Kevin Willard quote book: Texas

By Jason Guerette (@JPGuerette)

On what Thursday's win says about his team:

“It’s kind of where we’re at right now, Jerry. I think we’re much better defensively than we are offensively, I still think we have so much more room to get better offensively. Texas and us, we’re very similar, a lot of new guys trying to figure it out on the offensive end, a lot of pieces to figure out on the offensive end. But defensively, I thought both teams just played really hard and just gave great effort.”

On Bryce Aiken’s game-winning shot:

“I always tell the bench or the guys in the corner I know when it’s going up. He’s been with me two years now, and I’ve watched him forever. He’s great off the bounce, so I’d rather see him shoot off the bounce in that situation, and he’s worked hard to get back. He has worked extremely hard to get his body to the point of where he is, and I think everyone in the room — everybody in the locker room — has confidence in that shot. I know I do.”

On adjustments on Tre Mitchell:

“I hate to say it, I didn’t do anything. I have a philosophy I live by in first halves: If you’re making guys take tough shots and they’re going in, they’re not going to go in the second half most of the time. And I thought we made them work really hard even though our defense didn’t look good, they hit a lot of tough shots in the first half that — if you continue to make them take tough shots — most of the times, they don’t make them. So I went in the locker room and I said, ‘Guys, just keep doing what you’re doing defensively, we’ve gotta stay down a little bit, we kind of jumped around a couple of times in the first half.’ But I thought we did a really good job of just being a little bit more physical, staying down on his ball fake, and I thought Tyrese really battled.”

On using his bench in the second half:

“I think at that point in the game — what was there, three minutes, 40 seconds left, I think? — no one’s subbing and the kids are on adrenaline. I think it hurts both teams, to be honest with you, and I thought both teams came out and played at a really high level. I was surprised at how high of a level we played at both ways after that long of a stoppage.”

On the crowd atmosphere:

“Our fans were great, our student section was phenomenal. I’ve never seen so many students at a game, I think that’s by far the most students we’ve ever had at a game, and that’s the first thing the guys have said. Because again, when you go a whole year without fans and then you come in and you see the people you sit next to in class every day sitting there and cheering for you, it just gives you a little different — I know this team and all my teams have really appreciated the students making the effort to come out and really get us going. We had a game over the Christmas break where we struggled early on and it was like, the kids weren’t used to not having the students here, so our students have been just off the charts.”

On Rutgers’ win over Purdue and Sunday’s matchup:

“I’ve watched them a couple of times, and I think they’re a very good team that’s kind of gone through a little bit of a lull throughout the season. And when I watch them, I see a team that’s physical, I see a team that rebounds, I just see a team that’s struggled shooting the basketball a little bit this year. The thing for me is, two years ago, we were in the RAC and it was the hardest place I’ve ever played, and so I guarantee — I know for a fact — that Purdue is going through the same thing that we went through.”

On tying P.J. Carlesimo with 212 wins at Seton Hall:

“P.J.’s the gold standard of this program. He’s the one that put this program on the map, he’s the one that every Seton Hall coach from me to forever is gonna — he gave us the blueprint, the road map, he put us on the map. He is an unbelievable ambassador, he still is to this day. Everywhere he goes, he and Coach Raftery probably sell Seton Hall better than anybody, so it’s an honor, but it’s something I’ve always said, there should be a statue of Coach P.J. somewhere on campus.”

On Seton Hall’s versatility:

“It’s difficult. You look at Texas and us, and you see two teams that have struggled offensively. There’s times where we’re trying to get guys certain shots, and it’s hard to get guys in certain areas, but it’s nice also to have the different options where I can get MC isoed or I can get Jared isoed, or we can go into the post in different ways, so it does give you a different option. It’s just sometimes as a coach, you’re trying to get guys in the right spot, and I think that’s the same thing Chris is dealing with right now.”

On having recruits in attendance:

“I think it always helps, Adam, but the really tough thing is we’re not allowed to have recruits in the back. I think it’s great, the problem is we still have COVID rules in the back. We used to bring 20 recruits in the locker room and we’d talk to them, you can’t do that anymore, so I think it obviously helps and it’s great, but we still have to live by some measures of how many people come in the locker room, how many people are around, so there’s still a little bit — we’re still kind of living recruiting COVID a little bit. It’s great to have them in the building though, it’s great to see them sitting behind the bench and they see the atmosphere that we’ve built here. So from that standpoint, it’s huge.”