JR Interview with Florida Atlantic Head Coach Dusty May

Getting to know yourself can be a lifelong process, especially since you're always growing and changing. Therapy is all about deepening that self-awareness, because sometimes you don't know what you really want until you talk things through. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist online who can take you on that journey of self-discovery from wherever you are. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive today to get 10% off your first month.

That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. It has been a day, it has been a night of absolute madness. The Sweet 16 is getting narrowed down to the Elite 8.

Half of that is in the books, especially here on Thursday. One of the big games. We've had a lot of exciting games tonight. This one went down in Madison Square Garden. Florida Atlantic FAU. They beat Tennessee.

They beat them up. Vols the final score 62 to 55. And joining us right now is the head coach of FAU. He's the Conference USA Coach of the Year. He just won another big game in Madison Square Garden. Joining us again, Head Coach Dusty May. Coach, how are you feeling, man, in Madison Square Garden?

That's a lot of energy. Yeah, feeling great, but a little bit of anxiety knowing we've got an incredibly difficult task on Saturday with Kansas State. We know Kansas State is coming up. They had an amazing watch as well in overtime. That was pretty awesome to see.

Talk to me about what just took place. We heard about the physicality and the rugby type defense of Tennessee. But your guys came out on the second half and the second half and went on the run. What changed?

What adjustment did you make to get some of those shots off? Well, our guys, after the first seven minutes, we kind of settled in to how we play. They were moving it, sharing it. We felt like we were getting good looks and it was almost as if we were surprised. We were open and we weren't making them. We weren't focused on just making the shot. So, I did give our guys some confidence. And John L. Davis, our leading scorer, had set out the last eight minutes of the first half in foul trouble.

So, a lot of things went into it. But most importantly, our guys were confident that they felt like we played poorly and were only down five. Head Coach Dusty Mays joining us here on CBS Sports Radio FAU just beat Tennessee 62 to 55. You talk about that second half. Michael Forrest, man, he went out on a run himself. Seemed like he dropped, what, like eight consecutive points there. What did you see in him that helped move the team forward?

That was pretty much the last stand, the final drum to win the game. Well, we've seen Mike do that for five years. He's a prolific scorer. He's a winner.

He won state championship in high school. And he's probably been the cornerstone of our program over five years. And he's in a little bit of a rough patch. And he's probably had been overthinking things and wanting it too bad because he's put so much into it.

And we've talked about it as a staff several times. We're going to ride with Mike and even when he's not playing well, we're going to keep putting him in and keep getting the shot. And when the one went in, you could see a look in his eye. He had a different level of intensity and focus.

And it looked like old Mike was back because he was just hooping instead of overthinking. Well, Coach May, let me ask you this. There were a lot of conversations about the physicality of Tennessee. We heard the polite back and forths about how physical this game would be and rugby-like. And Rick Barnes says he loves rugby, et cetera. Was the defense and what they threw at you what you expected?

How did you prepare? Yeah, I mean, that was a little bit overblown. And I made that comment in jest after after I'd seen the comments on social media.

And I guess that's the danger of social media where you just read something and then you just run with it. And we don't take ourselves super serious anyway. We try to have a sense of humor. We try to have fun with this.

And so I just made a comment. And to be honest, if you said our team was incredibly physical and tough and aggressive, I would take it as a compliment because that's the way we want to play on the defensive end. But, you know, our guys, we knew the size and the mass. To be number one defensive efficiency team in the country, you have to be good in a lot of areas.

And they are. But our guys, we do feel like for the bigger teams, we're a little bit of a tough matchup because we can spread you out and we've got a lot of different weapons. Head Coach Dusty May here with us.

FAU final question. You talked about the upcoming matchup with Kansas State. It feels like half the team, the star players, are from New York City. Talk to us about the energy that you felt in MSG tonight.

What do you plan for the next game? I mean, you guys were serenaded on the way out of the Garden. Talk to us about that. Well, we're working on that.

I know they've got some Brooklyn and some of the other boroughs represented on their roster. But as, you know, we're going into it as the underdog now against the Big 12 program. And we welcome all bandwagon fans on board with us. And we're excited to play and continue competing at a high level.

And we could have more respect for the program. Coach Tang, what a job. National Coach of the Year, most likely. Their staff, a group of really good guys who happen to be great basketball coaches as well. So we're excited for the opportunity.

And obviously the MSG is icy on the cake. Hey, Coach May, congratulations. Going up against Kansas State. Keep the roll on going. Good luck to you. Thank you.

No doubt about it. Hey, guys, this is Keenan Thompson. I have a problem with you. Yes, you. None of y'all told me that Auto Trader has millions of new and used cars that I can shop from home. I thought we were friends.

I put smiles on your face, but I'm not smiling. No one told me that with Auto Trader, a dealer can deliver cars to my home or that I could shop by price on Auto Trader. No one considered this friendship that you just learned we had officially over. Finally, it's easy.

Auto Trader. This podcast is brought to you by the Showtime original series Yellow Jackets. For those of us who didn't peak in high school, those teenage years were pretty angsty. But nobody had it worse than the whiskey high Yellow Jackets girls soccer team of 1996. Yellow Jackets. The Emmy nominated phenomenon that has us all asking what really happened out there and what wouldn't you do to stay alive is back for its much anticipated second season. The team survived a plane crash and a summer stranded in the woods. But winter bites and those girls are hungry.

Plus, there might be a dark force in the wilderness compelling them to do some unsavory things. TVD. Meanwhile, 25 years later, the surviving adult Yellow Jackets are grappling with their past while getting caught up in kidnappings, cults, murders and parenting moody teenagers. Melanie Linsky and Tawny Cypress star with Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis. The Internet is obsessed and Rotten Tomatoes declared it 100 percent fresh. So if you haven't watched Yellow Jackets, it's time.

New episodes streaming now only on Showtime and now stream Showtime on Paramount Plus. Goalie gummies get you so close to your goals, you can actually taste them. The trick?

Simply start with bite sized steps like goalies. Apple cider vinegar gummies with added B vitamins for daily health or goalie ashwagandha gummies to help you relax, restore and unwind. Tastes like wellness.

Just got a whole lot better. And when goals taste this good, it's easy to achieve them. Goalie taste your goals. Learn more at goalie dot com today.