USF’s Jamaree Bouyea Ignites Controversy With Late-Game Dunk Against BYU
Mar 6, 2022, 12:48 AM | Updated: 12:48 am
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 05: Jamaree Bouyea #1 of the San Francisco Dons dunks against the Brigham Young Cougars late in their game during the West Coast Conference basketball tournament quarterfinals at the Orleans Arena on March 05, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Dons defeated the Cougars 75-63. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS – University of San Francisco senior guard Jamaree Bouyea sealed his team’s 75-63 victory over BYU Saturday night with a thunderous two-handed jam that earned him a technical foul, cheers from USF fans and jeers from Cougar fans inside The Orleans Arena. The immediate question in the aftermath of the game was what was the message Bouyea was sending with the slam.
“It was kind of personal,” Bouyea told reporters. “We played at BYU and they said some things in the game. It was a little chippy and it was just kind of physical and went kind of sideways, but I think that was kind of personal and I just went for the dog bite to the end of the buzzer.”
#BYU fans boo’d after Bouyea’s dunk in the final seconds.#BYUHoops #KSLVegasMayhem pic.twitter.com/pbrBRA5WAz
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 6, 2022
Dons head coach Todd Golden then interjected, adding that “I might have told him to go dunk it as well.”
Later, Golden was asked to clarify his comment(s) on the dunk and if there was any “bad blood” between the Dons and Cougars.
“No, it was just an exclamation point to a great game,” Golden explained. “They were still competing. (We have) a lot of respect for Coach Pope and his program. I think he’s a great coach. I love it. The guys on the staff, whether it be Nick (Robinson), Chris (Burgess), or Cody (Fueger), I think they do a really good job. It’s no bad blood; it’s two really good programs competing at an insanely high level that are going to play all 40 minutes of the game.
San Francisco coach Todd Golden was asked if there’s bad blood between USF and #BYU because of the slam dunk at the end of the game.
“No. It was an exclamation point to a great game.”#KSLVegasMayhem pic.twitter.com/S8kBaptkdG
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 6, 2022
“I think I would expect them to do something similar, so not bad blood, just wanted to give one of my guys an opportunity to put an exclamation mark on a huge win for a program one that’s probably you know, one of the biggest wins in the last 35 years because I think it secures our NCAA Tournament bid.”
When asked by KSL Sports if he knew what might have been said or what happened in the game in Provo that would have led Bouyea to dunk the ball, BYU guard Spencer Johnson demurred.
#BYU puts their postseason fate in the hands of the NCAA Selection Committee after losing to San Francisco in the WCC Tournament.@Mitch_Harper and @JacobCHatch with the postgame wrap from Las Vegas.#BYUHoops #GoCougs #WCCHoops
pic.twitter.com/tILsnaI9de— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 6, 2022
“I don’t know what that was about…Yeah, I don’t know what it was,” Johnson said.
Mark Pope was also asked about the dunk and he was circumspect in his thoughts.
“You’ve got two teams playing as hard as they can, and they won. And so I don’t know have any comment. If we don’t want that to happen, we should win the game. So we got to play well enough, tough enough to win. Our guys did play tough enough; we just didn’t quite play well enough.”
No matter what the impetus for the jam, it could and should lend itself to some extra motivation for the Cougars when the two teams square off in WCC play next season.
