NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - SYRACUSE VS WEST VIRGINIA

March 21, 2021

Sean McNeil

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

West Virginia Mountaineers

Postgame Media Conference

Syracuse - 75, West Virginia - 72

Q. Hey, Sean, just what was it like playing against the zone with only one day of prep?

SEAN McNEIL: It was tough. These quick-turnaround games like this are difficult to figure out and kind of adjust to, but that's the name of the game this time of year. Just figuring things out on the fly. Syracuse's zone, I think, bothered us a little more than we expected. We kind of struggled in the first half, didn't get a lot of good looks, turning the ball over, things like that, and it ended up hurting us.

Q. Sean, the team's scoring and resilience this year when down has kind of been a hallmark. I'm just curious if that's maybe like the most disappointing thing here is that you can't extend that a little bit longer when it does seem to be a strength. It nearly got you back and over the hump today.

SEAN McNEIL: Yeah, it's tough. Especially with we struggled at the end of the year, lost two in a row, kind of figured things out in the second half against Morehead, kind of come out flat today, not much energy. We looked kind of confused out there, I thought. So, yeah, it's definitely tough to go out like we did.

Q. Sean, Coach was talking about the defensive switching there. Once you guys had the lead, and then Taz hit the three, and so it's tied. I think there was like seven minutes left. Coach was talking about yelling at you guys not to switch off of Buddy, and it seemed like you guys were. Can you just kind of talk about that communication in the heat of moment like that?

SEAN McNEIL: Yeah, that's just what it comes down to, communication. We went to our point drop, had a matchup look, where we do kind of try to pass things off and switch here and there. So I think that it was just a lapse in communication and knowing what was going on.

Q. You mentioned the turnovers in the first half, a lot of them appeared to be unforced. Were those caused by defenders at different angles or just different ways you were running the offense, the high-low or things like that? What contributed to that?

SEAN McNEIL: Like I said earlier, I think their zone kind of shocked us a little bit. They got a ton of length, nothing that we could -- there's just things that you can't really simulate. Their length bothered us, I thought. We were trying to force things too quick, not letting things really develop. Trying to force stuff, I thought, and ended up turning the ball over and stuff.

Figured it out in the second half a little bit. Got on a run. Took the lead for, I don't know, a minute or two, but it's tough.

Q. Sean, you guys battled back from 14 down three different times in the first half. You take the lead on your three there with about nine minutes to go, and then they go on that run after that. How hard is it to regather after using all that energy to get back in it the first time to try to take a run at it before the game was over?

SEAN McNEIL: Extremely. I thought, when we would get over the hump there and take the lead, we wouldn't look back. But credit to them, they have guys that can shoot and score the ball. Buddy obviously knows how to fill it up, so it's just heartbreaking.

When we fight -- we were down whatever it was, 14 or 16, cut it to four or two there for a while and then finally get over the hump, and then they took it back. I don't know if they ever looked back after they got the lead there after I hit that three. Yeah, it's extremely upsetting.

Q. So you've had an improvement from last season to this season. Just as a reflection, what does Huggins mean to you?

SEAN McNEIL: He's given me an opportunity that I would never know how to repay him for. Yeah, he's a tough guy to play for. He gets on you more than anybody -- I mean, more on me than anybody I've ever had in my life, but I know there's a good purpose behind it. I mean, it sucks because more than anybody, I think we all just wanted to go win it for him. He just goes past 900.

I don't know, I'm forever thankful.

Q. Sean, yesterday Coach Huggins said he didn't want you guys to try to shoot over the zone, but it seemed like that's what worked mostly in the second half with you and Deuce and Taz. Did you guys make an adjustment at halftime to focus more on shooting?

SEAN McNEIL: No, we didn't really make an adjustment to shoot more. Honestly, we went into the locker room and tried to figure out ways to get the ball inside easier than what we were getting it in there before. I mean, shots just started falling, so obviously, when you see a couple go in, you keep shooting. That's just what shooters do and people that score the ball.

But that length just bothered us so much inside. I thought -- I mean, credit to them. I wish them the best.

Q. Sean, obviously, kind of moving forward, this whole season with COVID and everything was weird. You would have to think at some point you guys get back to some sort of normal. So kind of moving forward, how do you want to improve your game moving into next year? And then what do you think the memory of this tournament will help you guys to get ready for next year? And how much different can next year be, I guess?

SEAN McNEIL: Yeah, we didn't have a whole lot of experience. I think Gabe was the only person that has experience this tournament. So just -- yeah, I mean, we didn't go as far as we wanted to. We didn't accomplish things that we had set out to do, but I think this tournament plays into a big role of experienced guys that have been here and know what to expect and stuff. So as we go forward, obviously, I think this will be good for us.

I mean, you try to -- after a loss it's tough. You've just got to try to figure out positives and things you can take away. So that's what we're going to try to do. Go back and have a team meeting and figure things out, what we're going to do in the off-season.