Feb. 7, 2009

Recap | Box Score | AP Photos

Coach John Thompson III Quotes:

Opening Statement...
"We have to win games and a lot goes into that. We just have to win games."

On sitting all five starters early in the game...
"The first group came out and was just flat, on both ends of the floor. In terms of communication they were just flat and in execution. We had a lot of guys who could get in and contribute, so we put those guys in and things picked up a little bit."

On the last play of the game...
"We wanted a wall ball with Chris [Wright] and Greg [Monroe] and see if we could get some confusion if they switched which they did, and just see if we could make a play on the other side of the court. Chris went into the air and threw it across, giving us a couple different things to look for that we checked off and we just couldn't get the shot to go in."

On comparing this loss to the loss at Cincinnati...
"Comparing and contrasting losses...they all hurt. This one hurts more, because it just happened. During that stretch where we didn't score I felt we had a few lay-ups that didn't go in for one reason or another and the same with our interior touches, but they did what they had to do to stop us."

On the physical play of Cincinnati...
"I don't think they physically outplayed us, they just made plays when they had to and we didn't. I don't feel like they outworked us. We can always improve and get better."

Georgetown freshman center Greg Monroe:

On his performance at the free throw line late in the game...
"I don't know how to explain it. I missed my free throws and that's something I can't do down the stretch. I had a couple of bad bounces (and) I just have to focus more down the stretch."

On the team coming out and performing poorly early in the first half...
"We came out flat as a group and we put the players in that had energy."

On how the team can bounce back down the stretch...
"I think we just have to find a way to get back to how we were earlier this season. We just have to continue to fight back and make runs ourselves."

Georgetown sophomore guard Austin Freeman:

On the team's final play of regulation...
"Chris (Wright) gave me the ball and I tried to get the foul but there was no whistle."

On how the team can perform better down the stretch...
"We've just got to stay composed and we've got to keep our composure."

Cincinnati Head Coach Mick Cronin

Opening Statement...
I think Georgetown had one field goal in the last six minutes of regulation and in overtime. We've grown as a team defensively, exponentially over our last eight games, we're 6-2. Our guys gave tremendous effort they want to win, it makes them really easy to coach and the guys are really focused in and they care a lot about each other.

On beating Notre Dame and Georgetown in the same week...
A lot of programs in this conference are trying to rebuild. Nothing great in life is ever accomplished without struggle, Winston Churchill. So you got to be prepared to fight, no one is giving away wins in this league. Georgetown is going through the same thing, they lost a lot of players and they are playing guys in new roles and they're a young team. You have great teams in our conference with losing records...these are teams that would be first or second place in other conferences.

On playing Georgetown twice in 11 days...
We learned a little bit about how they are going to play defense. Georgetown is one of the best defensive teams in our league and that's because they have one of the best coaches in our league. They play tremendous team defense, they're the best help-side defensive team in our conference. It's very hard to get the ball in the post against them and they do a great job of taking you out of your offense. Even though we still struggled to score in the first half it helped us a little in adjusting to the way they play. We would've had to take Thursday off, so we only had one day to prepare for the backdoors, but the fact that we played them 11 days ago made it a little bit easier to prepare for them, because no one else in our league plays like them.

On Cincinnati's hot shooting in the second half...
Well, it's all coaching. It's amazing how smart you look when kids make shots. Even in the first half when we didn't make shots, we missed layups and open shots, but that's all part of it, it all evens out. They had 26 and I told them if we get 52 we're going to win this game, so we have to stay focused on the defensive end. We have learned that. It's obvious just listening to the guys saying don't worry about the score, worry about getting stops. You have young kids looking at the scoreboard, but you have to worry about the next possession and getting stops and we've grown a lot in that area in the last month.