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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2013Ryan ArcidiaconoJay WrightMouphtaou YarouNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK VILLANOVA – 66 COACH WRIGHT: A very difficult game, and I want to give St. John's a lot of credit. They lost their leading scorer, and you're not going to just go find one. I thought Steve did a great job with the team in finding another way to play, just get after you and really drive the ball. So we were struggling in the first half. I felt the second half we got more aggressive against their pressure and started to make some plays and got to the foul line. First half, we were just too tentative, too tentative against their pressure. It created offense for them. Q. Jay, can you talk about‑‑ you only hit three three‑pointers, but the three that Ryan hit there in the second half, how big was that for you? COACH WRIGHT: We count on him for that, and he knows that. I think there was a point in the game where he was looking, and we needed a big shot. We needed someone to make a play. We could sense he was searching it, and that was. That was big. It kind of gave us a little separation. We had 18‑6, and after that, it was either their lead, tie, or close game. That was the first time we got separation again. That might have been like 14 minutes to go in the first half. Q. Jay, when you recruited Yarou four years ago, did you ever think there's going to be a game that carries you offensively? COACH WRIGHT: That's a good question. You know what, he was pretty skilled. No, no. He was good‑‑ he was good tonight, and it's not a surprise to us. We know what a good shooter he is. Most people take it away from us, but they really took our guards away from us tonight, and they kind of made a decision we're going to make him beat us, which is not a bad game plan. He was big time. He hit jumpers. We went through‑‑ usually in our offense, we're going to Pinkston in the post, and we have Mouph down the perimeter, and down the stretch we went to Mouph in the post. He was big. Q. In that same regard, Jay, it seemed like he was drawing back out from under the basket, and that created a lot of room inside. COACH WRIGHT: That's what we were trying to do most of the game. That's why he got some jump shots. I felt the other people weren't doing a good enough job taking advantage of that on the team. That's really Mouph's value to us. You have to guard him on the perimeter. So he hit a lot of jumpers. But you notice at the end, he did a great job keeping Pinkston out of the post. He was the only guy who could post up at the end. He made two big plays on post ups down the stretch. They were straight up post‑ups. Q. Jay, when Harrison out, they had two guys who took like almost all their shots. How much‑‑ does it change the number of dimensions they have? COACH WRIGHT: It does. You lose your leading scorer, I mean, that's huge because a leading scorer like Harrison‑‑ and you all saw our last game against them. He draws two other‑‑ he draws another person, which makes everybody else better. So losing him is big. One of the things that was difficult was you didn't know which guy was going to get it going. When you prepare, it's easier when Harrison is there to prepare. It's not as easy to play against him, but you know they're going to go to him. Without him, it was hard to prepare. But they're not as explosive with him on the floor. That's a big loss. Q. Jay, I know you've been asked this is a lot lately, but how much better do you feel about your chances next week after this game? COACH WRIGHT: Well, Mike, I told you, I felt good, but I knew we're going to take whatever the committee decides. I told you that before we came up here. I still feel good. I still feel real good. As long as we can play, I'm going to keep going for the next game. I knew there was a chance we could lose this one, and it would be a long week at home waiting. Right now I'm not going to think about that. I'm just going to think about Louisville. Q. Jay, along those lines, can you talk about the strides you guys have made since the beginning of the year? What the difference has been. COACH WRIGHT: It's really the two guys sitting here. This is our leadership with James Bell, and you've got a senior who really hasn't played a lot of basketball. One of the things I'm most proud about him is he's a guy that came from Africa, and he's a Philadelphia basketball player. He's a Villanova basketball player. He knows the game. He is smart. He's a leader. He's playing for his teammates. And then Ryan is like a senior. He grew up watching Villanova his whole life. I'm starting to realize we benefited from that. He knows everything we do. He comes in there diving on those balls, bleeding blue and white from day one. So it's like having a senior because he's been around so long. We've really benefited from his leadership. That's where the strides came from. Q. Ryan, you had five turnovers in the first half there. It seemed like you were struggling to find