March 6, 2009

Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery

Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

On the seniors…
“It’s always good when you can send those guys out on a win, and they were all instrumental in getting us started. It’s a good way to finish up as we head to New York.”

On the fast start…
“We did a really good job defensively and our zone was excellent. We were in really good position by knowing where their shooters were at and challenged them and we were able to run out of it. We also did a good job of finding (Luke) Harangody and getting touches in key times.”

On motivating them after the Villanova game…
“We were going to start all four seniors and we wanted to send them out with a win. We are playing against a team that beat us. I wanted them to play loose and go for it and I thought our demeanor was that way.”

On winning five games in a row…
“I told them lets go see if we can go get the first one in New York and then we’ll talk about some momentum. There is still a lot to play for and this is going to be an interesting week. We can make it interesting again and I just want them going for it and being loose.”

On the BIG EAST Tournament…
“It’s unbelievable, and it’s going to be exciting. It’s going to be interesting Tuesday without TV and are we going to have good crowds. There is still a lot to play for our season and their frame of mind is good and tonight helps us move into New York. “

On playing zone defense…
“It was something that we thought would help against St. John’s they don’t shoot the jump shot a lot, there are more of a driving, slashing team. They did that to Georgetown and they did it to us. I thought (Luke) Harangody did a great job defending the low post in the middle of the zone. We rebounded well out of it and we can run out of it. For us to have success with it tonight will help us move to New York.”

On Ryan Ayers…
“He is in a good rhythm, he is confident, he’s hunting for his shot. Defensively, he’s flying around blocking shots, making plays and being more athletic. We would like to keep it going. “

Notre Dame Player Quotes

Kyle McAlarney- Sr.- G.

On how did the knowledge that this was his last game affected his play…
“You don’t feel the impact of it until you get back to your room, alone, and say wow, that was the last time I’m going to play here. It’s a little surreal. It definitely didn’t feel like four years.”

On what he will miss the most about playing for Notre Dame…
“I’m going to miss the team, the camaraderie that we have, in the locker room after a win. That’s the most important thing, that’s the most special thing in the program. After a win or after a loss, just being in the locker room after that.”

On his prediction of Notre Dame’s success in the BIG EAST tournament…
“I don’t think you can count us out. We’re going to go in there as the loosest group, that’s what Coach Brey has been emphasizing to us, just playing loose and having fun. We’re going to go for it. We think we can do big things.”

Luke Zeller- Sr.- F.

On how his last home game will affect him…
“It’s going to be about an hour after this. When I get out and see my parents and family, I think it’s going to hit me then. Other than that, I’ve been training for four years and when you get on the court, it’s all business. I really didn’t have anything else on my mind. Even now, the whole experience is surreal. You just have to go through it, you can’t believe it’s happening.”

On how being the underdog affects his team’s mentality…
“We do well when everyone thinks we have no chance. That’s what we’ve done since we’ve been here. It’s what we like. So we’re just going to go in there, keep playing together, keep having a good time, and see what we can do.”

Zach Hillesland- Sr.- F

On his hopes for success in the BIG EAST Tournament…
“We’re excited for it. It’s the BIG EAST Tournament. We want to go in there and we want to win it. We know what we have to do to get ourselves into the NCAA Tournament discussion. We’re looking to go out there and get as many wins as possible and hopefully win the thing, discussion ended.”

On Notre Dame’s style of play in his last home game…
“We had a lot of fun out there. From early on in warm-ups, it was just a different feel, really loose. It was all about having fun out there. When we play like that, you can see how special this group is, when everyone’s clicking. Hopefully we continue that trend when we go to New York.”

Ryan Ayers- Sr- G

On why Notre Dame should go far in the BIG EAST tournament….
“We get to play college basketball for another day. It’s going to be a lot of fun going in to the BIG EAST Tournament. Not a lot of teams get to do that. We have to play loose, with a lot of emotion. Why not us?”

St. John’s Head Coach Norm Roberts

On how the game went…
“Give Notre Dame a lot of credit. They played very well at home. (Luke) Harangody was very, very good tonight. We did not do a very good job of guarding him, but he scored away from the basket and he scored in close. He did a very good job for them. I thought we did a decent job on the perimeter players. We let (Ryan) Ayers get free a couple of times for shots. We also had a lot of shots, we had a lot of easy shots early and didn’t make them and against a great scoring team like that you have to make shots.”