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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: COLUMBIA

March 24, 2019

Columbia, South Carolina

Duke - 77, UCF - 76

THE MODERATOR: From the University of Central Florida, head coach Johnny Dawkins with student-athletes Aubrey Dawkins, Tacko Fall, and B.J. Taylor. First an opening statement from Coach, and then we'll have questions directed to our student-athletes.

JOHNNY DAWKINS: It was a great basketball game. I thought both teams rose to the occasion and played their best basketball on the stage where it counts the most. Hats go off to them for their ability to continue to keep fighting and competing.

I was very impressed with the way that Duke, especially with freshmen, were able to withstand some of the shots we were making, and it says a lot about their will, it says a lot about their overall mental toughness.

And with regards to our guys, I'm just very proud of them. What we were able to do this year as far as competing at the level we wanted to compete at, making the NCAA Tournament, winning a game in the NCAA Tournament says a lot about our senior class because they led us all the way, and I'm just really proud of everything they've done for our program.

Q. Aubrey, if you could just sum up the last chance you had there and what you saw and what you felt immediately afterwards.
AUBREY DAWKINS: I had a chance at a putback on B.J.'s floater, and it just didn't go, caught it on the rim. I mean, heartbreak. That's the only way to sum it up. We spent all this time trying to get to this stage, and obviously we want our journey to continue. When you invest this much in it, it breaks your heart.

Q. Aubrey, how long did it feel like that ball hung on that rim before it fell off on that last one?
AUBREY DAWKINS: An eternity. It was up there forever, I felt like, in slow motion. Once I saw it go past the midpoint and roll out, it was, at that point, nothing left to do.

Q. B.J., your final shot looked like it was going to go in, as well. Can you talk about that?
B.J. TAYLOR: Yeah. I mean, Coach drew up the play. We executed it. We got the shot that we wanted. It's a shot that I shoot -- you know, I've been shooting that shot ever since I've been playing for Coach. It just didn't fall. It kills me that it didn't fall, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes. But that was the play. We executed it. We got the shot we wanted.

Q. To all three players, if you could just quickly sum up how you guys feel about the effort you put out there against the Number 1 team in the nation.
TACKO FALL: I feel like all the guys came in ready to go from the jump. Everybody gave their best effort. Even the bench was very active throughout the whole game, very involved. We left it all out there. I don't know what to say right now because the emotions, but I'm very proud of the guys. It didn't go our way at the end of the day, but we left it all out there, and that's all you can ask.

AUBREY DAWKINS: Same as Tacko. I'm very pleased with how we played. I thought we played really hard and gave our best effort, and that's all you can ask for. Yeah, great game for us.

B.J. TAYLOR: Yeah, I mean, we left it all out there. We played as hard as we could. I think we showed a lot of people across the country that we were a serious basketball team and that we really could play with anybody. I know coming into this game a lot of people had us losing by 15-plus to these guys, and they're a great team. Like Coach said, they fought and played extremely hard, but I think we represented UCF as best we could. I think we did everything we could to win that game. It just came down to a couple plays.

Q. Tacko, on Zion's last drive there, did you feel you had position? Wonder if you thought you'd done enough to get a charge call there.
TACKO FALL: I just tried to stay big and make a play. Obviously, I was in foul trouble, so I was being careful. But I just tried to make a play and make him miss, and it didn't go my way.

Q. Two-part question, one for Aubrey, one for B.J. Aubrey, Zion said he thought your last tip-in was going to go in, and the basketball gods had Duke's back today. Is that just how it goes sometimes? And for B.J., was there any contact on your final shot, and could a foul have been called?
AUBREY DAWKINS: You miss and make shots, and you've got to live with it. We got the opportunity, and it just didn't go.

B.J. TAYLOR: My last play, it's kind of a blur. I just remember I got to the spot I wanted to get to. Like I said, that's a shot that I shoot all the time, and it just rimmed out.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen. Questions for Coach Dawkins.

Q. Coach, just what do you say to your team immediately after a game like that?
JOHNNY DAWKINS: It's tough. We invested so much, of course, like we do every season, and when you invest as much as we did, it's going to be a tough locker room, and it was. But that's the way it should be. Everyone was down because everyone knew how much we invested in and how much we sacrificed to be in this position.

