BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 8, 2000

Jimmy Dillon

Matt Doherty

Troy Murphy

COACH DOHERTY: It was a great win for us. We were embarrassed at Rutgers, about a month and a half ago, and we had a lot to prove to ourselves and I guess to other people that we could play against the tough physical man-to-man defensive team. I have a lot of respect for Kevin and his players. They play hard. They're one of the best defensive teams we faced. To come into the Garden, the Big East tournament and play like we did, I'm proud of these kids. And, you know, these guys are great. Troy was offered an opportunity to talk on ESPN after the game, and he didn't want to. He wanted to be in the locker room with his teammates. That's the kind of group of guys we have here and I'm very proud to be associated with them.

COACH DOHERTY: I think that's probably the biggest thing, you know, is starting out. We talked about being the aggressor and jumping out early and we've done that the last two games. To set a tone. Because I want to thank a sports writer, I don't know who it was, that said we were soft and stuff like that. You know, times -- last Rutgers game, we were soft. We watched that tape and we had soft screens and they were quick to the loose balls. You know, you challenge our manhood a little bit and I think our kids responded. We wanted to be the aggressor. We did a good job. You look at the rebounding job we did, did a good job on the boards, shot over 50 percent from the field. So I thought our kids showed a lot of toughness.

TROY MURPHY: It means a lot. It means a lot to the program. We have never had a win in the Big East tournament, so, you know, it's a step forward for us and it was a great team win tonight. And, you know, I just had -- I had a great time playing tonight with these guys and playing for Coach.

COACH DOHERTY: We're in a tournament right now that's pretty important to us. I think we ought to focus on that and our next opponent. We can't control, who knows? I'd like to get inside that war room and figure out what they look at and all that stuff. It's hard. So much of it is out of your control. What is in our control is preparing for Miami and playing hard and hopefully putting ourselves in a position to win a basketball game. If we do that, then maybe the committee can't, you know, turn us down. But if we start thinking about the tournament, I think I've made a mistake before the profits came, I started talking too much about the NCAA tournament and I think that was not the right thing to do. We're just worrying about enjoying this win till midnight and then preparing for the Miami Hurricanes, which is obviously one of the best teams in the league.

TROY MURPHY: I learned, you know, I think the last time I made it too much of, you know, playing against Rutgers, going out there and playing against, you know, the whole team and trying to do everything, you know. They really got to me, you know, playing there. But I mean today I just tried to focus on the game plan. I think that a lot of times I tried forcing shots the last game and that got us out of our offense. If I take a bad shot, guys aren't ready to rebound and it leads to a fast break basket. I stuck to Coach's game plan today and executed the offense.

COACH DOHERTY: Matchup tomorrow with Miami, they again might be the best defensive team we face this year. We had a 12 or 14-point lead in the second half at Miami, and they really tightened up the screws defensively. We really collapsed in our half-court execution. I hope that our half-court execution is better today than it was then and will even be better tomorrow. Then they also didn't have Hemsley, and that was to our advantage obviously. He's one of the best players in the league as well. So it's a challenge. I mean they're the cochamps of the league. So we have nothing to lose really. We go out there, play hard, play smart, play together and hopefully at the end we're in the position to win a game.

COACH DOHERTY: The question was about the field goals, they only had a couple down the stretch and our defense. A lot of times when teams hit threes, you talk about why you still in the zone? I think Temple plays zone. They're a pretty good team. I'm not saying our zone is as good as Temple's, but we have done some good adjustments, I think, in our zone to contest shooters and, you know, they have some quickness and that's to their advantage. Our advantage is our size and our defensive rebounding with Troy getting 12 defensive rebounds. So I also don't want to get our guys in foul trouble. That's why we play zone, but that didn't seem to be the case tonight. So I thought we were pretty good at widening our zone, showing out on ball screen out front so Billet could just come off and shoot. Our guys were active and communicated pretty well.

JIMMY DILLON: It's been exciting for me throughout the whole year, even during the preseason. I just got a sense that we had something special this year. Our togetherness and, you know, even with the coaches, it just seemed like a lot of things were clicking this year that hadn't in the past. So coming to the Garden, I mean I've never been more excited to play in a game, and, you know, it was a good motivator that we got Rutgers as a draw and, you know, we got embarrassed down there and, you know, gave us a little sense of payback here. And I think everybody on the team got up for it. It was really exciting to see the team progress through the year.

TROY MURPHY: Yeah, I had a really great time playing tonight. I think last time I let it bother me. It got to me and today I really, you know, Coach talked to me before the game, before we left to come out here just to play my game. And, you know, that's what I tried to do tonight. You know, a bunch of guys knocked down shots. We had a great team win tonight.

TROY MURPHY: I don't really remember. I don't know.

TROY MURPHY: I'm really not sure, you know, whose blood it was or anything like that. It was on my back. Yeah, I have bumps and bruises throughout the game, all of a sudden the ref comes up to you and tells you you have blood on your jersey. Every game has been physical throughout this entire Big East season. I don't expect it to be any different in the tournament. You just have to go, make your cuts and expect to get hit. That's the way the Big East is.

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