St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John's vs. DePaul
1/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin...
On the balance of scoring:
"Our bench did a really good job. Federico [Mussini] missed around three weeks. He really hasn't even practiced [much] so we're really trying to get him back in shape and get him in rhythm. He came off [the bench] and did a really good job. Tariq [Owens] was really good today. Malik [Ellison] shot the ball exceptionally well. Four or five of those 3-point shots were created by his teammates and that's what we always stress; shoot those threes off dribble penetration, double teams or in transition. The ball moved around pretty well; we had 18 assists which was good. Defensively, we did a really good job."
On the last four minutes of the first half:
"The last four minutes of the first half were huge. I thought it was all about the defense. The last possession we went to a zone and they did a good job getting out and Federico [Mussini] made a big three at the end of the half. Overall, our defense was good. Sharing the ball, we did a good job with that."
On what this win does for the team:
"Winning is always a better feeling, there's no question about that. You just don't get wins for nothing. To me it's always more important how you handle losses. The wins are going to come if you keep doing the right thing. Not overreacting to the losses, trying to find out what you could do better, being accountable for it and keep working...I've been very clear with these guys since day one -- don't disrespect what it takes to become a winner. They've been good about it. They understand and I think we're starting to make strides."
On learning from the losses:
"It's a daily process. It's not about the last four games or a three-game win streak. It's about staying in the moment, staying disciplined and keeping your focus on what needs to be done. When you do that the wins will come. A lot of it is experience."
On playing at Carnesecca Arena:
"I always try and share the history of this university and the basketball program. They're pretty well versed on that. I was taught that by my coach and I try and pass that on to them. Anytime someone's around, I bring them in and introduce them and let them know who they are and what they did and what they're doing now. It is important; the history of this university and this basketball program. The one thing I really liked this year is that I thought we played really well here. We had some really great crowds and I think they're more comfortable playing in this building."
Sophomore Guard Malik Ellison...
On his hot shooting tonight:
"I had a good warm-up. I have to give credit to my teammates because they found me. I had a lot of open looks and I knocked them down."
On the hunger to grab a win tonight:
"We really needed this one. Coach Mullin has been preaching all season, but especially this week, that we need to come into this last game at Carnesecca [Arena] with a lot of energy and fight. That's what we did today and we got the victory."
On other guys stepping up to score:
"This was a great team effort. If your leading scorers aren't on, or get in foul trouble, or whatever the case may be, and other guys step up, it's big for the team. That happened tonight and we grabbed a victory. It was good for us as a team. We had 18 assists. Everybody was sharing [the ball] today and everybody was having fun."
On the pace of the offense today:
"All season we've kind of struggled in transition points. We have the athletes and we go small at times, and even our bigs are athletic. Coach Mullin is always saying, when you get the rebound, everybody get out and run. We shared the ball great today."
Redshirt Sophomore Forward Tariq Owens...
On the hunger to grab a win tonight:
"Coach Mullin has been preaching it all year, especially this week. That's what we did. We stuck together and we fought as a team and as a unit to get this win."
On playing at Carnesecca Arena:
"It means a lot to play here at Carnesecca [Arena]. It used to be Alumni Hall and there's a lot of history here. I know we play at The Garden and there's a lot of history there as well. But this place is small and gets rowdy when you can really get the fans into it."
On playing DePaul recently in conference play:
"We knew this game was going to be a fight. The first time we played DePaul, it was a tough game and it was a hard fought win that we took on the road. We knew coming in that this was going to be a game that we had to scrap and had to play hard. DePaul played us tough and we had to grit it out."
DePaul Head Coach Dave Leitao...
On the loss:
"We talked about it before the game. Both teams are not playing as well right now as they want to be. That meant that somebody was going to come with a little bit more intent. The game is going to go on, and there's going to be runs and teams are going to make mistakes. I thought St. John's did a little bit better job tonight. They got a lead to get it to 40-29 at halftime. That created a mountain that we had to climb through. We've done that before, but you can't live like that. You have to manage the moments throughout the course of a 40-minute game. I thought St. John's did a better job than we did tonight."
On the balance of St. John's scoring attack:
"They have three guys that command a lot of attention in Marcus LoVett, Bashir Ahmed and Shamorie Ponds. In terms of preparation and scouting reports, those guys grab a lot of attention. There can be other guys that step up if they are psychologically ready. Malik Ellison was one of those guys. We were late to our close outs on him and he was getting open on certain guys and he knocked down shots. We played them last time and [Darien Williams] and [Tariq Owens] got some baskets."
On fatigue being a factor in the loss:
"We had seven guys play today. It was a quick turnaround from being in Milwaukee on Saturday. If I wanted to make that out as an excuse, sure. But this is college basketball. It's a privilege to be here. You've got to give every single thing you've got. If you suffer from a little bit of fatigue then you let the coach know, you get your rest and you come back in. I don't really factor that in. If somebody looked at this from the outside, then maybe they could use it, but I don't buy it."
