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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2015Ed CooleyNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Villanova - 63 COACH COOLEY: Just gathering my thoughts. Really proud of our group. I thought we played hard. I thought we played with great purpose. I thought we played with a great sense of urgency. Playing Villanova, who I think is playing as well as anybody in the country. It was a play here, play there. It came down to a couple of plays, and unfortunately, we weren't able to get over the hump. When you're down like that, we tied the score and never got over the top. To me, it wasn't so much about Villanova today. It was about what Providence was able to do. We've played them twice and made a couple of adjustments, which was big time. I credit our staff and our preparation. I thought our players were great. I really did. I thought our freshmen grew up today, playing on this stage against that type of team, against a veteran team. I thought we had a lot of resolve today. It just didn't show up in the final score. Credit Villanova. Great team. Deserving of the win. I'm glad and very fortunate that we definitely will be playing next week. I don't think many teams around the country want to play Providence right now. I'm glad we're playing as well as we are right now. Again, you've got to tip your cap to Villanova. Great game. Hopefully, next year from this experience, our younger guys that will return will learn from it. The environment was great. It was a big time environment, and I feel really, really bad for our kids because the game was right there for us to win. Q. Your thoughts on the foul call at the end and also your thoughts on Kris' overall performance tonight. COACH COOLEY: I thought Kris‑‑ let's face it. He's the player of the year. By far the player of the year. He's the best player in the league. I don't think it's a close second to his overall talent. The last play of the game was a 50‑50 call. I think we have the best officials in the country. I think the Big East has always had the best officials in the country. It doesn't come down to one play. I'm pretty sure everybody's going to ask me about that. At the end of the day, we have the best officials in the country. It was a 50‑50 call. It can go either way. It just didn't go our way tonight. Q. And then your last play, was there any question whether Kris would take that shot, instead of LaDontae? COACH COOLEY: It's set up twofold. They did a good job taking away what we wanted because actually LaDontae was supposed to catch the ball, but they double‑teamed him. That's why the ball went to Carson. At the end of the day, in tournament play, you at least want to get a shot off. We got a shot off. In the basketball world, you got to get one off. Once it gets out of your hands, it's got a chance to go in. Q. It seems like early in the game Villanova turns over the opposition, and then they go for big leads. It looked like you guys adjusted to that, and then you guys kind of like stepped up your defense. What was the thing that you told them, to stay calm, whatever? COACH COOLEY: I told our guys, embrace the moment. In tournament play, crazy things happen. We've played them twice. With technology today, you know exactly‑‑ everybody knows what everybody's going to do. There's no secrets. We know they're a great three‑point shooting team, and when you take their threes away, they want to drive the ball. They're really good around the rim. The one thing people understand about Villanova, they're a senior‑laden team. They have a lot of guys that have played in big‑time games. That's what's going to make them tough in the next tournament. Q. Talk about playing zone defense against them. You didn't have the three‑point kill you tonight. COACH COOLEY: One of strengths is our length and our girth, and one of their advantages is their quickness. We played man. We played zone. We've been doing it the whole year. You just want to make sure you keep it close, when you play those level of teams, to make sure you give yourself a chance at the end. Q. The job they did on LaDontae, did you guys look for him enough, or they just took him out? COACH COOLEY: A combination of both. Their number one focus is to try to take him away, that's for sure. That's where the other shots were available for other players, like Ben, like Carson and Jalen. I thought Jalen really grew up today. He was big time today for us. Hopefully, that's a good spark for us as we go into next week. Q. Going on what you were saying, Jalen, he's a freshman. In a stage like this in the semifinal against Villanova, he had two big threes in the second half. How do you describe his performance stepping up today? COACH COOLEY: Today he showed a lot of mental toughness. We hadn't been playing him a lot. It's a big‑time credit to him to come off the bench in this type of game and pull through like that. As a kid, you live for those moments. You're praying the coach calls your number. He was mentally tough enough to pull through for us. Congratulations to him. Q. In putting together your resume for the NCAA Tournament, how does this performance help in terms of where they'll place you seed‑wise? Do you think it will help you tonight? COACH COOLEY: First of all, I don't know what that Committee thinks. I really don't. All I can tell you is we're playing pretty good. We're excited to play next week. I don't know the ins and outs. That's why people are paid to bracket it the right way, fair and equitable. I don't know. We're just excited to be playing. Just invite us to the dance so we can have a party. Q. Coach, you really dominated the glass tonight, especially with Ben. How much is that going to help you going into the Tournament when you play those low‑scoring, grinder type of games? COACH COOLEY: Again, they did a good job taking away our transition. We want to play in transition as much as we can, but they send three, four guys back. They flood the lane line with Kris. I thought today was great preparation for next week. I don't know how many teams are out there that play as hard and as tough to guard as Villanova. Villanova is a really, really tough out. I'm proud to say they're part of our great conference. Q. You talked about shortening your rotation last game. With Lindsey's performance tonight, does that make you think about using him more on the outside? COACH COOLEY: Yes, we need someone that opens up that interior for us. Hopefully, we can use him in that. Q. What's the biggest thing your team needs to work on so you can do well in the big dance next week? COACH COOLEY: Make some free throws down the stretch. I thought we missed some critical free throws down the stretch. And complete the defensive possession. I thought there were two 50‑50 balls late in the game that we weren't able to come up with. If we can clean those up, especially coming down the stretch, everything counts. Q. Is it particularly disappointing not to repeat as tournament champions? COACH COOLEY: No. Let's face it, you're coming in it‑‑ if you'd have told me we had three returning players‑‑ I don't know if any of you guys understand that. Three guys played on this floor last year, Carson, Tyler, and LaDontae. And if you told me in September we'd have a chance and be in a tie ballgame with 12 seconds in a semifinal game the next year, losing 40 some odd points between Kadeem, Cotton, and Fortune, I'd say sign us up. It's a credit to these guys to position ourselves to play in postseason, and hopefully today is a steppingstone for us to continue to build our program. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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