St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening Statement…
“First and foremost, congratulations to Villanova for taking care of their home court. It was one of those nights where we didn’t shoot the ball well. If you don’t shoot it well, it makes it hard to win. We got off to a good start early on and they made their run to end the half. We were in good shape down four in the second half, but we came out and continued to dig a hole. Our guys never stopped playing, but you have to be able to make shots and free throws, but that’s the life on the road in the BIG EAST and we will learn from it.”
On St. John’s first-half defense…
“I thought we just kept them out of their sweet spots. In the second half, they were able to get to their sweet spots. We were trying to keep them out of the lane and from getting to the paint.”
On 3-point shooting…
“I thought we had the ball moving. We had guys stepping up and making shots. We didn’t make them in the second half, but we had shots. We missed a lot of layups, even more so in the second half. When you get to BIG EAST play, I always think of physicality. I think we have to match their physicality for the 40 minutes of play.”
On Posh Alexander and Andre Curbelo…
“They have to be better, its conference play. Whether we play at home or on the road, they have to be better. Consistency is important. Even Joel [Soriano], I thought he was getting pushed around in the lane, but he was better in the second half.”
On Villanova’s large runs…
“I think that sometimes we are a little impatient. We were right there, within striking distance, and we came down and missed three quick shots. We have been much better in terms of understanding that if we are behind, we have to keep chipping away, but we were unable to execute. We have to be better and we are much better of a team than you saw today.”
