St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John's 79 DePaul 74 OT
1/31/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2013
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
QUEENS, N.Y. -
Head Coach Steve Lavin
Opening Statement
"That was the hardest any team has played against us. Georgetown and now DePaul, at this point in the season, are the teams that have played the hardest just in terms of shear effort. For them to do that coming off a 38-point loss is impressive. It would be easy to catch a team flat coming off a big loss. I would put DePaul right there with the effort of Georgetown. Different types of teams and different types of games, but they had a laser focus and a hard edge to come into our house and nearly beat us. We were very fortunate to win tonight. I took about four minutes to talk about DePaul in the locker room before I even talked about our team after the game. It's important for kids to step back and fully appreciate a remarkable effort by an opposing team even if you win. We could have easily been the team that had the loss, but whether you win or lose, it's what you pull out of each game."
On what St. John's can take away from the win:
"I'm proud of our kids to find a way to win on a night where we couldn't find our rhythm offensively, D'Angelo Harrison fouls out and trailed late in the game. It says a lot about our team's growth and maturity. We're still a major work in progress, but I'm pleased with the overall direction of the program and the team. Tonight I'm pleased with the victory, but we know we still have our hands full in the conference."
On what he conveyed to the team at the end of regulation:
"When I pulled them in I told them it's probably going to go to overtime. Let's prepare ourselves for that, so it's not a disappointment. Let's exhale. I wanted them to assume we're going to five extra minutes in our house, and we're going to have to find a way to win. I stressed the need to improve our transition defense, our containment on dribble penetration and finish each possession with a defensive rebound."
Sophomore guard D'Angelo Harrison
On watching the end of regulation and the overtime on the sidelines:
"It was tough but we have other players on this team and that what makes this team great. We have JaKarr Sampson, Jamal Branch, Phil Greene, Sir'Dominic Pointer, he has been playing really well. We played great today and it was a total team effort."
On his fourth and fifth fouls in the second half:
"You're never supposed to foul a jump shooter and I did it twice. But the team pulled it out, they deserve all the credit."
On the team's attitude coming into the game:
"We had a lot of momentum coming in. A lot of fans showed up to the game so we got a lot of support and a lot of energy."
Freshman swingman JaKarr Sampson
On refocusing at the end of regulation:
"While they were watching the video Coach Lavin already told us to get our mind set for overtime. He just got us ready right then and tried to make us not think about if my foul counted."
On his play after Harrison fouled:
"I knew I had to play in the system. If I got shots I knew I would have to take them. But with the overtime I made it a paint game because my jumper wasn't falling. I decided I was going to the rim instead of settling for jump shots."
On whether the team is ready for a tough stretch of the season:
"I feel like we're ready. I'm ready because this is one of the reasons why I came to St. John's to play in big games like this. To play at Syracuse, at Lousiville. We look to compete with the best so I think we're ready."
Sophomore swingman Sir'Dominic Pointer
On Sampson's blocked shot in the first possession of the overtime:
"I think it was definitely a tone setter. We lost the tip but JaKarr made a great play for the ball. It let them know that we were ready to play in overtime."
On his emphatic dunk to tie the game late in the second half:
"When I take off you have to meet me at the rim, that's how I feel. Either I'm going to dunk it or you're going to block it, those are your two options."
