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Georgetown 76, Creighton 61
Washington, D.C. - Verizon Center
Saturday, January 3, 2015

Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III

On the play of Georgetown's freshmen...

They did what they were brought here to do. The way our team is composed, on any given game night different people are going to be asked to step up; you've seen that here. I don't think the group in the locker room looks at our freshmen class as a bunch of neophytes. The (freshmen) work hard, they practice hard, they've played minutes and I'm comfortable when they're on the court. They're comfortable when they get on the court and their teammates are comfortable when they get on the court.

On Tre Campbell's performance...

I thought he was terrific today. The layperson would look at the box score and say, "he had 13 points." But the effort and energy he gives us on defense is what got us going at the end of the first half. I don't know what we were down, but it felt like we were down a bunch and then he gets us going on defense. He gets over ball screens; he gets back in front of his man. So that's where it all starts; the points were just extra.

On Georgetown's three-point defense...

They made one three in the second half and (Creighton) is a team that's leading our conference and one of the top in the country at making threes. I've said it for a couple of weeks now, (three-point defense) is something that we've talked about and worked on. I think our guys are more attentive, finally, harder on close outs with their hands up instead of just lollygagging out to the offensive player. We had not been doing a good job of anticipating what's going to come next. We've been watching the game and then reacting, but I think today, especially in the second half, guys were thinking about what's coming next; I think that helped.

On Georgetown's ball movement...

If you go back and look at our last game and then look at this game, the difference in our offense was light years apart. We made the extra pass today. The ball moved around, the guys did a good job of sharing it. We have very good offensive players and we have a threat inside and we have guys that can make shots outside, so when they move the ball we're going to end up with good shots. Last game, and I'm not taking anything away from Xavier, but it was a series of "I'm going to throw it to you, you're going to work on your one-on-one moves and if it doesn't work throw it to the next guy," and we didn't have any movement; it was too stagnant. Today they did a really good job of staying with our sets and moving it to the next person and we ended up with good shots. We shot 75-percent in the second half and a lot of it was the function of we stayed with it until we got a wide open shot for someone who can make a wide open shot.

On the different lineups used due to foul trouble...

I don't think we approach it in terms of figuring out what to do. Everyone, with the exception of BJ, has played significant minutes this year and (BJ) came in and did his job. I thought he was a presence in there. That six or seven minutes he played in the first half, I thought he was very good...We can sustain foul trouble because of our depth. Not that we want to get into foul trouble, but we can sustain foul trouble.

On any adjustments following the Xavier loss...

We had a couple of "come to Jesus" sessions after the Xavier game and I think that might have helped. The guys responded.

Freshman Guard Tre Campbell

His thoughts of his performance today ...

Today, coach called on my number and I was ready to go out there and perform. He had confidence in me and I always have confidence in myself. I just went out there and performed.

On guarding Creighton's Austin Chatman ...

I'm quick also. It was a great matchup. He is one of the great point guards in the league. I took it as a challenge and just went out there and defended him.

On what the stage of BIG EAST play is like as a freshman ...

We don't really say too much to each other. We are all just basketball players. Coach has confidence in us, putting freshmen out there. We just have to play with confidence and we will be fine.

On the difference of playing in high school vs. college in regards to playing time ...

At first it was an adjustment, but I got through it. I am a team player. I just had to adjust.

Senior Forward Joshua Smith

On his second half performance after his first half ...

No matter how the game is going, I am going to keep playing hard and try to get my teammates open. It started off well. The first fouls, I mean they just happen. You have to have a short memory. Like coach was saying, with the guys we had out there with [Bradley Hayes] and three freshmen, they played well and gave us the lead going into the second half. We knew that, coming out, we had to keep the momentum going and play well and try to get easy baskets.

On the freshmen's contributions today and throughout the season ... We know our freshmen. All five of them, including Trey Mourning who hasn't really seen the floor as much. We have confidence in all of them. We see them in practice every day. They bust their butts. It is one of those where, I am just as confident in throwing [Tre Campbell] the ball if he's open as I am if its [D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera], if it's [Aaron Bowen] or if its Jabril (Trawick). We have confidence in everyone.

On whether this freshman group is different than any other he has played with in the past ...

Yes. These guys are all fearless. They all came from great high schools. They have all played in big games. And, kind of what Tre (Campbell) was saying, when their number is call, they're ready. That's L.J. (Peak), that's [Tre Campbell], that's Paul (White), that's Trey Mourning, that's Isaac (Copeland). They are all ready when they come into the game. I don't see them as freshmen, if that makes any sense.

