March 22, 2000

Recap?|? Box Score

BYU Player Quotes

BYU Forward John Allen

On tonight’s game:
“They played great. We just didn’t hit our shots.”

On his surprising offensive play:
“I gave it my all. I just had fun and tried to hit my shots.”

On guarding (Troy) Murphy:
“It was great. It was a good challenge for me to guard a great player.”

BYU Forward Mekeli Wesley

On tonight’s game:
“It was a tough game. We got worn out and our shots weren’t falling for us.”

On BYU’s poor shooting:
“Usually we hit our shots when we get open looks. Tonight we got open looks, but didn’t hit the shots.”

On the Joyce Center atmosphere:
“It was a lot of fun. It was a great atmosphere and the fans showed a lot of class. Notre Dame was a fun place to come in and play a game.”

Notre Dame Head Coach Matt Doherty

On the game:
“We were very patient with our zone. I was itching to get out of it because they were getting some open looks. We did a decent job of rebounding and I think our zone was effective. Offensively, they are a good team. They are very well coached.”

On the NIT:
“They (critics) say they want Notre Dame in New York, well, I say give us Division II teams (as opponents). Instead, they gave us Michigan, Xavier and now BYU. It has not been a cakewalk by any means.”

On Troy Murphy:
“He’s a very unselfish player. The team, they really had to put up with me–I was really intense on the bench. I was kind of a jerk to them on the bench, but I wanted to avoid a let down.”

Brigham Young Head Coach Steve Cleveland Postgame Quotes

On BYU’s offensive performance . . .
“We pretty much got what we expected, in terms of what they did defensively against us. We got all the open shots we needed. It was unfortunate that my leading three-point shooter (Todd Christensen) went down with a twisted knee. That did hurt us because guys who have been making those shots all year long struggled tonight. We ran the things we had to run to get wide open shots and we just didn’t make them. And if you don’t make them on the road, you’re not going to win.”

“We don’t have the size up front to really battle the size of Notre Dame. We didn’t get a lot done inside, but they had a little bit to do with that as well.”

“I was really happy with our zone offense to tell you the truth, considering we haven’t run it all year. We got everything we wanted out of it.”

On his team . . .
“I’m proud of the efforts of my young men. We certainly had our chances and if we knock those threes down, this game goes right down to the wire. But we didn’t, so congratulations to Notre Dame. I wish them the very best.”

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Sophomore forward Troy Murphy

On his first impression of Matt Doherty: “He had five goals at the beginning of the year. Take care of winning the next game, win the BIG EAST regular season title, win the BIG EAST tournament, win a national championship and get better today. That is what he wanted us to work on. At first you might think it is outrageous, but Coach (Doherty) is amazing. We have 21 wins, a lot of teams would like to have that and play in the semifinals of the NIT. He has never been a head coach before and now we have unbelievable crowds – the guy is amazing.”

On the effect of the crowd: “It was really nice. We have some of the greatest students at the games. They give the other team a rough time which is nice to see because we get a rough time when we go to other places. The change in the crowds from last year to this year is unbelievable. We have had some tough losses at home but they keep coming back.”

Sophomore forward Harold Swanagan

On playing the 36th game of the season: “I am just ready to go. I wish we were playing tomorrow. I am looking forward to going back to New York and proving we are among the best in the country.”

Sophomore forward David Graves

On returning to New York for the NIT semifinals: “We don’t really care where we are going. The good thing is that we are playing. We are going back to (Madison Square) the Garden, which might be our home court away from home. It is going to be a good semifinals against a Penn State team that is playing well right now. We just have to come out ready to play. We still have things to prove to everyone who counted us out.”

On the BYU effort tonight: “We knew this was not going to be an easy game. We knew BYU was going to get down on us defensively. They shoot the ball very well. It was an ugly game, definitely not one of our prettiest games. We found a way to survive by hitting free throws at the end.”