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

March 16, 2023

Bob Richey

JP Pegues

Jalen Slawson

Amway Center

Furman Paladins

Media Conference

Furman 68, Virginia 67

BOB RICHEY: What an unbelievable college basketball game. All year we've been saying that this team just knows how to win. We knew we were going to have a great opponent in Virginia. We knew there were going to be some advantages in terms of their size, in terms of their physicality, the way they rebound, the way they defend. There's a lot going on in my mind right now.

It's an unbelievable moment, and give all the glory to God for allowing me to be able to lead it, but this is a day these players just found a way.

I couldn't help but go back when I saw the shot in the air to a year ago, to a play that probably still makes it on March Madness, and that ball floated in the air, and it missed. It's just a reminder, like we said it all year, count on joy, and you don't know timing of things, you don't know timing of left. This team has persevered, and they did it today, and it's a microcosm of what they learned, and they just keep reliving the lesson and keep finding ways.

I thought one of the biggest plays of the game didn't happen on the court, it happened when Bothwell fouled out. I was talking to the official when I walked back in the huddle and Bothwell had the huddle, and he said we're going to find a way to win this game. All these guys to my left and the whole locker room to my left, they just kept believing.

I still don't know what quite happened there late. I know we called Indy, which is a late game action for us. I think JP drove, found G, called a foul. Garrett Hien has had some issues with free throws this year, and it's not because he can't shoot them, just had to believe in it. He got up to the line and he went up there with poise and made two huge free throws. And we jumped in and then we had him trapped. I was calling for a foul, but the good Lord knew they couldn't hear me, and they threw it to us.

JP, he didn't make the all-conference team somehow, but he's on the all-winner team because he knows how to win, and he had a similar play in high school. That's why we recruited him so hard, because he watched his clutch clips and I watched him do something very similar in a huge state playoff game. When I saw the ball go up, I knew it was going in.

What a day to be a Paladin.

Q. JP, Coach said he doesn't quite know what happened on the last play but you ended up with the ball. Take us through that last play, hit that three-pointer and give you the win.

JP PEGUES: I knew we were down, late-game situation. As you can see, we needed to get a steal, a turnover somehow. And we did pretty good denying out, making them force a tough pass, which he did. And he threw it to 13, Garrett Hien, and as soon as I saw it go into Garrett Hien's hands, I was like, I want the ball. I feel like those are moments I've created my whole life, and I feel like I'm built for.

So as soon as I got the ball and I seen a shot attempt I had, I knew all I could do at that point was just ride up and shoot it, and I had full belief that it was going in, and it did.

Q. Jalen, Mike fouled out, y'all were down eight, and I think if I'm not mistaken, you had nine straight points. What kind of -- did something trigger inside you when your fellow fifth-year guy fouls out? You just took off.

JALEN SLAWSON: Yeah, in that huddle he was talking about as it ended. I told Mike that we weren't going to let today be his last time putting a jersey on, and I know if roles were reversed, the same thing would have happened. It didn't have to just be me. But the game was up there for the taking, and these guys told me they believed in me and told me I was being a little bit passive, told me to be a little bit more aggressive.

So as the game came and as the game came, we got some good actions and these guys did a great job getting me good looks and I was able to knock them down.

Q. You got down early in the first half, you came back, you got close. Got down by double digits in the second half early and came back. Was this a matter of counter punching? Take us through how you managed to overcome these leads at each point in this game.

BOB RICHEY: Well, I'll tell you this: I've studied Coach Bennett for a long time partly because of the coach he is but a lot because of the man he is and the leader he is, and I've got a high level of respect for him.

I knew one thing going into this, scout team wasn't going to be able to simulate that defense. I love our scout team to death, but we knew there was going to be a little bit of game absorption in terms of like we're going to have to feel this a little bit.

We didn't have a good rhythm early. Offensively we were taking some tough shots, which is exactly what they want you to do. We battled back, got some baskets in transition. And then in the second half, we battled back again and cut it to six and they hit the back-to-back threes. We got lost on a flair, we got lost on the behind action right there, but it goes to 12, and I just thought we had to change tempo somehow.

It's been keeping me up all week. I've talked to coaches all around the country, how do you speed them up, how do you speed them up. I didn't think we could press them because they handle the ball too well and they pass it, stay on two feet. They're very disciplined.

But I had this wild thought a couple days ago, this is a zone we don't hardly play, played 10, 15 possessions all year, but I thought it would stagnate it to where we don't have to guard all the screening action. That's what it ended up doing. They still did some things, but they weren't getting them off of their standard action.

