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Georgetown 92, St. John's 67
Washington, D.C. ââ'¬" Verizon Center
February 8, 2016

Georgetown University Head Coach John Thompson III

On Georgetown's ball movement on offense...
Not just passing around the perimeter, but our guys did a good job of penetrating; making the defense collapse, then kick it out. You do that and all of a sudden those shots, for some magical reason, go in a lot more. So we absolutely shared the game today, which was good.

On snapping a three-game losing streak...
You lose one game in a row and it's horrible. You lose two, you lose three and I don't know how to describe the feeling, personally. One thing is that our guys have worked very hard in practice. Our guys understand that we have what it takes, we just have to execute. The fight will never leave, you know you're going to turn a corner at some point because these guys work too hard, they work too hard. To your point, getting a win is good.

On LJ Peak working himself into Sixth Man of the Year in the BIG EAST consideration...
So now I'm immediately trying to think of who is in the rest of the conference; but I think so. He's playing at a very high level right now.

On Marcus Derrickson's status after taking a hard fall and not returning...
He said he could've gone back in. B.J. said he could've gone back in as well. Marcus is a tail bone, but neither is serious, both of them are fine.

On Georgetown's 1-2-2 defense and then switching to full court man sealing the game against St. John's...
I don't know. You lose a couple in a row and I kept waiting for them to have that 20-point play. You're just on pins and needles, but it was effective to your point. I think it might not have created turnovers, but it disrupted what they wanted to do a little bit.

On Isaac Copeland's play...
I think the last two games ââ'¬" it's hard to look at a loss and find positives ââ'¬" but the last two games he's playing basketball. He's doing a lot of different things. I'm going to mess with Mex after this to go back and check some of these stats, because I thought he had at least 10 rebounds. He's been all over the place, which I've said all along he has the ability to do. He's been really locked in and focused on pursuing rebounds, he's getting deflections, he's coming up with loose balls, his defense has been pretty good and all of a sudden now the points come, so I just think he's been playing a complete game.

On if this is the kind of game he envisions when thinking of Georgetown ââ'¬" St. John's...
I like the outcome. We needed the outcome. But Chris ââ'¬" you guys know this ââ'¬" he's old school BIG EAST and he's kind of said that to me a couple of times this year. When we played up there somebody on their team got a flagrant foul. So he comes down the sideline ââ'¬" I can't tell you exactly what he said ââ'¬" but he was like, "can you believe they called that a flagrant, that wouldn't have even been a foul when I was playing. But that's what he's used to. That goes to change, the rules, how we officiate the game has changed. You watch some of those old games, you watch that BIG EAST 30 for 30; it's a different game. But I'll tell you whether it was in that era or this era he'd still be the one of the best that ever did it.

Sophomore forward Isaac Copeland

On what was working for him in the first half...
We just moved the ball around well. Like Coach said earlier the drive and kick opened up shots for everybody else and they missed me a couple of times in transition for a trail three and after that you get rolling real quick.

On how much Georgetown needed a game like this...
We needed a game like this, especially with Providence coming up on Saturday. They're one of the toughest teams in the conference and the nation, so we needed a game like this to build our confidence up and be able to go on the road and get a win.

On playing a total game opposed to just shooting...
I can't just be a one dimensional player. If you're out there just trying to worry about your shot you give empty minutes when you're not hitting your shot. I try to bring intensity on both ends of the court, because I'm too tall, too athletic and too mobile to just be out there shooting jump shots all day.

Senior guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera

On having three players score over 20 points...
It just goes to show that when we share the game that eventually everyone can get going. We got a lot of guys that can score the ball. Not every night is it going to be us three, we have other players that can get it done, but tonight that's just what it was.

On if they wonder where the offensive explosion has been all year...
I wouldn't say that so much, we have spur of the moments where we might not be making shots, but that's where our reliability on defense comes in. That's something we have to continue to get better and make it a staple for us, because not every night is it going to be like that.

On if coming out shooting well changes his mentality...
It doesn't necessarily change the mentality, it really makes the defense make adjustments just because you can't really dictate what I'm going to do every time. Sometimes guys are open and I'll find them; sometimes I can make the play for myself, so I just keep the defense off balance and continue to be aggressive.

St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin

On how to keep his players in the game when Georgetown started so well ...
I think we just gave them too much space. That's what happened the last game. I told them before the game I thought they run a really nice offense and a very patient and very disciplined. They make you guard for a good portion of that shot clock. Nice ball movement, nice body movement. I just thought we let them get too comfortable and that's what happened the last game. Stepping into threes, not contested and once they started making shots like that ... I thought the first half they dictated everything. We played a little bit better in the second half, a little bit more competitive but just letting them get looks like that, and run free, that's not the way St. John's-Georgetown basketball is supposed to be. Too polite.

On whether his players are skilled enough and strong enough to score at the rim with contact ...
Combination of things. One, for us, is to get shot. Early on, we had trouble with the turnovers. We've been a little bit better overall the last 10-12 games. Last game, we were really bad with the turnovers. So one thing is to get shots. I'd rather have a bad shot than a turnover. The next thing is to get better shots and to make shots. You can't make shots for guys. You have to try and put them in the best of position to get looks. We try a lot of different things, we try a lot of sets, we try to play in the open floor, pick and roll. I am not one of those guys looking to run my offense. We are trying to get these guys looks and you have got to live with missing shots. That's the game.

On Peak's and Copeland's efficiency and if they were playing off of each other ...
Yeah. Again they have a nice offense but, from my standpoint, way too easy. More like a 5-on-0 offense. Too easy, too comfortable and no resistance.

On Durand Johnson's minutes in the second half & what has he meant to the program ...
He's been great. DJ's been good. He's been one of our leaders. Emotionally, he has great energy. He's played well and, in a game like tonight when you get down, you just try and search for different lineups. I wouldn't analyze that (his second half minutes).

On getting outrebounded ...
Again, that's part of putting an imprint on the game. I always tell them 'when you play no matter what, if you play in the park, if you play with force and pace, you're at least going to let your opponent know it is going to be a tough night and you are going to compete. That could be how you are running, how hard you are screening, rebounding, getting after 50-50 balls, that's all part of putting your imprint on the game. You do those things, over time shots seem to go in and you get breaks. And when you don't, the opposite happens. (Yankuba) Sima just got back and we play small a lot. I'm not overly concerned about getting outrebounded. Offensive rebounds is probably more important to me than the defensive. If you miss a lot of shots, it's a lot of defensive rebounds. You can call defensive rebounds or call them turnovers when you are missing layups and things like that. The offensive rebounds are more concerning. When you play small, you have to play fast. When you are playing small ball you have to outrun those guys, not run with them. That's something they are learning. Obviously it's a rebuilding season and we got some young guys that are just learning what it takes, so just part of the process.

On the difference from coaching professionally to college ...
It's been good. I've enjoyed it. We got a bunch of nice, good guys. No problems whatsoever. So that part's been fine. Over the years, the NBA has become much younger so that really hasn't been much of an adjustment. Going back to St. John's was easy because I'm from there so it hasn't been too bad at all.