St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s vs. Kansas
Head Coach Mike Anderson and junior forward Julian Champagnie spoke to the media after a 95-75 loss to No. 8/7 Kansas at UBS Arena
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement…
“First, I want to thank our fans and students for coming out and creating a charged-up atmosphere. We’re just sorry that we weren’t able to get the win. [We] played a very, very good Kansas team. They came in and did what they had to do. They were up 13 [points] at halftime and I thought we had taken their best shot. When we came out in the second half, I thought we came out with much better energy. We got a little bit more physical. The thing I was concerned about coming into the game was rebounding. The game would be won in the paint and with the second chance points. There’s the difference in the game right there, our inability to come up with those rebounds [and] put bodies on people. Give [Kansas] credit. It wasn’t because of lack of effort. We cut it to three in the second half with a lot of time on the clock. They made the plays and we couldn’t make the plays. Congratulations to Bill [Self]. They’ve got a really good basketball team.”
On the slow start...
“I thought the nerves were there. You could see it. I thought we were tentative offensively. Kansas is a veteran team and they took advantage of that. Once we got our bearings, we started getting after it on defense. I thought Dylan [Addae-Wusu] was the catalyst in that. It starts with our defense. That’s the biggest key. There were times when we relied on our offense. You have to be able to make shots. We had some looks and we didn’t make them.”
On what the team can improve on moving forward...
“[We need to] keep fighting and play with a little more physicality ... We have to be consistent with what we do. With the guys that start, I think they’ve got to bring their energy. I said it at the beginning of the year, our strongest component is the guys that are coming off the bench. Those guys have to play with a high level of confidence. Confidence is the biggest thing, especially [with] shooting.
On the experience of playing in UBS Arena...
“Kudos to the administration and all the people here. I thought they did a fantastic job of putting everything in place. Obviously, for the people coming out and for Kansas, it was a good experience for them. Not as good of an experience for us, but we’ll learn from it.
Junior forward Julian Champagnie
On a strong shooting performance netting a team-high 24 points...
“In the first half I didn’t shoot too many shots. … I told myself to just shoot the basketball and do what I do. I was confident in my work. I worked all week because I’ve been having a poor shooting stretch over the last three games. I trusted in my work and my teammates who found me with open passes.”
On the team’s second-half push to cut the deficit to three…
“I don’t like losing and neither do my teammates. We came out in the second half and said we had to play a lot harder. If we have shots that don’t go in or bad shots taken to move on that’s basketball, it’s a game of runs.”
Opening statement…
“First, I want to thank our fans and students for coming out and creating a charged-up atmosphere. We’re just sorry that we weren’t able to get the win. [We] played a very, very good Kansas team. They came in and did what they had to do. They were up 13 [points] at halftime and I thought we had taken their best shot. When we came out in the second half, I thought we came out with much better energy. We got a little bit more physical. The thing I was concerned about coming into the game was rebounding. The game would be won in the paint and with the second chance points. There’s the difference in the game right there, our inability to come up with those rebounds [and] put bodies on people. Give [Kansas] credit. It wasn’t because of lack of effort. We cut it to three in the second half with a lot of time on the clock. They made the plays and we couldn’t make the plays. Congratulations to Bill [Self]. They’ve got a really good basketball team.”
On the slow start...
“I thought the nerves were there. You could see it. I thought we were tentative offensively. Kansas is a veteran team and they took advantage of that. Once we got our bearings, we started getting after it on defense. I thought Dylan [Addae-Wusu] was the catalyst in that. It starts with our defense. That’s the biggest key. There were times when we relied on our offense. You have to be able to make shots. We had some looks and we didn’t make them.”
On what the team can improve on moving forward...
“[We need to] keep fighting and play with a little more physicality ... We have to be consistent with what we do. With the guys that start, I think they’ve got to bring their energy. I said it at the beginning of the year, our strongest component is the guys that are coming off the bench. Those guys have to play with a high level of confidence. Confidence is the biggest thing, especially [with] shooting.
On the experience of playing in UBS Arena...
“Kudos to the administration and all the people here. I thought they did a fantastic job of putting everything in place. Obviously, for the people coming out and for Kansas, it was a good experience for them. Not as good of an experience for us, but we’ll learn from it.
Junior forward Julian Champagnie
On a strong shooting performance netting a team-high 24 points...
“In the first half I didn’t shoot too many shots. … I told myself to just shoot the basketball and do what I do. I was confident in my work. I worked all week because I’ve been having a poor shooting stretch over the last three games. I trusted in my work and my teammates who found me with open passes.”
On the team’s second-half push to cut the deficit to three…
“I don’t like losing and neither do my teammates. We came out in the second half and said we had to play a lot harder. If we have shots that don’t go in or bad shots taken to move on that’s basketball, it’s a game of runs.”