2026 PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 12, 2026

Johnny Dawkins

T-Mobile Center

UCF Knights

Postgame Press Conference

Arizona 81, UCF 59

JOHNNY DAWKINS: Well, of course, this is a great tournament. We played against a very good basketball team today, Arizona. They do a great job of just controlling the tempo, playing their style of basketball, and sometimes you can get lost in that.

And for us, we need to stick to the things that we did well. I thought they did a good job of disrupting us and not allowing us to do that.

You give them credit. You tip your hat for the way they play. It's a unique style, but it's a very effective one. And I think it showed again tonight versus us.

Q. If you could tell us what happened to John Boi there and how he's doing now.

JOHNNY DAWKINS: He is doing okay. I would think he would be listed day to day as of right now, but he's up. He was moving, came back out. So I will see. They're still making sure that everything is okay, but he seemed to be doing okay.

Q. I know this loss hurts, but all signs point to you guys being in the NCAA tournament for the first time in seven years. What has joining the Big 12 and being in this conference the last three years done for your program in terms of building up to get back to the tournament?

JOHNNY DAWKINS: Well, of course, being in this conference, it's the best conference in college basketball, in my opinion. So when you're in a conference like that, it's just so competitive from top to bottom. Every team you face is very talented. Every coach is terrific. So it just provides all kinds of different challenges.

But if you're a competitor -- and we try to recruit competitors, guys that want to be in those type of environments -- then it's a great place to be. It's a great place. You've got all kind of great arenas you're going to and playing in. Everyone's environment is really active. The crowd, the community comes out, student bodies are great. So it's been terrific for us.

I think us moving into the Big 12 has been great for our university and our brand as well.

(FastScripts by ASAP Sports)