March 19, 2009

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2009 National Invitation Tournament Post-Game Quotes
Notre Dame vs. New Mexico
Thursday, March 19, 2009 * Joyce Center * Notre Dame, Indiana
Notre Dame Quotes

Head Coach Mike Brey
On the his team’s comeback…
“What a great atmosphere; two good teams going at it. I never thought we could get away from them, they’re just too good of a team, and they’re just too good offensively. I give our guys a lot of credit. It doesn’t look real good there at the three or four minute mark, but we find a way to get out of this.”

On how important the win was for the team…
“That’s thirty-six straight non-conference wins here. Lot of poise, big free throws, and certainly Tory’s play at the end. I mentioned to John Heisler, we finally got that Danny Ainge play back, twenty-five years later. It’s been a while to get that one back. We’re thrilled to advance, and for this team to get twenty wins against the toughest schedule in the history of our program, I’m really proud of them, and it’s fitting that to get it we had to go coast to coast and win it like that in a thriller.”

On his team’s second half struggles…
“We couldn’t get stops, and we couldn’t get in transition. We were so good because we got stops in the first half, and we were able to run, and when we weren’t able to get enough stops, they stopped us from running. They really played very good half court defense and they started crowding [Junior Forward Luke Harangody] and jamming it in. I think that was the biggest thing. Their offense in the second half got into a rhythm and we were taking it out of bounds instead of taking misses and going.”

Junior Guard Tory Jackson
On whether he had heard about the “Danny Ainge play,” perhaps from former Irish coach Digger Phelps…
“No. I try to hide away from Digger sometimes.”

On taking the winning shot in the final seconds…
“We tried to take get a good shot, just anybody who was open. We had seven seconds left, we just wanted to beat them; it happened, and I’m still shocked right now. It was a tough shot, they defended it pretty well. I’m still shocked, I’m still speechless.”

On whether he thought about passing the ball on the last play of the game…
“Our seniors led us to where we are now. We were either going win it or we were going to overtime, so they couldn’t yell at me. Either way was a win, so I felt it would be okay.”

On whether the team was nervous being down near the end of the game… “I don’t think we were nervous at all. It’s a veteran group. You have to take your hat off to New Mexico, too. We knew they were going to come in to fight. We knew they weren’t going to lay down. They were down ten at half; we knew they weren’t going to lay down at all. It was just more about us tonight. We’re all so experienced, and we’ve been though so much. It speaks of our toughness.”

Senior Forward Zach Hillesland
On how Jackson made the last shot…
“Tory is kind of a – at least in terms of his athletic skill set – he’s more of a cornerback than a point guard. I think if you go back and watch that play – I had a pretty good look at it – he jumped at the same time the other guys did, he just hung longer and was able to get a shot off.”

On how his knee felt…
“It feels good now. It’s just one of those things where it doesn’t feel so good when you’re walking around all day, but when it gets closer to game time… there wasn’t any chance I wasn’t going to play. Once I got out there, the knee brace was actually kind of cumbersome, so I took it off, and I felt pretty good. The adrenaline was pumping. I’ve got a couple of days off here, so I’ll probably be 100 percent pretty soon.”

On the possibility of this being his last game…
“It’s probably one of the most fun games we’ve played in, in my four years. We felt pretty good in the first half, and had a little bit of a lead, and then they started hitting threes and made it interesting. When you’re down six with a couple minutes to go, you have to zone in, and a lot of guys stepped up and made big plays. If this is the last game I play here, it’s a good way to go out.”

Junior Forward Luke Harangody
On whether the game felt like a NCAA Tournament game…
“It did. I think some people don’t realize this, but the NIT can be exactly like that. I had a blast playing out there when the crowd was in there, in it; it was loud out there. It came down to a great shot, and thanks to Tory (Jackson’s game-winning layup) we’re moving on.”

New Mexico Quotes

New Mexico Head Coach Steve Alford
On the game-winning basket by Tory Jackson…
“That’s hard to guard. There are seven seconds left, and they are going to come at you full blast and you can’t foul. It was really leading up to that play that cost us the game. I thought we made a bad decision and threw the ball to a freshman (A. J. Hardeman) in a tough spot. A. J. is not ready to make that play, especially against (Luke) Harangody. That’s where it really started. We were up 66-60 and we got beat 10-2 in the last few minutes, so it was more than that last play.”

On the play of Dairese Gary…
“Dairese has been tremendous, especially in the last ten games. He had a slow start to his sophomore year. Through two years now his team has won 46 games. He gives it everything he’s got, and he’s really improved. He’s a heck of a guard and will continue to get better.”

On changes made in the second half…
“For whatever reason, we didn’t play Lobo basketball in the first half. I didn’t think we competed like we normally compete. They had us on our heels, and it’s a credit to them. I thought they came out and punched us first, and we didn’t react very well to it. In the second half, we came out more spirited and competed the way we have competed all year.”

Dairese Gary-So.-G
On playing in his hometown area (Gary is an Elkhart, Ind. native)…
“It felt great to come back and see all of my family members. I don’t have a lot of family that get out to New Mexico to see me play. Most of them just try to catch it on TV if they can.”

On the support of the community…
“It felt really good. As soon as our game against Nebraska got over, my phone kept going off. It felt good to hear familiar voices telling me that they couldn’t wait to see me play.”

On bouncing back in the second half…
“It was a fun game. We didn’t play like we wanted to in the first half, but in the second half we came out and played very well. It was a battle and a fun game to be in, coming down to the last shot.”

On playing for coach Steve Alford…
“It’s been great playing for coach Alford. He’s a great coach and a great man; he’s helped me on the court and off. Just being in this program has made me a better man and player.”