St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John's vs. No. 24/22 Xavier
2/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Recap | Final Stats | USATSI Gallery 
| Photo Gallery
St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin...
On tonight's game:
"I look at [the game] in totality. I think both teams were sloppy in the first half. [Xavier] got a rhythm going early in the second half. We were struggling offensively, but our defense was pretty strong. We gave up all those offensive rebounds, but still found a way to hang in there and cut it to three. There was a lot of times we could've got discouraged, but we just kept playing and hung around, but ultimately those rebounds came back to haunt us. ... It was a good effort."
On the team's play over the first 30 minutes:
"Giving up 32 points [in the first half] to a team like [Xavier], I thought the effort was really good. You have to separate effort from execution. Defensively, we were really good and we weren't making shots and sometimes that's actually tougher to do. ... They got away from us in the second half; they got up by 15 and we came back and cut it down to three."
On the last 10 minutes of the game:
"We were searching all night for some type of rhythm. We started getting downhill a little bit, getting to the paint and were in the bonus. Our activity picked up and they didn't maintain their offensive flow. Some of it was [Xavier} missing shots, some of it was our defense; it was a combination of both. ... Overall, it was a decent effort. When you shoot 5-for-23 and give up 17 offensive rebounds, that's probably the difference in the game."
On the big men getting in foul trouble:
"It's always going to affect us. Tariq [Owens] is one of our most important players. Kassoum [Yakwe] battles."
On not finding a way to win:
"Last [game against Providence], we had a good first half and struggled in the second half and came back. It got to 68-65. They made some plays [down the stretch] and we didn't."
On the progression of the team:
"No question [that we're still progressing]. [Xavier is] one of the top-25 teams in the country and they had us down by 15. That is something that can balloon to 25, but we came back to get within three. That is progress. The game is 40 minutes. ... Overall, I thought it was a good effort."
On what the focus is moving forward:
"Obviously, we look for individual improvement. As a team, the two things I've been [pushing] is playing tough and being unselfish. We've show spurts of that. We can be outrebounded because sometimes we're smaller than the other team and that's fine, but really having a resistance on defense and putting imprint on the guy you're playing individually and as a team, then it's going to be a tough night [for the opponent]."
Freshman Guard Marcus LoVett...
On the energy levels in the first half:
"I felt like we could have done a better job energy wise in the first half. We started out slow and it kind of put us in a hole that we had to dig ourselves out of."
On the slow start:
"We aren't as aggressive as we should be. If we were more aggressive we would have started off pretty well. I believe in my team. That was a winnable game."
On looking ahead to Marquette:
"We just have to fight hard for 40 minutes straight. That's the goal. To start off the 40 minutes really strong and then end the 40 minutes really strong.
Freshman Guard Shamorie Ponds...
On playing aggressive the last 10 minutes:
"Coach Mullin told us that he saw open spots. He wanted us to be aggressive and attack their close outs. ... We wanted to take advantage of that."
On getting outrebounded:
"We really need to get better. We've been getting outrebounded lately and collectively as a group, from one to five, we need to do a better job."
Xavier Head Coach Chris Mack...
On tonight's game:
"I thought the game flipped. You are never in complete control of the game, especially when you are on the road on your opponent's home floor. When Ed [Edmond Sumner] went down we were searching but it was a good response. We held our own on the glass which we didn't do against Cincinnati. We turned the ball over way too much. We have to be better with the basketball down the stretch."
On guarding St. John's:
"They are very difficult to keep out of the lane. Fortunately, they didn't shoot the ball well. I thought we challenged them but when we challenged I thought we have up some link drives [to the basket]."
On St. John's:
"They play a majority of the time with four guards and a five man, but then they went five for a little bit. It bothered us and we have to get better."
