BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 8, 2023

Shaheen Holloway

Madison Square Garden

Seton Hall Pirates

Postgame Media Conference

DePaul - 66, Seton Hall - 65

Q. What happened in the final 10 seconds?

COACH HOLLOWAY: I don't know. First of all, let me give DePaul a lot of credit. Their coaching staff and their guys hard all the way to the end. We had a chance to ice the game, but we had two killer turnovers right there at the end.

And it's something we work on all the time, too, that's why I'm really upset because we know we've got to step to the basketball and be strong with it. And just couldn't do it tonight.

Q. Would you consider playing in the NIT if there's the opportunity?

COACH HOLLOWAY: Yeah, if we got an opportunity to keep playing basketball, who wouldn't? I'd love to.

Q. Is this part of the highs and lows of March, you reach the highest of high last year, and then this year losing a game like this?

COACH HOLLOWAY: I guess. It sucks. It sucks for the seniors, sucks for the guys who don't have any eligibility left because, like I say, I thought we came out, not great the first half, but the second half we came out with a lot of energy and got control of the game.

And down the stretch we just couldn't make no free throws. And we got a veteran ball team. This is unacceptable for me because we work on this all the time. For us not to execute down the stretch and pull it out is disappointing.

Q. The play that you had drawn up for Femi, other than the outcome, what did you think about the execution for him to get that clear lane to the bucket for a chance to win it?

COACH HOLLOWAY: I thought it was good execution. We did everything except finish. He did a great job of pushing it and getting to the rim. We work on those pressure situations every day in practice.

And I keep telling these guys, four seconds, 3.5 seconds is a lot of time; you can get places. We execute and the kid just made a good block.

I thought when you hit the rim it's goaltending, but I'm not an official so I don't know.

Q. The 3-point shot really played a huge part in their comeback. And several of those shots they made particularly in the second half were kind of ridiculous, step-back variety. Was there anything you could have done better on the 3-point shot tonight?

COACH HOLLOWAY: Coming into the game, that was one of the things we talked about, Johnson and the point guard and Gibson shooting. And Johnson made some tough ones. They made six in the first half, and I really got on my guys at halftime about it.

I thought we did a good job until the last five minutes, then the little guy, Terry, he hit one that was kind of outta here. No one expected him to even shoot it from there, man. But that's why you've got to be ready at all times.

Q. Defense has been your calling card. They shot 50% from 3. Has there been some sort of wear-down with this group just playing seven guys, playing hurt or what? What led to that defensive issue tonight?

COACH HOLLOWAY: I mean, they scored 66 points. It's not like they scored 80 points. I thought we played good defense. If you look at the game, I don't know how many points they scored in the last minute, maybe five or six, whatever. But if that's not, then they've got 60.

I don't want to say defense was the issue tonight because it wasn't. Going 11-for-18 from the free-throw line, that's an issue. Or having 14 turnovers, that's an issue. But I thought our defense was solid. Defense was solid. They made tough shots. Tip your hat off to them.

Q. Any fatigue, mental physical fatigue?

COACH HOLLOWAY: You keep asking me that. That was part of it. I go with what we got. I can't make guys play -- guys played and they gave me everything they got. And I'm proud of my guys. They fought to the very end. That's all you can ask for.

Fatigue, did it play? It's March. Everybody is tired.