Feb. 2, 2008

Recap |  Box Score

Saint Louis head coach Rick Majerus

On play of defense
"It has been there, with the exception of Dayton. From the Loyola game on, our effort has always been really good. In the Dayton game, we got in such a bad slump offensively, and sometimes you have to credit the opposition. I was happy for the guys today, I thought they ball-contributed. They didn't play the smartest game...sometimes they let their exuberance get the better of them. But I was real proud of them. For the most part we controlled the tempo of the game. It was a nice win for us."

On Danny Brown
"He is giving us a lift. Again, the kid didn't pick up a ball until January. I can't tell you how much I love that kid for his passion for the game. It is a tribute to a kid who loves to play and recognizes the seconds are starting to wind down.

Saint Louis guard Danny Brown

On faster style of play
"Maybe it is a style that fits us a little better. It helps any time when you can get out in transition and run, and get some open looks early and not have to wait until the end of the shot clock to put up a shot."

On defense
"We wanted to slow them down in transition and stop them coming off ball screens. They want to play real fast, so we wanted to make them shoot contested shots and nothing easy in transition. We did a good job with that."

On distributing the ball
"We were looking for each other to try and get those open looks. My assists just came from taking the ball out of bounds and Kevin knocking down shots. It means we were running our plays and setting screens for each other to get open."

On having a better defensive effort
"Defense has been what we have been most consistent with all season, and we had a lapse in the Dayton game. We were just able to re-focus these last couple of days and show that we were still a good defensive team."