Kevin Willard quote book: DePaul

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

On allowing 97 points to DePaul:
"Obviously in the second half, their inside game really dominated, but I thought we had some breakdowns in the first half that really hurt us. I thought we were doing a good job on (Max) Strus, and we let him get loose early a little bit late in the first half, and that really kind of gave them momentum. We just couldn't get a stop or a rebound in the second half."

On lack of rebounding aside from Sandro Mamukelashvili:
"That happened to us in the first game (at DePaul), and that kind of happened again tonight. They just -- we let them get in the lane a little bit too much, whether it was dribble penetration or coming off screens -- if you have to step up and help, it kind of gets you out of rebounding position. Sandro, I thought he did a good job fighting all night, but we just were letting guys get in the lane a little bit too much, and it's putting pressure on our guys."

On defending DePaul's forwards with Romaro Gill out and Michael Nzei in foul trouble:
"Yeah, the foul trouble really hurt, especially not having Mike late in the second half, but we're looking forward to getting Ro back here -- I think next Sunday -- so these guys, their effort's great, their activity's great. We've just got to execute better. Our execution over the last three or four games has been a little less than stellar."

On starting Darnell Brodie:
"To be honest with you, I knew going in that Femi (Olujobi) has been killing everybody. He's been putting a hurting on everybody, and we're trying to save Sandro for as many minutes as possible of being down there and banging him, and I think it started off okay, but it didn't end up all that great."

On fouling DePaul prematurely:
"Yeah, that's something we'll go back and watch. But these guys, they fought the whole way. They got down, they never give up. We had our chances, and again, that's something that -- as we get older and get a little more mature -- I think they'll make the right plays."

On his message after giving up 97 points:
"We'd been playing pretty good defense, to be honest with you. Our numbers are pretty good. We've just got to use this week to kind of get back to being solid. We've got into some bad habits without practice -- we're gambling too much, we're reaching too much, and we've just got to get back to getting solid. I think this week will be good for us to kind of get back into a good rhythm defensively. But they've been working, they're out there working hard. We've just got to be a little bit more solid."

On growing pains and execution issues contributing to Seton Hall's slump:
"I think it's definitely a little bit of growing pains, but I think it's also not having one of your main centers for 22 minutes a game. Ro is a big loss, and it's kind of weird how the schedule can sometimes get you where you play a team like this where you need Ro, so it's one of those things that's kind of a little bit of youth, it's a little bit of execution, but I've got a lot of confidence in these guys. I've got a lot of confidence going forward that, with some time off to get these guys rested a little bit, get them mentally back refreshed, I think it'll do them good."

On whether Saturday's result could be expected with a young team:
"Hopefully the older guys -- Mike and Myles Powell -- they've been through this before a little bit, and we're only seven games into conference play, so it's not like we're 17. We've still got a lot of time. I think we definitely need to recharge emotionally to kind of get back to playing emotionally at a little bit higher level, but again, I think this week will really give us a chance to do that."

On Quincy McKnight and Myles Cale's productivity helping Seton Hall moving forward:
"I thought -- even in the Providence game -- I thought Q was really picking the right spots. He just missed some shots in the Providence game, but I just think he's being aggressive at the right times. He also had nine assists and two turnovers, so for Q's game, I think he's starting to really find his groove offensively. And Myles Cale, I think he got on the break tonight, he got some easy stuff. He's been working hard on his shooting, and it's good to see that that's paying off. I like where Q is, and I know Myles Cale is going to continue playing well."