Recap | Final Stats | USATSI Gallery | Photo Gallery

Georgetown 65, Marquette 59
Washington, D.C. - Verizon Center
Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Georgetown University Head Coach John Thompson III

On D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera's play down the stretch...

If he can't help us close games than we're in trouble. He did what he's supposed to do at the end of games.

On Georgetown's turnovers...

I think both teams had bad turnovers. I don't want to speak for them, but we definitely had some turnovers that were not good and that we have to work on. We have to be a lot more careful with the ball at key points.

On Marquette's zone defense...

I think our zone offense was bogged down for most of the game to tell you the truth. I don't think we had enough movement. There zone is very good. They're long on the wings, they come out, they're aggressive, so they make you bog down because they make you a little apprehensive as to when to attack. Once you put the ball down and try to penetrate against their zone, they come up with loose balls. We have to do much better the next time we see them.

On if he would trade poor shooting from the field for good free-throw shooting in the second half...

No. Do I want to make our foul shots? Yes. Do I want to go that long without a field goal? Absolutely not. I think our turnovers led to the fact that we weren't getting good looks.

On Georgetown's three-point defense...

We had some struggles. Once again, I think we had a few short close outs. I think they only made one three in the second half. Like I said following the Creighton game, clearly that's been an area where we've needed to improve on and maybe, knock on wood, we're slowly improving.

On switching defenses against Marquette in the second half...

I thought they were getting in too much of a rhythm, so we wanted to switch things up a little.

On Marquette getting in foul trouble...

We were fortunate. Fisher is a load down there and he's very good on offensively, so we were fortunate that he got in foul trouble.

On Georgetown's scoreless stretch in the second half...

During that stretch we did get it inside, we just missed. I don't feel like, and after I watch the tape tonight I may change my tune, but I don't feel like we were just working it around the perimeter and not getting it in there. We just weren't producing.

On different players stepping up in different games...

We, at this point, don't necessarily look at it as these are the upper-classmen and these are the freshmen. Some games it will be two or three people who will step up, the next game it may be these two or three people and it could be different combinations. We have the versatility where on different nights it's going to be different people, like Jabril who had some big rebounds tonight.

Senior Center Josh Smith

On whether the zone prevented him from getting touches down low ...

Just like what Coach Thompson was saying, they have a good zone defense and you have to work harder to find the gaps but that's a credit to them.

On his offensive rebounding in the first half ...

It's just kind of one of those things where the shot went up, and, a lot of times I had good position. I was under the basket and I just knew that if I could try, I would go and get it. And it was one of those days.

Junior Guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera

On the difficult jumper with time winding down to close the game out ...

I just knew, down the stretch, that my team eventually was going to rely on me to show up at that point so I just wanted to make a play and stop the bleeding a little bit.

On getting the ball inside against a 2-3 zone ...

It's very important for us, and not just against a 2-3 zone. Getting the ball down low attracts the double and triple team so throwing it down and spacing out and expecting Josh to make the right play.

On the 12-minute scoring drought ...

That defense is something that they're really good at. They're long on the weak side help and their four is tall so they close out really well. It was pretty tough for us to find the right spot but when we did it worked out well for us.

On the back-court turnovers late in the game ...

I wasn't seeing the floor well at that time. There was a couple of times where I could have passed it out and then gone to get the ball back, but it's paying attention to the clock and timing and making the right play.

On the press defense ...

We went over it in the scouting report and we knew that, eventually, if they were to get down they would go to it at some point.

Marquette Head Coach Steve Wojciechowski

On what he told his players following the game ...

I thought our guys played really hard against an outstanding and well-coached team. To win any game in the BIG EAST, especially on the road, you can't have those turnovers and I thought that was a real story of the game. They scored a third of their points off of our turnovers. For the most part of this season we have had a really good assist-to-turnover ratio. For some reason on the road, in our first two BIG EAST games, that has not been the case and we have paid the price for it.

On playing the 2-3 zone defense in the second half ...

We've played a lot of zone this year and the 2-3 has been good for us. Only having eight guys, that has been a good defense for us. We held them to two field goals in the last 16 minutes of the game and so I have a hard time faulting our defense. The only thing I'd say is we have got to learn to play our defense without fouling. They scored, really, either on our turnovers or we were fouling them, and so we have to play our defense without fouling.

On Luke Fischer going a perfect 6-6 from the field ...

Luke is a really good player and he continues to get more comfortable each time out. We have to keep figuring out ways to get him the ball in areas that he can work. But Luke is obviously a really good player.

On the mindset of when to put a player back in the game with four fouls ...

It's just a feel. [Luke Fischer] got his fourth foul, I'm not sure exactly at what point of the game, but the guys who came off the bench gave us a big lift. When we were down 11, that was the group - Steve Taylor, Sandy (Cohen III) and [Jajuan Johnson] - the three guys off the bench who got us back in the game. Again, we just can't have those miscues at such critical times.

Did Georgetown fail to get the ball inside when Marquette came back in the second half ...

One of the things in our zone that we try to do is keep it out of the paint. We know they are a team that can score in the paint, especially when Josh Smith gets it by the basket. He's a load. Overall, we held them to 40-percent shooting, 22-percent from three. The ones we can't afford to give up are the ones where a team doesn't have to play against our set defense. And that occurs when you turn it over or you foul.

Why has the bench group been so successful over the past few games ...

I think they are continuing to grow as players. I think they are growing and getting better and they have been really active. We've really needed their contributions and they have come through for us.

On correcting mental mistakes that lead to turnovers ...

You continue to talk about it and drill it. In practice, when it happens, you have to correct it. Our guys really want to do well and we have a vast majority of our team that has never played in BIG EAST play in big games on the road. Some of it is youth and inexperience. We just have to tighten it up.

Derrick Wilson played in his 99th career game. What does it say about his career ...

Derrick is a winner. He's a guy who is all about Marquette winning and he's been a very good senior leader for us. He's a kid with a great deal of character. He's a guy any coach would want on their team.

Did Georgetown switching to a zone defense late in the game put Marquette on its heels ...

Yeah, it did. We had some really bad turnovers against their zone. And they are long and they play good defense and they are very physical. We just had some real unforced turnovers. That being said, they are a heck of a team. Out conference, the BIG EAST Conference is a terrific conference and they are one of the best teams in it.