March 5, 2016
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POSTGAME QUOTES
Notre Dame 89 (20-10, 11-7 ACC), NC State 75 (15-16, 5-13 ACC)
March 5, 2016
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center Notre Dame, Ind.
Mike Brey, Notre Dame Head Coach
Opening Statement…
“Eightynine points sure looks good on that scoreboard. I think our tempo was the key. We’re playing faster in practice-used a twentyÂsecond shot clock in practice for two days. Demetrius [Jackson] and Matt [Farrell] did a great job pushing the pace and it had us pushing attack mode the entire time. It was just a great team win. Really proud of our group and I think we’ve really found a kind of rhythm here at this very key time.”
On Matt Farrell…
“I was looking to get some more guys in there. Foul trouble too, but I wanted to get Matt Farrell in. I put Matt Farrell back in the rotation because he’s got speed off the dribble, and he takes a little pressure off Demetrius [Jackson]. With the two of them in there, they both can really go with the ball and I thought he delivered for us. We need him, we need his juice and his speed.”
On “trusting the process”…
“We always said, because I wanted them to get away from being an extension of last year’s team, that I really believe this group has a chance to improve all the way up to the ACC Tournament. I need you engaged when we come at you with something different or when we tweak something there. I’ve come back to that theme many times and our thought after the Miami loss was we’re playing faster. I’m tired of watching us walk it out. That may mean more guys have to play because of fatigue, and we did that. That was one thing I wanted to look at today, and I think we found something.”
On Matt Ryan and Rex Pflueger…
“Those guys have been machines. They deliver on the court, they deliver in the classroom, they’re unbelievable. These guys are really mature. But those two, they really have an edge about them and they’re so excited to get in. How about your freshmen year you’re going to play in the tournament? They watched last year. They’re going to be able to do that. They’re thrilled because of it, their families are thrilled and they’re a big part of our team.”
Notre Dame Players
Zach Auguste, Senior Forward
On last home game at Notre Dame…
“It was one of the most memorable days at Notre Dame. It has been one of the best journeys of my life. This is a special place and I am honored to wear the Irish jersey.”
On playing well…
“The most important thing for me was getting a win. I was just trying to do whatever it takes to get a win. Fortunately, I had a great game.”
On coming out for the last time…
“It is crazy. It happens so fast. It feels like I just got done celebrating [Jack] Cooley and [Jerian] Grant’s final home game, but this has been amazing. It is something that happens so fast, you don’t even think about it and the next thing you know, it’s your turn.”
On staying focused on an emotional day…
“Yeah, it is a tough day for a senior. My main goal was staying focused and ending on a win here at Notre Dame.”
On playing at Notre Dame…
“It is amazing. The atmosphere here is awesome. The environment is beautiful and you meet a lot of intellectual people that care about you. I am truly honored to have played under Coach Brey.”
On how much he will miss playing at Purcell Pavilion…
“I am going to miss it a lot. It is a great place here and the fans are amazing. The support is unbelievable and I am always going to miss it, but I am going to find ways to come back.”
Matt Ryan, Freshman Guard
On importance of win heading into ACC Tournament…
“We needed this. There is no doubt, we needed this win. We just lost two in row for the first time in a very long time. We needed this win to build our confidence heading into the ACC Tournament.”
On gaining confidence…
“We have been playing fast the past couple of days in practice and we needed to come out firing after a sluggish past couple of games. We haven’t been getting as many possessions as we like so we have been working to push the ball and shoot when we get open looks.”
On scoring a career high…
“It was good for me to gain some confidence. I know I can score the ball, so it was good to play well and help the team win.”
On team’s momentum heading into March…
“This was a ‘must win’ game. We just lost two in a row, and to get a win heading into March is a good confidence builder. Hopefully [North] Carolina takes care of business tonight so we can get the double bye in the ACC Tournament.”
Mark Gottfried, NC State Head Coach
Opening Statement…
“We are disappointed. But at the same time, Notre Dame in the second half had an offensive burst that was the difference in the game. I think our defense had something to do with it. We had some stretches where we had some defensive lapses. They did a great job and they are a really good team. First half they did a great job. Ryan came in and killed us and they were able to overcome some foul trouble with that. Auguste and Jackson are the heart of that team and those two guys stepped up and made some big plays for them.”
On bench points…
“That made them better today. Like I was talking about, they overcame the fact that Jackson never really got going and Auguste only had a little bit. But a guy came in and had 17 first half points. He really made up for Jackson. You think Jackson might get 17 but he did not and Ryan did. That helped them because they had a little foul trouble early and offensively their bench kept them in the game and gave them a chance.”
On how they slowed Demetrius Jackson down…
“We had Cody Martin on him. Cody is a little bigger and a little longer. And Cody did a nice job on Marcus Paige and a couple guys like that and we felt like with Cody, his length would play a factor. Demetrius is such a good player, but maybe some of those pull back jump shots with Cody’s length would bother those shots a little bit more than Cat did. I thought he did a pretty good job. But then the foul trouble hurt Demetrius more than anything. It was not necessarily our defense. He got into a little foul trouble and that slowed him down.”
On Anthony Barber’s frustration level…
“I am sure he has been frustrated at times. A guy like that, you want to win so bad and he has had great numbers this year. He has really done it trying to help his team win. He is not trying to get points to pad his own statsþ he is just trying to help his team win. Just like today, we had some guys have some open looks and you have to make them to be a good team. That’s the difference between being 5-13 and 10-8 or 11-7 or whatever our team should be. He needs help offensively and hasn’t gotten a lot so he has to score more for our team. He has played terrific all year long and is a really good player. But it is tough for him not winning as much this year.”
On what he anticipated Notre Dame to do offensively…
“We didn’t anticipate Matt Ryan getting 17 in the first half. Mike had the secret weapon over there just holding him back. I am going to ask Mike ‘why haven’t you been playing that guy?’ They got some scoring from some other guys today and then I thought we helped them a little today by having some lapses. But they stepped up and made shots. I thought Auguste was good around the rim like he can be. They had a couple games where they struggled. But they have been a great offensive team all year long.