Nov. 21, 2015
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University of Notre Dame Men’s Basketball
Notre Dame vs. UMass Lowell – Notre Dame, Indiana – Nov. 21, 2015
Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey
On the game ….
“We got off to a good start on both ends of the floor. I think our starting group is getting more comfortable playing together on both ends of the floor, and we were ready to defend. I thought we were fishing offensively. I thought we had some really good transition decisions because we had a lot of stops in the first half, and it was interesting to evaluate some other guys off the bench as we’re trying to figure out who complements the starters and what is the rotation, especially as we move to Orlando.”
On Zach Auguste having a big day…
“I’m very pleased with him. He’s playing the way he has practiced: very consistent, not trying to do too much, not playing too fast. I think he’s made some really good reads overall, in practice and in games, on when to make his move and when to pass. He really is a heck of a passer from the low post, and I think he has gotten better at making decisions. He’s come back with his left hand, he’s finishing plays, he’s confident, he’s a senior. He’s very mature about his preparation.”
On using players from the bench…
“Torres is on my mind as our first big guy sub as we head to Orlando. I think we really have to get him reps for the simple reason that he is extremely active. That’s no mystery…we saw it last year. When a Bonzie is out or a Zach is out, I want to get him ready for that role. I think Matt and Matt are still our guys coming off. Matt Farrell is dealing a little bit with a hip flexor, so we hope that we will get him healthy by Wednesday. I thought Matt Ryan was very good today because he does stuff on the defensive end. His rotations, how he helps his teammates, how he talks, how he rebounds. We know he can shoot it. I think that he just needs to be on the floor more. He will demand more playing time.”
On the change in ball movement in the halves…
“We’re interesting in that with the new rule, you can drive the ball and get fouled and score. We’re driving it more. We are getting some more driving situations, and we are getting fouled before we kick for that potential assist. I’ve been looking at that [not having many assists], but I don’t want to over-analyze it. We have guys who have gone to make plays off the dribble where they don’t need an assist. V.J. has done it, Demetrius did it a lot in the first half. I think he was due to make some jump shots. Even Steve is going of the dribble. We’ve coached it that way because of the new rule. You may get fouled, so go ahead and go off of the dribble more. Maybe it takes away some of the assists, but I don’t know if that means we’re not being efficient offensively.”
On guarding the three…
“I was trying to get everyone in during the first half, but I don’t know if it was conducive to our offensive flow. Out of the guys we had playing, there were probably too many forwards and chasing guards, and it really wasn’t conducive to our defensive flow.”
On quick turnarounds between the games next week…
“I like that we get a lot of games at a high level of competition playing for a championship. You have the chance to cut nets down. We did it last time in Orlando, and this group did it not that long ago in Greensboro. They’re excited that they get to play for a championship. The nucleus that we have going down there remembers what that feels like, so I think they’re very excited.”
UMass Lowell Head Coach Pat Duquette
On handling Zach Auguste….
“That was one of the things going into the game that we knew was going to be a tough matchup for us. He’s so much bigger and stronger than our guys. Yet if they’re focusing on getting the ball to him they’re only scoring two points and not hitting threes. So that’s the flip side of it. But he’s a tough matchup for us. We thought about zone. We played some zone, we were successful in our first couple games. But they’re such a good shooting team that they’re a hard team to zone as well.”
On Notre Dame’s defense…
“I think their overall size and athleticism is easy to see when you compare them to our guys. I don’t think it was anything in particular other than pretty good half court defense. We knew that our margin was really thin going into the game. We were going to have to shoot the ball well, not turn the ball over, be really efficient in a lot of categories to overcome our lack of height and athleticism.”
On his team’s youth…
“We’ve got a really good shooting team. I’m just trying to get them to grow up fast. Some of them didn’t play comfortable at all, and you could tell. We’ve got to get six freshmen in our top eight, and probably only two or three of those freshmen are comfortable. I’m open to any ideas to speed up the aging process… We’ll come back in a few years and make it interesting.”
