Q. Jamir, can you break down that winning shot for us, how that came about, what’s going through your head and what it’s like to make a shot like that on this stage?
JAMIR HARRIS: It feels amazing, just to be able to knock down that shot for my teammates and my brothers, there’s no better feeling than that. Hearing the crowd go crazy for us, and be so excited for me to hit that shot, it means the world for me. I was able to make a big shot for our team.
Q. Does it mean anything extra for you because you grew up in Jersey? You grew up in the shadow of this place?
JAMIR HARRIS: You can say that. Being from Jersey, I always have a chip on my shoulder, and coming back to the Garden, it’s really full circle for me. My freshman year at Minnesota we had the Big Ten Tournament here in the Garden. To come back now, it was a great feeling for me to be able to step up.
Q. Jared, you had your season end last year at the hands of these guys. Is there any feeling of satisfaction knowing that you got revenge here tonight?
JARED RHODEN: Absolutely. But that’s not our worry going into the game. I think it’s just one game at a time regardless of who the opponent is. Coach always preaches that you never know who you’re going to end up playing, what type of game you’ll get into. I felt the guys did a good job of corralling themselves and being resilient tonight. And we got the W, and that’s all that matters.
Q. Coach, what can you tell us about how Kadary is doing?
COACH WILLARD: Kadary is doing okay. He gutted it out. I didn’t put him back in. He got hit back on the hand, on his thumb. And it’s a sprain. It’s just like every time he gets hit on it, it’s like — I know you guys; not that many athletes in this room. [Laughter]. It’s like when you sprain your ankle. It’s kind of like when you redo it, it hurts. And so I took him out and I just — he had given us a lot for what he’s been going through. I didn’t want him to not be able to play maybe tomorrow and definitely not next week.
Q. Jamir, with Kadary out, you’ve been asked to do a lot of running the point. It seems like the shots you took tonight were kind of picking your spots. With so much responsibility lately running the point, how is it possible for you to stay ready to shoot those big shots?
JAMIR HARRIS: I just wanted to be prepared for whatever role Coach needs me to play for us to win. And I just want, whatever position I’m put in, I want to do it to the best of my ability for my teammates to help us win games. I just feel like I need to stay prepared regardless of the situation I’m in, and I was able to do that.
Q. Kevin, given everything this team’s been through this season, all the injuries, all the lineup changes you’ve had to make, what do you think of what this team has done to get to this point, won nine of 11 games, six straight?
COACH WILLARD: It shows what type of character these kids have. What’s really impressive is the leadership in the huddle. They don’t get excited. They stay focused. They talk to each other in a really positive way. And there’s times when we’ve played really well offensively, when we look good. And there’s times during the streak we haven’t played well offensively but we’ve played really well defensively. So I’m proud of this group. They’re older, so they kind of know when they’re not really playing well offensively. And all the talk in the huddle was, Myles Cale was great, let’s just keep getting the stops. And that was their focus. And sometimes when you don’t have it offensively, it’s great you can depend on your defense.
Q. Your thoughts on coming back in 24 hours, whatever, to play UConn. You split two games with them this year, what will that matchup be like? Do you think it will help that you played a game here tonight?
JARED RHODEN: I think rest is really important, just getting back to the hotel and getting some recovery in, and just mentally settling down a little bit. And basically during this time the body is going to break down a little bit. But just staying through it. Just watching some film and more of a mental day tomorrow and going into tomorrow night.
Q. Jamir or Jared, do you guys feel comfortable in these games when it’s really tight? Because this streak you’ve had one game that really — the Xavier game — everything else has been like real tight. Do you guys kind of develop a comfortability down the stretch now?
JAMIR HARRIS: Yeah, I say absolutely. The guys that we have on this team we’re so close-knit. We’re so together. When times get tough, we get closer together and it shows in these close games like that.
JARED RHODEN: Absolutely, I think it’s a testament to what we’re about. Coach Willard has utmost confidence in us. I think there’s not one time in the game where I look over to the sideline and I see fear at all, and I think that’s big time for us. Having a coach that has confidence in us to make plays is a great feeling when you’re out there. And when you have a coach behind you like that, you can make any type of plays.
