NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - RICHMOND VS IOWA

March 17, 2022

Fran McCaffery

Jordan Bohannon

Keegan Murray

KeyBank Center

Iowa Hawkeyes

Media Conference

Richmond 67, Iowa 63

Q. Walk me through the second half there. In your eyes, what led you guys to come up short?

JORDAN BOHANNON: Richmond is a really great team. I thought we played one of my worst basketball halves all season the first half, and we were only down one. So I knew we had a little bit of light left still in us, and we made a little bit of a run, but got to credit them. They did everything great tonight. They were locked in, and they're playing some of their best basketball this season right now.

Q. Keegan, did they do anything defensively to kind of frustrate you during the game?

KEEGAN MURRAY: They're just physical, and they brought a lot of guys any time I was driving to the basket or in the paint area, so it was really nothing new to me, but I was able to find a lot of guys in kick-outs and things like that. I really feel like I didn't have on score the ball as much this game.

A lot of guys got involved, like Patrick. Had a lot of good open looks. A lot of our guys had open looks from our kick-outs, and, yeah, I just -- they had a good game plan, but we just missed open shots.

Q. Anything positive you take from this game, and anything you need to learn as far as your game and dealing with pace and things of that nature because Richmond, obviously, speed, had a lot of pace, dictated the pace for most of the game?

KEEGAN MURRAY: I think for us it's really just on to next year. Go through the offseason again, get better. We put our stamp on this program, I feel like, positively, so just going into the offseason and work.

Q. Connor and Jordan, I guess, just as real veterans in the program, if you could both just kind of address sort of just the finality. I know this is not what you wanted, but just sort of the -- paint me a picture of what you are feeling right now?

CONNOR McCAFFERY: Yeah, I mean, couldn't be feeling worse. Everybody -- there's only one team that's going to end on a win, but leaving this game is probably the worst game we played all year. And I don't think it's close, so it's definitely not a good feeling in our stomachs right now, but, I mean, we go from a championship on Sunday, really, really quick turnaround, come right out again. So we didn't get to really celebrate that much, so I'm sure when we look back -- I mean, nobody thought we were even going to make the tournament, so I guess on a season -- right now it feels pretty terrible, but probably in a couple of months, probably feel a little bit better.

Q. Jordan was already asked this, but Keegan and Connor, where was this game lost? Why was it lost?

KEEGAN MURRAY: I think for us, it was lost just from missing open shots I feel like. We went 6 for 29 from the three-point line. That's uncharacteristic of us, but I feel like we got a lot of open looks that we usually make. Especially in the first half. They just weren't dropping, but I feel like everything else defensively -- we got stops when we needed them. We rebounded well, but, yeah, just feel like it was -- we were missing shots we normally make.

CONNOR McCAFFERY: Just like what Keegan said, definitely missed some shots, feel like we had some untimely turnover. They had a couple of offensive rebounds in really big situations, and we didn't -- we just didn't capitalize on a lot of the opportunities that we had. They just sat five guys back on defense, so we didn't really get to run. They slowed the game way down, but at the end of the day, we just -- we just didn't play well. Missed a lot of shots, like Keegan said. Had a couple of floaters roll out on us, stuff like that, and sometimes it's just the way the ball rolls.

Q. Keegan, the two guys to your right, what do they mean to you, and how they've laid the foundation and laid that patchwork for the program overall? What have you seen from these teammates?

KEEGAN MURRAY: I think these two, especially our team last year kind of laid the framework just for what the expectations are now at Iowa and just what you have to do to win here, and these last two seasons, I feel like kind of put the stamp on our program from what it was. These two were part of that, them two, and I feel like they're a really big part of our program and will forever be a big part of our program.

Q. Any of the players can answer this, but Connor kind of touched on it. Winning on Sunday, short turnaround. Just kind of walk me through the preparation from Sunday to today, maybe how that affected you and rest and preparation and other things leading up to today.

KEEGAN MURRAY: I think, obviously, winning a championship is a big deal for a lot of teams, especially us since we haven't won one in a while, 16 years. The next day I feel like we're right back to work, and I feel like we had a good game plan going in, just like I said. We just did a bunch of uncharacteristic things.

On the offensive side of the ball, missed shots, but I feel like we played hard, gave 100% the whole game, and I feel like a lot of our guys stepped up, especially in the second half. We could have went away easily, but we didn't.

Q. Jordan, one more. NCAA record for games, 179. I guess do you have any final words for Hawkeye fans out there that obviously are probably hurting? Not as much as you, but knowing this is a tough day.

JORDAN BOHANNON: Just thanks for giving me a chance. It's been some of the best years of my life. I can't even put into words what -- the guys to my left, Keegan, what the Coach has meant to me. There's not a lot of people in the country that believed in me out of high school. I faced a lot of adversity coming back, you know, a couple of hip surgeries, dealt with a lot of injuries. And I can honestly say this last year, I put my heart and soul into this team, and I just -- hopefully I left this jersey in a better place than where I found it. That's all I wanted to do when I came here. I didn't care about my individual statistics, nothing like that. I just wanted to make Coach proud. I just wanted to make my family proud and this whole entire state.

