BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 11, 2026

Ed Cooley

Malik Mack

Vince Iwuchukwu

Jeremiah Williams

Madison Square Garden

Georgetown Hoyas

Postgame Media Conference

Georgetown - 63, DePaul - 56

THE MODERATOR: Coach, would you like to make an opening statement?

ED COOLEY: It's just so exciting to play in the Big East tournament. I can't tell you how excited we were to come and play and obviously we played here a week ago, eight or nine days ago and I thought our men played well in here, competed at a high level.

But I've been fortunate. I believe this is my 23rd or 24th Big East appearance as a head coach and as an assistant coach and it never, ever, ever disappoints. Getting off the elevator, there's no greater tournament in America, the longest-lasting one, the most organized one, the most covered one. I just can't tell you how much I enjoy playing in this tournament.

Today was about our defense. It was about our physicality. We were prepared. I know DePaul is one of the more physical teams in our league, Maclin, Benson, Blocker, you know, competing against Coach Holtmann over the years.

But I'm really proud of our guys. It has been a long year for us with respect to coming down the stretch and losing games by a possession, losing at the buzzer. We've had 10 games this year with either the lead or tied score down one with 1:47 on the clock. So we have a tough game tomorrow. We'll be prepared for tomorrow. Kevin's been laying in wait, they have been chilling. So we know we're going to have a hard game tomorrow, but it's an opportunity for us to advance.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Today there was a little bit of a struggle offensively in the first half. What did you say at halftime that really changed it up? Because you guys looked so much more efficient in the second half.

ED COOLEY: I just thought we were a little sluggish. I thought we were waiting too much to create action versus initiate action, and that was the biggest adjustment. We had to pick up our pace of play, we had to pick up our pace moving the ball, we had to get a little more physical with the entry passes. And the players did that and it was a great adjustment on their behalf just to play with a little bit more pace, a little bit more urgency on the other side of the ball.

Q. Vince, what kind of opened up for you in the second half?

VINCENT IWUCHUKWU: Just belief, and my teammates believed in me, talked to me during halftime telling me to keep my head up, coaches told me to keep my head up. I went out there and just played my heart out.

Q. You guys have a quick turnaround tomorrow. What are your thoughts going into that game against Villanova?

JEREMIAH WILLIAMS: I think we're excited to play that game. We get another opportunity to continue our season and play in Madison Square Garden in the best conference tournament in the world. So I think we're going to attack it like an opportunity and we're blessed to continue to play basketball.

Q. (No Microphone.)

JEREMIAH WILLIAMS: They're a very -- I think they're physicality isn't talked about enough. They're a very aggressive and well-coached team. So we didn't have our best showing at Villanova and we are aware of that. They played a great game when they played us and then they got the sweep-off, so we're excited to get another opportunity out of them and we're confident in ourselves and our approach.

Q. This is your first win in the Big East tournament in four years. Just want to see what that means to you. Coming into this program you obviously wanted to get into the Big East tournament and win some games, and you've done that tonight and you have the opportunity to keep doing that throughout the tournament. Want to see how that feels, what you guys are thinking, what's going through your head here.

MALIK MACK: I feel like we're taking it one game at a time. There's a big opportunity in front of us and being able to win these games for the university is something that we look forward to doing, knowing where the university was at and knowing where it's trying to go.

But as a team, I feel like we're just taking it one day at a time, one opportunity at a time, knowing that we don't get too many chances at this, so taking it one play at a time and one day at a time and trying to make the most of it.

Q. What was it like to hear Hoya Saxa ringing out through the Garden?

ED COOLEY: They play. I just try to call a couple of plays. Ask them.

JEREMIAH WILLIAMS: It was a great feeling to hear that. As everyone is aware, we have had some pretty big struggles this year and we've always been right there. So for us to break through at the Big East tournament and give ourselves some life, some rhythm, it means a lot. Our fans showed out their last game of the whole entire first day, so it just meant a lot and it's going to give us some energy going into tomorrow.

Q. You mentioned you guys played St. John's here last week and you guys were really close, one-possession game. What was the difference tonight to get you guys over the hump as opposed to the last game against St. John's?

ED COOLEY: Well, we made free throws coming down the stretch. I thought we had a little bit better ball movement late in the game. I thought the coaches did a great job making some adjustments coming out of timeouts. They weren't as long at the rim as St. John's was, not as long on the wings. So I thought we were able to take advantage of the front of the rim using in particular with Vince. So I thought that was a big, big difference tonight.

Q. Down the stretch you unlocked a little bit more from Vince, 17 and 14 tonight. He also goes for two threes. When he's playing the way he's playing and can score from both sides of the arc, how much more formidable does that make him and how much of a credit is that to his development?

ED COOLEY: I think it's a lot of credit to him, it's a credit to the staff. We played a game today that I'm not going to tell you-all what we did. But Vince won, and he had a carryover today with that. So guess what we're doing tomorrow? We're doing that same game tomorrow.

Honestly, I think it's resilience. When you're trying to develop players, I think you have to be patient with development. All of us want it right away, and in particular when -- I do know this in coaching. When big guys get it, they really excel. And everybody thinks bigs are supposed to be dominant from day one. It's a process and as long as they continue to believe and trust in themselves, I think they grow pretty fast.

But I mean, we're going to need him to do that because that was today. Congratulations, Vince. You played really well today. Do the same thing tomorrow.

Q. What is one part of your game that you think has not really shown well, but it's something that you want to learn more in the whole games.

ED COOLEY: Can I answer that question? I think their entire game could get better. Yeah, I think they can dribble better, shoot better, rebound better, run better, get in better shape, make free throws, be better teammates, be better students. Those are the things that I think we can all do better. I can be a better coach. LeBron is still trying to get better, you know. I mean, different question, odd question. We're all trying to get better.

Q. On Monday you talked about the need for the team to rebound the ball efficiently today and eliminate second-chance opportunities for DePaul. Talk a little bit about the impact that having 42 rebounds tonight and only seven second-chance opportunities?

ED COOLEY: Yeah, it was great. It wasn't the most efficient offensive game from both teams, so there was a lot of rebounds available. We definitely put a high emphasis on it. The last two games we gave up several offensive rebounds. That was the reason why we lost the last time we were in this building. We gave up 10 offensive rebounds in the second half of that game.

So we really paid attention to it in our preparation leading up to this game, knowing how physical DePaul is and we're going to have to do the same thing tomorrow as Villanova is one of the more underrated physical teams in our league.

Q. This is your 100th matchup as a program, Georgetown against Villanova, tomorrow. It's a very storied rivalry. You've played against Coach Willard for years --

ED COOLEY: 20.

Q. That's a lot of years. Does that add another level to wanting -- obviously you want to win every game, but does that add another level -- does that rivalry between you and him, between the programs, does that just bring it up a notch?

ED COOLEY: Any game in this league that you play, I'm glad -- I didn't know it was the 100th game. Obviously it's a storied program they have. It's a storied program we have. I'm just looking at it as one game in order to advance. Kevin has done a great job. I'm so happy he's back in the Big East. He's always been a Big East coach and we're going to have our hands full. They're one of the better three-point shooting teams in our league. They have one of the best freshman point guards in the country. They have an underestimated big guy in Brennan, you know, a big fellow in there. Perkins has played really well.

We got our hands full. It's a Big East game. Every game, and particularly in this building at this time of the year, is so special, is so, so special. So I'm very, very fortunate to coach in that game tomorrow and really looking forward to preparing our guys tonight. Thank you.