“Obviously, we’re coming off a great win on Sunday against Georgetown….We had a great sold-out crowd. It was a great day at the RAC. It was great to get our first Big East conference win. WE really needed it.”
–-Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez on the 65-60 win over then-No. 12 Georgetown
“We think Rutgers is a good team. They’ve played a great schedule. We’ve played a very tough schedule also. They have a great recruiting class with [Greg] Echenique and [Mike] Rosario.
“We know that they’re desperate to win because they’re 0-8 in the league…Then you throw everything out because it’s a rivalry game.”
–Gonzo on tonight’s tilt with the Scarlet Knights
“Sometimes you don’t always go head-to-head [in recruiting], but sometimes you do. There’s always an added thing when the metropolitan teams go against each other for the recruiting rights.”
–Gonzo on Rutgers, Seton Hall and St. John’s playing one another
“A great night last night for Villanova, for Philadelphia, the closing of The Spectrum in terms of basketball games.
“We really played tough. Reggie Redding, a Philly kid, had a big-time game in The Spectrum. It was a great win for us.
“This league, every game you know you’ve got to bring it.”
–Villanova coach Jay Wright on Wednesday’s 67-57 win over No. 3 Pitt
“That’s what makes this league brutal. You’re not just playing against talented players. You’re playing against physically developed and talented, experienced players.”
–Wright on playing against guys who could have gone to the NBA last season
“They’re good. I think they’re the deepest team in the league…I think Rick [Pitino] does as good a job as anybody in our game of defining rolls and making sure everybody knows what they have to do. And then they just have incredible size. They stretch from one end of the floor in that 2-3 zone to the other.“
–West Virginia coach Bob Huggins on Louisville, unbeaten in the league
“Danny needs skill work. Danny’s a ferocious rebounder that really plays hard but needs a lot of skill work and we felt he could get it at St. Thomas More.
–Huggins on New York native and West Virginia commit Danny Jennings at St. Thomas More Prep (Conn.)
“Last night we were able to win the turnover margin. It’s nice to be able to have different ways going into games to be able to win them.”
–Providence coach Keno Davis on the win over Syracuse
“We’re looking forward to going on the road and trying to hang with them [UConn].
“With UConn you’ve got a lot of guys that are going to be playing at the next level and they’ve got a bunch of them.”
–Davis on UConn
“We’re struggling right now. And our backs are against the wall. We just have to figure out how to claw our way out of the situation that we’re in.”
–Georgetown coach John Thompson III on his team’s losing streak
“We didn’t play very well last night. We’ve got to get ready fro USF. They’re a team that always plays extremely hard and they’re a group that gets after you.”
–St. John’s coach Norm Roberts on losing to West Virginia Thursday night
“Great win for us last night. We were really able to play great defense and hold Georgetown to 2 points the last 4:32 of the game…We were able to make a few shots and get a lead and hang on with our defense.”
–Cincy coach Mick Cronin on the upset of Georgetown Thursday night
INJURY UPDATES
MALIK BOOTHE OF ST. JOHN’S:
“He’s going to see the doctors come Friday and I’m praying we get him back.”
–Norm Roberts
DAJUAN SUMMERS OF GEORGETOWN
“He’s actually at the doctor right now. He’s got plantar fasciitis, but he’s up there right now. It doesn’t look good for him going on Saturday but I’ll have an update within an hour.”
–JT III
ANDY RAUTINS & ARINZE ONUAKU OF SYRACUSE
“Andy Rautins will be fine to practice Saturday and certainly by next week. We think Arinze will be fine. There’s no swelling. Certainly he’ll be able to practice by Saturday or Sunday at the latest.”