I just want to thank every single Hawkeye fan that -- hopefully I inspired them to do something great with their lives, and I can't put into words what it's meant to be here wearing this jersey.

Q. Fran, when that kid to your left has that emotion, it says it all that he wears the pride on his sleeve for Iowa. What are your thoughts on the legacy that he has left on the program?

FRAN McCAFFERY: It says a lot about him, the way he responded to the question. I don't care about numbers, but you think about the numbers, and they're absolutely staggering, 2,000 points. More threes made than anybody else that ever played in the Big Ten, more assists than anybody that ever played at Iowa. That's somebody that takes great pride in wearing that Jersey, which is what he said, but his leadership, his mental toughness, it epitomizes what a true competitor is, and he came here to make a difference.

And either you think back -- before his hip surgeries, he played a whole season in terrible pain, never asked to come out. Didn't even know half the things that were bothering him. He just showed up every day at practice and played in the games and gave me everything he had, and then double hip surgery is not easy, and we've had two guys that have had to go through it. Two guys were sitting on my left, and that really is difficult, and it takes tremendous sacrifice and determination.

Just watching him come back and perform at the level that he did and then come back to lead a team that needed his leadership, he and Connor both had to lead a young team. They had to help Keegan take his game to the next level and bring along Chris and Tony and Joe T., Patrick, and that's what character is, and that's what he has. That's what Connor has, and, you know, when you get into this business, you hope one day to be able to coach guys like that, and so I'm really proud.

Q. I hate to follow up such an emotional moment and how well you put that with a question just on this game and how you feel you just couldn't get out of your own way perhaps in the early going and for an offense that was -- for an offense that you possessed to be held like as you were by this opponent.

FRAN McCAFFERY: It's -- you know, we had a couple fall out early, and then we settled a little bit. We shot probably too many. 1 for 13 for three in the first half. I don't remember too many real bad ones, maybe one or two at the end of the shot clock.

The game was really physical. Normally we get to the free-throw line more often. You know, typically we expect to shoot more than two free-throws in the second half, especially the way we were driving the ball. Defensively, we were not where we needed to be. We were okay at times. We had a couple of stretches where we were getting consecutive stops. We didn't get them when we really needed them. Executed fairly well with our sets coming down the stretch, but then defensively, we had some other things we wanted to do, and we didn't get that done. So I think in a situation like this, you have to give respect to your opponent.

Q. This game is about wins and losses. Obviously, this one didn't go the way you wanted to go, but the response that you just got from Jordan and the emotion that you just got, how much does that pump you up or elevate you to get ready for next season? Does that make you even more ready for next season as you go on your journey -- coaching journey at Iowa?

FRAN McCAFFERY: I think that's an incredibly astute observation. Especially in a moment like this. We all want to celebrate. Everybody wants to win, and everybody puts the time in, and -- I shouldn't say. Not everybody puts the time in, but most of us I think try. This is an incredibly long journey, and that's why you see the emotion, emotion here and emotion in the locker room was similar. There's so much that goes into it, whether it be individual skill development sessions, 6:00 a.m. weight training sessions, practice in June and July, August right through September, October, and into a long season, grueling season in the Big Ten. And like you said, I've been doing this a while, 40 years. When you come to work, that's what you want to see.

If I have to somehow figure out a way to accomplish that for them, then I got the wrong guys, and the reality is we're not going to be successful, but if I have young people like Jordan Bohannon, Connor McCaffery, Keegan Murray, and I could keep going, that bring a positive attitude, a love for their teammates, and a competitive desire, well now that motivates the coaching staff that much more to help them maximize their potential and get the most out of this tremendous opportunity, and I couldn't be more proud of those guys.

Q. Fran, I don't want to take anything away from what Richmond did, but that was a pretty close call, I would say, late in the game. You guys were down three. Murray shoots one of the -- Murray shoots a three. Looks like he got fouled there. I don't know what you managed to see of that, if you have seen a replay of that, but any thoughts on that call?

FRAN McCAFFERY: I have not seen the replay. I remember Chris's reaction, which was I think pretty dramatic. It was upsetting for him. I feel bad for him. He is a pretty good shooter. He is typically not going to shoot and miss by that much many that situation, but, again, it's on the other side of the floor, so I think it would be inappropriate for me to say, oh, it was a terrible call. I'm 45 feet away from it, so I'll just defer to the official on that.

Q. Looking back on the game, would there be anything you would wish you could have done differently, and then just follow up, what will you remember about this season?

FRAN McCAFFERY: I'll remember how much fun it was to coach this group and how they stayed together and how they grinded to win the Big Ten Championship. I think I'll focus more on the positive than the negative, but like we say all the time, I mean, this is not a game of perfect, so you're not going to win every game. You're not going to play a perfect game and execute a perfect game plan every time, but our guys kept fighting today.

We were not playing as well as we normally would. We have shots that weren't going in. We had guys that have been playing extremely well that were just a little bit off, and they just stayed the course, so I'm really proud of that, and I think any coach that would be sitting here in this situation would tell you that that's all we can ever ask of our guys. Just keep battling. Just keep trying to make plays. Just keep hustling on defense and just keep pounding that glass, and play right through the last second and execute to perfection and try to manage the clock, which I thought we did a good job of.