Kevin Willard quote book: Villanova

On Seton Hall bouncing back with wins over Marquette and Villanova:
"I told the team the way they bounced back after Saturday's loss at Georgetown, they came in with a great attitude. They came in Monday and practiced great, came in Tuesday and practiced really well, and I had a good feeling going into this week just because of their attitude. I thought their attitude was phenomenal after a hard-fought loss at Georgetown, and I thought their attitude kind of set up the rest of the week."

On Seton Hall's collective effort with Myles Powell not having to carry a heavy load:
"I think Sandro played the other night with a really bad contusion on his thigh and really gutted it out, and for them -- and Myles Cale's been getting a lot of attention -- I think for the sophomores to kind of step up in this stage, I think it's great, I think it's a great learning experience for them, and I think the fact that Myles Powell had the confidence to keep hitting them, I thought that gave them a huge lift."

On Seton Hall's NCAA Tournament chances:
"I'm just excited that we're going to end up third or fourth (in the Big East). Getting picked eighth and for this team to finish where we are and beat Kentucky, beat Maryland, have the wins that we've had, I'm more or less going to enjoy that right now."

On ending the regular season with two home games:
"We've only had two home games back-to-back one other time in conference play, and we've obviously had back-to-back road games quite a bit. So for us to kind of -- again, we had a bye week last week -- it's big when you can have back-to-back home games. When you're not traveling, it makes practices better, kids are in their same routine, they're going to class. It's a much better rhythm."

On Michael Nzei and his impact on the program:
"You don't have enough time on that camera. You don't. I'll miss everything about Michael. He's been with me five years. We were laughing about it last night, he got in trouble one time his whole time with me -- I mean, that's like a miracle -- he's represented this program. He does not get enough credit. He's just as big a part as Isaiah, Khadeen, Desi, Angel, Ish. He was huge. When he came back, it just gave confidence in me knowing that someone's going to pass down the baton, and he's a guy that takes a lot of pride in how he does things, takes a lot of pride in what this program means, and I think he's done a phenomenal job of passing that baton to this next group."

On Jared Rhoden maturing late in the season:
"He's kind of going the way that most freshmen do. He's starting to get some time, he's starting to get comfortable. This league is brutal for freshmen, and what I love about Jared is he just has a great energy, has a great vibe about him at all times. There's nothing negative with Jared, and I think that's really helped him kind of play well."

On full-court pressure:
"We've been struggling to score. Marquette's a rhythm offense. If you let (Markus) Howard  come down and just kind of run their plays, you're can't stop them, and the same thing with Villanova. If you let (Phil) Booth and (Eric) Paschall start getting into their rhythm, they're too good offensively, and Jay and Steve (Wojciechowski) are too good offensively as coaches to kind of just let them call plays. So my whole mindset over the last week was we were going to do some things that I've never done. We pressed with 1:20 on the sideline to get a huge turnover. I haven't done that since at Xavier four years ago, so my whole mindset this week was to try to disrupt them as much offensively, and maybe we could create some tempo and get some easy buckets."

On Saturday's win relieving stress heading into next week's Big East tournament:
"I think I've said this a million times: Every chance you have to play in the Big East tournament is special, and our 100 percent main focus right now is to try to win a Big East championship. Getting into Thursday's huge because obviously you don't have to play the Wednesday game, but just the fact that there's not one time you step in that building -- especially in the Big East tournament -- that you're not going to remember it, and I think the biggest thing with this young team is that to get them there, get them the experience and get them to understand what it takes to win three games in a row, four games in a row, and to build off that."

On the overall strength of the Big East:
"I think the biggest difference between this year and years past is that we have no bottom. I don't want to play DePaul. In years past, you looked at, 'Can we get DePaul?' I want nothing to do with them. I want nothing to do with Xavier. I just think there's no bottom. Where everybody thought there was going to be a bottom, the bottom got much, much better. The top got a little bit softer, but I don't think that much, and I think that's the difference between our league and other leagues, it's the fact that it's just so well-balanced this year. And I hate to say it, next year's going to be even more brutal, because I just think everyone -- Creighton gets older, we get older, 'Nova's going to be getting what they have coming in."

