St. John's University Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES: St. John's Men's Basketball at Butler
St. John’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Pitino, Bryce Hopkins and Ruben Prey spoke to the media after defeating Butler, 84-70, at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Tuesday
Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening statement…
“We needed it from everybody tonight. We needed Ruben [Prey] to come in and play great. We needed [Lefteris Liotopoulos] to come in and play great. Bryce [Hopkins] and Dillon [Mitchell] were both outstanding. Oziyah [Sellers] had no fear. This was collective. We needed everybody tonight to step up big, and they did. I’m proud of them.”
On the team’s response after adversity…
“I told them all week, ‘I don’t care what the outside noise says. You’ve got to block it out.’ I’ve got all the confidence in the world in every single guy on this basketball team. We know why we lost that game the other day, and when it got to winning time, we learned from it and grew as a basketball team.”
On continuity and growth…
“This team has stuck together and they’re growing as a basketball team. It’s difficult, it really is, but I’m fortunate because I’ve got 13 awesome guys that responded in a big way tonight, and it took everybody to win this game.”
On Ruben Prey’s impact…
“Ruben is the consummate team player. He doesn’t complain about his minutes, but he could play for just about any team in the country. He stepped in tonight and gave us a big lift.”
On defensive execution in the second half…
“We showed them at halftime that we’re not a good one-on-one defensive team. Everybody has to get in the gaps. We did a very good job. Our press and our ball handling gave us our run.”
Graduate student guard/forward Bryce Hopkins
On bouncing back as a team…
“Saturday wasn’t a good feeling at all. We didn’t finish the game, and that wasn’t a good feeling for anyone. We came back, washed it out, and tried to get better in the areas we made mistakes. Tonight we did a great job. It was a great team win.”
On the team’s resilience…
“[The victory] shows our resilience and our competitive nature to come back after losing at home. I thought we responded very well.”
On unity in tough environments…
“The biggest message was just coming together and having each other’s backs while we’re in tough environments and facing adversity. I feel like we did that tonight.”
On Ruben Prey’s performance…
“We have trust in everybody on the floor. We’ve seen It all summer and in practice. Ruben is a great player, has great confidence in himself, and when he came in, we all had confidence that he was going to pick up right where we left off.”
Sophomore forward Ruben Prey
On the trust from his teammates…
“The team has always had trust in me. It’s not something that just happened today. I feel confident when I go in, and I know my teammates have my back.”
On playing alongside Zuby Ejiofor…
“It wasn’t new for me. I’ve played with Zuby before, and when we had foul trouble, I knew I had to help my teammates.”
On being ready when called upon…
“I feel confident when I go in, and that’s how it is every game.”
Opening statement…
“We needed it from everybody tonight. We needed Ruben [Prey] to come in and play great. We needed [Lefteris Liotopoulos] to come in and play great. Bryce [Hopkins] and Dillon [Mitchell] were both outstanding. Oziyah [Sellers] had no fear. This was collective. We needed everybody tonight to step up big, and they did. I’m proud of them.”
On the team’s response after adversity…
“I told them all week, ‘I don’t care what the outside noise says. You’ve got to block it out.’ I’ve got all the confidence in the world in every single guy on this basketball team. We know why we lost that game the other day, and when it got to winning time, we learned from it and grew as a basketball team.”
On continuity and growth…
“This team has stuck together and they’re growing as a basketball team. It’s difficult, it really is, but I’m fortunate because I’ve got 13 awesome guys that responded in a big way tonight, and it took everybody to win this game.”
On Ruben Prey’s impact…
“Ruben is the consummate team player. He doesn’t complain about his minutes, but he could play for just about any team in the country. He stepped in tonight and gave us a big lift.”
On defensive execution in the second half…
“We showed them at halftime that we’re not a good one-on-one defensive team. Everybody has to get in the gaps. We did a very good job. Our press and our ball handling gave us our run.”
Graduate student guard/forward Bryce Hopkins
On bouncing back as a team…
“Saturday wasn’t a good feeling at all. We didn’t finish the game, and that wasn’t a good feeling for anyone. We came back, washed it out, and tried to get better in the areas we made mistakes. Tonight we did a great job. It was a great team win.”
On the team’s resilience…
“[The victory] shows our resilience and our competitive nature to come back after losing at home. I thought we responded very well.”
On unity in tough environments…
“The biggest message was just coming together and having each other’s backs while we’re in tough environments and facing adversity. I feel like we did that tonight.”
On Ruben Prey’s performance…
“We have trust in everybody on the floor. We’ve seen It all summer and in practice. Ruben is a great player, has great confidence in himself, and when he came in, we all had confidence that he was going to pick up right where we left off.”
Sophomore forward Ruben Prey
On the trust from his teammates…
“The team has always had trust in me. It’s not something that just happened today. I feel confident when I go in, and I know my teammates have my back.”
On playing alongside Zuby Ejiofor…
“It wasn’t new for me. I’ve played with Zuby before, and when we had foul trouble, I knew I had to help my teammates.”
On being ready when called upon…
“I feel confident when I go in, and that’s how it is every game.”