NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - SYRACUSE VS SAN DIEGO STATE

March 19, 2021

Jim Boeheim

Syracuse Orange

Hinkle Fieldhouse

Postgame Media Conference

Syracuse - 78, San Diego State - 62

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Coach Boeheim.

COACH BOEHEIM: Things went our way tonight. In the beginning, it didn't look like we could stop them. Our defense was struggling early on. And then -- Buddy kept us in there. But when he went out when he got his second foul, Joe picked up, took over, he had 10 points. And Robert hit a 3. And our defense got better.

We almost shut them out the rest of the half. And our defense was the difference in the game. I just thought Robert gave us so much, Jesse and Robert gave us so much off the bench. And Marek was good, like he has been. And Kadary and Joe. Buddy just had one of those games like he's been having lately where -- I never had one of those, so I don't know how it feels, but obviously it looks like the basket's wide. And he just made some great shots early when we really needed them. We struggled early.

We could not crack their defense. And I think he had 16 of the first, probably, 19 points. It was a struggle for us. But once we got everybody going, then it was a really good basketball game, as good as we could have played. We've been better offensively lately. And this was a really good game against a team that's really good.

Our defense was good but then they missed some open shots. And you could see at the end, they started to make shots. I think they made six out of the last seven.

But we did a good job. It was a real good defensive game for us. And Buddy just, he was crazy -- it was crazy today. And they really looked for them and got him the ball in the right situations. And he made some tough shots today, too. Good win for us.

Q. Why is that zone so difficult for teams in the NCAA Tournament? Why can't teams figure out how to score against it?

COACH BOEHEIM: Well, I mean, over the years a lot of teams have figured out how to score. Tonight it was better than it's been. You don't see a zone all year, it's a little bit more difficult to play against a zone when you don't see one all year. That's one thing that's probably helped us as we get into the tournaments the last few years. Most teams don't see a zone all year.

The teams in our league are pretty -- they know what we do and they're pretty good at attacking us. So it's not as effective against teams that know you. But again, teams don't see a lot of zone.

Q. When Buddy's going like that and there's a timeout, do you say anything to him or do you just try to leave him alone? You know, what do you say?

COACH BOEHEIM: I never talk to Buddy, honestly, the whole game. I never really talk to him. He knows what he needs to do. And he's figured it out. He's figured out how to get in the lane and make that turnaround. We never really even talked about that. He just figured that out.

He studies the game. He's always studied the game. He understands the game. And his teammates really are looking for him and helping him. And when they come on him, he's getting the ball back to guys to get their shots up. But I don't talk to Buddy. He knows what he should do, where he should be. I've talked to him all his life. I don't need to talk to him anymore.

Q. In the first half when Jesse Edwards came into the game I think for the next nine minutes San Diego State didn't score. What did he do for you guys defensively during that stretch?

COACH BOEHEIM: I thought everybody did a good job. I thought Robert was really good, Marek -- going to the bigger lineup there with Marek at forward. And I thought Kadary was really good. Joe -- I thought our defense overall was really good. Jesse walled up a couple of guys and made them take tough shots. It was the best he's been there defensively. He made a great block in the second half.

He was really good and his presence was felt. And that's important for us. Again, he's been getting better. It's taken a while, but he's come a long way this year. Alan Griffin has worked hard with him. And he's a much better player than he was in the beginning, middle of the year.

And I think the same thing at our guard position. I've said all year long that we need all three guards to play well for us. And tonight's the first game -- one of the few games really where all three -- we've had a couple others but all three guards were really good. And Kadary can make that jump shot if he gets time. He's perfectly capable to make that shot out there.

Q. You've had other teams that have been seeded low in the tournament and have gone on big runs. Is there an extra spark when you are seeded so low?

COACH BOEHEIM: You know, that doesn't matter. I mean, it really doesn't. When you get in the tournament, it doesn't matter what you think or what you want. It's how you play.

San Diego State, you know, they came in here, they want to prove themselves that they're a really good team. And they had a lot of incentive to play well. But the only incentive is you want to play, you want to win. You want to get to the next game. And once the game starts, once that clock starts, it doesn't matter whether you want to do something or whether you have a chip on -- none of that matters.

It's how you play. I watched a lot of games today. And some teams just really came out, really played good today, really played well. And those are the teams that win.

The psychological thing, there's nothing whatsoever to that. You just have to go out and play and play well. And that's what we did today. We just played really well on both ends of the court.

They're one of the best defensive teams, I think, in the nation. I don't follow all that stuff. But I think defensively, efficiently, whatever, they're one of the better defensive teams in the country.

And once -- Buddy kept us in it. We were not scoring against them. Then we gradually started to get better ball movement. Joe got going. Robert hit a couple shots. Marek made a couple of really good plays. And the whole team -- Kadary got in the lane -- the whole team picked it up then. And our offense was just really good against a very good defensive team.

Q. How much West Virginia have you gotten to see this year? And what are your original impressions on them? They're up 10 in the second half?

COACH BOEHEIM: I've seen them about four times, five times at least this year. And they're really the best West Virginia team I've seen. I'm not just trying to say that because they have really, really good shooting. They always play good defense. But they've got multiple guys that can shoot the ball, which I haven't seen that much from them the last few years.

One of the best coaches in college basketball history, Coach Huggins. And they're a really good basketball team. I don't know who is going to win, but whoever wins is really good.

Q. Buddy said that you believed in him before he believed in himself when he was younger, seventh through ninth grade. What do you remember watching him then that kind of led you to believe in him?

COACH BOEHEIM: He was always a good shooter. That helps. I knew because of his mother that he'd be tall. If he was six-foot, he'd still be a pretty good player, but it would probably be at Le Moyne or Ithica or someplace. But he has the right mother. And once he got tall -- and he always could shoot -- and most kids -- I was a little like him. I was only 6'4" but I weighed 170 pounds because we didn't have weights. We didn't do the things back then.

Buddy's been in the weight room since eighth grade. He's trained with Ryan since really the eighth or ninth grade. He's the hardest worker in the weight room, according to Ryan. He's made himself into a physical, strong 2 guard.

But he could always shoot. Shooters have a way of being able to play, especially shooters with good size. But he's made himself into a player. It's very hard to be from Syracuse and grow into a really, really good Division I player. He's done it. Jimmy's done it. And I'm really proud of all of the work he's put into this game. I mean, it shows that hard work pays off.

If we have a game on Saturday afternoon, he'll shoot Saturday night in the gym. If we played three straight games -- Monday, Thursday and Saturday or something -- and we're off Sunday, he'll shoot. He'll lift with Ryan and he will shoot.

So, I mean, he's earned it. He's really worked to be in this position. And it's fun to coach him.

Q. Back to Buddy. He also said it means everything to him to share the March Madness experience with you and to do this with you. What's it mean to you?

COACH BOEHEIM: Like I've always said, when you're watching your son play as a fan, as a father, like I watched Jimmie or used to watch Sissy, it's just a great feeling to see them play well. Sissy won three state championships. They were as good as anything I've been involved in, to watch her play that and win those.

To watch Jimmy play at Cornell. And to watch Buddy play. I mean, as a father. But as a coach, I'm happy that he's playing for me because we're winning games and have won games over his time here that we wouldn't have won without him. He's really played well.

There's always negative people. They're there now. They've been there for three years, that said he couldn't play at Syracuse. And him and Joe couldn't play at Syracuse. I think somebody said they're lunchtime players or something. I think that was the word this year, that they should play at the Y at lunchtime, I think. Must be a heck of a lunch game if they're playing there.

But I'm proud to have him as a son, but I'm really happy I have him as a player.