Dec. 30, 2014

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Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

Opening statement…
“They (Hartford) are a good team. They’re old, they can win their league, and they are difficult to guard as was evident by the first 10 minutes. I thought after the first 10 minutes we got a feel for their rhythm and defended them better, and then we got into our rhythm offensively and were very efficient for 30 of the 40 minutes.”

Veteran team bouncing back from an early 10-3 deficit in the first half…
“I told them that in the locker room, I said I really liked how we were poised. We did that against UMass, and that’s when we were still finding ourselves. But I told them that’s a good trait to have because now (in ACC play) we’re going to take some punches throughout a game, and can we be poised and not panic, hang in there and not get out of character, do what we do. I did like that.”

Strengths and areas of focus halfway into the season…
“Our offensive efficiency is an unbelievable weapon for us, even when we’re having defensive lapses or people are getting to us. Our offensive efficiency has been excellent. We’re improved defensively and that’s helped us. An area of concern comes back to defensive rebounding, as I’ve said from day one, media day. Georgia Tech for example comes in here with a huge front line and they pound on that board. We absorbed 16 or 18 offensive rebounds against Michigan State but we almost didn’t get out of there, we’ve got to be better. We can’t absorb that in league play or it’s not going to be good. Block-outs, getting back to that, I think we have to work on changing defenses. When to work in some zone and change defense. We’ve got to keep that offensive efficiency up and not get out of character just because it’s ACC play. It is good to start Saturday 1-0 in this league, it’s good to be 1-0 in this league with a chance to be 2-0 before you go on the road.”

Extraordinary plays from sophomore point guard Demetrius Jackson…
“He is one comfortable, confident guy in our system attacking, and he really is a strong voice when we’re not defending as well or cutting as well. He’s the first one to challenge guys, and that’s an area of growth I have seen that is helping our team, him as a leader. The basketball stuff he’s doing is excellent. He’s come so far with his decision-making with the ball, he really is a guard now. That was my biggest concern giving him the ball this year was could he be good enough with the basketball and making decisions with it? He was so mad about the turnover he had to Zach (Auguste) running long, and that was a positive look. He gets so mad at turnovers because he knows in our program and with our point guards, that’s something that’s a mortal sin. I am so pleased with the basketball decision-making, and playing with Jerian (Grant) he’s learned a lot. You learn a lot playing with an all-around guard like Jerian who makes great decisions with the ball.”

On continuing to teach as the season progresses…
“I always teach, and I think our staff is really good at it. I think we are fortunate enough to teach in the summer, and what you have to do now because we have been together a lot including the summer is keep the practice fresh. Keep a smart group of students on their toes a bit, like `What does he have for us today?’ That’s my big challenge with our practice plans and preparation so we don’t get stale in the routine. The other thing that I am going to talk to them about is, when we played Michigan State we were poor and had to dig and fight. Nobody was really talking about us. Now a lot of people talk about us, we put some money in the bank, but can we still play poor, can we still play with a little chip on our shoulder? That will be addressed over the next few days before Saturday.”

Impact of Jerian Grant on the team’s offensive efficiency…
“I do give number 22 (Grant) a lot of credit. One of the things we said when we were in Italy, the three-point line was longer and we were playing with a different ball, and the first two games we shot about 40 percent from the three-point line. I said, `Why is that happening? Jerian’s back.’ You see that he gets guys easy looks. That has gotten contagious (and) Demetrius now gets in there and does that. What I love is our big guys moving the ball. How about some of the passes that Zach (Auguste) made tonight, and I thought he did a great job defensively on a postman who’s hard to guard, small guy going at him. Jerian stirs the drink a little bit, and now you have Demetrius as a comfortable threat shooting the basketball. We knew Pat (Connaughton) could always shoot, and I think (Steve) Vasturia is a really confident shooter now. He was good at the end of last year but he’s really confident now. V.J. (Beachem) is more comfortable shooting the basketball. But when 22 is being that playmaker and finding guys, you get clean looks.”