So we talked about that, talked about how proud I am of my team and of our program, and I thought we represented UCF and our community great all year long. I thought our guys were great on and off the court, and I'm just so proud of the men that they've been.

Q. Johnny, Mike was tearing up a little bit when he was talking about you earlier. I saw you guys shared an embrace after the game. Can you kind of share with us a little bit about that? And did you ever envision, when he came to D.C. to recruit you, that you'd be in a position like this having to coach against him?
JOHNNY DAWKINS: No way. I never thought we'd be in this position. It's tough. Like you said, we're family, and our embrace was one -- you know, I love that man. That man, without him, I wouldn't be where I am today. So he's meant a lot to me throughout my life, and that's what type of an embrace it was.

Q. Can you describe Aubrey's performance and the shots he was making to keep you guys in the game?
JOHNNY DAWKINS: Aubrey was terrific. You've been part, you've seen us a lot this year. He's capable of having moments like that, and he had one tonight on one of the biggest stages you could have it on. He couldn't have picked a better time for that for us. I thought that really helped us throughout the game, his ability to knock down shots, open some other things up for us, and he had a terrific evening.

Q. Coach, obviously, you had an historic season marking a milestone, winning your first NCAA March Madness game. How do you build upon the success, and what do you tell your team, especially the seniors like B.J. and Tacko?
JOHNNY DAWKINS: I just thanked all the seniors, especially in front of the team, for everything they've done for us for their careers. For us, going forward, we need to use these type of moments to build on. Now our guys understand what it takes to be in these moments, to be in the NCAA Tournament team, and now we need to grow from that.

We'll lose some valuable players, guys that helped do some things at UCF that hadn't been done before, and now we need the players that are returning to understand the importance of continuing that legacy that the seniors left behind.

Q. Coach, when you saw Aubrey's tip-in, did you think it was going to go in? Just your viewpoint.
JOHNNY DAWKINS: I did. I thought it was going to go. I thought he got a good look at it at the end. I thought B.J.'s shot was very close to going, also. When that one didn't go and it rolled out, I saw Aubrey come into the picture real quick, and he had a quick tip at it, and it just kind of hung there, and it just rolled out. As he mentioned before, it's part of our game. It's a fine line, and he just came up a few inches short. You have a different outcome.

Q. About Tacko's performance, everybody talked about Tacko and Zion coming into this game. He dealt with some foul trouble, and you played him with some foul trouble. Just talk about his performance today.
JOHNNY DAWKINS: Tacko was amazing, and he has been for us. He's been one of the most dominant bigs in the country. I think his last probably six weeks of the season, I can't think of too many guys that's played any better than him at that position. Just really, really proud of him. He was a leader in the locker room. On the floor, he led by example. He went out there, and he would compete for us. He had a presence on both ends. I thought he affected the game offensively for us around the basket, and he definitely affected the game defensively. He was terrific around the basket guarding our rim.

Q. Coach, Zion's final drive to the hoop where he got Tacko fouled out, were you comfortable with that call? And can you talk about the missed free throw, where R.J. Barrett got the rebound?
JOHNNY DAWKINS: Definitely. You have a terrific game, and I thought the game was ref'd great. I have no issues with how the game was ref'd. It's a game you have to make plays. Unfortunately, we just didn't make enough plays. They made one more play than we made, and that's how it was going most of the evening. They came up with one more big one.

That's all it was. I think his drive to the basket was strong, and you have to call what you see. I have no issues with that. So that's the nature of our game.

Q. R.J. Barrett?
JOHNNY DAWKINS: R.J. Barrett, I haven't seen that play over again, so I'm not sure. Same thing, the ball kind of bounced his way a little bit, and the kid made a great play. A lot of guys don't see those plays to make. R.J., you've got to give him credit. He was staying in the moment. He made a terrific basketball play also, the rebound putback.

Q. B.J. talked about when he was out here how it kills him the shot didn't fall. Aubrey, same thing. I wonder as a coach, for you, how long it would take for you to kind of get over this kind of game?
JOHNNY DAWKINS: I can't put a timetable on how long it will take. I just know that, when we have games like this, we have to use them to become a better team and a better program. So we need to use this opportunity that we had to grow. For our players that were in that locker room that aren't seniors, for our staff and everybody involved, we need to use this opportunity. So the feeling shouldn't go away right away. I think that still having that feeling is not a bad thing. We need to utilize that to become better at what we do.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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