Dec. 29, 2015

Recap | Box Score | Notes | USATSI Gallery

University of Notre Dame Men’s Basketball
Notre Dame vs. Liberty
December 29th, 2015
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center – Notre Dame, Ind.

Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

Opening Statement…

“In the second half we were a little better offensively. Got some better movement and we got some better looks to get us flowing offensively. Give them credit, they bothered us in the first half and created turnovers. I think it was good to play against that kind of defense because we are going to see it Saturday. The double teams, the jamming up of the help side, it’s something you have to work against.”

On the effort of Auguste…

“I know Zach turned it over four times, but you know he was battling, making some plays. When you are doubled that many times, I was really pleased overall with what he did on the backboard. He was really good.”

On the team needing to be better defensively…

“Where we really attacked when we got back, we just have to be better defensively. That stat I gave them on Monday morning is that we are fourth offensively and we are 167th defensively. They have all had good semesters academically so they know what I am talking about. That’s an area we have to work on, not just man to man, we have got to change defenses. We are going to have to make some improvement there if we want to get where we want to go to do some things in March.”

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Steve Vasturia – G – Junior

On bouncing back from a slump…

“I just kept shooting and playing the way I play. Sometimes you’re not going to make every shot; you just have to keep working and keep plugging.”

On finding other ways to contribute…

“You look around the room and you[‘ve] got guys in here that can score and put the ball in the hoop. So if you’re not doing that, you have to find other ways to help your team win, because that’s the most important thing.”

On a good second half…

“Yeah we wanted to get off to a fast start. In the first half I think we did a really good job on the defensive end, which is something that we have been trying to focus on. In the second half we knew we had to get back to what we were doing offensively. VJ [Beachem] hit two big threes to get us going and that really jump started us.”

Bonzie Colson – F – Sophomore

On second half play…

“We always strive to come out strong in that second half and that’s what we did. Our point of emphasis was defense, making sure we communicated well on defense, get deflection, rebound, outlet; some of the stuff we did in the second half more than the first.”

On Vasturia’s play…

“Steve’s been fine, he’s been working his behind off defensively and offensively. I think he is in a really good rhythm right now and we need him to do this consistently in ACC play.”

On if the team is ready for ACC play…

” Oh yeah, I can’t wait! This is all we want. We want to work hard, we obviously want to go back to back and we are excited to get back to ACC play.”

Zach Auguste – Senior – Forward

On type of play (pushing, shoving) he is expecting in ACC play…

“Tonight, having to guard [Evan] Maxwell was good practice for what to expect in ACC play because there will be more big and athletic guys.”

On reaction to the new rule change, and if they’ve gotten the hang of it…

“We picked up a lot of fouls early on with that new rule and I think it’s the process of understanding this new rule change and trying to adjust to it.”

VJ Beachen – Junior – Forward

On what points of emphasis are heading into ACC play…

“Its really just been all about defense, and I think that’s something we did great the first half. Maybe not so much the second half, but really just all about defense.”

On his quick three pointers starting the second half…

“We knew we had to come out being aggressive, the guys that fouled me early I was just able to knock them down, but for us to get a good second half going was very important to us.”

Liberty Head Coach Ritchie McKay

Opening statement…

“I know how good Coach Brey and his staff are. Having been at Virginia they were my scout the last four years. He does a phenomenal job, when we scheduled this game I knew it was going to be hard and as it approached I wanted to cancel, I was hoping that the weather would be really bad last night.

“I think they have a quality team. When you have a really great team combination, like what he’s got offensively, and they can score from every position, from the arc, on the inside, off the bounce, it makes it a really difficult match up.”

On defending a tough offense…

“We don’t play zone so I knew it was going to be tough especially with those two post guys and they got lift off the bench too. They are capable of that any night. They are going to be tough out in the league.”

On Caleb Homesley in the second half…

“Caleb’s been getting better. The staff is really pleased with his development and he’s a tough matchup because he’s got a high skill level and you can play him at the four. I think he will be a difficult equation for some defenses.”

Liberty Player Quotes

Caleb Homesley – Freshman – Guard

On overall summary of team’s performance …

“My teammates put trust in me and the beliefs that I have, and I just took what the defense gave me and took that to my advantage.”

Takeaways from tonight’s performance to improve upon for next game …

“We need to come together as one and lockdown on defense; that’s something that we’ve been struggling with lately. We just need to bring it all together.”

On what was challenging about Notre Dame’s game …

“Their bigs, and the way they worked them out and in. We really struggled with that.”