ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2026

Andy Enfield

Boopie Miller

Jaden Toombs

Spectrum Center

SMU Mustangs

Postgame Press Conference

SMU 86, Syracuse 69

ANDY ENFIELD: It was a great win for our team. The guys played very well together tonight. Very proud of them. It was a win that we surely needed, and we expect to play well tomorrow, as well.

Our upperclassmen, our guards got hot in the second half, and when we can score the ball, we're pretty good.

Q. How big was it for you guys both internally and then to send a message to the committee to show that you could put up points like this and kind of get scoring across the board without B.J.?

ANDY ENFIELD: Well, B.J. Edwards an All-League player, her's First Team All Defense for two straight years, leads the league in steals, averages 13 points, five assists, six and a half rebounds, and almost three steels a game. We had to get adjusted -- we had four straight road games when he got hurt first half of the Cal game, and had to play three out of the four on the road. And we had to figure out thousand to play without him.

Tonight we're getting better at trying to figure it out.

But really felt bad for the young man, but we expect him back later this week. So he's really recovered well and we expect him back there this week. I don't know how many games we can win here, but he's really come a long way, and in the meantime, our players are playing hard and they're playing together.

We know what's at stake. I think tonight, to me it looked like NCAA Tournament team. We have a lot of good wins on our resume, and unfortunately we had an injury at the wrong time. But he's coming back. So we feel like we'll be at full strength by the end of the week.

It's going to be questionable tomorrow. I think the end of the week is more realistic, and what day that is, that's the doctor's decision.

Q. Boopie, 25 points tonight, what you were seeing out there and utilizing your offensive game and making sure to take your spots in this game against Syracuse?

BOOPIE MILLER: Felt like my teammates they made the right passes. Toombs and Samet, I think they had three or four assists apiece, but those guys throwing it in and throwing it out were making great plays. I appreciate those bigs for kicking it out for me for the threes.

Q. Jaden, 19 offensive rebounds as a team, you had a double-double in the first half. What enabled you and the team the domination on the glass?

JADEN TOOMBS: Yeah, coming into the game, Coach told me I was in the starting lineup, so I knew I had to be impactful on the offensive rebounds to stay in the game. Me and Samet were on the glass today, and we felt like we did a good job.

Q. Curious how you assess Jaron as a player, first half versus second half. I think he started 0 for 8 from three-point range and then made four of his next five. How is it to know you have somebody who can heat up in second halves like that?

BOOPIE MILLER: He's a great player. He works on his game all the time, off the court, after and before practice. I believe in him. I feel like when he shoots the ball well, we all look good as a team on the whole so I told him to keep shooting and that's what he did second half.

JADEN TOOMBS: His confidence never wavers. The game before this, I think he only had two in the first half, then he came out and had 20 in the second half.

Yeah, his confidence never wavers. He stays aggressive, and it's always good to have a guy like that on your team.

Q. For both of you guys, you guys lost to Syracuse almost a month ago. What adjustments did you guys see from that game to today that maybe changed things?

BOOPIE MILLER: I felt like that early adversity in the middle of the season helped us prepare for games like these. Just going back and watching film and listening to the coaches on the details of the game, I feel like that helped us, and that's why we came and got the win today.

JADEN TOOMBS: Yeah, I felt like we laid off of them last time we played them at Syracuse. We were up 13. But I felt like tonight we finished for the whole 40 minutes, didn't get too high, didn't get too low, and then our point guard and Jaron, they kept us together.

Q. No bench points for the first time for you guys this season. What worked so well with the starting group in comparison to the couple guys that came off the bench?

ANDY ENFIELD: Well, our starting unit without Jaden -- so Jaden usually is our sixth man. He had 16, 11 and 6. But with B.J. Edwards in there, I just saw a stat, our normal starting five is the sixth-most producing starting five in college football. You throw Jaden in there without B.J., he did a terrific job to keep it going.

The guys off the bench helped us win the game today. They're going to have to give us some more minutes tomorrow because it's a short turnaround.

Q. Coach, you guys were up by one going into halftime but then in the second half blew the doors out of that game. What was the adjustments that were made at halftime to just take that game over in the second?

ANDY ENFIELD: Well, Toombs was great in the middle of the zone the first half and we were getting good shots, we just weren't making any. At halftime Corey Washington and Jaron were 0 for 9 from the free-throw line together and I think we were 3 for 16 from the field, which is not very good.

We just figured if we just kept playing and sharing the basketball -- we had 20 assists tonight, we had 10 at halftime, and we should have had 14 or 15 we just missed some open shots. We just said keep throwing the basketball. And we had a stretch in the first half where we didn't, about three straight possessions, we went one-on-one and turned the ball over and took some dumb shots. Second half we really played within ourself and played as a team.

Really the adjustment was just keep playing as a team offensively and sharing the ball.

Q. Pierre, three threes in a row and then four overall in the second half. What can you say about the looks he had and working the ball to him and how well he came through for you when you needed that run?

ANDY ENFIELD: Yeah, he was spectacular in that two or three-minute stretch, three threes in a row, and he gets it going. He's a very streaky player. As you see, went 0 for whatever in the first half, I think 0 for 5 from the three in the first half, and then the second half he made five threes. So he's very streaky, and when he gets it going, he's fun to watch. So we just need that consistency out of him here starting tomorrow.

Q. I know you're very familiar with Louisville, played them twice, but just early thoughts before tomorrow?

ANDY ENFIELD: Well, we've had a really hard schedule in our league. We played Louisville twice this year. This will be the third time. They're an exceptional basketball team. I think Louisville and SMU are the two highest scoring teams in the league. I'm not sure if we're first or second, but we've been the two highest scoring teams in the league this year. We have to come out and we have to score the ball against them, and also defend a little bit.

Now, there's a lot of video for two games on both teams, so we just have to come out ready to play tomorrow and give it our best shot.