SU Player Quotes vs. DePaul
Syracuse Post-game Player Quotes
Syracuse vs. DePaul
February 3, 2007
Carrier Dome – Syracuse, NY
Sophomore guard Andy Rautins:
On coming off the bench:
“Coach Boeheim came to me and said Eric (Devendorf) was going to start and I didn’t ask any questions. I just do what he tells me and it worked out well for us tonight.”
On the career-high performances of him and Eric Devendorf:
“Well when you have two guys getting hot like that in the same game it can be hard to stop. We also have a lot of other offensive weapons on the team so once we get rolling like that it’s tough for us to be beaten.”
On ending a three-game losing streak:
“It’s definitely a big win. It’s good to get a win in the BIG EAST especially heading into UConn. I think we needed this one to get a little momentum going into the next couple of games.”
On DePaul’s streak at the end of the game:
“I don’t think we should have let it get to that point. We made a couple defensive mistakes, but we were able to pull it out. I think we played well at the beginning of the game but we just can’t let down. The past couple games we let it get to us and we got kind of flustered but tonight we limited our mistakes and we were able to put it away.”
Sophomore guard Eric Devendorf:
On his performance:
“I don’t know how many three-pointers me and Andy had today, but we definitely shot the ball well. DePaul had a good little run at the end but we were able to get to the line and make our free throws.
On returning to the starting lineup:
“It worked out. It was good today because Andy had some good looks. They were leaving him wide open and he was able to knock them down.”
On ending the three-game losing streak:
“Obviously it’s a big win because if had lost it would have been a four-game losing streak. You start to think about the tournament and the games start to get more serious so today was kind of a desperation game and we came out with a win. It’s big because we can put those three games behind us and look forward to UConn on Monday.”
On DePaul’s comeback:
“I kept telling everybody to think about what happened at Louisville. I don’t care if we win by one or two or 25, a win is a win. It might look better to win by 25 but in the end it’s all the same.”
On playing UConn:
“This year they have a young talented team. But Coach Calhoun will have them ready for us so we have to be ready for them as well.”
Freshman guard Paul Harris:
On the spark from Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins:
“I think that was big, to see both of them go off like that. They both stepped up their games at the same time and made big shots for us.”
On DePaul’s comeback:
“Eric (Devendorf) kind of said at halftime ‘Don’t make this like the Louisville game.’ DePaul just kept coming and kept coming and I’m looking at the scoreboard and can’t wait for the clock to read zeroes. Eric went to the basket and got a couple lay-ups and Mookie (Darryl Watkins) got a block and that all helped us.
On playing UConn:
“We both know this counts for the league and we both know we aren’t guaranteed to make the tournament. At the end of the year we don’t want to look back and say, ‘Oh, we should have done this or done that.’ We just want to go there and try to pick up a win on the road.”
