Sha Sounds Off: St. John’s

On losing a 15-point lead in the second half:

“They started imposing their will and started hitting the offensive glass, and we just had to get a couple guys a quick blow because these guys were cramping. I gave certain guys a quick blow and they went on a 10-0 run quick, within two or three minutes. They got momentum in the second half, and then they just imposed their will. I thought we did that in the first half and we didn’t in the second half.”

On Stephon Payne:

“I thought he played with some toughness. I thought he did well from a defensive standpoint and rebounding. He kind of got gassed down the stretch…he hurt his ankle at halftime, so I gave him a quick blow in the second half. A couple guys went to the bench, and that’s when they imposed their will on us.”

On Seton Hall’s offensive droughts:

“We (need to) change it. We’ve got two days of making them understand they’ve gotta get through their progressions, right? There’s two, three, four different options within one play, and we can’t stand around. I thought in the first half, we did that. The second half, we started playing hero basketball when we had a lead, instead of just doing the same thing that got you the lead.”

On missed free throws and missed layups:

“I don’t understand how to answer the question, I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t know. We’ll watch the film and see. Missed free throws is the focus, right? Missed layups, that’s part of the game. I thought we had some layups in transition that we should have cashed in on. I don’t know, we definitely work on it. Like I said, they imposed their will in the last seven minutes of the game, and I think that was the difference.”

On Budd Clark not playing like himself:

“He got hurt last game, he hurt his quad last game in the first half. He’s a tough kid, he tried to play through it, the last couple days, he couldn’t do anything. Tonight, I thought he played on pretty much one leg, but if you’re out there, you gotta be out there. He was out there, he just didn’t have a Budd Clark game.”

On Seton Hall’s three-game losing streak:

“This sucks. It does. We’ve just gotta get back to the drawing board. There’s nothing…I thought we came in with a good game plan on a short prep for these guys, and I thought for 30-plus minutes, I thought we controlled the game and they just imposed their will. It started on the offensive glass. We weren’t boxing out in the second half, and I think that was the difference. In the first half, we boxed out and I think we controlled it from a rebounding standpoint, we were up 10 or 11 on them in rebounds. In the second half, and it was their second group…I don’t want to mess the kid’s name up…how do you say No. 17’s name? (Ruben) Prey? I thought he came in and gave them excellent minutes. I thought he gave them excellent minutes, he was all over the place. When we got a rebound, AJ fell and rolled, he dove on the floor and got the ball. He gave them excellent minutes. I thought he imposed his will, him and (Bryce) Hopkins in the second half, and also the kid (Dillon) Mitchell.”

On giving up offensive rebounds despite defense:

“It’s not good, especially when you’re missing free throw box-outs, things that win and lose games and things that we work on. I don’t know, just lack of focus. This is disappointing. I thought we played well enough to win this game for a period, and to lose it like that down the stretch is disappointing. But there’s a lot of basketball to be played. We gotta keep our heads up, we’ve got a good DePaul team on Saturday, so we gotta get back to work.”

On teachable moments from this game:

“I think, like I said, the last two days…well, not Sunday, you can’t do too much…but yesterday, I thought for a one-day prep, I thought we did some things to help us, and I think it worked in the first half just from an offensive standpoint. Even holding a team like St. John’s to 65 points, they’ve scored 80-something, so the defense is there. We’ve just gotta start cashing in on offense, like you said, 20 missed layups and nine missed free throws. When teams make a run, the way to stop a run is getting the ball inside and getting to the free throw line. We did that, we just didn’t cash in.”