NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - SAN FRANCISCO VS MURRAY ST.

March 17, 2022

Todd Golden

Zane Meeks

Jamaree Bouyea

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

San Francisco Dons

Media Conference

Murray State 92, San Francisco 87

TODD GOLDEN: Heck of a game. You know, awfully disappointing that we fell a little short. But you know, I think we were down eight points with 1:45 to go in regulation and what's made us good all year showed up in that time. Our guys stayed the course, got gritty and got tough and found a way to get that thing to overtime.

I'm just incredibly proud of our team. This group made history this year. First time in 40 years, best team at USF in 40 years, first time making the tournament in 25.

Obviously fell a little short tonight but I told our guys in the locker room, they should be incredibly proud. It was a heck of a run. They did something a lot of other people couldn't do, and this was a special group. It's going to be tough to not be able to coach these guys, this team anymore.

Q. You've played in a lot of big games in your career, but tonight on the biggest stage, you had one of the best games of your career. What was that like for you?

JAMAREE BOUYEA: I just think knowing that this could be my last game, I just wanted to leave it all out there. That's what I tried to do, and didn't make many shots in the first half, I don't think, but as it got down to the end and crunch time and overtime, I just didn't want to leave anything, leave any regrets out there. So that's basically how I played.

Q. Could you talk about what Jamaree meant to this team and what you think his USF legacy will be?

ZANE MEEKS: His legacy is going to be as good as anyone else's. We obviously haven't been in the tournament however long and he basically put us on his back and brought us here. He's been incredible, not only on the court but as a leader. I mean, one of the best guys I've been around. My third year of college basketball, he's one of my favorite dudes. Great teammate, great guy. I don't have enough to say about him.

Q. You kind of got the offense going when secondary scoring was tough to come by. When you picked up that third foul, do you feel like you switched the momentum, because you and Julian had gotten on a really good run before that?

ZANE MEEKS: I don't know if I switched the momentum. It was one of those kind of bang-bang plays, I saw where the ball was going and I was trying to be aggressive and get to it. Unfortunately they called a foul.

Q. Jamaree, you went out there, went on a tear, but can you explain what went through your mind? You kept the team in it.

JAMAREE BOUYEA: Honestly like I said earlier, trying to leave it all out there, no regrets. We needed buckets and stops and I was trying to put the ball in the basket which I did.

One of -- me and my teammates, Julian Rishwain and I, were actually watching like Carson Edwards and Stephen Curry highlights of the tournament and it kind of just inspired me a little bit. So this performance definitely is something that I kind of got off of those videos for sure.

Q. You've obviously seen a lot over the five years at USF. Is there a moment either within these last few weeks or over the past few years that really sticks with you and stands out as the one you feel that you're never going to forget?

JAMAREE BOUYEA: I don't think there's a specific moment. This specific year, one of the best years of my life if not the best. I think just playing with these guys that are unselfish and that would do anything for the team and I just had a goal since June 15 to make it to the Tournament. It wasn't believable to other people outside of our locker room but since we got here, I think just enjoying everything that I've seen here and everything that we've done here.

But I think this team is a special team, and like Coach said, it's one of the best teams in USF history.

Q. Obviously this is a tough way to end the season, but getting this national attention and having the successes here, how do you build on that for the years to come?

TODD GOLDEN: There's no direct line on these, you know. You've got to do a really good job of trying to center yourself after every year and making sure you have the right people on board and you're heading the right direction. So we'll take some time to regroup and give our guys a little time off and try to center ourselves that way.

But man, you would think with the success that we had and the excitement that we built, especially in San Francisco, we'll continue that way.

Q. Obviously Jamaree was a guy who didn't have a Division I offer before you guys came in. When you think about that and just his story, what does that add to a night like tonight?

TODD GOLDEN: Recruiting is not an exact science. We've done a good job over the six years here in San Francisco of kind of evaluating and finding some guys like that. Khalil is another one, right, DII player, that joined us.

Jamaree's story is special. I think he was tasked with a tough question after last season, you know, do I come back or do I go play pro. And he would have found a good home if he decided to do that.

He decided to come back, and he believed not only in the program but in his teammates and in the direction that we were headed. You know, it's unfortunate because we lost, but for him to have 36 points on a national stage, and he was absolutely unstoppable in the second half; they had no answer for him. I'm just incredibly proud of him to be honest.

I'm just glad that on the national setting that people got to see him, because he's been doing this all year for us.

Q. It felt like in the second half, you had a lot of really good looks from three and it kept rimming out, rimming out. As a coach, what's the message to the players to keep battling? How do you keep instilling the confidence to keep shooting in a moment like that?

TODD GOLDEN: It's interesting because what hurt us tonight was our issues last year without Yauhen in there today. Pat did a really good job. He was 5-for-5 and he did a good job in the paint scoring. But Yauhen is a guy that scores 15 and generally all in the paint, and he's a guy that can settle us when we're not shooting well because we can get the ball inside and score that way and give us some more confidence tonight.

We let it fly. I thought we got some really, really good looks, especially in the second half. That didn't just drop. It allowed them to get that little bit of a lead late. Fortunately we were able to come back, but man, I think we'll watch the tape and just be a little disappointed that we didn't shoot the ball better.

But, you know, it happens. I actually heard Frank Martin talking about it on the CBS telecast in between one of the games today where teams that score in the paint are a lot less volatile, and in a tournament game and one-game setting, you can have a night like this. And unfortunately we went 9-for-35 tonight, and I think a lot of those were good looks.

Q. Was there anything with Murray State, maybe the second or third scorers, that caught you all off guard down the stretch?

TODD GOLDEN: I thought the kid, 31, Skipper Brown, did a great job. He was someone that we were concerned about because he's really good on the offensive glass and a really physical player. But he killed us. He had 12 and 10; he got to the foul line. He's not a very good free throw shooter generally; he was 8-for-12 tonight, so that was something that affected us.

Then Hannibal, a guy that we were very concerned about because he's so physical in the way he gets downhill in his penetration, I think he had three or four end ones tonight, and we just were not able to keep him out of the paint. And those two guys combining for 30, that's the difference right there in the game for me. I think if those guys are a little closer to their averages, we're talking about us playing on Saturday.

Q. Khalil has been good for you and in the last eight games he's averaging 20 points. What do you think happened with him tonight? He didn't look like he played with a lot of aggression, and perhaps lost his confidence.

TODD GOLDEN: No, I don't think that's the case. He's been incredible. As you mentioned, 20 points a game over the last eight or so, and just didn't shoot the ball well tonight, and it can happen. I'm disappointed for him because I know how much he cares and how much this moment meant to him.

But at the same time, he played 43 minutes, was really good defensively, 43 minutes, think about that. He only sat out two minutes in an overtime game.

Khalil is a guy that I will ride with any day of the week. He's an incredible competitor, an incredible human being, and he, obviously with Jamaree and Yauhen, if we don't have those guys, we are not here right now. Unfortunately I don't think he had his best game. I don't think it was a confidence issue. I just think it was one of those nights.