He’s such an unselfish player. I told him he was going to have to shoot the ball or he was going to sit — it was that simple.

Defensively, they’re so big at every position. We tried early with Mike (Nardi) to stick with our four guards, but he got two fouls so we had to come with Shane (Clark). They were just...

The bad news is, he’s still pretty ill. He’s got a high fever. He’s still feeling the effects of tonsillitis. We don’t know when we’re going to get him back.

That is nice for him, and last year in the tournament he struggled. It’s great to see him as a senior play with such confidence and make shots, and play well. He’s got a strong...

We never mind it being ugly. …We just continue to find ways [to win.] I don’t think we’re ever going to be pretty. We’re 21 games into the season. This is who we are.

We never planned on doing it again.

It looked a lot worse than it was. Al is going to be released. He has vision and it’s going to be day-by-day prognosis now. But it’s much, much better than we initially anticipated.

When we played Oklahoma early in the year, that was the test for us. We just thought we’re going to have to do this because we don’t have anyone else ready.

We’ve won games that way. We’ve shot poorly and then got on the offensive boards and played defense. They were just too good.

What we are most proud of is these young guys really wanted to be part of the U.S. basketball team. They didn’t care who was the leading scorer. That’s unique these days.

I think our depth over time just got them a little tired.

Jerry Sullivan and his team have a spectacular track record as wireless networks operators and of generating compelling investment returns for their financial sponsors.

When we need baskets, they make baskets. When we need stops, they get stops. When we need rebounds, they get rebounds.

As a coach, everything I have I stole from somebody. In the Florida game, it was more of a case of, let’s get through this, than, let’s go to four guards. I wish I could...

It’s incredible. We all saw what happened, we were there. I was prepared up until a few days ago not to have him for this game. I’m just amazed watching him do this. It’s a...

In the Big East, we’re so unorthodox that it becomes an advantage for us. What we’re going to find out (today) is, ‘will that be good for us, or will they be able to match...

We’re pretty defensive-minded and when you look at Louisville’s defensive percentage and the 3s they hit, you just feel terrible about how you played. Then you look and we hit 14 3s and that’s unbelievable....

Allan’s got that great scorer’s mentality. He’s different than the three of them. The four of them, tough, are very unselfish.

It really served as a great learning experience for us this late in the season. I think it was perfect for this time of year. It woke us up, hit us with a dose of...

I feel really good about him playing [tonight,] without taking any chances.

Noah is incredible. Usually kids that are that big, even if they’re that athletic, they don’t have the ability to play every possession at the intensity level that he does. I don’t know many guards...

This year it doesn’t seem like people are worried about us proving ourselves, but we feel like we do.

We had a tough time stopping Aldridge down the stretch. Our guards are very good finishers. There were times when we got to the rim and he made us change our shots.

We were getting stops and keeping it out of Quincy’s hands. And those shots turned into fast-break opportunities for us.

That was a typical tough game on the road in the Big East. It didn’t take South Florida long to figure out how to play like a Big East team. … That team is going...

We’ve just got to execute better against better teams.

That’s what good programs do. We respond to these situations.

In the first half, [Cunningham] and Shane Clark helped us increase the lead. We were actually playing really well, almost defending better with those guys in there.

I’m scared to death. I know the assassin mentality he has. He’s always on attack. He’s always probing the defense. I liked it better when we didn’t know what was there.

I wanted to be here. This is the best place in the world for me to coach. This is my hometown; my wife went to Villanova; it’s the greatest college basketball town in the country....

I’m not going to think about that right now.

One of the things you can’t hide is how a player is going to play in the most stressful conditions, when the big lights are on. You throw them into the fire, you see how...

I feel like we spent a weekend in Scranton. My sons were wearing Gerry McNamara shirts (but) not during the game.

I had mixed feelings. I wanted it to end nicely for him, but not at our expense. He had a great game and we got the win. We wanted to be focused, but there was...

I thought it was a great start for us and I thought that we played with great intensity for 40 minutes and everyone contributed at the level we want to play.

We’re going to need him. He gives us more size out on the perimeter.

Obviously, that was an incredible Big East battle. I think that’s what this league is going to be about. We haven’t played a team this good in an environment like this. I was actually prepared...

To be a great team you have to be able to recover from that.

I really think they considered Villanova a program that can make noise in the tournament.

I don’t want to make this complicated, but we have really good players. We have guards that can shoot and score and they can go rebound the ball.

I thought we played a good game.

Our guys always believe that we have confidence in our defense and always know that with our shooters we can string one [run] together.

Teams play at another level against us, and we’re learning to handle that.

I just got a report from the doctors at the hospital and it was great news. It actually looked a lot worse than it was. He will be released from the hospital and he has...

We were surprised, to be honest.

Everybody was crushed. I told them to just cry. Everybody let it out. It’s supposed to hurt. I’m so proud of them. I know it hurts for everybody, but I really want to make sure...

I was very pleased with our defensive effort, no matter what the score was we kept a very intense effort each possession and I was proud of our guys for that.

We did a very good job and I give (Smith) credit. He was hurting us in the first half. He’s really good.

They did a great job of getting out and contesting our shooters. We’ve got very good shooters. I don’t think it was a matter of not being ready to play or being on our game.

I don’t know what to expect. I don’t think we’ve ever played anywhere against a player of this magnitude in terms of what he means to a program, in terms of what he means to...