NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - FURMAN VS VIRGINIA

March 16, 2023

Tony Bennett

Isaac McKneely

Reece Beekman

Amway Center

Virginia Cavaliers

Media Conference

Furman 67, Virginia 67

TONY BENNETT: You know, this game is -- interesting might be the word I'd use. You feel like, we got it, we got it, and then all of a sudden in a moment's notice, it changes at the end. That's tough. It is. Because I was proud of our guys to play well, and then all of a sudden, Furman, who congratulations to them. They're a terrific team. They played well, and they threw that zone on us and we struggled a little bit. We got ourselves situated. The guys did a great job of retaking the lead, which is very difficult to do, so I was proud of how they played.

Then the pass at the end, we missed a front end of a bonus. We missed -- made one out of two, so there was some free throws that could have salted that away. I'll have to see on tape how it all played out.

Again, it's just that feeling of it's there, I think we're going on to the second round or whatever round we call it now, and then it's gone. That's a gut punch.

But you get to choose how you respond, and over time it'll all be okay. I know that. But I feel for the guys and the staff.

But certainly respect the job that Furman did. Very good team and classy program, classy coach.

Q. What do you say to Kihei, someone who's meant so much to the program after how it unfolded at the end of the game?

TONY BENNETT: Yeah, again, I've loved coaching him in his career. He had the most amazing assist to get us to a Final Four. We would not be in this spot without him, all the success, and he's had an unbelievable career. You always look to that last moment and there's so many what-ifs and who knows.

But in time, that will fade, and what he's done, what he's meant -- and like I said, I love coaching him and these guys.

I feel for all these guys, feel for us, but it's just a hard way to end, but there's also a whole lot of good when you look at the whole picture.

Q. Tony, what went into the decision not to call a time-out when that trap came on there?

TONY BENNETT: Yeah, they were down there. We should -- yeah, I think either get tied up, call a time-out in the dribble. And I don't know if the refs were near me, we were just running, and I don't know if Kihei thought no one was there or the clock was running out. I'm not sure. But we should have called a time-out or could have gotten a tie-up. We had it and it kind of unfolded. I think had he gotten tied up, he would have called a time-out in there, and again, I'll have to see how it played out.

Q. Isaac, when you got fouled with 35 seconds left, you ended up passing to Kadin as you were getting fouled. Did you think at all about going up with the shot?

ISAAC MCKNEELY: I mean, yeah, maybe. But I just saw the help defense coming, so I just dropped it off to Kadin. It was kind of a bang-bang play, but it is what it is.

Q. It's now been four years since that National Championship. How do you kind of convey -- you guys have had this heartbreak in the first round. How do you convey that, that it's not necessarily a byproduct of the system and that this isn't necessarily something that's going to continue?

TONY BENNETT: Yeah, I mean, you just keep working. I think the guys had a terrific year this year being co-champs in the ACC, got to the championship game of the conference tournament and felt like we had this, and certainly lost. The last time we were in the tournament we had the COVID deal and we got one practice. We had a key injury. So I can make situations why it's been tough, but we lost in the first round. And as he said, it is what it is.

It doesn't take away from what these guys have done and what we've experienced over the years, but you wanted it when you felt like you had it, and that was a tough one.

But grateful to coach them, and keep building, keep trusting. And you've got a choice how you respond, and I will choose to respond the right way.

Q. Tony, the final shot aside, were you worried as the game went on about the disparity in three-pointers made between the two teams?

TONY BENNETT: Right. Isaac made a couple. Those were our only two threes. You've got to stick some of those shots or hit some of those free throws in that game. And they can shoot, we knew that. You look at their stats and they're a veteran team. Like you said, the parity in college basketball, why those guys came back to get this opportunity is real.

Sometimes it comes down to, again, a free throw made or one more three or -- it's so subtle in an ending like that, and that was very improbable how it ended.

We got a couple good looks that went in and out, but I thought we battled to get that lead back. That's when I thought, okay, we got it back, good, tough play, and thought we were going to be playing on Saturday. But we're not.

