JAY WRIGHT:
Very good win for us. I'm very pleased
with our team. That Georgetown team is a very good
team. Played a great game last night and played very
well again today. They have not quit on John all year,
and they've had tons of injuries. They're young. That
is going to be a good team next year. They've stuck
together to the end, and that's why I told our guys,
these guys are good. Doesn't matter what their record
is. They played that way tonight.
So I was pleased we could come out of that with a
victory.
THE MODERATOR:
Questions please.
Q.
Coach, you had not a single double-digit score
until about the seventh minute of the second half.
Obviously you had three guys finish in double
digits. What led you to that transition there?
JAY WRIGHT:
You know, teams do a good job, and
Georgetown did, of trying to get at Ryan and Josh and
Kris. They know who to go after. That was part of that
first half.
We couldn't get those guys going. We have to just
continue to play defense, hang in until we can break
free. I think once -- we had a couple of shots and got
out to transition. Josh is I think one of the best players
in the country in transition. That got us going, and we
were able to get some good things in the half-court
offense.
Q.
Georgetown puts teams on the line a lot. You
didn't get a (inaudible). Did you make a concerted
effort to get a little more contact and get there?
JAY WRIGHT:
Definitely. I thought in the first half they
were very physical. Both teams were. Neither team
got to the foul line. But we weren't playing through their
physicality. We were driving the ball and they were
kind of pushing us off our line and we were throwing
shots up rather than being strong. We did, we talked
about that at halftime. It was important. Getting to the
foul line was important.
Q.
You guys were forced to go small after the injury
with Daniel. Was that part of the game plan
anyway when you saw the response especially
when they were trying to really feed in on Arch?
He seemed to thrive under that.
JAY WRIGHT:
Yeah. The last time we played them
they pressed us a lot. So we did use the small lineup
by plan against the press. We would have rather not
done it tonight. But it was good that we had just played
them that way and we had to tonight.
Darryl gave us great minutes, but he was tired. It was
good. It was good against their press.
Q.
Jay, at this point do you feel like you've done
enough to get locked in as a 1 seed? And at this
point how much pressure was it to (inaudible)?
JAY WRIGHT:
I know our people are tired of hearing
this, we don't care about the seeds. We don't think
about the seeds. We really concentrate on enjoying
this moment. We really do. I know it sounds corny. It's
just what we do. We love being here right now. We
love that game. We are fired up about playing
tomorrow. Because we're going to have plenty of time
when this is over to sit around and do nothing except to
listen to everybody talk about seeds. We'll do it then.
There's a lot of pressure from the outside of this team
to get to the second week, and there is. You know
what, we just take it one game at a time. If we don't
get there, it's not going to kill us. We'll be really
disappointed, but we're going to enjoy every step. If
we're playing to get there, we're in pretty good shape.
Then we'll take it as it comes.
Q.
Coach, in terms of getting to that and I'm just
wondering if you think not in terms of the program
itself, but as far as the Big East here in year three.
You guys have been the standard-bearer and
representing the league in sort of a larger sense.
JAY WRIGHT:
We definitely let down the Big East last
year. We were a good enough team to advance; we
didn't do it. And we take responsibility for that, really.
But you know, our guys played hard in that game
Rev #1 by #222 at 2016-03-10 19:29:00 GMT
page 1 of 3
against NC State. We brought it. We came all the way
back to get a shot to win the game with 14 seconds,
and it didn't go in. That's the Tournament.
So we do take that responsibility seriously. I really
would like us to get to a Final Four for the Big East as
much as for these guys. I really would. Because we
love this league. And we want this league to get
respect. But if we don't do it, I would love Xavier or
Providence or Seton Hall, I would love them to do it. I
really would. For the league I would love to see that
happen. I know they are good enough to do it.
Q.
Arch, I think it was a one-point game, 47-46
maybe, when you hit the first of those three threes
from the same spot there. What is it about that
spot? Is that spot -- I mean, what made you so
aggressive taking that shot tonight?
RYAN ARCIDIACONO:
I think it was out in transition. I
know I'm not going to finish at the rim. I know I'll pass
that anytime I'm close to the lane, I'll give it to Josh or
Phil or any of the other guys.
I didn't think we had numbers, but Coach always tells
me to be aggressive. We do that in practice. If I'm out
in transition, I'm pretty much the only one who pulls up.
That was just a product of us getting out. I think we got
-- like a couple of stops is where it really turned in and I
was able to get those open looks from causing
turnovers, a couple of great blitzes.
