AMERICAN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 11, 2026

Adam Fisher

Darrian Ford

Legacy Arena At The BJCC

Temple Owls

Postgame Press Conference

Florida Atlantic 63, Temple 59

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Adam Fisher and Darrian Ford.

ADAM FISHER: Look, obviously, not the result that we wanted. Coming into the tournament, I thought we played a really good two games this week. It's been a really difficult not just 30 days but really difference since January stuff that we've dealt with.

My disappointment is for these guys. I thought they fought all year long. I thought they gave us everything they could and we had a lot of guys step up in roles they haven't been to and I thought that was a great testament to them.

Darrian's never averaged double figures in his career, and he was up around 18, 19. Aiden Tobiason, three points a game, his jump. Same with Gavin Griffiths and numerous other guys.

Just hurt for them, hurt for these guys because they're been through a lot obviously on and off the court, and you just wanted it for them.

Q. Darrian, could you describe the last possession? It looked like you got it a little late. They weren't going to gift you a look from deep so what did you try to do?

DARRIAN FORD: Tried to get downhill to make something happen. Lost the ball. That was it. Had to get back to the next play.

Q. The replay was somewhat inconclusive. Did that hit off you? Do you know how that went?

DARRIAN FORD: The ref said it went off me. Can't argue with the refs.

Q. Did it take ^ too ^ too long to get organized? I think this deal might have been 15 to 20 seconds.

ADAM FISHER: Yeah, it's a play we've run in the game and he's gotten fouled on it. He scored on it this year, so we got into it probably a little bit ^ too ^ to late, but to be able to still get the shot we wanted.

And, again, credit to them. They got the stop when they needed it.

Q. Adam, for Gavin Griffiths tonight, it felt like a quiet night for him. Only took two or three shots; didn't score tonight. The FAU coach kind of said it was kind of their goal to limit him and take away some of his actions. What did you see in terms of that and just overall Gavin, what he did today?

ADAM FISHER: Yeah, obviously, the way he played, I don't know, two plus weeks ago at their place, the way he made shots in the first half, you knew they were going to try to take him away. I think all season he's done some other things, able to get a couple steals; He's rebounded well.

Today his numbers were a little bit low but credit to him, they took him out of some stuff. They were extremely physical. I thought that was top two physical game we have played all season long and, again, credit to them and we needed some other guys to step up.

Q. And Darrian, going off that physicality, a big part of your game is getting to the free-throw line. You only got there once today for two free throws. What went into that and they're one of the best shot blocking teams in the country. Talk about the physicality and you being able to play your game against that.

DARRIAN FORD: I feel like physicality, they did a great job; kudos to them. They executed their game plan, whatever they wanted to do as far as defensive schemes, but we just didn't convert it like we usually do at the rim.

That starts with me. Didn't convert like I wanted to but they did what they needed to do, so great job to them.

Q. Where do you see taking the next step for this program in the offseason? It's the second year you guys have lost in the first round of the tournament; 16 wins again. How do you replace the seniors like Darrian in the offseason and try to take this next step as the program from your point of view?

ADAM FISHER: I'm grateful for our four seniors, Swish, Darrian, Jordan and of course Connor Gal. We just talked about it in the locker room. In today's world, I think why this hurts so much is that group is never going to be together again and that's what really stinks. And those four guys, obviously, are out of eligibility. I think Connor may have red-shirted his freshman year so we're trying to figure that out with him.

But then tomorrow starts the off season. It does. This is now year round. Our league I think has been the most depleted the last three years. I expect the same this year.

I wish I could tell you everybody is coming back. ^ I have ^ Ive no idea. I don't think anybody does. You start to have some conversations and there's going to be a lot of new guys on the roster. We want to try to retain, and we know we've got to make improvements. We got to replace guys.

We need to make sure that we are competitive in all aspects, so that's something we'll start as early as tomorrow trying to get ready for next year. We're grateful for these four seniors and what they gave us this past year.

Q. You talked about what this group had to go through on and off the court this year. What specifically about this group are you going to miss the most?

ADAM FISHER: I've enjoyed going to work every single day. This group has been really a joy to coach. I think early on they clicked and I think that carried over throughout the season. I thought we played a lot of egoless basketball. I think guys were genuinely happy for each other. They genuinely spend time together. They genuinely liked one another.

That's why we talked a week ago, hey, we got to win to get into this tournament. We were guaranteed at that time seven days. We talked about you get a win now and it extends to day ten and then we talked tonight, let's get to day 11 and day 11 didn't happen and you hurt for them because they've built relationships off the court that will last a lifetime and you wish that resulted in more bins, to be blunt.

But I'm grateful for this group. They worked every day.

Q. What changed after February 7th for you guys for the season to end the way you did, eight losses in thine games?

ADAM FISHER: Yeah, I think it started before that. As many people know, we played with heavy hearts losing Coach Courtney, and you don't know how people are going to respond to that, losing somebody, and how it affects everybody differently.

Even though we won some games, that was when the change occurred. And then in the losing streak, in four of those games, you're right there so you just got to try to figure out a way to get a little bit more.

The back end of the schedule, some of the road games, I think we were Tulsa's largest crowd. I think we were Wichita State's largest crowd of the year, or up there, and we had some tough road games.

It stinks because we had been in close games prior to that stretch and we figured out ways to win. I think we were 8-5 at one point in those two-possession games, and finished 8-11 or whatever it may be. It's a stop here. It's a possession there. I thought we really responded versus Tulane and I really thought we played really well versus Tulsa and disappointed with tonight's outcome.

Q. On that last possession you guys don't have a time-out. Darrian has the ball. Is it just a nonverbal thing? You just trust him to figure out what to do there?

ADAM FISHER: No, it's a call, a call we have. Got into it four or five seconds late. We were trying to get into it but it's a call to set. You can go back and watch. We ran it multiple times this year and something we work on and actually went through it yesterday with these guys in case we didn't have a time-out.

I think we got the look last time we ran it, he shot fake, got fouled, made two free throws, so they got the stop.