Kevin Willard quote book: Maryland

On what Saturday's win over Maryland told him about Seton Hall as a team:
"I think it's shown me how far we've come from really late November-early December to now. I think we've really progressed nicely. I think we still have some -- we've really got to make some bigger jumps as we move into league play, but I think we've really progressed nicely."

On starting Romaro Gill alongside Sandro Mamukelashvili in place of Michael Nzei:
"That second unit's been playing and practicing great, and the reason I started him was because we got killed so bad on the boards and Sandro's trying to battle seven-footers, and (Bruno) Fernando's just a different beast. He's just not setting screens, he's down there posting up, and I wanted to give Ro a chance and really give Sandro a chance not to have to start the game and really get beaten up. Mike handled it great. It's something that -- it's not like -- Mike's gonna be starting the next game. It's just something that was as simple as, 'We've gotta start,' and Sandro's been shooting the basketball well. I wanted to get off to a good start and really put some pressure on them defensively. I started Ro because of Fernando."

On Quincy McKnight's defense and similarities to Madison Jones at point guard:
"I think defensively, we start with Q, and I think the job he did on (Anthony) Cowan, the job he's done all year long on everyone he's played has been tremendous. I think the similarities are that they've both embraced the role of being that guy that's gotta get a stop."

On starting in a 2-3 zone defense:
"They had eleven days off to get ready for us, and we haven't played a whole lot of zone, and again, just to try to maybe get them off kilter a little bit and kind of adjust to us a little bit instead of us adjusting to them with the eleven days off."

On Myles Cale's emergence:
"Myles Cale has been doing everything right on the court. He's defending at a high level, he's starting to rebound. The only thing is he's been taking too many tough shots, and I think tonight -- we've just been trying to harp on him, just take the ones that are open, and if not, be aggressive trying to get to the rim -- and I think he took all good shots tonight. He was patient, he didn't force it, and I think he played great."

On how Seton Hall handled its non-conference schedule:
"Pretty darn well. I was hoping, to be honest with you, to be 8-4. I thought that 8-4 would be great for this group and put us in good position. Being 9-3 is tremendous."

On what Saturday's win does for team morale:
"We've been having great morale. We've been playing good basketball ever since, really, the Louisville game, and I actually thought we played good in the Louisville game. We just didn't finish the Louisville game. But I think we've been playing really good for the last, really, 20 days, so our morale has been pretty darn good."

On being 9-3 with wins over Kentucky and Maryland:
"I think it says a lot. I think playing Kentucky in the Garden and getting the win in the Garden was great for this team. I think it gave them a lot of confidence going into the Big East tournament, and I think this win -- more than anything -- I think this team's a team that can win the Big Ten."

On defending Anthony Cowan:
"Nothing crazy, just understanding tendencies, trying to get him to go to his right a little bit more than letting him go to his left, but for the most part, just kind of shadowing him a little bit, almost like they did with us with Powell."

On Seton Hall's resilience down the stretch:
"I think Jalen Smith's corner three was a big one -- you know, shot clock going down -- I think (Darryl) Morsell's three...we came back, and just getting the ball to Myles Powell's hands. And I think Myles Powell did -- not only did he score great, but I thought he made the right passes to the right guys at the right time."