BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 6, 2002

Gary Buchanan

Brooks Sales

Jay Wright

JAY WRIGHT: That was very rewarding for our team to play a team with 20 wins like that in The Garden, in the Big East tournament. We've been playing good basketball. We knew that. But it's just good that we can go out and prove it to other people. So, I'm happy for our guys because they've worked very hard and they've continued to let us push them, even at the end of the year when things seemed bleak. So, I'm just happy for our players. That's a very good Syracuse team. That's a good win for our program. And, obviously, you know, Gary hit some big shots but also Gary made some plays, and he's really becoming a basketball player, not just a shooter. He made some great plays where he got other people shots and took the ball to the hole. And Brooks has just been our -- just all year, he's our MVP. There's no doubt. He does everything for us. I don't want to waste your time and explain everything, but I'm just very proud of both of them.

JAY WRIGHT: Well, actually, our strength all year really, has been our forwards. Brooks is a senior, and Ricky's a junior. They've got a lot of experience. Early, last time we played them, that happened also. We were able to get the ball inside against the zone. In the first half we were not able to do it this game. They did a great job. They adjusted on the way they played our stuff. In the second half we had to do that. You know, Ricky only had two shots in the first half and they were jump shots. Brooks only had one. We did not get the ball inside at all. That was a big key in the second half.

JAY WRIGHT: In the first half, we were not -- they had us completely matched up in the first half. We were in big trouble, because we couldn't make adjustments right there. And we had just played them, and everything we did, they played differently than they did the first time. We were in trouble. Then he just made shots. And a lot of them were kind of in semitransition. It wasn't against their zone. Then Reggie made that one at the end of the half. We were in trouble.

JAY WRIGHT: I thought we made a good adjustment at half time, worked for one play. Didn't work anymore. But then we started playing defense. I thought we got stops. We actually got some baskets in transition. We kind of caught them in that semitransition, as I was saying, even in the second half, where they were getting back. But before they got set, before we ran our sets, we got some good looks. And then, I thought we got some easy baskets, rather than having to play against their half-court zone.

GARY BUCHANAN: I didn't really feel nervous. I thought we were down 23-10. We'd been down all year. I knew as a player, as a team, we could also come back.

JAY WRIGHT: You know what, I would love to give him credit for that. God knows how bad I want him to take a charge. It wasn't him, it was Reg. It was Reggie. I wasn't sure, either. But I was going to get all excited right there. He admitted it though, he admitted it (laughing). However, he did a great job. He guarded Shumpert for a while in the second half, and he got a couple loose ball rebounds that were important to us. He got a big steal in the first half. These are the things we've been asking him to do. He's been working hard at it. I'm really proud of him.

JAY WRIGHT: With Reggie? That was a big play because we were scrambling right there. I think we had gone four, five straight possessions. We'd missed , they had scored. We had some bad possessions. They were on a run to get an easy basket. Reggie took the charge. Reggie's done that for us. That was a huge play. I think the 12-minute or 16-minute timeout came right after that which gave us a break. We were really a little bit down.

JAY WRIGHT: I love coming -- I love playing St. John's here. Even though we lost, I'm probably the only guy that likes to come here and play against the Johnnies. The Johnnies are great. I just like being here. I've had a lot of fun here and I love New York, you know. And I have a lot of friends here. This place is the greatest place to play in the world. It's just awesome. I always bring good players with me when I come here, too (laughter).

BROOKS SALES: Their big guys are real strong, but, you know, when it comes down to it and you're looking at the clock and myself realizing, you know, "I don't want to go out like this," you just got to get down, grind it out, play tough, block, and just pursue the ball. Rick did a great job of that, too. He was a real force inside going after rebounds. It helped us. We were able to get on a break.

GARY BUCHANAN: I didn't think it was really up to me. I thought it was up to our team to just make plays. The ball happened to come to me. I was the one with the ball. And Coach said if the ball reverts to you, you just make a play. My play on that side of the floor is to shoot a jump shot. They went for me early, I got a steal, just got on the break.

JAY WRIGHT: It is his job to make the play. It is. You're right. He still doesn't know that it's his job to make the play (laughing). It is your job.

GARY BUCHANAN: I just wanted to get out and just play. I didn't really worry about 23-10. Coach came into the huddle, kind of screamed on us, we're not playing hard. I just came out and tried to make the plays.

JAY WRIGHT: I could be crazy about this. I'm going to tell you the truth. We're going to try to approach this every year whether we have 25 wins or 11 wins that when the regular season is over, we're coming here to win the Big East tournament. That's what we're coming for. Then at the end, if we win one, three, whatever, we'll look back and say, "What did that get us? Did it get us NIT, NCAA?" We're not talking about that at all. We're going to try to come here and win the tournament. Tournaments are fun. If you put too much pressure on everything else that goes along with it, you ruin the opportunity to play in the Big East. When we recruit guys, we tell them this is one of the greatest things about playing in the Big East, is coming for this weekend. We're coming to win it every year. I'm not saying we will win it, but we're coming to win it. Then at the end, we'll look back and say, "Where did it get us"?

BROOKS SALES: It's another great family. It's in the Big East tournament. Obviously I'm from Connecticut. I know a couple guys on the team. That's not the important thing, playing Connecticut. If it was St. John's and Notre Dame, you got to approach the game the same. We will have our game plan and we have to go out there and execute as a team and stick to our keys. But, UCONN is just another team in the tournament.

JAY WRIGHT: I got to call Coach Carril and see what he says. I don't know if I can get to him tonight, it is west coast. I haven't figured that out yet. If I can get a hold of Coach Carril on the phone, we might.