What Tony Benford said after LSU's dramatic victory over Maryland

The LSU Tigers were a popular pick to lose early in the NCAA Tournament. Many had the Tigers, who are embroiled in a controversy surrounding coach Will Wade and the FBI, losing to No. 14 seed Yale in the first round.

Many others had the Tigers falling to Maryland (or Belmont or Temple) in Round 2, but that wasn’t to be either.

Instead, a tough, resilient LSU squad ended up winning 69-67 over Maryland on Saturday thanks to a clutch last-second layup by Tremont Waters.

After the game, coach Tony Benford had plenty of praise for his team. Here’s what he had to say about the game in his postgame press conference:

On Tremont Waters’ last-second shot:

Benford on last FG:
It's a play we run a few times thru the year. Against 3-2 zone we had to do it. #LSU

— Scott Rabalais (@RabalaisAdv) March 23, 2019

On advancing to Sweet 16 amid controversy:

Benford: It's huge. They're the ones who paid the price. The adversity. Losing Wade and coach not being here. They've taken ownership of this team. They trust, respect, love each other. You have a team like that you have a chance to win games. #LSU

— Scott Rabalais (@RabalaisAdv) March 23, 2019

On Skylar Mays’ big performance:

Benford: I think Skylar Mays is one of the most underrated players in the US. He's so smart people forget how good a basketball player he is, but he made some huge plays.#LSU

— Scott Rabalais (@RabalaisAdv) March 23, 2019

On Tigers performance in the clutch:

Benford: It's the closeness of this group. We're not afraid of the moment. We've got guys who believe they can make plays. #LSU

— Scott Rabalais (@RabalaisAdv) March 23, 2019