COURTESY OF ST. JOHN'S ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement…
“Coming on the road, there are certain things that you have to do. You have to be able to shoot the basketball. We had 17 more shot attempts than they did. One for 16 from the three-point line. I don’t think that’s a reflection of our basketball team. … I thought the experience factor for Xavier was in full effect today.”
On the team’s three-point shooting struggles...
“I thought we just missed shots. … Some of the credit goes to Xavier. They contested shots, but I thought we had some looks that just did not go down. We also got a lot of shots getting to the basket. They were contested and we just didn’t finish.”
On Xavier…
“[Naji Marshall] got 20 [points] tonight and eight rebounds for them. He’s an experienced guy. [Quentin Goodin] just runs the show for them. That’s what he does. [Paul Scruggs] hit some big shots and made some big plays for them. Of course, you’re always going to have an unsung hero and today it was [Kyky Tandy]. … He made some big shots and had some big momentum plays. I think they just play off each other well.”
On the BIG EAST…
“It’s a great league. There are a lot of teams that returned a lot of players. … There are some great coaches in the BIG EAST. As a player, you look forward to playing games in the BIG EAST, whether at home or on the road. … We’re just trying to find the right formula. … It’s a process. It’s something that you’ve got to go through. I thought our guys competed at the highest they could, but when you don’t make shots it’s kind of disappointing. I just know we’re a much better shooting team. ... They held serve at home, that’s what you’re supposed to do.”