doesn't stings, you're not a competitor. But just thinking about what we've done. Bonaventure has great tradition, way back to the Stith brothers, and for us, for this team to break the record of the most wins speaks volumes about our season, because the seasons before and the tradition that we have, we've had great teams that have never done that. For us to win an NCAA game for the first time in 48 years is just -- it's unbelievable, and I've said this -- and I told the seniors in the locker room, you know, we're proud of what they've accomplished. When they got here, we were building this program, and they are going to be known for it, not just sustaining it, but making it more of a national program. And that's what I'm proud of. You know, the wins are great, but we got the respect of the country now, and it's taken a while to get that, but I'm just proud of what we accomplished. You know, it's hard to put into words sometimes, especially now when we're just coming off a loss. But we did some incredible things that -- the guys are going to look back on years -- days, years from now and look like, wow. This team is going to be remembered forever for what they've done. We can't allow this one game here to jeopardize or to affect what we've done throughout this year. So it's disappointing, but only one team ends -- or two teams, I guess, the NIT, ends in a win. I'm happy that we were able to get this far, and I'm happy for the seniors to be able to experience something that they've dreamed of. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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