Butler 69, La Salle 58: Quotes From Stevens & Giannini

Andrew Smith was one of five Bulldogs in double figures as Butler moved past La Salle 69-58 and into Atlantic 10 semifinal matchup with Saint Louis.  (Photo courtesy of The Sporting News)

Butler head coach Brad Stevens' opening statement:
"I thought we played well for the majority of the game, we had a lot of contributions from a number of guys.  La Salle's a tough team to guard because they drive it so well."

On playing in Brooklyn and potentially at Madison Square Garden:
"I'm not worried about that, (playing at Madison Square Garden) but I think it's an honor to play here in Brooklyn.  This is a great tournament, and I feel like it's going pretty well so far."

On La Salle and their postseason future:
"Ramon Galloway's a good player, and a heck of a defender, which is why we put our best defender (Roosevelt Jones) on him.  You have to pay him a lot of attention.  I certainly hope they make the NCAA Tournament, because they'd be a hard matchup.  We're better two months later because we played La Salle twice and because of the way they played, we're better now after the blowout loss at VCU."

On the different styles in the Atlantic 10 and Butler's next game against Saint Louis:
"When we were in the Horizon League, it was more of a Midwest style.  Here, it's all over the map the way we all play.  I'm not one of the guys that buys into it being hard to beat a team three times.  There's a reason why Saint Louis beat us twice, (Dwayne) Evans hurt us both times.  They do a lot of things so well.  When somebody watches them on tape next week, whoever hasn't seen them in person, they're going to say 'Uh-oh.'"

La Salle head coach Dr. John Giannini's opening statement:
"We lost to a good team.  Their defense, their size and their rebounding had a lot to do with our frustrations.  This wasn't our best game, we had some opportunities and they just didn't go for us."

On making a case for an NCAA Tournament berth:
"I don't think I should.  Our record speaks for itself, finishing third in our league speaks for itself.  We have some high-level wins.  There's no question that if we win today, we're in.  Now, we might be at the mercy of some other schools."

On Brad Stevens:
"He's built a culture over there.  I credit him with building a program, because that's what he's done."

On La Salle's preparation for today's game:
"In hindsight, we probably didn't do a good enough job this week.  I was a little disappointed with the week we had, we weren't getting a great practice and a great physical effort.  It's hard to squeeze blood out of a rock in March, and I think fatigue was a big factor for us.  It really hurt us today."

On watching the rest of the bubble play out:
"I think the job of the committee is to pick who the best teams are.  I don't think they're going to be surprised by considering La Salle.  I'm going to drive myself nuts, because you live and die watching every play of these games.  You know who needs to win and who needs to lose.  Hopefully, we're judged by our first 30 games as opposed to our last two, and our last two losses were to Final Four-caliber teams."