Very good win for us. I'm very pleased
with our team. That Georgetown team is a very good
team. Played a great game last night and played very
well again today. They have not quit on John all year,
and they've had tons of injuries. They're young. That
is going to be a good team next year. They've stuck
together to the end, and that's why I told our guys,
these guys are good. Doesn't matter what their record
is. They played that way tonight.
So I was pleased we could come out of that with a
victory.
THE MODERATOR:
Questions please.
Q.
Coach, you had not a single double-digit score
until about the seventh minute of the second half.
Obviously you had three guys finish in double
digits. What led you to that transition there?
JAY WRIGHT:
You know, teams do a good job, and
Georgetown did, of trying to get at Ryan and Josh and
Kris. They know who to go after. That was part of that
first half.
We couldn't get those guys going. We have to just
continue to play defense, hang in until we can break
free. I think once -- we had a couple of shots and got
out to transition. Josh is I think one of the best players
in the country in transition. That got us going, and we
were able to get some good things in the half-court
offense.
Q.
Georgetown puts teams on the line a lot. You
didn't get a (inaudible). Did you make a concerted
effort to get a little more contact and get there?
JAY WRIGHT:
Definitely. I thought in the first half they
were very physical. Both teams were. Neither team
got to the foul line. But we weren't playing through their
physicality. We were driving the ball and they were
kind of pushing us off our line and we were throwing
shots up rather than being strong. We did, we talked
about that at halftime. It was important. Getting to the
foul line was important.
Q.
You guys were forced to go small after the injury
with Daniel. Was that part of the game plan
anyway when you saw the response especially
when they were trying to really feed in on Arch?
He seemed to thrive under that.
JAY WRIGHT:
Yeah. The last time we played them
they pressed us a lot. So we did use the small lineup
by plan against the press. We would have rather not
done it tonight. But it was good that we had just played
them that way and we had to tonight.
Darryl gave us great minutes, but he was tired. It was
good. It was good against their press.
Q.
Jay, at this point do you feel like you've done
enough to get locked in as a 1 seed? And at this
point how much pressure was it to (inaudible)?
JAY WRIGHT:
I know our people are tired of hearing
this, we don't care about the seeds. We don't think
about the seeds. We really concentrate on enjoying
this moment. We really do. I know it sounds corny. It's
just what we do. We love being here right now. We
love that game. We are fired up about playing
tomorrow. Because we're going to have plenty of time
when this is over to sit around and do nothing except to
listen to everybody talk about seeds. We'll do it then.
There's a lot of pressure from the outside of this team
to get to the second week, and there is. You know
what, we just take it one game at a time. If we don't
get there, it's not going to kill us. We'll be really
disappointed, but we're going to enjoy every step. If
we're playing to get there, we're in pretty good shape.
Then we'll take it as it comes.
Q.
Coach, in terms of getting to that and I'm just
wondering if you think not in terms of the program
itself, but as far as the Big East here in year three.
You guys have been the standard-bearer and
representing the league in sort of a larger sense.
JAY WRIGHT:
We definitely let down the Big East last
year. We were a good enough team to advance; we
didn't do it. And we take responsibility for that, really.
But you know, our guys played hard in that game
Rev #1 by #222 at 2016-03-10 19:29:00 GMT
page 1 of 3
against NC State. We brought it. We came all the way
back to get a shot to win the game with 14 seconds,
and it didn't go in. That's the Tournament.
So we do take that responsibility seriously. I really
would like us to get to a Final Four for the Big East as
much as for these guys. I really would. Because we
love this league. And we want this league to get
respect. But if we don't do it, I would love Xavier or
Providence or Seton Hall, I would love them to do it. I
really would. For the league I would love to see that
happen. I know they are good enough to do it.
Q.
Arch, I think it was a one-point game, 47-46
maybe, when you hit the first of those three threes
from the same spot there. What is it about that
spot? Is that spot -- I mean, what made you so
aggressive taking that shot tonight?
RYAN ARCIDIACONO:
I think it was out in transition. I
know I'm not going to finish at the rim. I know I'll pass
that anytime I'm close to the lane, I'll give it to Josh or
Phil or any of the other guys.
I didn't think we had numbers, but Coach always tells
me to be aggressive. We do that in practice. If I'm out
in transition, I'm pretty much the only one who pulls up.
That was just a product of us getting out. I think we got
-- like a couple of stops is where it really turned in and I
was able to get those open looks from causing
turnovers, a couple of great blitzes.
