Feb. 26, 2014

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Head Coach Jay Wright

Opening statement:
"I know that wasn't pretty, but we liked it. Butler is a tough, scrappy team that just isn't going to let you play pretty. You've got to find a way to grind against them, and I thought we did. We didn't find a way to get shots but I thought our defense was really strong and I liked how hard we played. I'll take that."

On senior night:
"I'm bad at that. I was crying - we do a homily with Father Rob before our pregame meal and I talked to him and got emotional. I went to talk to the senior class and I got emotional at the start of that. I got emotional now when you asked me. That's one of my favorite traditions at Villanova, when these guys stand on the press table and you hear the crowd go up and get to a high level for them. I love that when you take them out of the game they get a standing ovation. That's all emotional stuff for me, I love that."

On freshman guard Josh Hart:
"Just relentless play, especially on the offensive and defensive glass. He's relentless in transition. He's really getting good defensively. He just has a tough relentlessness, I love it. He really makes us better. He can drive the ball and make plays and he's a smart player. He's going to be a great player for us."

On the team's improvements:
"I think we need to get better on our half-court offense. I'm really pleased with our half-court defense. We're starting to get good and rebound better. We're getting better, and we have to. At this point in the season, we have to get better. Sometimes it's the point of the year where some teams, older teams - I remember the '06 team and '09 team were older and they were just like, `Come on, we've got to get through this.' But we've got a lot of good guys, and we've got room to get better."

On Butler:
"They lost a leading scorer and I don't think they have the depth right now. They've had six overtime games. They're a good team. When they get [Roosevelt] Jones back and all these guys come back a year older, they're going to be a good team."

Senior Guard James Bell...

On senior night:
"It was tough. I don't see my mom that much. My dad works a lot and doesn't have a chance to get down that much. That was probably the roughest part - seeing my mom cry. But other than that, it was time to play. We had to go as a team, and it was time to go."

On winning 25 games:
"Being on teams that have gotten close - my freshman year we lost a couple down the stretch and we probably had the best chance since I've been here. It's interesting to be on both sides of it. As a freshman I had less responsibilities and I was just following their lead. Now it's come around and I'm a senior and they're following my lead. It's interesting to be on both sides of it and to see it go the right way - it isn't something I've thought about but it's interesting to see and fun to play."

Freshman Guard Josh Hart...

On senior guard James Bell:
"I've definitely learned a lot. Him being here for four years, having his ups and downs, I've just learned a lot about how to handle yourself on the court and definitely off the court. No matter what, just keep your head up. Coach is on him constantly, always talking to him, and he always has a good attitude and always responds. As a freshman, you look at that and you know you want to be like that as a senior. I've definitely learned a lot."

Butler head coach Brandon Miller...

Opening statement:

"We faced a really good basketball team in Villanova and didn't play well enough to put ourselves in a position that we would like to be in and give us a chance to win. Villanova is obviously one of the best defensive teams we faced all year. On offense we struggled tonight, shooting the basketball when we had open looks. However, they made it very difficult for us to get open looks all night. I give a lot of credit to their defense and how hard they played but we didn't have it tonight. We didn't rebound the ball well enough and our offense wasn't good enough to give ourselves a chance."

On Villanova's defense:

"They have multiple guys and interchangeable parts that can guard different guys. They can do a lot of switching on and off the ball. There is not a lot of mismatches for them and when you have a team like that filled with tough guys, filled with high detailed oriented guys that are well coached and take a lot of pride defending, (it makes it) hard to score. When we did get an open look we didn't make enough in order to get some confidence and get us going. A lot of credit goes to Villanova, they're a good defensive team filled with good defenders and that's why they've had the success that they've had."

On the losing streak:

"We talk about not letting the last game affect the next one. We talk about us trying to get better and improve every single day. When you keep getting the result that you don't want, it weighs on you a bit and we can't let that happen. We have to continue to try and get better, continue to focus and prepare for our next game."

On Villanova's home success:

"They've had a terrific year. There have been two teams that have beaten Villanova all year long. If you watch Villanova and look at the scores, they've been tremendous at home. Not only with wins but how they've won and played. They were very good again tonight and a lot of credit goes to them."

On the defense:

"I thought our first shot defense was good all game long. You look at the percentage Villanova shot, our defense where were at and how we're playing kept us in the game for a while. But our inability to rebound the ball is part of defense so that wasn't good enough from the start of the game to the end of the game and that's why the score reflected that result."

On the first half buzzer beater creating momentum:

"It gave us a lift. Instead of being down 17 you're down 14. When we came out of the second half I thought our guys fought. We cut the lead down to 11 but our inability to rebound the basketball and be efficient on the offensive end kept the score where we were out of reach."

On the team's struggles:

"We've lost some close games and have been in position to win a number of close games but haven't been able to win those close games. We've had a few games like we had tonight where we just didn't play enough good basketball to keep us in the game. All we can do right now is continue to work on getting better and preparing for the next game. I don't know if it's been one thing or two things, it seems like it's been a different thing every night where we don't execute well enough."