Q. Tony, what went into your decision to start Kadin Shedrick today, and your evaluation of how he responded?

TONY BENNETT: Yeah, I thought he played terrific. They're mobile. They're a five out team and their 5 man can shoot. We've been going with Francisco because of the physicality of -- whether it was Carolina or Clemson in those two games and Duke.

But we said, okay, this guy is a little bit more mobile so we're going to have to go with mobility at the 5. And he gave us some good rim protection and at times we went with Jayden at the 5 we went with four guards. There's not really anyone in our league that's quite like them, so that's why we went that way.

And I thought Kadin really responded, stuck his free throws and played good, tough basketball, so I was happy for him and proud of him.

Q. Reese, you guys were up 12, I think, midway through the second half and Furman started coming back. What were they doing, just hitting shots, or were there defensive breakdowns?

REECE BEEKMAN: Yeah, I feel like the zone slowed us down a little bit, took us out of rhythm. I feel like that was a turning point in the game for them and then they executed that pretty well.

Q. Had they shown any zone at all on tape?

TONY BENNETT: I think .6 percent on synergy or whatever. That was a good -- the 1-3-1. And I think we saw it one time, I think it was Old Dominion early, an early game in Charleston, but not hardly at all. And I think, again, because we were struggling to shoot and I think our offense was really cooking, that sort of stood us up.

We tried a couple different attacks and then we settled in and then we started getting some easy ones. Like I said, it took a little while and I was pleased how our guys started attacking it. The game was right there, you felt the lead. And then they got back to it. But the initial answer is a very small amount back then, so that wasn't --

Q. The sequence with 2.2 seconds left, you call a time-out and draw it up. Did it unfold just as you had hoped?

TONY BENNETT: Yeah, we had two options, one was for Reese coming off to get two dribbles -- I think you might have board rim. I don't know. You've got to look -- or if it wasn't him, we had Isaac coming to try to get two dribbles and get it down there.

But that's tough in that spot. You're kind of shell shocked but you say, hey, let's try to get a shot on the rim, and we got that.

Q. Kihei, I don't know how many times other coaches have talked about the winning plays he makes. For you personally, just to see him have a mistake like that late in such a big stage, just kind of what are your feelings for him and what he's done?

TONY BENNETT: Yeah, I told you at the start how much I've loved coaching him and how much of a warrior he is and his story is unbelievable. This adds another chapter to it. He can handle it. We can handle this. Sometimes things happen, and again, I've said this, you get to choose how you respond.

I feel that it happened and played out like that -- for someone who's been so good for this program, but that's the madness of this tournament. You've seen it, we've lived both sides of it, and that's a hard way to go.

In time -- you're frustrated and then all that stuff goes -- in time, you'll appreciate things, and it'll shape him. Again, you've always got to have a real perspective of what's going on.

But again, proud of him. Loved coaching him, and we'll all struggle through it, then your head will be up and you'll move on.

Q. Isaac and Reese, you guys haven't had a lot of experience at this stage. What do you take away from getting here and seeing this and possibly with another year to go?

REECE BEEKMAN: I would just say the little things, how crucial they can be to play out in these type of games. This game came down to the last play and it was just a lot of little things early in the game that could have changed the outcome. Just being in those moments, in these situations is good experience for me and Isaac, so we'll just take that going into next year.

ISAAC MCKNEELY: I would just say everybody at this level is good. I know there's the seeding and all that, but everybody can beat everybody, as obviously you've seen. But I'm just thankful for the opportunity. A lot of people would die to play in March Madness. I'm just really thankful for that, and hopefully I'll be back next year.

Q. Tony, in that vein about Kihei, would it surprise you to know that when we went in the locker room, number one, he sat there and answered all the questions, and, number two, when we first approached, he was watching the play on his phone to see what he could have done differently?

TONY BENNETT: Yeah, no, that doesn't surprise me, like I said. You celebrate his career, and this is part of the game. I've used this line before, but when you step between the lines, you take the good and you take the hard with it. You try to handle them both with dignity and respect. And he'll do that, and again, would we be in this spot without him? Nope, so here we are, and I'm grateful for him.