NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT: ST. BONAVENTURE VS XAVIER

March 29, 2022

Mark Schmidt

Kyle Lofton

Dominick Welch

Madison Square Garden

St. Bonaventure Bonnies

Semi Finals Postgame Press Conference

Xavier 84, St Bonaventure 77

MARK SCHMIDT: It was a great college basketball game. Kudos to our crowd. We couldn't have had a better crowd. Came out, not surprised, but they have been supportive all year long. In my 15 years here, they have just been spectacular and you guys saw it tonight.

First half, we struggled offensively. We had a lot of good looks. We just couldn't make them, and I think our offense really affected our defense in the first half.

You know, we sat down at halftime and talked what we needed to do, and I thought our guys came out, we played much better in the second half. We scored 55 points, I think, or 54 points in the second half. We didn't give up. The toughness of our guys mentally and physically was really impressive.

I said after the game, only one team can win, and we don't have to -- these five seniors don't have to hold their heads down. Proud of their effort and proud of what they have done here the last four years, the legacy that they have left. It's disappointing that we lost, but I'm not disappointed in our effort or what these guys have done.

Q. Did you ever think you would be hitting seven 3-pointers in Madison Square Garden?

DOMINICK WELCH: Probably not, but this is pretty much a dream come true for me today, and just playing in MSG, really the mecca of basketball. I just go out there and play the game, try to run whatever Coach call, you know, and just try to float the offense. The ball was coming to me, I was feeling good and I was knocking shots down tonight.

Q. What did your team do in the second half to make an attempt in the rally?

DOMINICK WELCH: Just trying to limit them to second shots. They had ten offensive rebounds in the first half, and we just wanted to limit their second-chance shots. Just try to get our offense clicking pretty much, yeah.

Q. Kyle, you came out of the game towards the end and got that ovation. What did that mean to you?

KYLE LOFTON: It means a lot. I've been here -- thanks to him, I've been here since my freshman here, and I started right away, captain right way. And it just means a lot. Being here for four years, these guys have turned into my family, and the fan base, they show love, and I appreciate them for that.

Q. You had 11 assists tonight, really impressive performance. Can you just speak on how you just found open guys, especially the guy sitting next to you who drained seven threes?

KYLE LOFTON: Yeah, he called some plays, we executed it, and then he hit shots. And then, I got -- foul a lot, a lot of bashoon (ph) kick-outs, just playing my game and not forcing anything. And then luckily he was on fire today, so that helped me.

Q. Kyle, the inside game for Xavier really made the difference early. How difficult was it for the team to defend, particularly the seven-footer, inside in the first half?

KYLE LOFTON: I think it was more so second-chance points. That's what hurt us in the paint. They had more points in the paint. We stopped the first shot, and they got rebound after rebound. And there was one play where they got three in a row, and then the big guy got a lay-up. So really just not rebounding really hurt us in the first half.

Q. When you think of, obviously, the St. Louis game, and then what you've accomplished since then, how much has this experience in the NIT validated your guys' decision to come and play in this tournament?

KYLE LOFTON: After the game in St. Louis, he brought us into his office and asked if we were going to play and told us how special it was and told us the experience, when he came to MSG one time, and then it happened. We got here. Winning three road games wasn't easy, but we stuck together. We wanted to play and we wanted to make a statement.

Q. They executed really well offensively, too. It was back and forth. Just came down to maybe you guys not being able to get quite enough stops at the end. What was just kind of lacking there defensively?

KYLE LOFTON: I feel like when we were going on runs, we would get stops, we would get stops, and then we would leave somebody open, and they made the shot. They were making big shots when they needed to and then coming up with some good offensive rebounds that also hurt us, so I would say that.

Q. You've had some great seniors leave a mark on this program. Can you put into words what this core has done over the last four years and what they've meant to you?

MARK SCHMIDT: They have been terrific. And it didn't start off that well as freshmen. We started off 1-5 and had some injuries. They showed mental toughness, even as freshmen. We had the last shot to win to go to the NCAA Tournament their freshmen year.

Great leadership and great character on and often court. They represent the right way. They all go to class and are going to graduate, they keep their nose clean socially, and they can really, really play basketball.

You get close to them. I say it all the time. I have three sons of my own, but every year we have 13 stepchildren. And those stepchildren, we spend more time with those guys than we do with our real -- with our real families.