Creighton Head Coach Greg McDermottM

Opening Statement:

We started the game; we couldn't ask for much more to start the game. I thought we challenged their looks, we bottled up inside. We were a threat to their shooters. Build a bit of a lead early. I thought Tre Campbell's play towards the end of the first half was really huge. He had a couple baskets there that allowed them to get the lead and the momentum. Much like the Providence game we didn't come out of the locker room with much pizazz to start the second half I think they scored on nine to 12 possessions a couple threes there to start. It created some separation. Let's face it, were a team that has to make shots from the perimeter to be successful. I think we had relatively good looks. There were three or four at the end of the shot clock that were forced because of Georgetown's defense. If you had told me we were going to hold Smith-Rivera to five and Josh was going to be bottled with some foul trouble at the beginning of the game, I would've liked our chances. We didn't have an answer for them second half and if were going from one for twelve from three were going to have a hard time standing games.

On the use of film to see Georgetown's ball movement...

Yeah I think they are an unselfish team. I think Smith- Rivera is their best player and he is unselfish, I think anytime you have that, your team feeds off of that. I think it was certainly their complimentary guys today, the first half the job we did on their big two on Smith and Smith- Rivera was exactly where it needed to be. Yet we were still down too because that other guy was standing up and making shots. That's the sign of a good team.

On how has Georgetown's team changed since last year...

I think last year, Starks and Smith Rivera seemed to dominate the ball a lot and John put them in situations where those two were going to take the line share of the shots. They have more weapons now, and josh creates a whole new set of problems when he is in the game because you have to commit more than one guy to him. We are not blessed with a guy like Stanbrook where you can play one on one an dtake your chances. He is a good enough passer and gets it out of there where he can hurt you. You are also committing more now that you are a little late getting the three point shooter and now they are knocking the shots down the second half. I really like their team, I think it is a team that as the season goes on, they will get better and better as those young guys continue to prove and understand the role that John wants them to play.

On Tre Campbell...

I knew he was good. We saw him in high school and watched him. You don't expect a freshman to come in with an impact like that, we had a couple big shots at the end of the first half that really swung the momentum and they started him in the second half and it changes defensive game plan when those two are together on the floor. You have two guys that are good enough that they can get it within the paint creating things. They both can shoot it behind the ball screen; you pretty much have to chase it. It was a good move by coach to put them in the starting line up at the second half and obviously the results speak for themselves.

On thoughts on the Big East conference this season...

I think it is really good. And obviously it has proven, I think Butler won at St. John's that the home teams have won. I just hope we can be one of those home teams that can protect their home floor. DePaul is coming to our place on Wednesday; they're 2-0, probably feeling really good about themselves. Everything is going to be a dog fight this year in the Big East and I think that speaks to strength and the depth of our league. We just need to make sure we don't make more of a couple tough losses on the road than it really is, I think a lot of teams will come to Georgetown on the short end this year.

Sophomore Guard Isaiah Zierden

On how the game suddenly changed in the last three minutes for CU...

They were just the more aggressive team. Especially after half time, they hit us first. They threw the first punch that has happened to us a couple times this year. We need to figure out what we need to do and fix it for the next game.

On Georgetown's ball movement...

I thought their offense is really based off ball movement. The Princeton offense if reads and I thought they did a great job reading how we were playing them . Again, the second half they were the more aggressive team.

On whether Georgetown wore them down...

I don't think necessarily they wore us down. I just think they were coming off the bench firing and more aggressive. I just think they were more aggressive than we were.

On faltering late in the game...

I didn't think it was anything in particular. I thought they did a good job of challenging the whole game. I am obviously in a slump, I just have to stay in the gym and I am going to shoot my way out of it.

On how Josh Smith challenged the team

Zierden: Our game plan was to just swarm him. Try to keep him out at first. And when he catches it and puts it down we were going to make him get rid of it. Defensively, he plugs the lane but we were going to put him in as many ball screens as we could. We tried but he found a way to get some calls.

On sticking with DSR but staying true to their principles

It is extremely tough, especially with how they move the ball like you mentioned earlier. The Princeton offense is reading that and they did a good job of seeing that we were not leaving him. They made us make passes and made us move around more.

Zierden:

I don't know, we figured out at the start of the game. That was a little bit better today we tried to change our half-time routine a bit in the locker room and get him out to the floor a bit earlier. But for whatever reason we have a just been a little flat this season. That first five minutes in the second half and in my opinion that's one of the most important parts of the game it creates the momentum for the rest of the game and we have not been good in that part of the game and today was really not an exception.

On not being able to get shots down by the end

It was huge. We built this team on the ability to shoot it. We are not shooting it very well, were not shooting it at all. Were 10 for 46 on this trip, we are lucky to be in games. We are down four at half time at Providence and down two here. And were not shooting it well so I am confident our shooters will shoot it better as time goes on and we gradually have to clean up the little mistakes we are making because they are magnified on our team this year because we do not have the ability to have five points on somebody.

Senior Guard Devin Brooks

On Georgetown's ball sharing...

We watched film and we defended the ball screens and the back cuts well and they just made shots.

On playing zone...

We play whichever defense gives us the best chance to win the game. If that means we have to play 2-3 and then 1-3-1 then we have to do it.

On keeping things positive...

Brooks: We have to take this loss as something to make us get better. Each day at practice we have to learn from this loss and play the next team better than today.