Kevin Willard quote book: Prairie View A&M

By Jaden Daly (@jadendaly) and Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

On difference in the second half:
“Prairie View, when I watched them, I knew was going to be a dogfight. They’ve got good players and they play really hard. Coming off an emotional win the other night, I was worried — because we’re not shooting the basketball great — that if we started missing shots early, which we did — we just kind of got a little deflated, but I thought Tyrese, in the second half, kind of coming in and giving us a good energy spark was a big difference.”

On the Big East’s overall strength:
“I think the greatest thing about it is the fact that every night, they have a chance to get a big win. There were times where there was pressure that you didn’t get a bad loss, and now, you have an opportunity — everybody, one through ten, has an opportunity — to get a huge win. There’s no letdown. I knew it was going to be really good, but I think the way Butler’s playing, how good St. John’s and DePaul are playing, those are the three best teams. You look at what they’ve done and how they’re playing, it’s an opportunity every night. I think everyone’s going to have an opportunity to get a big win.”

On how Seton Hall handled non-conference play:
“My goal was 9-3, that was my goal. I thought that was realistic with the amount of road games we’ve had to play — and we’ve played three true road games, three neutral games. We’ve played the second-hardest schedule besides Kansas, according to KenPom, out of the power six. When you play the second-hardest schedule and you play three true road games — I mean, the Saint Louis win is, I think, gets better and better as the days go on — and then to handle the injury situation, I think the hardest part about that injury situation was the fact that they happened so early in each game and on the road. We didn’t handle those injuries overly well at that time, but I think the fact that we’ve had some time to come back and practice, I’m really proud of where we are, what kind of position we are going forward.”

On ball control in the second half:
“I just think Anthony Nelson kind of woke up and took control a little bit, was a little bit more aggressive. And again, for him, it’s his first time he’s had to go back-to-back 36 minutes. I think it took him a little time to get going, but I think once Ant got going, was able to get Q involved a little bit, I think that was the biggest difference.”

On Tyrese Samuel:
“I put Ty at the five spot, just because Ro and Ike, against teams like this, really struggle, it’s just harder. He’s just doing exactly what you hope talented freshmen do, is they stay patient and they keep working, and he’s going to continue to get better and better. And we’re going to need him with the amount of physicality that we’re going to see, knowing DePaul, Xavier, those type of teams.”

On Myles Powell and having him on the bench:
“It was terrible! I want him on the floor! He’s doing great, he just started the concussion protocol the other day. I don’t know what that is, I have no idea, it’s way more technical, but he’s progressing. There’s a shot that he could play at DePaul, but it’s a long shot. I still don’t think that, right now, that’s a possibility. We’re hoping to get him back to practice after this break, and then kind of work him hopefully for the Georgetown game. I think that’s a realistic goal right now.”