And those kids are special. I wouldn't be sitting here and I wouldn't have the opportunity to coach at Madison Square Garden without their efforts.

It's a family. This is not a relationship that we have for four years. It's a relationship that we have for a lifetime, and so it's special. These guys have given me a lot, and more than I've given them.

Q. You talk about mental toughness and the five seniors, even though you guys were down, but you guys battled. Can you talk about the mental game and how physical and what you learned about your team?

MARK SCHMIDT: That's what I'm really proud of. We were down, but if you were in those huddles, there wasn't any panic at halftime, and there wasn't any panic. It was like, we have to play harder and we have to play more together. That's what happens when you have mature men. They have been in the fire. They understand what it takes. We came up short.

Give Xavier credit. Any time they needed a big shot, they hit it. Maybe we made some mistakes, but any time they needed something, they got it. We got it down to 65-60, and they hit a big shot.

Our guys, it's mental toughness and physical toughness. It's mental adversity and dealing with life. It's not always going to go your way, but it's how you deal with those down times, and our guys have done a really good job over their four years.

Q. At one time you played Karim and Osun together. What went into that decision?

MARK SCHMIDT: We were getting hurt on the glass. They had the two big guys in there. I just thought, I don't know if it was effective, but it was just to try to change the pace. It wasn't working what we were doing.

First half we had some open shots. We just didn't hit them, and that's basketball. That's sport. Not always going to go your way. But like I said, really proud of what they did in the second half. They didn't lie down. They kept on fighting.

Q. Welch was simply unconscious from three tonight. Was there any point in the second half where you knew that he was on fire? Did you draw up certain plays to try and keep that fire going to try and claw back into it?

MARK SCHMIDT: Yeah, you always do that. Whoever is hot, you always run your sets for that person. If he makes one, you go back to him. And Kyle does a good job. He understands as a point guard if someone is hot, you don't go the other way; you go towards him.

But Dom, he's had great career, over a thousand points, 500 rebounds, just a tough kid, and he showed it tonight in this environment, he kept us in the game.

Q. You told us after the A-10 tournament that when you went to MSG with Xavier, that was one of your greatest experiences of your life. How does this one compare?

MARK SCHMIDT: Even better. It's like, I was the head coach; back then I was the assistant. I wasn't able to walk the sideline. I had to sit in my seat.

But it's fabulous. As I told the kids in the locker room, it's a dream come true. I grew up in Boston, and Boston Garden was everything and still is.

But to play in the mecca and be able to coach, it's a dream come true. And it's all because of what our guys did for us. And that's why I say they have done much more for me than I've done for them. How can you not be excited to coach in Madison Square Garden?

Q. It ended up being a high-scoring back-and-forth game in the second half, but you mentioned not getting the stops at the end. How would you categorize the defensive effort?

MARK SCHMIDT: They hit shots. Kunkel hit some big shots. We got beat off the dribble a little bit. We didn't cover Dwon a couple times, and Nunge got some put-backs.

But I thought the effort was there. We just couldn't make shots in the first half, that was the big -- and they were making some shots.

In the second half, like I said, we got it down 65-60, and we just needed one more stop. And we put a lot more pressure on them, and we just couldn't get it. It's not lack of effort. Just give them credit. They hit the shots. And like I said, we hit some big shots. We kept ourselves in the game and gave ourselves a puncher's chance. We just didn't have enough, and like I said, give them credit, they finished it.

Q. To win 23 games, that's tied for the fourth-most in program history. What do you think overall this season and just the success that you guys had in repeating from last year's obviously great run?

MARK SCHMIDT: It's satisfying. I think we started off great, and then we hit that 24-day COVID thing where we didn't practice. But we talk about mental and physical toughness, those guys came back after 24 days, and there's a lot of people that counted us out.

But those guys didn't read the newspaper, and they blocked out the noise, and they kept on playing. People criticized us for losing to St. Louis, and they kept on fighting. They dealt with adversity. They didn't listen to all the noise and all the naysayers. They kept on fighting, and then we had a great year.

Only three teams I think in the CBI, or whatever that tournament is, and the NIT and the NCAA, only three teams that are going to leave with a victory. Proud of what we accomplished this year. It wasn't easy, but our guys really fought and dealt with adversity and they overcame it.