St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening Statement…
“[It was] a hard-fought ball game. It’s Syracuse and Jim Boeheim. That says it all. He’s a hall-of-fame coach, and we were just fortunate to put together a second half where our guys played with heart and guts and left it all on the floor. Our defense was really big in this particular game. [Andre Curbelo] and Posh [Alexander] spearheaded our defense and other guys followed their lead. It was a good team win. [Syracuse] came out and had us down early in the game, but we know that our tendency right now is to be a second half team. We’ve played some of our better basketball [in the second half]. You can see [the comeback] mounting as we got towards halftime. Guys played a lot of minutes, but we had to go with those guys. It was a championship game against Syracuse, a very good basketball team. They’re very athletic. We got into overtime and I thought fatigue was a factor. Our guys revved it up and got more stops than they did.”
On winning two comeback games…
“I’ve been a part of a lot of teams, and a lot of my teams are second-half teams. You have to find guys that can go and make plays, and we have numerous players that can do that. [Andre Curbelo] and [David Jones] are very talented, and they’ve added to that. They’re not scared of big moments. They both like that [pressure]. They don’t mind being the hero. That has been trickling through our basketball team. Posh [Alexander] is out there making big-time plays, not just offensively. We have a lot of parts that are playing well. This team has good potential; they’re gritty.”
On the defensive system change…
“They were spreading us out, getting a lot of shots. We just tried to keep spacing and be aware of the shooters. I’m not married to one system, I’m married to winning. I thought our defense kept us in position to rebound the basketball.”
On Dylan Addae-Wusu’s defense…
“He’s a physical player for his size. I call him a kamikaze because his body means nothing to him. He’s going to make the right play, and I thought, today, he was making the right play. Early on, I thought he had some mishaps, but he played through it. In the middle of the zone, he was doing a really good job of drawing and dishing and getting guys easy opportunities at the basket. The shot Montez [Mathis] hit, Dylan was the spearhead of that [play]. “
Junior guard Andre Curbelo
On the play by David Jones this season…
“He is an amazing player. He does things that you can’t teach. He made really big shots and we needed that.”
On how he felt shooting the ball tonight…
“It’s all about confidence from coach and my teammates. My teammates have been able to support me day in and day out. They have been putting me in the spots and I can succeed better and I really appreciate that from them.”
On playing in overtime and coming from behind in the last two games …
“I think it was a great team win. As the games go by, we continue to get better down the stretch and we are going to use that second half and make it better in both halves.”
On scoring a career-high 23 points …
“It means a lot. I don’t need to praise myself from a game. I know there’s still some doubts out there, but I’m just here for my teammates and coaches and they help a lot.
Junior forward David Jones
On taking shots in big moments …
“When I played for my national team in 2018, I used to take shots in the big moments. I always was on my game. I was working on my game and my coaches and my teammates tell me to keep my head up.”
