NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - ST. BONAVENTURE VS LSU

March 20, 2021

Mark Schmidt

St. Bonaventure Bonnies

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall

Postgame Media Conference

LSU 76, St. Bonaventure 61

MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, I'm proud of our effort. We didn't play -- we needed to play our "A" game against LSU and we didn't. I thought early on we had some chances. I thought it was important for us to get off to a good start, and I thought defensively we did a decent job, but it seemed like it was 4-2 for 20 minutes. We had some looks we didn't make, and then they started making some shots. I thought we fought back. Second half they got off to a good start and I'm a big advocate for the first four minutes of the second half are really, really important, and I thought that they came out and had two three-point plays, one three-pointer and one and-one.

But I thought our guys fought. They beat us -- I thought defensively we didn't do a terrible job. We fouled Thomas a little bit too many times, and then we got out-rebounded. That's one of our strengths. We got out-rebounded by 19, second-chance points by 10. So that was a big difference.

And then we didn't shoot the ball the way we needed to against a really athletic team.

But give all the credit to LSU. They played really well, and we wish them the best of luck.

Q. You got down in the second half especially as it got later, did you want to keep playing that game or did you want to speed it up and start hitting shots to come back?

MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, I couldn't hear the beginning of it.

Q. We knew coming in you wanted to play slow. When you got down in the second half, especially as it got later, was the goal to speed it up?

MARK SCHMIDT: A little bit, yes. You get down, and I thought the key going into the game was we gotta control tempo. If you look at the score, we held them below their average, and I thought we did a decent job on everybody but Thomas, and like I said, they hurt us on the backboard. But when you get down, you've got to push the ball and you've got to play a little bit quicker, and that's to their advantage.

Q. Your team had a lot of offensive issues, particularly in the first half with the shooting. It was almost -- the makes were almost nonexistent. What did LSU do to stop your team's rhythm early on?

MARK SCHMIDT: I thought we were getting some good looks in the first half, and we were missing some shots. As I said, offense is fickle. But I thought we were getting some decent looks. Maybe a couple of them were rushed, but we got some open looks that we didn't make, and I thought that was a huge key to the game. We needed to get off to a good start. We were getting some looks and they weren't going down.

But I thought from an offensive standpoint, like I said, it wasn't perfect, but I thought we were getting some good looks, and sometimes those just don't go down. It's disappointing, but give LSU credit.

Q. Mark, just Kyle's offense today, obviously his shot wasn't falling --

MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah.

Q. What did you think of his game and what did you tell him during the game to try to get him going?

MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, just he had six assists, zero turnovers -- five assists, zero turnovers. He had some open shots and sometimes they don't go in. He missed some easy ones. That's the nature of the game. He's a great player, great competitor. He kept on playing. The ball just didn't go in. Sometimes that happens.

Q. And then lastly, you look at LSU's season stats on defense, and there was something made of they've been inconsistent, an inconsistent team on defense this year, their defensive stats weren't overwhelming, but what did you think of like their length on the wing, the way they closed out on the threes? What did you think of their defense?

MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, their stats are very similar to us, 40 percent, 33 percent from threes. They're a good team, athletic team. Like I said, I thought we got some good looks. We missed some shots early. But they're a good team, you know, and they were disciplined, they were focused, and when they play like that, they're hard to beat. You look at what they did in the Southeast Conference tournament, they had a chance to win the game. They had a shot at the end to beat Alabama. We knew what we were getting into playing LSU, and they were focused and they played really well.

Q. Coach, how big of a factor did Dom's injury in the first half play in the offensive struggles?

MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, it hurt. Dom played like at 50 percent -- give Dom credit. He's a really tough kid and he was hurting, as you saw. Went back in to get retaped and he was a shell of himself. They beat us on the backboard and Dom is one of our better rebounders, you know, can get the ball. He just couldn't move.

No excuses. Like I said, LSU, they beat us, but Dom wasn't -- Dom wasn't Dom. Early on that little loose ball, he got twisted up, and he fought through it, and give Dom credit, he didn't go to the bench, he didn't make excuses, he just tried to fight through it, and that's a part of the game. That's a part of the game.

Q. Obviously these games hurt so much, and of course you don't want to lose and go out that way, and I know you don't want to look ahead yet, but is it a different feeling at all after a game like this maybe in that locker room knowing that the whole team does come back next year and maybe can play for this opportunity again? Is it different at all?

MARK SCHMIDT: No, no. It's like -- there's only two teams in this country, maybe the CIT, three teams if there's a CIT that will end with a win. So everybody is going to feel like we do. Everybody but three teams. Yeah, we got the 24-hour rule. Our guys are disappointed, they're devastated. This is what they do. They put all their time, 6:00 a.m. every day, summertimes and lifting weights and the stuff they went through with the pandemic. This was a really hard season. This wasn't easy. Give all the credit to our players; they fought, and they're really disappointed.

It's good that they're disappointed. I'm disappointed. You put so much into it. If you're not disappointed, there's something wrong. So we'll get the 24-hour rule and we'll realize, as I told the team in the locker room, we did some amazing things. The first time we've won both the regular season and the conference tournament. We don't need this game to -- for us to look back and say, hey, it's disappointing. Absolutely not.

We didn't play well today. We lost to a better LSU team. But this game doesn't define what our guys did. We had a special year, and they're disappointed now, but they'll realize what a year that we had when they look back at it in the next couple days.

Q. What kind of factor was Cameron Thomas for LSU, particularly in the second half?

MARK SCHMIDT: Well, he's a pro. He's a first round pick. He's a good player. He's going to be making millions of dollars one day.

You know, I thought we did a decent job in the first half, and I think he was 2-for-7. He had seven points. We fouled him too many times, and whatever he was doing -- I think second in the country in foul shot attempts, so he does a good job of drawing fouls, and he hit a couple threes, deep ones, but he got off when we got to the foul line. Against good shooters or good scorers, you don't want them to get to the foul line and give them cheap ones, then they get their confidence and the rim starts looking a little bigger.

But he's a great talent and we'll be watching him in the NBA one day, maybe next year.