Quote Center: St. John's Postgame vs. Providence

COURTESY OF ST. JOHN’S RED STORM ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE

St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin…

On overall defensive performance:
"It's something we will look at in detail tomorrow, but in general they just were living in our paint. It was their main point of attack. Our defense has been solid. We've been pretty good on the ball, and very good off the ball. Tonight, we were horrendous on the ball. [Kyron] Cartwright basically got wherever he wanted to go and broke us down from there. It's something we've done well [this season] but we were terrible tonight."

On Shamorie Ponds' injury:
"I don't know. I never saw what happened, but I saw him limping. I asked him and he said that he was really hurting after a layup. Otherwise, I don't know exactly. I noticed him limping at the start of the second half."

On whether the injury to Ponds impacted Cartwright's big game:
"You have to give [Cartwright] and Providence credit because they played a great game. They made 3-pointers, moved the ball, got in transition, and basically took us apart in the second half. They dominated us. Now why? That's hard to say after watching the game live, but you can't just single out Shamorie because he was going past everyone."

On how the injury to Ponds affected the team's ability to climb back into the game:
"Again, getting back into the game is getting stops and buckets. If you're not getting stops, then it doesn't matter what you are doing at the other end. We just couldn't generate any stops tonight. Offensively, I thought that even though we didn't score the ball, we were able to get what we wanted for the most part. I don't think it was anything too complicated there, but they were just scoring at will. That's what it came down to."

On what was said following the game:
"I'm very transparent. I even told them at halftime that [Providence] was too comfortable, and we were just kind of out there participating. When you do that and a team gets hot, it's tough to stop. It doesn't matter where you play or who you're playing, if you give someone space and enough confidence, it's hard to stop. I told them two things. One, a little self-analysis doesn't hurt. We will look at it tomorrow. We will look at how good we've been, and how different we looked tonight. Then we have to forget about it. Basically, you have to be accountable for it and then put it behind you. The worst things you can do are sulk about it, blame, or feel sorry for yourself. It's okay. We went out and laid an egg, but we have 17 conference games left. We will make it up along the way if we approach it the right way. That was us out there, and there's no other way around that. I will take responsibility for not having us prepared to play, we will fix some stuff tomorrow, and then go out and play on Sunday. That's really all you can do. Again, I just want to emphasize how well Providence played. They took advantage of everything and when you are shooting the ball like that, that's an impressive game they put together."

On being able to quickly turn around and prepare for Sunday:
"That's the most important thing. Even in wins. I say it all the time and people think I'm speaking in clichés, but it's not a cliché. If you live your life that way, it's not a cliché. If we had won, we would have been looking at the film tomorrow and moving onto Seton Hall anyway, so that's what we'll do. Obviously, when you win you sleep better, food tastes a little better, but being accountable for these things is important for the development of your team. We are not going to win every game, and how you handle it is as important when you lose as when you win. When you win, it kind of takes care of itself, but when you lose, it's important how you handle the accountability of it and what you do the next time out."

On Marvin Clark II's good game:
"We try and go through everybody. One thing we try to do is not be predictable on offense. We have a lot of different options in many of our sets, and of course if someone gets hot we will play through them. We like to go through [Clark] in both the post and outside, and I think he is starting to get more comfortable. Just coming off the year off, he's really starting to get his rhythm back."

Redshirt junior forward Marvin Clark II…

On the hot shooting of Providence:
"[Providence] had a great day. Tip my hat off to them. They played hard, shot the ball extremely well, and when a team is shooting like that it is tough to stop. At the same time, we could've given a little more effort on the defensive end collectively as a unit."

On struggling defensively:
"I just think that we played defense in spurts and we didn't put together a full segment or full half. We went on a little run, got up by seven, but then we got content. I just think we need to go home, look at ourselves in the mirror, and we'll figure out what we'll need to do in order to get ourselves and our team better. We just weren't consistent. In BIG EAST play, it's going to take consistency every play and every possession."

On the effect of having Shamorie Ponds on the bench:
"There's no doubt that he's one of the best players on our team because he's one of the best players in this league. As a collective unit, everybody can bring something to the game."

On quickly moving on to Sunday's game:
"It's very important. We don't want to dig ourselves into a hole and worry about this game later. Definitely it's next play mentality. Coach said it best; let's regroup because we will see them again. We have to not let this carry over to Jersey."

Redshirt sophomore guard Justin Simon...

On whether it bothers him when the opposing team has swagger:
"Yeah, it does bother me a little bit. You never want to have people come in here feeling comfortable. I think we allowed Providence to get comfortable in the first half, and that led to confidence in the second half. They shot amazing from the field, and tip your hat to them because they played really well. We definitely have to establish ourselves in the beginning of the game, and it starts from there."

On the effect of having Shamorie Ponds on the bench:
"Like Marvin said, collectively we all bring something to the game so we have to embrace that 'next man up' mentality. However, Shamorie is one of our best players, and we are a lot better when he's on the floor."

On shooting 18 3-pointers in the first half:
"They were playing zone, so we were able to get a few good looks from three. I think we did settle a little bit in the first half, and we could have gotten to the rim. They didn't have too many shot blockers there, and only had one block in the game. We could have got to the rim a little more, but our game plan on offense is to find the open man and make the correct read."

Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley...

"It was a great night for us. Kyron [Cartwright] was as efficient and effective as anyone I've ever coached in a game, and that includes my Boston College days. I actually was a fan more than a coach today because he was the true coach of the team. Everybody rode his energy, his enthusiasm, and we played with a ton of confidence. This is the first time I've seen our team play with a little joy because we've been so decimated by injuries. It was a good team win. Obviously, playing on the road in conference play is important to get a win. This game was about Cartwright because he controlled the game from start to finish, and I was a fan more than a coach tonight. It was a good team win. St. John's was a little banged up, hopefully Shamorie [Ponds] is okay, and so I thought that played into the way they wanted to play. However, when we are making shots like that, it's fun for the Friars."