Feb. 27, 2016 Recap | Final Stats
Head Coach John Thompson III
On DSR's final game at home…
He's been special in his time here and his time here is not up yet. I've said it a couple of people, as much as I can remember of any player I've coached, I've seen such tremendous growth and maturation as a person, as a man during his four years here. As a player, his numbers, his commitment, speaks for itself.
On fullcourt press in second half…
It did (speed them up). It created opportunities for us that we weren't getting. The same the trapping we were doing in the half court did.
On what he attributed 23 turnovers to…
I don't know. You can look at, analyze their 44 foul shots, but at the end of the day we had to take care of the ball more than we did. Twenty-three turnovers, that was the difference. That was a large part of the difference, that wasn't the difference.
On when DSR fouled out, offensive game plan…
We wanted to get movement and penetration. We got some drives by Isaac (Copeland) in there. We just wanted to get movement, we wanted to attack the rim.
On being down and forcing overtime, take anything…
We don't quit. At this point, to say we'll take that we always have fight, that's what we do. We're not going to quit. We never quit. We never will quit. The guys have been there and understand that until the clock gets to :00, there's a chance.
D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera
On emotions of playing on Senior Day…
There was a lot of excitement. Everyone was anxious since it was Senior Day, but we were ready to go.
On taking over in second half and what he said to teammates…
I just told the guys to continue to play. We've been in situations like that before. Some we've overcome, today we didn't. Fouls were a bit part of that, turnovers were a bit part too.
On turnovers…
They converted off of them. A lot of the turnovers weren't from them causing problems. It was mis-directions or miscommunications with each other.
On missing some of the overtime after fouling out…
It was very difficult, especially since we didn't win. It's tough, especially knowing I could have done something being out there. It's a learning curve for everybody.
Butler Head Coach Chris Holtmann:
You know, I think you've got to give Georgetown a lot of credit with the way they just came at us there the last four minutes. It's interesting when you watch a lot games in the league you realize that they were down 11 to Creighton, I think, a couple weeks ago, with a minute or so to go, and came back and won the game. So they really have the ability to do that. They're explosive. Give them a lot of credit for forcing us to make free throws ââ'¬" which we've got to obviously be better at ââ'¬" and make plays. I was really, really pleased with our guys' response in overtime, when we could have certainly responded differently. I told them in the locker room, don't let anyone, anyone, say anything about this win. Because that was a gutsy win. That was a gutsy win.
On Georgetown's full-court press…
We prepared for it, and I have to go back and look at it but I think we only had eight turnovers. I don't think we turned it over in those situations, we just didn't make enough free throws.
On his thoughts late in regulation…
Kellen Dunham: We just had to understand that, coach said it earlier, that they battled back against Creighton earlier in the season. We weren't expecting them to lay down by any means. They definitely made it very difficult with their press and speeding us up a little bit.
On how Butler regrouped…
Tyler Wideman: Just having the seniors, even though [Roosevelt] fouled out, all the upperclassmen keeping everyone together and making sure we were all on the same page.
It can be devastating , if you let it, to have a lead like that, them climb back and foul a three point shooter. Certainly, we could have done things better, but we tried to remind our guys the entire second half and overtime ââ'¬" look, we're on the road against a good team and we're right there. We've got a chance to get this thing. They're going to make a run, they're good, they're well coached, and they're talented. We just have to respond the right way.
On losing the lead, but winning the game...
CH: Whoever is out there roasting, they need to put their Twitter and turn it off. They don't have the first clue what it's like to play on the road. They don't have the first clue what it's like to play in the Big East on the road. Georgetown is not going to lay down for us. No team is. They're talented. They're capable.
