Jan. 12, 2003

Recap?|? Box Score?|? Photo Gallery

Notre Dame Mike Brey Postgame Quotes
On the game . . . .
“[It was a] typical BIG EAST game. [It was] what I expected. It was more physical today, not as pretty as people have seen in the Joyce Center.”

“We need to understand that the tempo and the physicality is a little different, and I think we learned that well today.”

“We had to make plays; this [Seton Hall] is a talented basketball team.”

On Chris Quinn . . .
“Sometimes teams can forget about him, and he is able to sneak up on and hurt you.”

“He was probably not as high on the scouting report, and he got two wide open looks because they were worried about Matt [Carroll] and Chris [Thomas].”

“He helped to take pressure off Chris Thomas, so Chris did not have to bring the ball up against Andre Barrett, who is such a great defender.”

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Senior guard Matt Carroll
On the win …
“It was a good win. We hadn’t gotten a win in the BIG EAST this year, and we are excited to get this one.”

On Notre Dame’s control of the game . . .
“In the BIG EAST every team is going to make a run [at you]. We got a little lead, and we knew they were going to come back, but I think the key is we slowed it down a little, which we didn’t do in the Pittsburgh game. We took care of the ball, and when we get to the foul line, we are going to make foul shots.”

On moving on after Pittsburgh…
“We moved on. We learned from it; we knew what we had to do. Coach Brey prepared us well for this game, and we just moved on [from the loss].”

On playing conference games …
“This is the BIG EAST. I think everyone learned at Pittsburgh that it’s a war out there, especially going for rebounds and down low. We learned from the Pittsburgh game, and we expected it to be tough out there, just like every game in the BIG EAST is going to be.”

Sophomore guard Chris Thomas
On Seton Hall’s style of play . . . .
“They play a different style of ball. It’s basically slashing, and they have a couple of shooters. It’s like the playground. They don’t have great size, but they all go to the glass, and they’re all pretty physical.”

On Andre Barrett…
“When you have a leader like Barrett, you never know what’s going to happen, especially in conference play when everybody gives you their best shot. Barrett basically kept them in the game. He’s a tough player to play against, but I think our poise down the stretch just won the game for us.”

On his biggest personal adjustment…
“I think just [adjusting my] attitude [was important]. Sometimes I get caught up in the officiating and get my head down, but today I smiled at the refs and said ‘Good call’, which is just the way coach expects me to play. After the game, he said, ‘Good poise today’, and that’s how I’m supposed to play. If my team sees that I have any lack of trust or confidence in myself then that is going to make them wonder where my head is, but today I wanted to make sure they knew that I was there 100% with them.”

Seton Hall Coach Louis Orr Postgame Quotes
On Seton Hall’s play . . .
“Our effort was there. We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. We lost our poise, and we need to play smarter and not get away from our game plan.”

On the team’s three-point shooting . . .
“We can’t fall into the trap of launching three-point shots and not taking the ball to the basket. We haven’t shot the ball well from beyond the three-point line, and we have to play better offensively.”

Seton Hall Player Quotes

Junior guard Andre Barrett:
On the difference in the game…
“We could have played defense a little bit better. They got to the line a little too much. There were a lot of fouls called on both ends. Since we knew that, we should have went to the basket a little bit more. We settled for a few too many jump shots.”

On play of Notre Dame guards Matt Carroll and Chris Thomas…
“They both played well. They’re the two main players on their team. They have a lot of shooters, and I think the shooters helped them out to get a little bit more open and a lot of one-on-one coverage. When you have four perimeter players and one big man on the floor at one time, it opens things up for them.”

On the 14-personal foul difference between Notre Dame and Seton Hall (ND 10, SH 24) …
“It was a big difference. I had four fouls, and I wasn’t able to guard Chris Thomas for the majority of the game. A lot of players on our team had foul trouble, but we have to play through that. No matter what happens, we have to play through that.”

Sophomore forward John Allen:
On the game…
“They just beat us. We didn’t play well. We have to work on getting better defensively. We can’t sit back and blame the refs. When they don’t call the fouls, we just have to get better defensively and work on our man-to-man game.”

On Notre Dame perimeter play…
“They hit their shots when the team needed them. Their defense wasn’t that tough, but they hit big shots. We didn’t hit big shots and they did.”

On anticipation for Tuesday’s Georgetown contest…
“We just want to win. We’re just looking for that first BIG EAST win, and that’s what we take into Georgetown. We have to come out and play well.”