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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2017Trevon BluiettQuentin GoodinChris MackNew York, New York Xavier - 75, DePaul - 64 COACH MACK: Well, we're just happy to be moving on. I thought, I told our team I thought our first 20 minutes of the game we didn't play great. I think we were pressing. I don't blame them. They're kids. They want to play in the dance. They want to continue their season. So there's a lot of pressure. It's hard to beat a team back to back like that. So give our guys credit. We came out of the locker room and played a little bit better offensively. I thought defensively we were fine, other than not being able to rebound the ball out of the zone. But offensively we loosened up and played a lot better, a lot more confident in the second half, along with getting some offensive putbacks. So we lived to fight another day. Q. You obviously avoided a bad loss tonight so even with what -- regards to Butler tomorrow you think you're in the tournament? COACH MACK: I don't know. I'm going to stick with my buddy, Jim Boeheim. Q. In the second half, you guys started going, what I saw in the first half, you guys started coming to the middle. Coming to the middle, taking the ball right to the hoop. They didn't have a defensive big guy. Tomorrow, I don't know if you guys practiced for two games ahead or if you just practiced for the one game, when you have 19 hours to turn around right now and play Butler. But can you do the same kind of thing tomorrow and take advantage -- because DePaul at times only had four guards? COACH MACK: Give those guys credit. They really slough off. They really crowd the lane. They put -- defenders are off the ball in the lane. So while they may not have the size and strength to maybe deal with a Rashid Gaston or Sean for us, they do it with numbers. I thought in the second half we took a little bit of advantage of the interior. I thought Quentin did a great job getting in the lane. That's always our game plan. We want to get the ball into the lane. Whether it's post-ups or drives or offensive rebounds, we did it much better in the second half than the first. Q. How much did J.P.'s shot change things? I know it's only three points but seemed like you really sent you guys into the locker room feeling good and obviously the second half was a different game? TRE'DARIUS MCCALLUM: I thought it brought a lot of momentum in the locker room. We were going in down four, I don't think we had hit a shot in a while, come down hit that shot, it brings more life into us in the locker room and it just gave us more confidence. COACH MACK: Knowing you're down one with the ball coming out with the possession, echo Tre's sentiments, big time shot and you don't expect much less out of J.P. Q. Trevon, you started this game 0-for-8, then started to hit some shots. What's your mentality when you're 0-for-8 and nothing is going in? TRE'DARIUS MCCALLUM: When that happens still be aggressive but find better shots, easier shots, maybe start inside and work my way out and kind of get lost into the game, just take what the defense gives me pretty much. Q. Trevon, you started out 0-for-8 as he mentioned, ended up being the leading scorer. Was there something that the coach said to you or what was the mentality there? TRE'DARIUS MCCALLUM: No, he just kept instilling the confidence in me, telling me those were great shots. Some of the shots I was taking was pretty good just fell in and out and just being aggressive and when I, like I said, get lost in the game, make great passes, play hard defense, everything else will follow. Q. You may have had the toughest entry a year ago, do you feel the team's adjusted two guys there that don't get to sit on the bench much J.P., do you feel the adjustment has been made or do you feel the experiment with Sumner gone a month now? COACH MACK: I wouldn't say it's an experiment at all. We're not as deep as a team as we used to be, but that freshman down there has done a terrific job and he grows more confident each and every day. The one thing he's done a terrific job all year long, whatever his role has been he's been a really good defender for us. And we don't have a luxury at times for any of our guys to get in foul trouble. So that's prevented us from being more of a man-to-man team here down the stretch. But I think our team's adjusted. It's just we're just a little bit different team. Q. You mentioned a lot of pressure on the players early. What kind of advantage is it to you to get that out of the way tonight and then build momentum with the victory going into tomorrow? COACH MACK: Well, I can tell you it beats the alternative (laughter). I don't really know how to answer that question. I just know that we got a big challenge tomorrow. Our guys understand how good Butler is, the type of year they've had all year. And I expect us to play better tomorrow than we did tonight. But that will be determined tomorrow. Q. Quentin, obviously the injury to Edmond Sumner put you in a bad spot. You guys struggled, six-game streak before these games. Can you explain how well you did tonight and if that's given you some confidence? QUENTIN GOODIN: I feel like I just took advantage of what the defense gave me. My game is to get to the rim and then make my team better (indiscernible). But my whole mind set today was to get to the rim, do the same thing you usually do. Just worked out today. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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