St. John’s Head Coach Mike AndersonOpening statement and on his 400th career victory… “First, I am sorry it took so long. It was a special moment with this team and I think about all of the other teams that I have had, as well as the coaches and administration that took a chance on me as a head coach. I always say that I am just a young buck from Birmingham, Alabama. I was born in football country, and here I am coaching basketball, and it is a blessing. I am very grateful. I have been blessed. This team right here is working on having a special year and I hope that this game here is not the end. Again, it is just a reflection and I never thought I would be in this position here, but I have to thank my family, my wife, and there is a lot of people out there looking out for Mike Anderson. I just want you all to know that. Tonight, we played a Xavier team that we saw [Zach] Freemantle and [Paul] Scruggs, those guys came in here shooting the basketball at a high-level, but if you look at our team tonight, we shared the basketball. Defensively, we sped them up even though they didn’t turn the ball over. It was a hard-fought win and we finished it off. We out-rebounded them, which didn’t take place in the first meeting [in January]. We are a different team than when we played them the first time and they are a different team. I am just grateful that we had a chance to get the win at home.”
