COURTESY OF ST. JOHN'S ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening statement…
“This game came down to rebounding, toughness and at the free throw line. … Even as [the game] unfolded I thought we did a pretty good job of just kind of hanging around in the first half and even in the second half. We had missed opportunities to take advantage of the momentum as we made runs back at Providence. Give [Providence] credit, they made some plays. It just came down to that play with five seconds left to go on the clock and [Luwane Pipkins] makes a tough shot. He’s an older kid and he made a play, but you look at the free throw line and the rebounding, that was the difference in the game.”
On what the team was trying to do coming out of a timeout with 10 seconds remaining…
“We were actually trying to attack the basket and then have somebody spot up. It probably could’ve been a foul. It could have been an and one. Who knows? We wanted to get an attack, knowing that the defense would kind of sink in. 10 seconds is a lot of time, but we didn’t get neither. We didn’t get the call and [then we] put them on the free throw line. There you have it.”
On the bench play…
“[Marcellus Earlington] and some guys off the bench give us big minutes. In the first half, I thought that Greg Williams was a guy that was carrying us a little bit. It wasn’t a game of beauty. Neither team shot well, but that’s what happens in conference play. … I thought we had some guys on offense give us some good minutes. [Julian Champagnie] did some good things for us. … Providence did what they were supposed to do, they protected their home court. Kudos to them and congratulations to them. At the end of the day, it was one of those games that we’re going to look back on film and there were a lot of things we could have done a much, much better job.”
On if Providence’s 2-3 zone affected the offense…
“I thought at times it did, but I thought at times we kind of settled. We did a good job moving and attacking the basketball to the baseline. We had some layups down there. But when you go on the road, you have to shoot the ball, you got to put it in the hole. We had some shots that we normally make and we didn’t get the extra opportunities like they did. That’s why I said, you look at the free throw line, they made them. They shot 70% from the free throw line. 17 free throws and we made eight. Do the math. I thought we were careless with the basketball, turning the ball over. We pride ourselves on taking care of the basketball and I thought we had some bad turnovers.”
On if Providence’s defense slowed down the offense…
“We turned the ball over. We came out in attack mode and I thought we turned the ball over. Then obviously we weren’t hitting shots. ... In conference play, teams are a little more familiar with one another. We just want to find a way to be our best. That’s the bottom line. I thought our tempo at times was to our liking, but then again I thought the free throw line and our rebounding was a big in determining this game.”