Kevin Willard quote book: Big East conference call

*All quotes courtesy of Andrew Goldstein, Marquette Wire Sports*

On Seton Hall's progress through non-conference season and Thursday's game against Creighton:
"I've been really pleased with the way we've played so far. We challenged ourselves with a tough non-conference schedule, and I thought our guys really did a great job of accepting the challenge. We only really didn't play well in one game, and so from that standpoint -- from a mental standpoint -- I'm really pleased. Creighton is -- I think Greg (McDermott) has done as good a job as anybody in the league this year with his team. They're extremely balanced, they're deep, they play such a fast pace offensively that they always have teams on their heels, and I really like their young guards. They've come in and really given them some good depth."

On Ismael Sanogo's status and possible return from suspension:
"There's no update at this point."

On defending Creighton's Marcus Foster:
"Well, we're going to have to -- the tough thing, what makes Marcus so hard to defend is the pace at which he plays offensively. You really don't have a chance to really just stick one guy on him because of the pace he plays at. He really gets down the floor, he spaces you out, and then when he gets it, he really attacks you. I think it's just going to be everyone understanding where he is. Again, it's just hard to really take him away because he does a great job of running the floor, so it's really going to have to be a team effort on him and on (Khyri) Thomas, because both those kids do such a great job of running the floor."

On his message to Khadeen Carrington:
"I think Khadeen is playing great. The biggest message that I've had for Khadeen all season, even when he wasn't shooting the ball great, was to look at all the positives he was doing. His steals were up, his assist-to-turnover ratio was way up, his free throw percentage was way up; and the way our field goal percentage and our team field goal percentage is way up, that's a direct correlation of how he's playing and how he's getting guys involved. I think the biggest think over the last couple weeks, what I've tried to really harp on Khadeen is the team's playing good because our point guard is playing good, and he's our point guard. I think when he realized that he was doing a lot of good things, it took a lot of pressure off him trying to make shots all the time."

On Creighton's two-point field goal efficiency and defending the paint:
"It's not an easy thing to do. You really have to make sure that you take good shots on your offensive end. You can't come down and take quick shots and let them get in a rhythm where they can just get out and run, because they do as good a job as anybody in the country; whether it's a make or miss, of just pushing the pace and getting their wings deep in the corners where they have you spaced out. And once they're spaced, you're obviously worried about Foster shooting, about Thomas shooting, (Toby) Hegner shooting it. They all fake it and drive it, they kick. I think what a lot of people don't talk about with Creighton is how unselfish they are. They are an extremely unselfish basketball team. They're getting 20 assists a game with only 11 turnovers. I think you've really got to take your time on your offensive end, make them work a little bit, and not take quick shots because they really capitalize off of that."

On Big East play and Seton Hall hitting a higher gear:
"Obviously with league play, and I think one of the greatest things with this league is the older guys know the coaches, they know how they play. They know the players and how good they are, and they understand that if they don't put it into another gear, that they're going to get embarrassed, they're going to lose games. I think the older guys in this league, from sophomores on, really understand how good of coaches we have and how good of players we have in this league, and that you've really gotta step it up to the next level."