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Georgetown 69, Providence 73
Washington, D.C. ââ'¬" Verizon Center
Saturday, January 30, 2016

Georgetown University Head Coach John Thompson III

On the loss to Providence…

They have two players that are elite and they played like it. Early on we were not able to make the plays to not let them get a lead, to not let them pull away. We scrapped and got back into it, but there wasn't enough time.

On the impact of Rodney Bullock…

Yeah, there's no doubt. He had a double-double, with 10 points and 14 rebounds, he was aggressive, he was assertive. A lot of those rebounds that we had to get; he got.

On Georgetown's improved shooting in the second half …

In the first half a lot of the talk during the timeouts was about getting the ball inside. We were settling for threes and they weren't rhythm threes. In some games I sit up here and say, "Well, we took a lot of threes but they were in rhythm," they weren't rhythm threes, so we knew we had to go inside more. Be that off penetration, be that off post ups, be that off offensive rebounds, we wanted to get the ball into the paint more.

On Providence switching defenses in the second half…

We were ready for that. I thought they executed well. Dunn had four steals and it felt like 12. He's a one-man wrecking crew on defense, man, zone, you always have to be cognizant of where he is because he's so disruptive. He had four himself and I'll bet he had four deflections that other people picked up. We were anticipating that, they do that, so we were prepared for that.

On Kris Dunn denying the ball to D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera at the end of the game…

I thought he was trying to deny him the whole game. It may have been a little more obvious at the end, because we wanted him to go get it, but he's an elite defender. Did it affect (our offense), yeah, because we wanted the ball in his hands.

On the amount of basketball left in the season and whether this was a game GU thought it should have won…

Absolutely. We're at the halfway point, so there is a whole lot of basketball left to be played.

On where Kris Dunn ranks among BIG EAST players Thompson has coached against…

He may be - and I don't want to insult anyone because my memory fails me - but he may be the best guard that has come through this league in a long time. And I'm talking about what he does offensively, what he can get for himself, he's one of the best passers I've seen this year and he's an elite, elite defender. He can impact the game in so many different facets at a level that not many players can do.

Senior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera

On playing Kris Dunn…

It's always going to be tough. I felt as a team we had to try and contain him better. I did a solid job on him individually, but once he's getting downhill in on-ball situations, as a team we had to defend him better.

On being denied the ball late in the game…

I was expecting it, but in certain situations like that I have to keep moving and get open, get the ball and make plays.

Senior center Bradley Hayes

On matchup with Bentil and if his length affected him…

I wouldn't say his length bothered, but I think I needed to make better decisions with the ball than I did. They were doubling in the post a lot and there were times I should have kicked the ball out to my teammates who were open and instead, I took a shot. I gotta make better decisions with the ball.

Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley

Opening statement …

"Another BIG EAST game, another BIG EAST war on the road, trying to get the players locked in coming off a home loss to a very tough Xavier team, and then coming here to playing against a very talented Georgetown team, coming off a great win against Creighton, so they are feeling good about themselves. I thought we played with some desperation. We tried to make a couple of adjustments as far as the amount of shots we were taking that were early. We wanted to try to be more aggressive going to the basket and both Kris [Dunn] and Ben [Bentil] played very well today; and I thought a third guy stepped up that we always need. I thought Rodney Bullock played really well today. I thought Kyron [Cartwright] played well in spurts. But anytime you play on the road, you have to be mentally tough, have to be totally locked in and I thought from start to finish our players were totally bought into to our game preparation, so it's really a credit to our preparation with our staff and our players."

On how important it was to limit Georgetown's interior touches …

"I think it's very important. We go into every game and everybody thinks that we're the smallest team in the BIG EAST and if we are, we are but all we want to do is play team defense. We wanted to crowd the post as much as we can and [Bradley] Hayes's development has been as good as anyone in the BIG EAST. Where he was to where he's at right now is a credit to John [Thompson III] and his staff on their player development. We just try to do the best we can to keep it out of there."

On individual player contribution …

"There's no secret. Ben [Bentil] and Kris [Dunn] played well, but that doesn't always guarantee us winning the game, we have to have contribution from the other guys. I thought Rodney's [Bullock] contribution, especially on the backboard, I thought he had one of the biggest baskets of the game. Georgetown was on a 9-2 run and then we got an and one and then Kyron [Cartwright] shot. I also thought [Ryan] Fazekas played well in the first half. I thought everybody that touched the floor today gave us something and we talked about bottom line business meaning you have to do something when you're in the game, not just be out there playing for Providence."

If Providence's switching defenses impacted Georgetown …

"I don't think so; John [Thompson III] is a great coach. That's the way we play. It's not like we have four 7-footers out there that can guard the rim so we do everything we can to try to win the game. If it's changing defense, whatever's working is what we stay in."

No. 0 | Ben Bentil | Sophomore | Forward

On playing against size every night …

"It's a challenge. Coach always said from the beginning of the season 'they're going to challenge you', but we don't play on one side of the court, it goes both sides."

No. 3 | Kris Dunn | Junior | Guard

On if he enjoys coming on the road …

"I wouldn't say we like coming on the road. We're doing a good job on the road. We are undefeated on the road right now and we're just a tough team right now. We are just trying to figure it out as a team. I just like playing with the guys. Every day is something new. A lot of guys are improving. A lot of new guys are progressing every day. When they play good I think we're a great team."