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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2019Chris MullinJustin SimonNew York, New York Marquette - 86, St. John's - 54 Q. You guys were able to get it close. What changed after that in terms of what they were showing you? CHRIS MULLIN: Offensively, we struggled all night. I thought we cast up too many early and bailout shots. We never got anything going offensively. The game changed. We got off to 11 or 13 to 5 to start the half. We struggled offensively. We got some stops and got on the floor a little bit, but they got free on the open floor. We had a few miscommunications. That's the type of team they are. They hadn't done it to us this year, but I've seen them do it to good teams. They got that quick run and opened the lead up. We had no rhythm offensively, and our defense broke down. It doesn't take much for them to create separation. That's pretty much what happened. Q. How confident are you that you're going to make the NCAA Tournament, and what would your case be to the committee? CHRIS MULLIN: I'll be watching Sunday. I'm not really here to make a case. If I need a lawyer -- we do what we did, and we'll see what happens Sunday. No politicking. I stay out of politics. Q. Obviously, the way your team fell behind in the second half, as you watched that play out, did it seem like they were abandoning the coaching philosophies and what you expected to happen in this game? Or did you need more analysis in the final 15 minutes? CHRIS MULLIN: I give a lot of credit to Marquette. I think they're a terrific team, one of the best teams in the country. I think they're a phenomenal offensive team. As far as abandoning my coaching philosophies and techniques, no. When you get beat, it's easy to look at things in one way. So in my mind, we just let the game go and clean our minds and our bodies and come back and give our best effort, whatever that may be. Q. Chris, obviously, there's nothing you can do anymore to -- you've already built your case for the NCAA, your team. There's nothing for the next three days that you can do, but you personally, you're just going to wait until Sunday and see whatever happens happens, or are you going to pay attention to the other games that can possibly effect? Or are you going to ignore that and wait to hear from the committee on Sunday? CHRIS MULLIN: I told my guys to take a break. They need a break mentally, physically, little break from each other, and we'll get back together Sunday, have a good practice, and then probably watch the selection show and see what's what. Q. Coach Mullin, St. John's was undefeated, obviously, before Big East play and it was kind of an up-and-down conference run. What are the things that you feel could have been done differently and things you can implement for postseason play even if you don't make the NCAAs, you should be in postseason play anyway. So what are some adjustments you can make to be more consistent? CHRIS MULLIN: I think being resilient. I think consistency comes with discipline, good daily work habits, work ethic, and a lot of those things take time. From where we came from, we're actually much better than we were, believe it or not. If you look at our conference, from top to bottom really, I think in some ways probably very underrated. Yeah, I guess it depends how you look at it. You can look at it as a loss of one or two possessions. Would I like to change them? Yeah. I'd like to make a few more free throws and grab a few more offensive rebounds, but you're talking about 33 games now of analyzation. So each game has its own personality and its own set of circumstances. We're in a position now we're taking two days off and going to come back refreshed and give it a good run. Q. For Justin, you guys were in the same spot here last year, where you had a good first win, and then you came back and kind of took a lopsided loss. How much of a factor do you think is that that you played the night before and you're playing a fresh team, and how much of a factor was that tonight, do you think? JUSTIN SIMON: It's a big factor. It's a big factor for sure. A little stress on our bodies, to come out here and play a great team like Marquette. You know, they're fresh. It was tough. We knew it was going to be challenging, but we were up for the challenge, I felt. Tonight, we just let it go a little bit. Q. Justin, let's say you get to the tournament. How do you bounce back from a loss like this? JUSTIN SIMON: It's a fresh start, in my eyes. Coach said we're going to take these days off and regroup and get our minds and bodies right and wait until Sunday and see what happens. Just looking forward to that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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