Kevin Willard quote book: Saint Louis

On the game's final possession, where Sandro Mamukelashvili's three-point attempt for the win bounced off the rim:
"I actually thought Q (Quincy McKnight) pushed it, jump-stopped, found an open guy and got an open shot, so I was happy."

On the difference in the game:
"We've done this twice now...we did it at Nebraska, too. I thought we were in a really good mindset defensively, I thought we were doing a really good job early in the half, and we had two major breakdowns with No. 4, (Dion) Wiley. The only thing we told our guys to do was not let that guy shoot, and he got two threes, and it kind of just -- they've been struggling to shoot -- it really gave them a lot of life. It gave them a big boost because they were really struggling to score, and he popped two, and the next thing you know, we didn't react well."

On Myles Powell and getting more shots:
"He's gotta get a little bit more used to -- this is all new for him -- he didn't get face-guarded last year. He didn't get double-teamed off pick-and-rolls, and this is all a big learning process of him being aggressive from the start. He's just not used to doing that right now, and the more he sees it, the more he's going to get used to it and the more he'll be able to recognize and understand what he's got to do."

On Taurean Thompson only playing six minutes:
"We're trying to figure out, most importantly -- not offensively, he did some good things and everybody missed some layups -- I'm trying to match him up with somebody that can help him defensively. He's really worked hard at it, he's gotten much better in the three weeks. It's just a matter of trying to get him to match up, put him on the floor with someone that can really help him defensively, whether it's either Mike (Nzei) or Sandro, but then it's not just those two. I've gotta try to get other guys around him that can help him defensively. He hasn't grasped everything we're doing yet, and he eventually will, but until he does, that's a work in progress."

On how much McKnight can aid Seton Hall's growth:
"I think Q has to -- I really like the way he was aggressive in the second half -- again, for him, it's him getting used to a different level of competition, a different level of intensity. I really like the way he responded in the second half, I thought he was good and aggressive. One of our biggest issues on offense is we're not making more than one or two passes right now, and guys are a little bit antsy to try and do something, and it's causing us some trouble."

On what he needs to see heading into the Wooden Legacy tournament:
"I'm looking forward to getting out there. I say that now, but I'm looking forward to getting out there and kind of getting these guys away from everything and giving them a chance to kind of maybe give them a little change of scenery, a change of pace, change of practice, and most importantly, get games under our belt. I think the more games we get under our belt, the better this group is going to get. This group's gonna get a lot better. I like the way they compete, I like the way they're working. It's just a matter of getting a little bit more confidence as a group."

On Seton Hall's non-conference schedule:
"Ask me after Anaheim or after Louisville. The only game I'm not happy about is the Nebraska game. I didn't schedule that game, I don't know why they shipped us out there. Beating teams by 40 obviously didn't teach us anything. We won by 40 in our first opening night, and obviously that didn't teach us anything. I think these games are going to teach us more about this group and let this group learn more than anything else. If you play nine teams and you're beating everybody by 40, and then all of a sudden you're playing somebody and you can't win a game, either way, it doesn't matter."

On Seton Hall's pace of learning and whether it is on par with what he'd like to see:
"Not yet, but that's with inexperienced teams, everybody's gotta be a little patient. Everybody's got to be patient with this group. They work hard enough. I like where they're going. I don't like the results, obviously, but I have a lot of confidence that this group will continue to work and continue to get better."

On how to get Myles Cale going:
"I've gotta get Myles to really focus on being our defensive stopper. I think that's one of the things that he has a great ability to do, and I've gotta get him to be a guy that can really defend for us. He'll get it offensively, he's a talented enough kid."

On creating turnovers:
"I was really happy with the way we created turnovers, but we didn't capitalize off those. There were too many turnovers where we just didn't get a chance to kind of finish off those. Either we turned it off or we didn't take a good enough shot, but that kind of shows me that they're working, that they're creating those turnovers. We're not capitalizing off that, and that's probably the next phase of getting better, capitalizing off good defense and off working hard."