St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's 70 vs. Seton Hall 65
2/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2009
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St. John's Head Coach Roberts
Opening Statement:
"It was a pretty exciting game from beginning to end. Both teams battled each other hard. We did a better job the second half guarding. They made eight 3's in the first half and that got them going; but we did a great getting the ball inside doing what we do best getting to the offense of glass. D.J. [Kennedy] had a great night. He made some big shots for us. [Justin] Burrell played terrific. We knew that they could make tough shots, but we just stayed patient. We ran the played we needed to and we played strong. It was a great team effort."
On the atmosphere of the game:
"This a great place to play. It is named after a great Hall of Fame coach [Lou Carnesecca] and it should be an honor to play on this floor whenever you play here. The turn out of our fans is a great thing for our program. These student-athletes work extremely hard every day. They want to see the fruits of their labor too. Our fans were great today. They really helped us win the game tonight. They put tons of presser on Seton Hall and made it tough from them."
On sophomore forward Justin Burrell's efforts:
"I'm happy for Justin. He wants to play well every night. He just wants the team to win. Justin is a selfless kid, sometimes to a fault. I want him to be more aggressive but that will all come in time."
Sophomore forward Justin Burrell
On his play tonight:
"This was a great game for me. Every game that we win and play well as a team is a great game for me."
Sophomore guard Malike Boothe
On preparing for tonight's game:
"Last game they [Seton Hall] got into their comfort zone. This time around, I didn't want them to do that because it would have been tough to stop them."
Sophomore forward D.J. Kennedy
On the atmosphere of the game:
"This was a big deal for us seeing all our fans at the game. All season long we've had our fans behind us, supporting us. Hopefully, we'll have more sold out games."
Seton Hall Head Coach Bobby Gonzalez
Thoughts on the game:
"We knew it was going to be a tough game. It's very hard to go 4-0 in the Metropolitan Area and there's a reason for that. After winning the first game at home, we knew it was going to be an ugly and tough BIG EAST war and that's really what it came down to. The score wasn't good for us. The tempo was in St. John's favor. The key to the game was the rebounding. We're not a good rebounding team; we've had trouble all year. We are small and limited. The 27 offensive rebounds is the difference in the game. I think we tried to adjust with different defenses but for whatever reason, they let it go that way. It was more productive for St. John's the way the game progressed because they were the ones grabbing the rebounds."
On guard junior Eugene Harvey:
"At one point we were down seven and we battled back to tie it. Harvey's missed lay-up that would have given us our first lead of the second half was critical. I thought to myself, if he gets that lay-up and we take the lead, we'd have the momentum. He didn't have a good game today. Malik Boothe did a very good job defending him. This was one of the first games where he went scoreless. Eugene is a pretty good player, he's a junior and when he goes scoreless that hurts us."
On playing in Carnesecca Arena:
"Carnesecca Arena is not an easy place to play. I thought it was a very fun and tough atmosphere. It was loud and the student body is right on top of you. Playing here is different; you're not used to it in the BIG EAST."
