Jan. 26, 2002
Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey Quotes
On Notre Dame’s defensive effort . . .
“I thought defensively we were very good today. This (Seton Hall) is a team that has lived behind the three-point line. They took 24 of them today and, for the most part, we did a good job of taking that away. It was nice to see us rebounding defensively, creating ‘one-and-done’ situations. I think our defense got it done for us. It wasn’t always pretty on the offensive end, but I thought we were a little better about not letting that affect us defensively.”
On the Irish offense . . .
“They (Seton Hall) got out and hand-checked our guys on the perimeter and were physical with them. But I thought we got some driving areas (because of that). We tried to keep Ryan (Humphrey) on one side of the floor so there was an area where we could drive a little bit. Chris (Thomas) got in there a couple of times to do some things and some other guys got in there to loosen it up. Once you are able to penetrate a little bit, you get some open looks. We were three-for-five from the three-point line in the second half. We got some key shots at key times.”
On the play of Tom Timmermans . . .
“Tom was fabulous today. I think we found something. It is frustrating we didn’t have him earlier, but he was out with the knee injury. At the end of last season in practice, he gave (Troy) Murphy, (Ryan) Humphrey and (Harold) Swanagan everything they wanted so we felt he would be a key guy for us. He got injured, but it is a nice time to have him back – to have that size and the great defensive presence in there. He was very good today so that is something to build on for him.”
On the significance of the win . . .
“It’s been two weeks since we’ve gone in that locker room and felt good. Now we’ve played some good teams over the past two weeks, too, but I think this gives us some momentum. I think it makes us feel a little better about ourselves before we play a very good Pittsburgh team. Also, when #42 (Harold Swanagan) steps on the practice floor Monday, we’ll all feel a little better.”
On defending Seton Hall’s Darius Lane . . .
“We had a lot of different guys on him, but Matt Carroll and David Graves were very aware of him. Today our big guys did a great job of helping our perimeter guys. They switched out on any type of screen situation. Jordan Cornette, specifically, was playing like a fourth perimeter guy out there. Of the 24 (three-point goals) they shot, I think only three of them were pretty clean looks.”
Freshman forward Jordan Cornette
On getting more minutes…
“The more exposure I get out there, the more comfortable I get in the game. Harold (Swanagan) being out is a big loss, but in a way, it is a blessing in disguise in that it allows me to get out there and get adjusted to playing at the college level.”
On stamina during the game…
“I think the more you get out there, the easier it is to play. Coach is working me in slowly so it has been an easy adjustment for me.”
Sophomore center Tom Timmermans
On getting more playing time with the absence of Swanagan… “I just wanted to come out and do the things I knew that I could do. As the game progressed, I felt more confident and started taking a few shots.”
On condition of the knee…
“I have been playing without my brace for the first time and I feel pretty good. I have better lateral movement and it even added two inches to my jump.”
Senior forward David Graves
On the upcoming Pittsburgh game… “It will be a tough test for us. We have to move on. It was a great win today for us giving us some momentum into Wednesday night. They are going to have a lot to give us after beating them on their home court. However, if we play defense like we did today, I think we will be in good shape.”
On poor shooting performance…
“You need to just go out there and take shots when you can. That is all I am going to do. I am a good shooter. I know I am a good shooter. My teammates know I am a good shooter. So if I get the roll, I get the roll. If I don’t, then I keep shooting.”
Senior forward Ryan Humphrey
On staying on the floor and playing defense instead of blocking shots…
“It is really tough because I have been doing it all my life. But everyone has to make sacrifices for us to win. And if that is what I have to do, that is what I will do to help out the team.”
On Swanagan sitting out…
“It’s tough physically and mentally without him. But this is how it is in BIG EAST basketball, but when Harold comes back we will be an even better team.”
Seton Hall Head Coach Louis Orr Quotes
On the game…
“It was just one of those nights. We have had bad shooting nights before, but this was probably our worse game on the perimeter this year. It seemed missing shots was contagious. Our defense was not bad, but when you shoot 29% from the field, you have to play almost a perfect game defensively. We had a slow start in the second half and just continued to not hit shots. If we did not play as well we did defensively, we would have lost by more than nine points. We have some very good shooters on this team, but some nights the ball is just going to drop and you can’t win on the road just depending on defense. We had the looks to put in position to win, but we just could not make the shots.”
On the Notre Dame defense . . .
“I thought we got good shots. They do a great job of keeping you away from the basket. If you are going to go 4-24 from behind the three-point line, then it is going to be awfully difficult to outscore them. They kind of play a soft defense, but they play it real well and we were not able to make the shots that they were giving us.”
On Notre Dame stretching out its lead . . .
“When you are not making shots, it is that much more glaring when you make a defensive mistake. (David) Graves hit a wide-open three at one point to increase the lead to eight. That was a big three for them. We doubled the ball and basically turned our back on him. We did not want to do that to him tonight. Graves’ shot was a big shot for them to help them start adding to their lead. If we stop them there and score, we get within four instead of letting them go up eight on us. Again, when you are shooting the ball like we were, you cannot afford to make those defensive mistakes that give the other team more opportunities.”
Seton Hall Player Quotes
Senior guard Darius Lane:
On the game… “It was a tough game for us shooting the ball. We kept shooting but nothing would fall. It was a tough night for us. This is one of our worst games of the year. We just didn’t shoot the ball and execute well. We just didn’t play a good game.”
On SHU’s ability to stay close late in game…
“Our defense kept us in it, but we probably got a little fatigued. They went on their run. Carroll’s three in the corner pretty much broke our back.”
Sophomore guard Andre Barrett:
On Irish guards and defensive pressure… “I think they did a good job of doubling on our guards. Every time I ran up the ball, there was somebody else that was right there staying with me besides the guards. They switched the guards on me and kept throwing them at me. They had a lot of good help. The big men did a good job of helping them out. My legs were a little tired and they just did a good job of wearing me out.”
On difference in contest…
“We couldn’t make a basket, that’s all it was. We played good defense but just couldn’t make a basket.”
Senior forward Charles Manga:
On playing against Notre Dame forward Ryan Humphrey… “He is a big guy and is a tough guy inside. I was just trying to keep him away from the block and that’s what I was trying to do.”
On SHU’s shooting effort…
“It was really disappointing because all week long we did a lot of shooting drills. Everybody was feeling good coming into the game. That’s something we’ve got to go back and work on in practice. We lost the game because we couldn’t make shots. Shooting 29% it is tough to win on the road.”
On impact Notre Dame center Tom Timmermans…
“[Coming off the bench] he game them some momentum. He played good defense. He got a couple rebounds that helped them out.”