Big help from my good friend Jaden Daly...
On Khadeen Carrington's performance: (41 points, seven assists, five rebounds)
"More than anything, I love how efficient he was: 10-for-15, seven assists, one turnover, four steals; makes his free throws, he rebounded, he defended. That was the best game I've seen him play from an all-around standpoint. I just think his efficiency was off the charts."
On Angel Delgado and his performance: (17 points, 17 rebounds)
"We had told Angel, 'you're just not gonna get the ball in the post the way they play you.' They do what most teams don't do, they put (Cole) Huff on him and they had (Justin) Patton trail him. He came up with two huge offensive rebounds, he stuck with it, he stayed very composed even though he wasn't getting the basketball, and he played some pretty good defense too at times."
On Seton Hall's four juniors carrying the team:
"We talked about on Sunday, we came back after St. John's and we still knew we had a great opportunity coming ahead of us, we were still in great position. Those four guys...the whole team had an unbelievable two days, Monday and Tuesday. We actually practiced long on Monday. They understood what was at stake, and I thought they really brought it emotionally tonight for all 40 minutes."
On Isaiah Whitehead and comparisons between his games and Carrington's game tonight:
"I have to go back and watch the tapes. Isaiah had some great games, he played great against Xavier here, he played great against Creighton there; but this is, for Khadeen coming off a tough night at St. John's - I knew we were going to be in good shape when we were walking back to the locker room after the press conference and he says, 'Coach, don't worry, I'll get it back.' And I had no worries. His efficiency is what I've been waiting for all year. He's been doing it all year, but he was really efficient."
On Carrington transitioning from Robin to Batman:
"I'll take a lot more games like this, that's for sure. This is his progression. He didn't force anything in the first half, he took one tough step-back off a switch, but that's what we usually do. I thought him diving on the floor in the first half got him going. He made a great play, got a loose ball, got a jump ball for us and I just thought him diving and playing good defense, rebounding, I thought it kind of got him going a little bit. Sometimes you've got to get a rebound, got to get a steal to kind of get yourself going."
On Ismael Sanogo and his toughness:
"I'll tell you what: He didn't play against Stanford, we lost. He didn't play against St. John's, we lost. He didn't play against Florida for the last 19 minutes, we lost. The only game we've won is Quinnipiac without him, and Providence. Mike (Nzei) gives us something offensively that Ish doesn't, but teams like this where you need someone to be able to cover guys, he showed a tremendous heart just getting on the court. It was really tremendous by him."
On Sanogo's status for Saturday against Villanova:
"We'll find out tomorrow."
(BTW, Ish said there was no way on earth he wasn't playing Saturday. Willard as he usually is was just being cautious).
On Khadeen Carrington's performance: (41 points, seven assists, five rebounds)
"More than anything, I love how efficient he was: 10-for-15, seven assists, one turnover, four steals; makes his free throws, he rebounded, he defended. That was the best game I've seen him play from an all-around standpoint. I just think his efficiency was off the charts."
On Angel Delgado and his performance: (17 points, 17 rebounds)
"We had told Angel, 'you're just not gonna get the ball in the post the way they play you.' They do what most teams don't do, they put (Cole) Huff on him and they had (Justin) Patton trail him. He came up with two huge offensive rebounds, he stuck with it, he stayed very composed even though he wasn't getting the basketball, and he played some pretty good defense too at times."
On Seton Hall's four juniors carrying the team:
"We talked about on Sunday, we came back after St. John's and we still knew we had a great opportunity coming ahead of us, we were still in great position. Those four guys...the whole team had an unbelievable two days, Monday and Tuesday. We actually practiced long on Monday. They understood what was at stake, and I thought they really brought it emotionally tonight for all 40 minutes."
On Isaiah Whitehead and comparisons between his games and Carrington's game tonight:
"I have to go back and watch the tapes. Isaiah had some great games, he played great against Xavier here, he played great against Creighton there; but this is, for Khadeen coming off a tough night at St. John's - I knew we were going to be in good shape when we were walking back to the locker room after the press conference and he says, 'Coach, don't worry, I'll get it back.' And I had no worries. His efficiency is what I've been waiting for all year. He's been doing it all year, but he was really efficient."
On Carrington transitioning from Robin to Batman:
"I'll take a lot more games like this, that's for sure. This is his progression. He didn't force anything in the first half, he took one tough step-back off a switch, but that's what we usually do. I thought him diving on the floor in the first half got him going. He made a great play, got a loose ball, got a jump ball for us and I just thought him diving and playing good defense, rebounding, I thought it kind of got him going a little bit. Sometimes you've got to get a rebound, got to get a steal to kind of get yourself going."
On Ismael Sanogo and his toughness:
"I'll tell you what: He didn't play against Stanford, we lost. He didn't play against St. John's, we lost. He didn't play against Florida for the last 19 minutes, we lost. The only game we've won is Quinnipiac without him, and Providence. Mike (Nzei) gives us something offensively that Ish doesn't, but teams like this where you need someone to be able to cover guys, he showed a tremendous heart just getting on the court. It was really tremendous by him."
On Sanogo's status for Saturday against Villanova:
"We'll find out tomorrow."
(BTW, Ish said there was no way on earth he wasn't playing Saturday. Willard as he usually is was just being cautious).