Notre Dame Player Quotes
Bonzie Colson – F – Sophomore
On the quick start…
“We’ve been emphasizing having a good start. We want to come out strong, get a kill, rebound and outlet. That’s what we need to do every game and I think we are doing better with that.”
On his game and tying his career high nine rebounds…
“I wanted ten, but sometimes that doesn’t happen. I’m happy though, we played really great as a unit today. We are getting better every day and coming together well.”
Notre Dame Player Quotes
Steve Vasturia – G – Junior
On the Irish offense…
“I think it was just part of the flow of the game. We got some open looks in the second half and I think that a big weapon on our team is that everybody can score; everybody can get to the rim. In the second half we had a bunch of open looks and we were able to knock them down.”
On getting more assisted baskets in the second half…
“I think it’s just part of the way we play. I think we missed some easy ones in the first half. But the way we move the ball and the way we shoot it I think we are going to see a lot of assists every single game. It’s just the way we play and it’s fun.”
Zach Auguste- F – Senior
On the Irish defense…
“I think that is something we continue to emphasize. We wanted to get off to good start and we know that in order for that to happen we had to focus on defense first. We had to get to defensive end, get some stops, and get rebounds, and run. I think that’s what led to our offense.”
On his left hand…
“I’ve worked on that in practice and my off time when I’m in the gym alone. I try to translate it into the game, so I can use it in a game atmosphere.”
On his confidence carrying over from last year…
“We are going off that [last year]. We are seeing a lot of good teams losing to teams that aren’t as highly ranked and as them. We have that in our back pocket, we don’t want to be one of those teams. We want to go out there and beat every team we can by at least twenty.”
Demetrius Jackson – G – Junior
On the team’s confidence…
“We just have confidence in each other and are just getting better daily. We’re enjoying the process of the daily grind and continuing to get better. We’re just going to have fun with it.”
On his personal potential…
“Yeah I think we just have a theme as a team; we’re a work in progress. We’re going to continue to grow and continue to have fun and continue to work hard and continue to make good decisions–knock down open shots and find guys and just play at a high level.”
On building off of last year…
“I think we have a core group of guys back and we just want to continue to teach the young guys and continue to grow and have fun. We need to do what we need to do and play Notre Dame basketball and share the ball and knock down shots.”
On his role this year compared to last year…
“I just have the ball in my hands more. We take pride in sharing the ball and we take pride in not turning the ball over. That puts a lot on me to be able to make good decisions and find guys in open spots.”
V.J. Beachem – F – Junior
On the leadership of the team…
“I think we’re at a great point leadership wise. I think Demetrius and Zach, they definitely give us a great voice everyday in practice. I think it really carries over to off the court too. We have a very high kevel of communication off the court. I think that just helps out when everyone is on the same page on the court and off the court. There’s no other way to put it.”
On the kind of team Notre Dame wants to be…
“I think we want to be a good defensive team, because we’re going to need to rely on our defense, especially in the ACC, when our offense isn’t flowing. Offensively we just want to be the same type of team that Notre Dame always is–unselfish team on both ends, moves the ball, plays inside-out.”
UMass Lowell Player Quotes
Matt Harris – Guard – Sophomore
On the team’s preparation…
“Our preparation was just to go out here and compete, play smart, play hard, play together. Notre Dame is a very good team, that’s why they’re ranked 18th in the country, so that’s basically what we tried to do here today. They’re a lot bigger than us, but that’s what we tried to do.”
On playing at Notre Dame…
“It was very exciting. For myself and the freshmen, it was very exciting. It’s a great atmosphere, a great arena, and a great team. Our family members got to travel down and see us play so it was a pretty good day.”
On the team’s performance…
“I think we obviously could have done a lot better, but there’s always room to improve. As for our performance I think we were a little too fast. I think we were a little too excited for this game and nerves got the best of us, but overall I think we did pretty good.”
On lessons learned from the game…
“We’ll learn from this. I think we can take out of this that we’re a very good team. We came out here and competed and I think that’s what we can take out of this. We just need to come out here and play hard, play smart, and play together.”