Jan. 23, 2010

Recap | Box Score | Notes

Notre Dame Men’s Basketball
Notre Dame vs. DePaul
January 23, 2010
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center | Notre Dame, Ind.

Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

On having three players all with a double-double…
“I think it’s just amazing that three players can go out and perform like that. You run out of things to say about Luke Harangody, but some things just go without saying. He didn’t have a great first half, but he had some great buckets over down here, and he just continues to be an efficient guy for us. I hope it doesn’t get boring to us, to notice double-doubles and double-doubles…but, you know, we’ll just perform through it.”

On getting back over .500 in Big East play…
“Coming to play DePaul, you know we lost 2 straight, and to come out here and get the win, that was big for us. We played Syracuse when they were the hottest team in the league, and now we play Villanova and they’re the hottest team in the league. That’s a great opportunity for us as a team. We’ve just got to get our reps in at practice tomorrow, get well rested tonight and we’ll be

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Luke Harangody | Senior | Forward

On the importance of today’s game…
“This game is huge for us. Anytime you can come out and get a BIG EAST victory and can go to 4-3 in the league is key for us. To go on the road (to Villanova) with a win helps us build confidence.”

On coming out of a slump…
“No one ever really thought we were in a slump. We just had to get out of the gates, and we did that today with the balance and efficiency of this team.”

On Tyrone Nash’s play…
“[Tyrone Nash] was very aggressive today. We love to see that because when he is aggressive he is going to score. We need him to keep that up because it is very important for us. Everybody has a bad game and you just have to go into the next game with a clearer head, and he did that for us today.”

On having three players register double-doubles…
“That’s huge for us especially on the rebounding on the defensive end. It has to be like that for us every time when going to the backboard.”

On the keys to defeating Villanova…
“We’re definitely going to take this win there. They’re a great team, probably one of the top in the country. I couldn’t tell you the last time they lost. We just have to go in there with this confidence.”

Tim Abromaitis | Senior | Forward

On the keys to today’s game…
“I think one of the things we emphasized was really moving the ball and taking good shots. We were able to run and move the ball quick, and we were able to get some pretty good shots inside. This whole year we’ve had guys that have been great with the ball. Ben [Hansbrough] and Tory [Jackson] have been able to penetrate and kick. [Luke Harangody] has been able to create mismatches for everybody. We knew coming in that they had a good defense, but we knew we had a good offense as well.”

On starting the game off quick…
“We wanted to come out right away and boost the energy. We got three stops right away and really pushed the ball in transition. It helped to get those big stops right away.”

On scoring 30 points…
“I think it was ball movement really. Ben [Hansbrough] was able to get in there, and he’s really good at finding the open guy. He’ll drive in, get an idea of where you are, and turn and fire it to you to get the open look. Transitions were something we keyed in on too in order to get easy looks since we know they’re a good defensive team.”

Ben Hansbrough | Senior | Guard

On the team’s assist-to-turnover ratio…
“We got a lot of guys that got in there and created plays tonight. If we are going to be able to compete with the best teams we really have to play together. We don’t necessarily have the superior athletes like Syracuse or UConn, but we can make up for that by playing together.”

On improving his game…
“I haven’t really been playing my best the past couple of games. I just knew I had to come out and play aggressive. Coach (Brey) has done a really good job of getting me fired-up and ready to play in practice the best couple of days. We really attacked it and found a bunch of gaps today.”

Tyrone Nash | Junior | Forward

On coming out determined to play…
“My teammates really concentrated on getting me the ball early. [Luke] Harangody and I went down there and got to work early. When he scored it opened it up for me, and when I scored it opened it up for him. We just tried to take advantage of that.”

On playing in the tough BIG EAST conference…
“Any given day you can play one of the top teams in the country. It’s great. We’ll take any BIG EAST victory we can get. It’s good to get that rid of that two game losing streak and get out of the losing column.”

DePaul Head Coach Tracy Webster

On the strengths of DePaul’s team …
“We always talked about holding guys to a low scoring point average. Giving up 87 points means we have to score 88. Right now, defense is supposed to be our deal. That’s what we hang our hat on. Tonight, for whatever reason, we did not do a good job defensively.”

On the team’s bench depth during the game…
“I think I have to be more aware of playing Will [Walker] and Jeremiah [Kelly] for 40 minutes. With Devin [Hill] getting into foul early, its makes it a little tougher. Guys have to be ready to step up regardless. I think this team is not going to give up and they’re going to be ready for West Virginia.”

On issues posed during the game by Tim Abromaitis
“They did a really good job of getting in the paint. Whether 21 was on the ball side or his guy had to help, he was going to have a wide open look. When someone has straight line to drive to the basket like that, and is able to blow by a guy who is defending him that quickly, it’s going to be hard to get rotation. That’s why we always want our guys to continue to make guys turn and not have straight line drives to the basket. Also in transition, they do a great job with making extra passes. They know who their shooters are and they’re not afraid to make extra passes.”