“They came out and they played better than us. We got off to a deepened start, but we got three-happy over the last couple of games — the last three games — and we’re just settling for too many threes. I hate to say it, we missed two free throws toward the end of the (first) half, we missed two free throws at the beginning of the (second) half, and it just kind of took the wind out of our sail. Give them credit, they played really well.”
On what kept Seton Hall neutralized:
“I think they did a good job. They went small, they switched on all our pick-and-rolls and they really went under Shavar’s pick-and-rolls. They really decided to come after Sandro, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen all year. I didn’t think we came out with the right mindset of playing physical basketball. We gave up some big offensive rebounds in the second half that hurt us, we gave them threes, and they carried that momentum the rest of the game.”
On getting away from Ike Obiagu:
“They went small, and we have struggled when teams have gone small. The one guy I was most worried about was Bryce Nze, he’s a guy that’s a good passer, a good rebounder, he plays physical. They put him at the five spot and they really tried to space us out, but we were still up 26-24 at the half, we came out — again, we missed two free throws, gave up an offensive rebound for a bucket and then we could never really get out of the rut.”
On offensive confidence:
“I don’t really know what it was. If you don’t have confidence at this point, you probably never did. We played in two places with crowds, and both times, we haven’t played well, so I don’t know if the crowd got to us or we’re just not used to it, but we just didn’t play well.”
On Seton Hall having the edge it needed, or not playing well:
“That’s a good question, Gary. I would say it’s a combination of both. We have a lot of guys who haven’t really been in this situation, that never had to be the guy in this situation, and I think that’s a big step. Different guys react in different ways, and I don’t think these guys know the pressure, and now we have guys who were not responsible for making big plays at times last year, and now they have to make big plays and it’s a lot on these guys’ plate. Their effort has been great, their effort has been off the charts and I thought we did a really good job for most of the game defensively, but offensively, I think we just got a little bit hesitant. I thought we stood a little bit, we missed some shots early, and it just took us off our rhythm.”
On senior night and playing in front of fans:
“It’s definitely a big difference, it really is. It’s something that — as much as we got used to playing in packed arenas, it goes the same way — now you’re used to playing in not packed arenas, so I think these seniors deserve a great sendoff, they’ve given a lot over their four years, five years, and I think the fact that they’re going to have fans there is really, really special for them.”
On Seton Hall’s NCAA Tournament prospects:
“We have a lot of work to do, but we have two good opportunities — a great UConn team who had a huge win the other night at Georgetown, and obviously a very good St. John’s team who plays great at Carnesecca — so I gotta figure it out a little bit better. Shavar’s given me everything he’s had, and I’m really proud of the effort he’s given and what he’s done, it’s just I’ve got to figure out a way to not get him 36 minutes, because he’s not built that way.”
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