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Pat Connaughton – Senior – Guard/Forward

On Hartford…
“I think they are a very good team. I think there are games where teams come into this building trying to pull off an upset and I was very proud on how our team responded, especially after the first 10 minutes of play. There are going to be games like this in the ACC where teams want to come in and pull off an upset.”

On Jerian Grant, Pat Connaughton and Demetrius Jackson’s chemistry on the court…
“I think it is just all the basketball we have played together this year in practice, in Italy, and in our previous 12 games. It has helped us build that chemistry together where we know where each other are on the floor and that helps us grow as a group. Throw Steve [Vasturia] in there and we have a tough team to beat. I think Steve [Vasturia] is a very underrated player and the chemistry that he brings to the table makes this team better. Zach (Auguste) also brings another element to this team and it all seems to work out.”

On Demetrius Jackson’s leadership…
“I think as soon as he got comfortable and the second he knew that we (the team) had his back, his leadership grew and he became more of a vocal leader on the floor. I think that is something we are going to need heading into ACC play.”

On how tough it is for a sophomore (Demetrius Jackson) to be a leader…
“I give all the credit to him, but I think at the same time its what us older guys have wanted to bring to this locker room. You don’t have to be an older guy to be a leader on this team. Your voice counts and is going to help lead us through and that is something Jerian (Grant) and I got when we were younger and want to reiterate for this team. All 13 guys need to have a voice on this team and help lead us like Demetrius has thus far.”

On where the team is at halfway through the year…
“I think just the toughness, togetherness, and the way we have each other’s backs has led to our success thus far. We are going to hit some adversity moving forward and I think that we may not have faced the adversity that much this season, but we need to stick together to be successful down the road.”

Demetrius Jackson – Sophomore – Guard

On confidence heading into ACC play…
“I am just really excited to start ACC play. It is a big role for me, making sure I handle the ball, get guys the ball when they need it, and just going out and playing hard helping this team win in the ACC.”

On the team thus far…
“We have guys that can make shots and want to shoot the ball. That really makes it tough on other teams to guard us. I also think we have very good decision makers on this team and the guys make it easy for each other and that makes the game that much simpler.”

Hartford Head Coach John Gallagher

Opening statement…
“Coming into this game, I knew the task that was in front of us. I’ve watched basically every game. They’re as explosive an offensive team as there is in college basketball. You could argue that they’re going to cause everybody in the country trouble. We knew the task that we had in front of us and as far as our program goes, I thought we got out of character. That could have been partly to how Notre Dame forced us to, so I credit them. We’re just trying to compete for an America East championship and I think tonight will really help us. I think we got better in a lot of areas and I think we can learn in a lot of areas.”

On how Notre Dame altered Hartford’s gameplan…
“They speed you up. I think you try to tell your team that you want to get ball reversals and take time off the clock and then put it in your best player’s hands, which we did at times and when we did, we scored. But when we didn’t, I thought we turned it over, we sped up. When we had success early against them, we got happy on the farm and sped up, so instead of them being more poised, we became more frenetic and that was to their credit.”

On Hartford’s gameplan…
“You have to start on the offensive end, so I thought we could get under 10 turnovers for the game, which we didn’t. I thought we could make 10 threes, which we were close (to doing). I thought we could stay with them on the glass, which we didn’t do. Coming away from the game, I think they were successful in speeding us up, which I’m going to give them the credit in this regard. Defensively, our gameplan was just mixing up ball screens. Teams have really struggled in guarding their ball screens (on) defense. I think if you go into the game and think you can defend them on one ball screen defense, you’re going to lose maybe worse. You have to switch it up. You have to make them think in and out of the game. Maybe zone would have been better for us in our 1-3-1. We only played it a couple of possessions. But when you get down and you go to the 1-3-1 against a team like this, I don’t think that’s the answer either.”

Mark Nwakamma – Senior – Forward

On defending a versatile Notre Dame team…
“It’s not easy. There are a bunch of shooters that can put the ball on the floor, a bunch of really talented players, so it’s not an easy task. I thought that we, as a team, could have done a better job of just containing the ball and really talking on defense. I thought that was one of the things we lacked was our communication on defense. It’s not an easy task, but it’s not an excuse.”