Jan. 21, 2006

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St. John's Head Coach Norm Roberts On St. John's tradition: "Last night, Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson said it best, they talked about how these guys need to understand that they are not only playing for their families and themselves, but they are playing for the people that came before them. They are playing for the tradition of this school. To respect that tradition, you have to play with pride when you put this uniform on. Our guys are doing that. They are trying hard. They are doing what we ask them to do. I am really happy for them."

On team's confidence: "I think they have a confidence in one another. They are getting used to each other. The tough thing for our team this year was that Daryl (Hill) was injured. He was in and out. He and Eugene (Lawrence) had great chemistry last year. This year they haven't been together as much. Now our guys are getting used to one another. I think Daryl (Hill) being out helped our team a lot. It allowed our team to get together. It allowed (Anthony) Mason to grow as a player, it allowed Aaron Spears to grow as a player, it has allowed Monty (Lamont Hamilton) to grow as a player and it has helped Eugene (Lawrence) as well.

On Lamont Hamilton: "I think Monty is one of the best big guys in the league. I think he can do so many things. He is long. He is athletic. When he plays with confidence and energy he is as good as anybody. Today he was focused, he was ready. He has been playing that way in practice."

On the Pittsburgh comeback: "That is the reason you have two good guards like I have. You know they (Pittsburgh) are going to make a run. They really executed the play out of a timeout. They did a really good job of executing."

On team's progress: "I thought we were going to be pretty good this year. I still think we can get a lot better. We need to play physical with an edge and toughness and just play together. We need to believe in each other. You can do unbelievable things when you believe in each other and when you play with unbelievable effort, which our guys have done."

On the importance of the last two wins: "I think this is a statement that we are improving. We are a tough basketball team. We have to take that toughness on the road as well as home. Hopefully it says that coming to Madison Square Garden is not an easy out. You have to work. Our fans today were awesome. They were there for us especially when Pittsburgh came back. They were awesome."

On guard play: "Everyday we work on guard penetration. That is a drill we work on every day in practice. Carl Krauser is great off the dribble."

On today's win: "I just want to get every win. If you win the Final Four, I think then you can say that is the biggest win of all-time. When people ask if Eugene Lawrence is good enough, he is good enough and he is proving it. When people ask if Daryl Hill is good enough, he is good enough. When we are focus and together as a team we are a pretty good team."

Sophomore guard Eugene Lawrence On playing for St. John's: "We realized that we are playing for some of the great players that went here before. Some guys who did big things for St. John's and led them to big victories. We are trying to play hard for them and St. John's."

Junior guard Daryl Hill On playing for St. John's: "We are not just playing for ourselves. St. John's has that history and we are trying to bring it back before.

Pittsburgh Head Coach Jamie Dixon On today's game: "In the second half we obviously did some things better. We took care of the ball. We moved the ball better. We actually played pretty well, but digging ourselves a 12-point hole in a 60 point game is significant. We are going to get ready for Syracuse and be ready to practice tomorrow and be ready to go Monday."

On offensive execution: "We were impatient. Rushing things offensively and that hurt our defense. We had some foul problems early and that hurt us. We just didn't play well. Our offense has a lot to do with our defense. They go hand in hand."

More on today's game: "Our guys were ready to play. We played hard. It was just bad execution. We rushed things. Our poor offense lead to our defense deficiency. Both teams battled on the floor and were going hard. That is how both teams play. We figured it was going to be that type of game and we were ready for it. We just didn't respond the way we should have."

More on today's game: "The effort on both ends was tremendous. I don't think we executed. Our patience wasn't there. Clearly it wasn't our day. We said they would come out aggressively and have their early runs. I can't say I was surprised. I didn't recognize our team on how we played early. The impatience offensively and forcing things, just put us in a hole. I really thought it extended from our offense. You can't turn the ball over as much as we did and have it not effect you on the defensive end."