On today's ranking among great Seton Hall moments in his tenure:
"Probably second. Last year's senior night was special, it was hard. Last year's senior night was hard. My second year here, I thought we had a great crowd for that Rutgers game, that was senior night for Herb (Pope) and Jordan (Theodore), which was really difficult. But it was great. I think it's a compliment to these players, because it's fun watching them play. We're not always pretty, but man, these kids play hard, they never give up, they're a great group of young men, and I'm glad our fans have gotten behind them and support them because I think they deserve it."

On this week feeling like a tournament week in terms of Marquette and Villanova's matchups:
"This felt like a week where I had a severe case of a bad flu. It's hard. In the last three years, we've been in this situation, but I didn't put that on the team at all. Really, what I really wanted them to concentrate on was the Big East standings and understanding where we are going into the Big East tournament. I emphasize that so much because it's a special experience for every kid that plays in it, so that's what I had them focused on."

On whether December's win over Kentucky resonates more going into the Big East tournament:
"Not much, because the last time we were there (a February 23 loss to St. John's), we didn't play well. The Big East tournament's a whole different animal. It's a different feeling, it's a different vibe, you've got people there that have been there since 11 a.m., if you play a night game, they're always enjoyable. It's a different experience. You have to go through it, it really is. The Kentucky game was great, at St. John's was an unbelievable atmosphere, but the Big East tournament is an animal in itself, and you have to respect that and understand it."

On Jay Wright's assessment that Seton Hall is one of the best defensive teams in the country:
"Coming from Jay, who I think is one of the best offensive coaches in the country, that's a great compliment. Again, I think it goes back to how hard this team works. Any compliment from Jay is unbelievable because to me, I think he's the No. 1 coach in the country right now. I don't think it's close from a recruiting standpoint, from an X-and-O standpoint, from a program standpoint, I think Jay Wright's probably, by far, the best coach in college basketball. It includes everybody. I think he's got two national championships in the last three years...I don't know who's done that in a while."

On Cale and Rhoden having greater confidence:
"I give confidence one way: We work at it. We spend hours and hours and hours and hours doing individual instruction every summer, every preseason, every season. We spend hours and hours in the gym. That is why I have confidence in them and that's how they have confidence, because as we're going through individual instruction, we're working together, and we put a lot of work in on individual improvement. I'd rather be in the gym doing that than team practice any day of the week, just because it's fun to watch kids get better, it's fun to watch kids grow their game. I think it should be one of our main jobs, and the reason why I have confidence in everyone shooting the basketball is because I've spent hours with them shooting the basketball. So I'm not going to spend all that time working with them in the gym if I'm not going to give them the confidence to shoot the basketball."

On Sandro Mamukelashvili and his performance, with 18 rebounds:
"I told Sandro two days ago, 'I'm tired of seeing your head go down.' I think Sandro's going to be a superstar. He is a smart young man, and he thinks and he overanalyzes. I said, 'Just get out of your own head and just enjoy playing basketball, just enjoy doing what you're doing.' He's been the backbone of our defense. Quincy starts it, but Sandro has played phenomenal -- pick-and-roll defense, post defense, rebounding -- and a guy that's usually going up against guys who are twice his size. I told him the other day in the film session -- we were watching the first half of the other Villanova game -- that his pick-and-roll defense was phenomenal, just like it was at Marquette, and I said, 'We wouldn't be here, I can't have you not play 35 minutes...I don't care that you're hurt, I need you to play 35 minutes because we've gotten here -- yes, Myles Powell's gotten us here -- but we've gotten here because you've been a huge part of this.' And he has. He's been phenomenal on the back side of the defense."

On having former assistant coach Shaheen Holloway, now the head coach at Saint Peter's, in attendance:
"It's awesome, man. I love Sha, he's the best. I think it was great that he was here for Michael's senior night, I think it shows more about Sha's character that he wanted to be here for Mike's senior night. Obviously everybody knows how I feel about Sha, but I think Sha really wanted to be here for Michael."