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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 11, 2015Will ArtinoGreg McDermottJames MillikenNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Creighton - 78 DePaul - 63 COACH McDERMOTT: Obviously, given what we've been through this year with the number of close games that we've come up on the short end of, my message to the team before the tournament is I think they've established their legacy, this group of seniors. Because of their ability to stick with it, stick with each other through a very adverse situation with seven games in conference play where we led the last minute and lost, a lot of them being in the final seconds. And this is their time. It's time to do something for themselves. I'm just really proud of the way they competed. I thought defensively we had a little more teeth the second half. I thought Will was exceptional the second half, and, obviously, James got us off to that great start with his play on both ends of the floor. So really proud of my team. Looking forward to the opportunity to play Georgetown tomorrow night. Q. Coach, you were tied at 46 in the second half. You went on a 26‑10 run at that point. What was the biggest factor in that stretch? COACH McDERMOTT: I thought it was really critical that we got into the bonus first. By doing that, it allowed us to attack and get to the free‑throw some. We made enough threes, and James shot it well enough the first half, but I think they respected that shot a little bit more, and it opened up some driving lanes. As I said, I thought defensively we were better. We forced a few more turnovers. We made them shoot challenged shots, which is what we were after. We really got hurt by the three‑point shot the first time we played them, and the last two times we've done a better job of getting to those shooters. Q. James, talk about that fast start you got off to tonight. Just how much you were feeling it at the beginning. JAMES MILLIKEN: We just started with transition points. I had my teammates looking for me. After I hit the first one, my shot felt pretty good. So I took the next one. Q. Will, talk about your second half. You obviously looked like you were playing, like a guy who didn't want to have his career end. WILL ARTINO: I felt like Coach told me to come in and bring some energy. That's kind of been my role the past few years. I didn't feel like I did a good enough job coming off the bench and bringing in the energy in this half. They had a little run, and I knew it was my position as a senior leader to do my job. Like you said, I know my days are winding down. So I just wanted to give it everything I had and keep swinging and keep trying to get these wins. Q. I guess both guys: A few times DePaul took a lead and you guys were able to counter that right away. How important was that to never let them get up and go really in terms of taking a lead? WILL ARTINO: I think that tonight we did a great job of not getting rattled or flustered when they did go on their little runs. We were able to respond really well. I remember Ricky hit a big shot one time, and I don't remember who else. We were able to keep our composure. I think that's the biggest thing is sticking to the game plan. At times throughout the season, we would kind of lose composure and get ahead of ourselves and do things we're not capable of doing, and tonight we were able to stick in with ourselves, play to our strength, and keep fighting and build back the lead. Q. Coach, how do you feel about the Georgetown matchup? Tough games, at least based on the final score. Do you plan on doing anything differently? COACH McDERMOTT: As I told the team, I really felt like we only played‑‑ Georgetown has only seen 20 minutes of what we're capable of. We played a good first half in D.C. and then got dominated the second half. And then had as bad a loss as we ever had on our home floor when they came to Omaha. There's a reason that happened: They're a heck of a basketball team. They're long. They're physical, extremely well coached, and tough with the short prep. I think our guys‑‑ if there's one team we'd want to play again, it would be them just because we played so poorly the two times we played against them. Maybe it's them. Maybe they're that much better than us, but at least tomorrow we'll get another opportunity to find out. Q. Coach, 53 of your points were at the free‑throw line or in the paint. How much did that help you tonight? COACH McDERMOTT: It's huge. It's been a critical part of our offense recently being a little more efficient than it was earlier in the season. We've learned to maybe turn down a three early in the shot clock that isn't a perfect three for us to try to attack and see if we can't get a better shot. Obviously, James and Austin‑‑ Devin was outstanding tonight. As I joked with Devin in the locker room, it is possible for him to play a game without a turnover. I wasn't sure, after two years, if that was possible. But for him to come back to New York City and play the way he did‑‑ he and Austin to get ten assists and no turnovers between them is really efficient basketball. Q. I guess both players: Talk about Georgetown tomorrow night. WILL ARTINO: Obviously, they're a great ball team. Like Coach Mac said, we really didn't give them our best games. We played them both times pretty early in this Big East Conference play. As a team ourselves, we've come a long way since then. Like you said, maybe they are that much better than us. Maybe they're not. But like you said, we're happy to get another shot at them, and we're going to go out and play our hardest tomorrow, that's for sure. COACH McDERMOTT: Creighton, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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