I knew we were going to have to rebound in it, and fortunately we did. We didn't rebound all of it, but we did enough to where we could get the ball, get out in transition and get into some concept.

Look, our group just -- they've been through a lot, and I've told them, hey, we're callused. Some people think of the things that we've been through like it's a bad thing. These guys have just grown through it. So the moment is not too big for them. They didn't -- you didn't see them putting their head down.

Sometimes in life that's what heart does. You just become callused. We were huddled, down four. Fortunately they missed some free throws. There's a couple breaks that we got. But we have a high level of respect for them and how they play and how they guard. And we knew the whole time -- we were like, hey, we've got to embrace the sludge of the game. I see why they win. They make it really hard.

Fortunately because they just stayed in it through the adversity, through the foul trouble, they just kept believing, and it was the whole message of the week.

Q. Bob and Jalen, was there ever a moment during that game where you go, this is a team that recently won a national title and I'm coaching against Tony Bennett and this is Virginia and it's like a tunnel vision sort of thing like we're going to pull it off or could you not think about the magnitude while you're playing the game?

BOB RICHEY: I actually talked about that in the team locker room before the game. Don't have any expectation of what this game is going to look like, just go out there and play the possession. Understand there might be some discussion that we're going to have to crawl back from behind. But if we get a lead, that's going to be just as mental in that process to not worry about hey, the clock needs to run. How do we hold on to this, oh, my goodness, is this going to happen. You just have to stay in the moment.

I thought right there that celebration made me a little bit nervous, 2.4 seconds, you can get a look, and we had to try to get them over to the huddle. We probably let them get a little bit too deep on the floor on that shot, but fortunately, as the old ball coach used to say, the ball bounced our way tonight.

JALEN SLAWSON: Yeah, Coach told us it's a nameless faceless opponent. Every night Furman tries to play to Furman's standard, and we know when we do that offensively and defensively we can play with anybody in the country. He told us to absorb it. We did a lot of absorption yesterday and basically told us this morning you guys got three minutes to get your nerves out when the game starts, and we were able to do a great job of that today.

Q. JP, Jay Bilas called Virginia's two guards the best guards in the country. Can you just talk about how you kept your head in it and how you kept your guys' heads in it playing against such a physical two guards in Beekman and Franklin?

JP PEGUES: Most definitely. I would agree with that statement to a certain extent. Credit to Clark probably the toughest point guard matchup I've had all year. He knows what it takes. He's a national champion. You've got to give it to him. Same thing with Beekman. He's just long, quick, fast, quick hands. You've got to give it to those guys.

Those guys definitely know what it takes on the defensive end. They created tough match-ups for us. But we knew that going into the game that these two were high level defenders. Me personally, I'm a steady guy. I never show my cards. I told myself that I couldn't be frustrated out there. It's a 40-minute game no matter what happens on one play or the next. It's always NBA, next best action.

I feel like keeping that mindset throughout the game helped me to stay level headed and also to lead my team through the adversity that we fought through.

Q. JP, it seemed like a pro Furman crowd there cheering you guys on, and then you hit the shot and win the game. What was that like to celebrate with that contingent of fans and what was the locker room like? It looks like Coach might be drenched from the celebration?

JP PEGUES: Yeah, it's definitely something that we haven't experienced. This is the biggest crowd we've ever played in. To see not only our Furman fans but also the rest of the crowd with the other teams, like seeing the fight that we have, that boosted us up. Just hearing the voices, hearing the cheers of them, it really energized us.

And like you said, of course after the shot, we were totally amped. We were just full of energy. We're just soaking it all in. We're enjoying the moment.

Q. Jalen, you're a Southern Conference historian. What do you think this means to Furman, and you said after the Southern Conference tournament, we have more games to win. Can you kind of comment on that going forward now?

JALEN SLAWSON: Yeah, I'm not sure how many NCAA Tournament games Furman has won -- two? This is our second? Shout-out to our SID. This is our second NCAA Tournament win. So that's big-time for us.

Then this team has done a great job making history all year, so you know, Saturday is going to be another chance to make history. And this team has performed the best under the brightest lights all year. And because of guys like these two next to me, I don't want to lose the fact that Marcus was on. That really got us rolling in the second half. He stepped up there and banged two humongous shots against a pretty stout defense. I definitely don't want to let that go to waste.

He gave us some energy, gave us some life, and we know when he's playing with that swagger that we're really hard to beat.

Then obviously the shot that JP hit, I hope this just gives everybody confidence. Like our highest plus/minus tonight was Alex Williams on the biggest stage of his life.

Like the young guys are going to keep getting better, and we played well in the championship, but we played better today. Imagine if we could play better Saturday.