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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2016Christian JonesChris MullinRon MvouikaNew York, New York St. John's - 93, Marquette 101 THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Chris Mullin. Q. Coach, I'll ask the same question I asked Coach Wojciechowski: At the half you guys were down points in the paint 28-16 but managed to finish the game only down four points in that category. What do you think went so well for you guys in the second half? CHRIS MULLIN: A lot had to do with C.J. attacking. They were switching pick-and-rolls, and we were getting it down, and Henry was doing a good job of attacking. It was a great second half. I thought it was well played. Both teams had 50 from the field, 50 from three. High 80s from the line. So I thought it was a well-played game. You know, much like our whole season, I was proud of my guys' effort. We had a tough first half. Regrouped. And just didn't give up. Ultimately at the free-throw line is where we got beat. But you know, early in the first half we had quite a few turnovers, unforced turnovers that got them that lead. But I was proud of their performance. C.J. had an incredible game. Ron and D.J. and Felix, the guys who were leaving, I told them I was really proud of them. Me going through my first season, they made, despite the record, coming to the gym every day enjoyable, because they worked so hard. Tough season, but tonight was a pretty good way to -- especially the second half. I thought it was a good half. Q. When you made that three with the lead to wipe out the 17-point deficit, can you just describe what you were feeling in that moment when the Garden erupted like that? RON MVOUIKA: I was happy. It was the first lead of the game. I didn't think -- I was just happy. Make that shot. But they ended up scoring right away; it didn't last long. That was about it. Q. What did it say that you guys were able to come back from 17 down? RON MVOUIKA: We've been doing this all year. No matter if we were down two, 19, 20. We all just kept fighting. That's what we did all season. That's why I'm proud of my guys. Proud of the coaching staff. They never gave up on us. We keep fighting, keep battling all year. And it's going to pay off next year. It didn't pay off right now, but we came out here and laid it out. So I can go out with my head up. Q. Chris, (inaudible) just being that proud of the guys' effort regardless of the situation even like tonight, regardless of the final minutes they are playing like there's still everything there. What do you want to be your memory of the season when the guys look back on the season next year, five years down the line, what do you want them to remember? CHRIS MULLIN: I think what they will be remembered for is having a professional, positive energy approach each and every day. We went through some tough times. There's a lot of clichés out there and a lot of stuff hanging on the bulletin boards but to actually go and do it is when you can look each other in the eye and feel good about your effort. Again, the results are frustrating. Don't get me wrong. That's a lot to deal with. But the future is bright. And part of it is going through these tough times, not blaming the past, not worrying about the future, but taking each day, handling the tough emotions that go with losing, and having a productive day trying to find solutions. Like I said, not finger-pointing, not blaming. Just go to work. So after this long season, that's what they did. They didn't talk about it. They didn't, you know, they didn't waver at all. That's what they did each and every day. They'll be better for it as they move on into different careers. The guys who are leaving. I know for sure the young guys, because of them, understand that that's what you do. And then you do that when you win too, by the way. When you win 10 or 15 in a row, that's also when you come to work. We'll flip it around and we'll have the same approach. And I think that's how you really build success. Like I said, it's a lot harder to do it, but those guys, they did it. I saw it each and every day. I'm proud of them for that. I do think it will serve them well as we move forward. Q. Coach, looking a year or two from now, will this be like -- you will rebuild and regroup. You will be doing better as far as wins and losses next year, will this be like a moment you'll be able to look back at this moment and say, this is the start of something that we are rebuilding and it will be something you can look towards in the future? CHRIS MULLIN: Yeah. Look, again, you can't -- we could have won a few more games for sure, and then our record would be a little different, but I don't think the future mindset would change. You know, we know we have a lot of work to do. So the young guys understand what it takes to win and they know how much it hurts to lose. Sometimes that's what gets your attention the most. Again, winning and losing is part of sports. It's part of it. The thing is how you handle it and what you do about it. That's probably the biggest teacher that we had this year. Q. For Christian, you had a career night tonight. It looks like you, like a lot of other guys, has really made improvement over the season. When you look back on this season, and you look around the guys in the locker room, how much improvement do you think you've made over the course of the year despite the record? CHRISTIAN JONES: With the freshmen that we have, I feel like we all hit a wall. Went through adversity, losing that many games in a row. But with the coaching staff that we have, they kept pushing us every day in practice. And that motivated us, that gave us the drive. Even when we were down 20, we were still fighting. As you can see, we improved game by game. But I felt like everybody hit a wall, and then we just got over that wall. Like today. Today we were down however much and we came back. But, I mean, we just need to find a way to get over that hump and break through. I mean, we didn't today. But it was much improvement from the younger guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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