Kevin Willard quote book: Villanova

On the final play of the game:
“With four seconds left, you have to look at it two ways: If you miss it and don’t get the rebound — which the odds are about 0.4 percent of total teams miss a free throw — and then you foul and they make both free throws, the game’s over. So by making both free throws and now they’re having trouble getting the basketball in, it gives you a chance at least to now have a shot if they make both, you could still tie it. If there was two seconds left in that range, then you have to miss it, but it couldn’t have worked out any better. We almost got a 5-second call and then they miss a free throw, we do exactly what we’re supposed to do and get a wide open shot. Again, pretty good for only having 3.4 seconds left.”

On using Wednesday’s loss as motivational fuel:
“Emotionally, it’s going to take us a long time to get over this one just because of senior night, but absolutely. It’s what I told the team. I said, ‘Guys, you know this was a great college game, two of the top teams in the country played against each other.’ I have so much respect for what Jay does with them and how they play, and this hurts right now, but it doesn’t take away anything from what this team has done all year long — the schedule we’ve played, the road wins we have — no matter what happens on Saturday, we’re still (Big East) co-champions, so to be in that situation? This will hurt tomorrow, but I have a lot of confidence in this team to kind of bounce back, and I think that’s the biggest thing. I’m struggling with Quincy and Myles a little bit, I’ve put a lot of miles on them and I’m trying to get them emotionally charged back up. This has been a grind, and our schedule has not helped the fact that we’ve played such a hard schedule and so many big games. My biggest goal right now is just to get those two guys emotionally charged back up, because it’s been a very emotional season for both of them.”

On Wednesday’s home crowd:
“It has nothing to do with me, but I think a lot of people just enjoy how hard this team has played and what type of kids they are. They’re fun to watch. Everywhere I go, recruiting, it doesn’t matter where we are, it’s amazing how many compliments we get about how the team plays. It’s the greatest compliment you can get as a coach when someone that’s not alumni or a fan just comes up to you and says, ‘Hey, we love the way your kids play.’ The crowds have been great all year, they really have. Our fans have come out, the crowd tonight was phenomenal. Emotionally, we were a little wrecked early on, and that really hurt us.”

On Villanova’s offense:
“Jay went back to an old package which he used against St. John’s a little bit. He just went back to his old keep series, which he fakes a dribble handoff and he posts up and runs back for a re-screen, and they’re so good at moving and passing, getting to the lane and jump-stop. He kind of went away from Gillespie running as many pick-and-rolls, because I think Collin has had a phenomenal year, but I think he’s a little worn out too with that. So I think the biggest thing I’ve seen in the last three games is he’s kind of come back to his post package, kind of what he did with (Kris) Jenkins and that team, and that really threw us off. (Jeremiah) Robinson-Earl was being a pain in our butt, to be honest with you. Ro’s had a phenomenal year and he didn’t play great tonight, but he’s done so many great things for us.”

On senior night and Myles Powell:
“Myles is like my third son, so it’s different. I got a little emotional, but I’d been prepared for this for a while. This is different. We’ve gone through so many ups and downs off the court together and we’ve always stayed together, I think that’s why I love the kid so much. No matter what happens, we’ve always had each other’s back. It was emotional for me, but I got emotional last night at dinner, so for me, last night was more emotional than tonight. He was worse last night than he was today. I thought his dad was going to kill him when he started crying.”

“Our senior nights have turned into something very special for these kids. I’ve had now — starting with Angel and Desi’s senior night, Mike’s senior night last year — we’ve had guys come in the program for four years, we’ve had a lot of guys stay for a long time. They become like your children, I hate to say this. I just saw Mike outside, and we’re talking about the stock market and what we’re going to do after the season. We’ve built something really good here, and kids love coming back here, kids really love playing here. Kids love being in the program, and when you see them for the last time on your home court, it’s emotional, it’s hard.”

On bouncing back Saturday at Creighton:
“I have — I’ve said this, I’m just repeating myself — I have tremendous confidence in this team. It’s a tough loss. Villanova’s great, man, they’re a good basketball team. We had a shot to beat them at the buzzer for the (Big East) championship, it happened last year and we missed one. It happened this year — damn, hopefully one of these days, we’ll make one — but I love this basketball team, I love their heart. I love how much it means to them, I love the fact that they’re all hurting right now. If they didn’t care and it didn’t hurt, then they wouldn’t bounce back. But they do. They’re all in there crying, and I was like, ‘Everyone just chill out, we’ve still got a game left and we’ve got a Big East tournament, we’ve got an NCAA Tournament, we’re going to have the best seed we’ve ever had.’ I’ve got very high expectations for this basketball team.”

On Villanova’s Saddiq Bey and the challenges he presents:
“Everything. That kid can play. I can’t wait to see him in the NBA next year. I hope the Knicks get him, because obviously everyone knows I’m a huge Knicks fan, but man, that kid is the real deal. If you go big on him, he can take you on the outside, if you go small on him, he’s going to post you up. I think the biggest thing is just his confidence in shooting the basketball, the difference from last year to this year is night and day. Every time he steps in to shoot the basketball, it looks like it’s going in, and that doesn’t happen very often. He’s a special player. He’ll be in the NBA next year.”