Jan. 15, 2014

Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery

Postgame Quotes
Maryland 74, Notre Dame 66

Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

Opening Statement:
“I love how we played in the first half. The second half flurry when they took control was because of their offensive boards and second shots; they really put it on us physically. You’re just not going to win a game giving up 20 offensive rebounds and turning the ball over 17 times. Disappointing for us; we’re struggling a little bit right now. We need to get back into a practice rhythm and see if we can win a league game Sunday night.”

On start of the second half:
“We really wanted to have control of the tempo, and I love the tempo we had in the first half. We were running some sets and I wanted them to play a little slower. But then when you’re behind you have to start playing faster and start forcing a few things. We definitely wanted to be more patient.”

On playing behind in second half:
“It’s a hard thing to get over psychologically. The tip-ins during that flurry break your back, and then you’re digging out of a hole. We were hoping to keep control of the tempo. We came out shooting and got it to seven, and then we lost the handle on it, then we were digging and scratching and we had one little push in us; then Faust hit a big shot in the corner.”

On Eric Atkin’s thumb injury:
“I think he’s struggling; it didn’t help. We needed him to be aggressive, and I don’t think he felt he could be. We just need to get him some rest.”

On Pat Connaughton sitting out in the second half:
“I think they did a good job with him. He got a lot of stuff in transition, they had Dez Wells on him. Wells was an attentive defender and we could not get him as open as we did in the first half. I give credit to Dez Wells and Maryland’s defense.”

Postgame Quotes – Notre Dame Players

Senior Center Garrick Sherman

On the rebounding problems:
“It is hard to rebound out of a zone because you don’t have a specific guy to box out. We just didn’t do a good job.”

On what happened in the second half:
“They started to hit shots. They shot us out of the zone. We had to go back to man. That changed the game a little bit.”

On how they bounce back from this loss:
“It is one game at a time. We have to focus on Sunday and get a win against Virginia Tech. That is all you can do. We have to try and get better until then.”

Senior Guard Eric Atkins

On trouble handling the ball:
“It is tough. We are usually way better with the ball than that. When you turn the ball over so many times, it hurts. They capitalized, especially in the paint. They really got the momentum with us turning the ball over.”

On if the slow tempo of the second half hurt them:
“Maybe, it did. I think the biggest thing was turning the ball over. That is a huge part of it. Even when we slow it down, we usually do not turn the ball over like that.”