Feb. 25, 2009
Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey
On tonight’s game…
“I was impressed with Rutgers personnel. I was very worried about this game. They have some young guards who can really put the ball on the floor and they have some big guys that really bother you and make it hard to establish your low post and that’s exactly what happened in the first half. We were definitely more poised in the second half, we did a better job defending.”
On tonight’s defense…
“[Rutgers] really came out with a nice position to be in with really nothing to lose and they come in loose. We couldn’t get into our offensive rhythm because we know there’s a lot on the line.”
On the motivation from the crowd…
“I was worried about this game because you have big Monday with Villanova and senior day, but once the crowd got going, it helped us defensively. When our crowd is loud when we’re in our half court defense, especially down there in front of the students, that made all the difference in the world. Any energy we can generate can help us. When they helped us in the second half it really gave us complete confidence on the defensive end, and really on both ends.”
On coach’s halftime talk…
“They were great at halftime. I told them to talk amongst themselves and said, ‘with all the stuff that we’ve been through, we have 20 more minutes. Relax, and we got to do what we do. Don’t panic because 20 minutes is a long time.’ They handled it great.”
Difference with Harangody in the first and second halves…
“He got himself started on the offensive board. He got a couple of missed shots where he got a couple of put backs and I think that jump-started him. I think he also concentrated on the defensive boards, probably rebounding.”
Confidence of the team…
“We’ve won 4 out of the last 5 and I told them to celebrate. They had to gut one out and we just wanted to get to 7-8 in the league and be in the discussion. They’ve responded well, but we have a lot of work to do still. It’s all capable of being done though.
Notre Dame Player Quotes
Luke Harangody- Jr.- F
On the effect of playing against two shot blockers…
“They didn’t really have much to do with it. My shot felt as good as it always is and every time it went up it felt like it was going in but I just couldn’t catch a break tonight. You’re going to have nights like this and I just had to battle through it and work at other facets of my game. I got on the boards really hard and that seemed to kick start me and I got some easy put-backs off of that.”
On the possibility the team was looking ahead to Saturday’s Connecticut game…
“No way. There is no way we could look past Rutgers tonight. They are a good team right now and we needed this win. We are just excited to be past this one and can look to going to play Connecticut this weekend.”
On Ryan Ayers’ block motivating the team…
“It was a huge boost for us. I think after the block we went down and got an and-1 and then went on a little run, so it definitely sparked us and helped us step up for the rest of the game.”
Tory Jackson- Jr.- G
On playing loose and being in a rhythm offensively…
“It helped me get into a better rhythm for sure. I can’t remember the last time I hit a three in a game, it has been a while. I felt loose and confident in my game and in my shot and it definitely helped me tonight.”
On Rutgers defensive game plan on him…
“I think they played me to drive more. I think all the conference teams have fixed me as that and tonight I was just trying to be confident in my jump shot, and I was. It felt good and it was falling for me and when that happens it allows me to contribute more and take some of the pressure off (Kyle) McAlarney, (Ryan) Ayers and (Luke) Harangody.”
On contributing offensively…
“Coach has been on me about that. Just to go out there and play. My thing is I try not to put too much pressure on myself offensively and just to defend, but today I didn’t focus on any of that and I just went out there and played my game.”
Kyle McAlarney- Sr.- G
On his sense of a change in the team’s confidence level…
“I think we came out with high energy defending and rebounding. We just wanted to get each other confident. Tonight, in the huddles and locker room, reminded me of last year. Our backs are up against the wall, but we don’t think about that much. We know we have nothing to lose. I felt tonight we were very confident.”
On his confidence that Notre Dame would turn the game around…
“We knew that our offense was going to come. We’ve had such a good rhythm lately the past few games and in practices, we knew that rhythm was going to hit. That’s what went wrong for a little bit, we lost our identity. Now I think we’ve found it.”
On the magnitude of Notre Dame’s next game against Connecticut…
“We are trying to take it one game at a time. We’re going to let it rip on Saturday and that’s all we’re thinking about right now. We don’t want to start thinking about tournaments or anything like that yet. We’re still trying to put ourselves in the best position possible. We’ve played in big games before. We’ve never let the hype and all the talk get to us. It’s important for us to stay grounded and focused because this is a huge opportunity. We have nothing to lose. It’s obviously a huge game.”
Rutgers Head Coach Fred Hill
On Notre Dame’s second half comeback…
“They made a run. They got some good shots, we missed a couple of easy shots. A good team’s going to make a run, especially on their home floor.”
On his team’s play…
“I’m really proud of our guys. In the situation that we’re in, with a really young team on the road, not having won many games in the BIG EAST this year, it’s easy for guys to pack it in, to quit, to fold. They played terrific. Our defense was outstanding. That’s a heck of an offensive team, and even though (Luke) Harangody got his numbers, he had to take twenty-five shots to get his twenty points, and some of those came on the free throw line down the end (of the game). I can’t ask my team to do a better defensive job. I thought the guards were outstanding. Holding them to 27 points in a half, that’s not happening too often.”
On the end of the game…
“We just couldn’t make a play down the end. I thought we got a great look. We got Mike (Rosario) on the free throw line, he’s the leading free throw shooter in the BIG EAST. He’s going to be in that situation a lot for us in his career. He’s going to knock down shots, win a lot of games for us. So that’s a learning experience and a growing experience.”
On guard Mike Rosario turning the ball over…
” It’s a freshman being a little up and down. We depend a lot on him, and I think Mike’s done a good job of learning how to slow down, but once in a while, he gets going, we’re asking him to score. He’s a freshman, usually you hit the wall a couple of games ago. He’ll never admit it, but I’m sure he’s got tired legs. When you get tired legs, you get mentally fatigued. When you get mentally tired, some of those unforced errors exist. But we’ve asked a whole lot of him, and I think he’s responded in a great fashion. I haven’t seen a freshman in this league, this year, that has performed on a consistent basis the way Mike has.”