Postgame Player Quotes
Syracuse vs. Georgetown
February 14, 2009
Carrier Dome/Syracuse, N.Y.
Andy Rautins, Junior, Guard
On the team’s effort to win the game:
“I think it is big to get the whole team involved like we did tonight. We had a lot of guys with double figures. We needed to establish Arinze’s [Onuaku] presence early and often. That gets his confidence up. Once he starts rolling, there is no stopping him. That is important for us, when we share the ball like we did tonight. Eric [Devendorf] and Jonny [Flynn] played well tonight too. When you have us rolling like that on all cylinders, it gets hard to stop us.”
On the orange out:
“We have to thank the Syracuse fans. It is probably the best crowd to play in front of in the entire country. We appreciate that. We cannot thank the fans enough. Just with the effort for people to get orange t-shirts. I know they had a huge production of making orange t-shirts. We really appreciate that. The whole atmosphere was great today, especially against a team like Georgetown where we can intimidate them with the crowd. It is just an unbelievable atmosphere and we really thank the fans.”
Eric Devendorf, Junior, Guard
On playing at home in the BIG EAST:
“It is always good to come home and have the crowd behind you. You go out on the road and it is kind of lonely out there. Either way, we have to step it up and play our game, whether we are on the road or at home. No excuses.”
On his 3-point shot in overtime to take the lead:
“I have the utmost confidence in myself. So do my teammates and Coach Boeheim. If I missed the shot, they would pick me up, but if I do not take it, then we never know what would have happened. Luckily it just went my way today.”
On his experience in games like this one:
“I have definitely been in a lot of situations like this. It is nothing new to me. I just go out there and try to get it done.”
Kristof Ongenaet, Senior, Forward
On his ejection from the game:
“I was just playing aggressive. I get elbows every game. It was not intentional. It was really frustrating.
I know that I can help the team, especially on defense. It was the first time since I have been here that I could not do anything to help out.”
Paul Harris, Junior, Forward
On having a week off before the next game:
“Having a week off helps so much because you have guys like Arinze [Onuaku] all banged up. Andy Rautins is still getting his legs back. All of the guys are playing a ton of minutes. We need to take it easy a couple days and get ready for the last home stretch.”
On the upcoming Villanova Game:
“We just have to be ready to play. We know the fans will be behind us 100 percent.”
Jonny Flynn, Sophomore, Guard
On the team huddle before overtime began:
“I do not even know what was being said. I was so focused on thinking. I did not want this to be a game where we are supposed to win with NCAA tournament implications. Everything was a blur to me. I was just thinking about what I could do to help us win.”
On Devendorf’s 3-point shot in overtime to take the lead:
“That was a huge relief. Eric played a great game. He was hitting shots all over the place. His defense was great. We just played a great all around game. It kind of hurt us when Rautins fouled out, but Eric came up big.”
On winning such a close game:
“I am just happy that we won this game. This game was full of every emotion from happiness to being scared to death. The game was a big roller coaster ride. It just feels good to win a game, especially against a Georgetown team that is a well coached team with good players. This definitely is going to go down in the history books as one of the best Syracuse-Georgetown games ever.”
