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Georgetown University Head Coach John Thompson III

On Georgetown rebounding advantage...

It flowed both ways. We definitely got some very big offensive rebounds. One of them that Isaac (Copeland) got sticks out in my mind, but other people did too. We had some offensive rebounds that gave us second shots, but at the same time even though we had the advantage, we gave up some defensive rebounds where they got threes. Looking at the numbers we did better than them and that's good, we needed every one of them when we got them, but we still need to do a better job at the other end.

On moving away from the zone in the second half...

I thought they got the rhythm of it a little bit. We had some mix-ups on (Forrest Robinson), but our man-to-man was ok. I just thought eventually we would get enough stops to win. It definitely threw them off a little bit in the first half, but then they got the rhythm of (our zone).

On focusing on getting Joshua Smith the ball in the paint...

From the very first possession of the second half we made a conscious effort to throw it in and Josh wanted the ball tonight. Some nights I'm not really sure if he wants it in there. Tonight it was clear that he wanted the ball. Every time I wanted to call something else his teammates would say let's get it to Josh, so they wanted to get him the ball.

On DePaul closing in late in the game...

Obviously there was a stretch where we lost (Forrest) Robinson too many times. I thought down at our end, we've done this in the past, we made poor decisions. They would make a shot and then we'd come down, one, two pass and shot instead of making them work a little bit and getting a very good shot. The shots that we were getting, guys can make those shots, but just the understanding of time and score and at that point in the game shot A might be a good shot, but at another point in the game it might not be a good shot. So we just have to keep turning the corner and growing in that regard.

On communication problems late to allow DePaul to get back in the game...

There was definitely miscommunications, whether it was a pick and pop or something else (Robinson) was open too much. Going into the scouting report you know that's what he does, we know that's what he does, so we can't let him get those shots off.

On handling DePaul's full court pressure...

We got careless, that's all. They did a good job of going from their full court man-to-man to their zone presses, so we probably saw three different presses tonight. We were a little tentative and just didn't do a good job adjusting to which one they were in. But that's what they do, so you have to give credit to them. Coach Purnell's teams are always very good and we actually anticipated seeing (the press) a lot more, but their timing of it was very effective.

On the time off between tonight and next game vs. St. John's ...

If you win it's good, if you lose you say you had too much time off. I think it's good. Much like I said prior to (St. John's), it gives us a chance to tighten up a few things about Georgetown. A lot of times once you get into the rhythm of a game-after-game you immediately have to get back and start preparing for the next team and what they do and practice and gear toward them. When you have this amount of time, besides getting some rest, it gives us a day or two where you don't have to worry about the opposition. Not to say we're not worried about the opposition, but we can focus on what we need to work on and we can devote a larger portion of practice time to us.

On this being the last home game before spring break...

The students have been outstanding, but just because (our next game) is over spring break doesn't mean they can't come to that game.

Senior center Josh Smith

On asserting his play early in the game and remaing consistent ...

I just have to do that more. I was in a slump the last few games with how I was playing and my effort, and tonight was one of those nights were my teammates were riding me out and I was just trying to perform for them.

On the offensive pick-and-roll games and how they plan to execute them come tournament time ...

Offensively, it was just one of those were coach Thompson tells us to go out there and see what's going on. We know that teams are going to play D'Vauntes hard and we know they're going to try and focus and try to get him off the three-point line and try to pressure him, so I realized that and I set the screen and the defender didn't step up and D'Vauntes got all the way to the cup and scored, so we're going to try to do a lot more of that and just score.

On controlling both second chance points and offensive rebounds during the game ...

Anytime we go out there I feel like we can have an advantage in that category, and how they were guarding us and with Tommy Hamilton, I tried to get him in foul trouble and force him to be aggressive and go to the cup every time.

On the student support throughout the course of the season ...

It has been phenomenal for them to come out. They've been out there the majority of the games, they've been loud and to be honest, we really thank them for coming out and supporting us. A lot of times they don't have to come out with school and other things going on but, we have some of the best fans in the country so we appreciate all the students for coming out and hopefully we'll see them at the BIG EAST Tournament.

Junior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera

On where the team stands now and what the win means for them ...

We knew coming in that this game was going to be tougher than most because at this point DePaul has lost a few games in a row and they were coming out strong looking for a win. At this point we have so much to play for and they were trying to recover and get back where they below, so we knew it was going to be a tough game we just wanted to come out and win.

On adjusting to DePaul defending him from the three-point line ...

I think it was also a part of getting around Josh's screens and I just wanted to attack. DePaul's bigs weren't stepping up and it's easy to get in there and create for other guys too.

Head Coach Oliver Purnell

Opening Statement

I was pleased with our effort tonight. I thought we really struggled in a couple of different times of the game that were critical for us. In the first half it was versus the zone, midway through the first half, and that got Georgetown that working margin that we really struggled to catch up to all night. I thought in the second half, the big kid (Joshua) Smith hurt us, when they were able to isolate him in the post. I thought we went to some pressure to speed Georgetown up, I thought that worked really well for us. And I thought defensively, in terms of guarding, down the stretch we were really, really good. But, we didn't rebound the ball. Georgetown was really struggling to score on the first opportunity, but we give them two and three shots and sometimes they are getting three-point plays as a result of that. So, we have got to do a better job of finishing off things with the rebound. Again, Georgetown is clearly one of the best teams in our league, best teams in the country, playing well right now. (D'Vauntes) Smith-Rivera was terrific. What a fine, money player he is. We put ourselves in a position to win, but we didn't finish it off on the glass.

Was there any thought of playing a full court press more today, given its recent success ...

I love full court pressure, so I always think about it. I didn't think we were in a position to do that with the personnel that we have. We tried to rest Billy (Garrett), so we chose to spot it instead. I was okay with the way we guarded, spotting the pressure, but no matter whether you are in the full court pressure or zone or whatever, you have to rebound the ball when you make people miss. The object is to make them miss, but you have to finish it off with a rebound. To answer your question, yes, I thought about it.

On the second-chance opportunities DePaul had in the second half ...

It was effort. Like I said, I was really pleased with our effort. One of the things that opened us up for offensive rebounds is when you drive the ball because people are going to come over and help. So I thought we sprinkled in enough driving from Billy (Garrett) and Jamee (Crockett) and even Durell (McDonald) some that freed up our bigs to get to the glass. But if you don't go, you don't get it, as you well know.

Was he pleased with DePaul's on-ball screening ...

Yeah, I thought it was pretty good. I thought we were getting what we wanted in our screening game and obviously when Forrest (Robinson) picks and pops, you have got to pick your poison. You either help on Billy (Garrett) going to the basket or you switch and cover Forrest (Robinson) and I thought we did a good job of freeing [Robinson] up. Obviously he did a really good job of knocking down shots.