Kevin Willard quote book: NJIT

*All quotes courtesy of Seton Hall University's Facebook Live stream*

On why Angel Delgado did not play for the final 18:14 of regulation:
"On one of the last drives, he tripped over Abdul's leg (NJIT's Abdul Lewis), kind of -- nothing major, just a little calf -- kind of minor thing and then I just wasn't gonna put him back in. He's logged a lot of minutes already early in the season, so the big fella, he's been a workhorse, so I wasn't gonna mess around with that and just technically give him kind of a night off, which he deserves."

On Sandro Mamukelashvili (11 points, 9 rebounds) filling in for Delgado:
"Yeah, Sandro -- that was the frustrating thing with Sandro. We had a great talk last night, watched some film. It was so minor with some of the stuff he was getting frustrated on, it was just showing him that he was doing everything right, but he was just a second late, a step slow, or maybe just in the wrong position. Just fixing those things is going to put him in position to get a rebound, to get something going good his way, and I thought he gave us great energy."

On slow starts in each of Seton Hall's first four games:
"You're gonna -- especially when you play local teams, you're going to get their best shot, especially early. I think our depth is kind of helping wearing teams down, but you're going to get everyone's best shot that first 10, 12, 13 minutes. We've had some good runs early. It's just sustaining that energy early on, but for the most part, I felt comfortable where we are."

On Seton Hall's difference in the second half:
"I thought we really did a good job on them defensively, making them take tough shots. That led us to some easy buckets, and I thought we were more efficient offensively. I thought the ball went more from side-to-side, guys were kind of getting second and third ball reversals. That gave us some great drives."

On Isaiah Whitehead's tweet predicting Myles Cale would be a program legend:

Mark My Words 🗣

Myles Cale Will Be A Top 10 Pirate Of All Time 🙏🏾⚓️

— Isaiah Whitehead (@IsaiahW_15) November 18, 2017

"I have no comment."

On Eron Gordon and his role as Khadeen Carrington's backup at point guard:

"Yeah, I thought EG did a really good job. Three assists, seven points, I thought he defended really well. I thought he was a little more comfortable in that position considering that Jordan's going to be out for about three weeks, maybe a little bit more than that. I thought throwing him into the fire against Indiana was a little tough, but I thought he looked much more comfortable out there and had a better feeling for what we were trying to do."

On Jordan Walker and his thumb injury:

"He has a torn ligament in his thumb. He could have played and we could have taped it up, he could have went the season, but we decided to go the safe route, just make sure we get it healed now and we don't have to mess with it at the end of the year."

On Desi Rodriguez:

"Desi's an elite player. That's all I'm gonna say about Desi right now. He's put the work in, he's got the confidence, he's scoring in so many different ways. He's just -- he's playing at a very high level with his brain, too. He's not a one-dimensional player, which makes him tough to defend, and he's finally embraced the fact that he can get an easy bucket posting up, getting on the break, and he can obviously do what he needs to do outside."

On Thursday's matchup against Rhode Island:

"I really can't do much besides get ready for the game. I think we're celebrating Thanksgiving on Sunday because we're off Saturday. We'll celebrate Thanksgiving as a team Sunday."

"I think every time, obviously going forward, most of the teams we play, it's a good opportunity for us. Obviously Rhody, Danny (Hurley) has done a phenomenal job there, you've got Vandy, Virginia, then you've got Texas Tech coming up, you've got Louisville coming up, VCU. We have a stretch right now where everyone on our schedule gives us a good opportunity."