things. Kind of walk me through the process there second half when you got things going. RYAN ARCIDIACONO: They just got the pressure. I kind of left my feet a couple times. I should have just jump stopped and made a little bounce pass. I think I only took one or two shots in the first half, maybe three. I think I had to score a little bit more for our team and myself. They made a little comeback. They tied it up. They had the lead a little bit. Like Coach said, I just felt like I had to make a play. I made like a three and then the pull‑up jump shot. I just felt good after that. In the second half, I was just like, all right, I'm not going to let us lose. I'm going to be strong with the ball and make plays for others. That's what I thought I did. Eight turnovers, I was sloppy with the ball a couple times. Overall, I thought that I kind of got some guys some shots, which was good. Q. Coach Wright, I was wondering, if you looked at the first Louisville matchup as possibly a turning point or a springboard for getting you guys kind of on a run, and what do you expect from tomorrow night? COACH WRIGHT: That game definitely was important for us in that we were playing well, but had lost some games. We knew we were getting better. We knew we were getting a lot better. You got to get a win to‑‑ winning is just‑‑ it justifies everything you're teaching the guys. It gives the guys confidence in what you're doing. So that game was big for us. Now, I think they were coming off a loss to Syracuse and at home and then came into our place. I don't think they were playing real well at that time. I don't care. I'll take it. I'll take it any time. I think they're playing a lot better right now. I think they're really hot. And this team has been in this position before. I expect a great game from them tomorrow night. Q. Coach, this is the last Big East Tournament, and everyone's been discussing it. Coach Boeheim mentioned his feelings about it earlier, them going to the ACC, you starting this new conference. What are your emotions playing this last formation right now? COACH WRIGHT: Just so you all know, Jim Boeheim is a lot friendlier and nicer guy than you think. He stopped in our locker room before the game, and he'll never admit it, but he's a little sentimental. I know he is. He stopped in before our game and with his wife Julie. I know this league means the world to him. He went and hugged John Thompson after the game. He don't hug. He's not a hugger. So all of us who have been a part of this, this means a lot. This is really big to us. If not for Rollie Massimino, I'm not even a part of this. If not for the Big East, Rollie Massimino is not Rollie Massimino. I know it. He knows it. And if not for the Big East, no one knows about Villanova. It's been such a big part of this. It's sad. But the greatest part about this is we get to come back here and keep a lot of the original schools together. So I would lie to you if I said I wasn't very sentimental about this. Q. Mouph, Ryan and Coach talked about this earlier, how St. John's gave you the opportunity to beat them. Why were you up for this? MOUPHTAOU YAROU: My teammates are doing a great job to play. My teammates doing a great job.  St. John's was trying to stop that. So I knew, if I started making shots, they would step up. I was hoping for my teammates. I wasn't worried about St. John's. Q. Talk about the development of Pinkston this year. COACH WRIGHT: Good New York guy.  Talk about Pinkston. He's come a long way. He's been a big part of our growth and his ability to handle the ball and he only had one assist tonight, but he only had one turnover, which is big. He's just gotten smarter as a basketball player. He's gotten to be a guy we can go to. He's gotten to be a much better defensive player. Just all around, he's very coachable, a very coachable guy. I think he can get a lot better. He's been a huge part of our growth through the season. Q. Jay, you mentioned diving on the floor, going for loose balls, things like that. You guys, even when you were playing well weren't playing pretty tonight, and that carried you through. Has that been part of the season where the skill part isn't there, the effort always is? COACH WRIGHT: It has to be. The aggressiveness and toughness has to always be there, and that's the Big East. When you play in the Big East, you talk about the days back with Louie Carnesecca and John Thompson and P.J. Carlesimo. You have to know, when you come into a Big East game, if you're not up to the physical battle and the physical toughness you're not up to that, you're not even in the game. You've got to start with that. Then you've got to try to win the game. You've got to be tougher and more aggressive. I thought in the first half we weren't. I thought St. John's was the aggressor. That has been something our guys have done a good job of. Keep playing hard and tough and aggressive even when we're not making shots. JOHN PAQUETTE: Villanova, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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