St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John’s Men’s Basketball vs. Creighton
Red Storm Head Coach Mike Anderson, graduate student guard Stef Smith and senior guard Montez Mathis spoke with the media following an 81-78 loss to Creighton
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening Statement…
“Our students came out in numbers. St. John’s Nation came out and packed the place. We didn’t deliver our part. I think a big part of it was executing down the stretch. Creighton is a team that’s playing well. [Ryan] Hawkins is obviously an outstanding player, but where I thought the difference was with [Trey] Alexander. He came in and played well. We’ve seen this throughout the course of the year, where we don’t make the proper plays going down the stretch. It’s a one-point game and we went into Julian [Champagnie]. Now, we want to get either a foul or a wide-open shot. I don’t think it just came down to that. You look at the last five possessions. I don’t think we executed the things we wanted to. It was a very good basketball game. Two teams going at it up and down the floor. We just came up a little short.”
On the team’s execution going down the stretch…
“I thought our defense was good, but you have to make plays. ... You live for those moments. We had some plays where we just didn’t execute going down the stretch.”
On the production off the bench…
“I always say that if they get the opportunity to go out and play, you never know. It may flow that night. O’Mar [Stanley] was really big. I thought bench played really well. You look at our scoring forwards [Julian Champagnie and Aaron Wheeler]. I think they went 4-for-26. That’s hard to overcome. You’re talking about guys that get 30-plus points a game. Thank goodness those guys stepped up and played well. I thought they gave us a big lift. I thought Stef Smith played extremely well. Esahia [Nyiwe] had to step in with Joel [Soriano] out.”
On the setback tonight…
“We were playing much better. Even going down the stretch, they [Creighton] were up four. Our guys never wavered. They never went away. Esahia [Nyiwe] steps up and knocks a shot down. As I said, we had some misfortunes that we didn’t execute on the other end. Dylan went up, when were up one or two, and the ball got stuck, but you have to be able to make plays. Players have to step up and make plays, and we didn’t.”
Graduate student guard Stef Smith…
On the reason the team came up short…
“Definitely execution down the stretch hurt us a little bit. A lot of times when the game is this close you can’t look at the last minute or two minutes. There are things when we watch the tape that will look at and kick ourselves.”
On the team’s competitiveness with talented teams despite the loss…
“The positive to this is that we know we can play with these teams if the game is this close. Going down the stretch and moving forward we just have to find a way to win, that’s what it comes down to.”
On the play of O’Mar Stanley…
“He has a high-motor, probably [one of] the highest motors of anyone I’ve ever played with. He’s been working in the gym. I try to talk to him because he’s a freshman and he’s had ups-and-downs this year. He’s a great player. He’s going to do great things for this program in years to come. Today, he stepped up, obviously Joel [Soriano] was out and we needed some more scoring and that’s what he did today.”
Senior guard Montez Mathis…
On the team’s mindset following the loss…
“This one stings a lot. We just have to bounce back and keep our heads up. We have to finish out the rest of the season strong. [We just have to] Just learn from it.”
Opening Statement…
“Our students came out in numbers. St. John’s Nation came out and packed the place. We didn’t deliver our part. I think a big part of it was executing down the stretch. Creighton is a team that’s playing well. [Ryan] Hawkins is obviously an outstanding player, but where I thought the difference was with [Trey] Alexander. He came in and played well. We’ve seen this throughout the course of the year, where we don’t make the proper plays going down the stretch. It’s a one-point game and we went into Julian [Champagnie]. Now, we want to get either a foul or a wide-open shot. I don’t think it just came down to that. You look at the last five possessions. I don’t think we executed the things we wanted to. It was a very good basketball game. Two teams going at it up and down the floor. We just came up a little short.”
On the team’s execution going down the stretch…
“I thought our defense was good, but you have to make plays. ... You live for those moments. We had some plays where we just didn’t execute going down the stretch.”
On the production off the bench…
“I always say that if they get the opportunity to go out and play, you never know. It may flow that night. O’Mar [Stanley] was really big. I thought bench played really well. You look at our scoring forwards [Julian Champagnie and Aaron Wheeler]. I think they went 4-for-26. That’s hard to overcome. You’re talking about guys that get 30-plus points a game. Thank goodness those guys stepped up and played well. I thought they gave us a big lift. I thought Stef Smith played extremely well. Esahia [Nyiwe] had to step in with Joel [Soriano] out.”
On the setback tonight…
“We were playing much better. Even going down the stretch, they [Creighton] were up four. Our guys never wavered. They never went away. Esahia [Nyiwe] steps up and knocks a shot down. As I said, we had some misfortunes that we didn’t execute on the other end. Dylan went up, when were up one or two, and the ball got stuck, but you have to be able to make plays. Players have to step up and make plays, and we didn’t.”
Graduate student guard Stef Smith…
On the reason the team came up short…
“Definitely execution down the stretch hurt us a little bit. A lot of times when the game is this close you can’t look at the last minute or two minutes. There are things when we watch the tape that will look at and kick ourselves.”
On the team’s competitiveness with talented teams despite the loss…
“The positive to this is that we know we can play with these teams if the game is this close. Going down the stretch and moving forward we just have to find a way to win, that’s what it comes down to.”
On the play of O’Mar Stanley…
“He has a high-motor, probably [one of] the highest motors of anyone I’ve ever played with. He’s been working in the gym. I try to talk to him because he’s a freshman and he’s had ups-and-downs this year. He’s a great player. He’s going to do great things for this program in years to come. Today, he stepped up, obviously Joel [Soriano] was out and we needed some more scoring and that’s what he did today.”
Senior guard Montez Mathis…
On the team’s mindset following the loss…
“This one stings a lot. We just have to bounce back and keep our heads up. We have to finish out the rest of the season strong. [We just have to] Just learn from it.”