Kevin Willard quote book: Big East conference call

Opening statement:
"It was really just a good, tough battle last night. I thought both teams played really hard, made some good plays down the stretch, and I was happy with the way we ended the game and made some good plays down the stretch. Obviously, we have a huge test ahead of us with Marquette, not only because of how well Markus Howard's playing, but I think overall, how well Steve (Wojciechowski) has them playing defensively and how hard they're playing, so it's going to be a big challenge for us."

On Myles Powell and how coachable he is due to his unselfish nature:
"I think what makes him so coachable is the fact that he's a genuinely great kid, he's got a great heart and he wants all his teammates to do well. It's never him first, he's always thinking about his teammates, and when you have an unselfish player on the court and off the court, it just makes it that much more fun to coach, and it's a big reason why he's been so successful, because his teammates want him to be successful because he wants his teammates to be successful."

On bracketology and NCAA Tournament projections, and maintaining focus:
"Three or four years ago, I tried to get kids not to think about it, but the problem is with social media now, it's impossible to get them not to be aware of it or hear about it, so I've actually embraced it and I've talked about it, and we use all the analytics -- the numbers, the NET rankings, the RPI -- we use bracketology about what wins can do, what seeding means, the importance of road wins or home wins. I've kind of gone the other way, and we talk about it on an almost-weekly basis about other teams we're playing and the teams we've played, and how it can help you, and the importance of seeding, because it's obviously the most important thing in the NCAA Tournament. I've just embraced it and taken all those analytics and tried to educate our guys so that when they see that stuff, they kind of understand it."

On Markus Howard and what makes him such an effective scorer:
"I think what Markus does -- first of all, he has a tremendous motor -- the amount of minutes he plays, he doesn't dog it on defense, the kid works on defense. The first thing he does is he has a tremendous motor and he's never standing still, so they're going to bring him off triple screens, they're going to bring him off fade screens, they're going to bring him off down screens, and most importantly, I think one of the things he's most improved on -- and what's made him unbelievably tough to defend -- he's really started to shoot the ball going to his right much better than he did last year. I think in years past, you could kind of shade him to his right a little bit and you could kind of get away with him shooting a tougher jump shot than him going to his left, but I've been so impressed with him with the fact that he's shooting going to his right just as good as he's shooting going to his left. I just think he never stops moving, he never stops working at it, and I think when you're a small guard, if you don't have a good motor, you're easy to defend. He's got a great motor, and he really works at trying to score in different ways."

On comparisons between Howard and Myles Powell:
"I think they both have unbelievable range. You've got to guard them when they get off the bus, and I think they both have a very willing -- they're both very willing to pass the basketball. Just because they have it doesn't mean they're going to shoot it. I think Markus is very underrated for the fact that he gets his teammates involved and makes right decisions, and I think that's something that Myles also does."

On what makes Marquette so good on its home floor:
"I think the beer and brats are really good there, and it's something that Northeast guys aren't really used to. I haven't been to their new building either. I heard their new building's beautiful, but even in their own building, they've always -- it's always been a very engaged crowd. I've always felt they're not fans that sit on their hands and wait for something to happen. They've always had a good student turnout, and I think now with their new building, it's only enhanced that experience."

On other factors for Marquette besides Howard:
"I've been really impressed with Joey Hauser, but we're also going to focus on Sacar Anim a little bit, because he really hurt us last year. He's out there for 30 minutes, and he does so much for them driving the basketball, he puts a lot of pressure on getting into the paint and getting guys in foul trouble. He does a great job of getting guys into the paint, kicking inside to out and getting guys shots. He really hurt us in both games last year, and you really have to worry about both Hausers just because they score in so many different ways. Obviously, they can shoot the basketball, but both of them can bring it down, post you up, and I've been really impressed with how good Theo John has been defensively for them."

On discussing the inner workings of bracketology:
"I don't do it individually. It's more of combining your opponent with their numbers and your numbers, and understanding how those numbers all affect seeding, so it's never like, 'Hey, if we win this game, you're gonna be a 1-seed, if you lose this game, you'll be a 20-seed.' I never put it on one game, then you're putting pressure on that game. It's more or less trying to make sure that with all the things that we're hearing, we're educating them on what those numbers are, and them understanding the importance of those numbers. I never just say, 'Well, the Kentucky game, and if we win this game, that's great.' It's never individualized, it's always grouped as pairings."

"I remember Khadeen (Carrington) and Angel (Delgado) about three years ago were talking about it, the bracketology came out on ESPN, and they were talking about it like they didn't really understand it. You'd be surprised at college kids, sometimes they're in such a bubble. They don't always understand what's going on, so I think -- and we sat down in a team meeting and I asked them questions about what KenPom is and what the RPI is -- and none of them knew what the hell I was talking about. And so from that standpoint on, we've had weekly meetings about what our numbers are, what our defensive numbers are, what our offensive numbers are. I just think it helped for them to kind of understand the importance of certain things."