Dec. 13, 2015

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Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

Opening statementââ’¬¦ “Our zone really helped us again in the second half against a team that was hard to deal with. They spread us out, drove and kicked, and the zone certainly helped us out. I thought we had good offensive efficiency throughout the game, but they were hard to deal with defensively in man-to-man. The zone changed the complexion of the game. I thought Matt Ryan and Matt Farrell gave us great stuff off the bench to help us. They’re a team that won over 20 games last year, and I think they have a chance to do that again this year in the Missouri Valley. I’m happy, we’ve won three in a row since Orlando and we’ve gotten a little better. Now we go into exam mode, and we’ll deal with Indiana later this week.”

On the smaller lineup sparking a run in the second halfââ’¬¦ “That’s a great offensive group. I think it was a tough day for Zach because they were going to double him all the time. He started making good decisions but I think it wears on you over time when the double comes. That’s something we’re going to have to work with him on because Virginia and other teams are going to do that. That lineup that got going is pretty potent, and they were pretty good in zone because they’re long enough.

On how the zone defense has improvedââ’¬¦ “Our middle guys, Zach and Bonzie, are doing a great job of figuring out when to come up and guard the free throw line and when to fake and get back. I also think we cover three-point shooters pretty well with our key guys. You saw it in the second half, but it’s a complete different rhythm. We saw it in Illinois and in the second half tonight. All of a sudden, some different guys are having to make decisions with the ball and they’re not coming off ball screens.”

On Matt Ryanââ’¬¦ “He scored double figures of the bench at Iowa too. He just really believes, and he’s a tough kid. He had a big steal in the midst of our run too. He’s just a weapon that we will have to play, and he may end up playing more and more because his shot is an amazing weapon. He’s not a liability defensively, because he’s got good size, he throws his body around, and he’s a physical kid. We have to keep grooming him and he’s got to be on the floor because he’s a key.”

On Bonzie Colson’s playââ’¬¦ “He’s playing around the bucket, I thought he drove it early and got fouled. When we take Zach out and put Matt Ryan in he gets very effective because we’re playing him like we played him last year. He’s in there as the lone big, and there are four guys in there that can really stretch the floor. That was the lineup that finished the Iowa game and was probably the most efficient lineup in the first and second halves.”

On what they are looking at the next few gamesââ’¬¦ “I think we have to still develop Matt Farrell and figure out how to use Austin Torres. But we also have to keep an open mind about everyone else. Rex Pfleuger has a motor about him. We’re going to be playing some really big bodies after the New Year so we have to look at Martin Geben. I think we’re still analyzing some stuff. The one thing we are going to do is double both [Zach and Demetrius] in practice. I refer to it as a frustration test in practice. For fifteen minutes we’re going to go five-on-five in the half court, but we’re going to double Zach in the low post and double Demetrius off every ball screen. I want to see how they handle it, see if they get frustrated. They’re going to see a lot of that, especially in league play. I think we have to have a potential frustration test with those two, and I want to see how they handle it. I think we have to get them more mentally ready for that, and not let them be effective”

Loyola Chicago Head Coach Porter Moser

Opening Statementââ’¬¦ “Out of my respect for [Zach] Auguste, I think you have to trap him. He did a nice job of getting it out of there. They moved the ball really well; they had 19 assists. You have to make a decision on him; I have that much respect for Auguste and what he was doing. You have to give them credit on how they were moving the ball on the perimeter. They moved the ball faster than our defense and they knocked down shots. “

On takeaway from this gameââ’¬¦ “Leadership during a run. It’s a great environment. I thought we came out of the locker room at halftime really well. I think we cut it to two. Then they made a run and it went from two to fourteen before you could even blink. You can’t have that at this level playing a team like this especially in this environment. We have to learn how to get good possessions when the other team is making a run. You don’t have as many timeouts with the new rule. You have to have good possessions and you have to have leadership. We missed a couple shots, they made a couple, then we had a turnover, and went form two to fourteen before I could even blink. We have to takeaway learning how to play against a run better than that. We cannot have that big of a run. The second thing is we know we are undersized and we know we are missing Montel James and are going to have to do some things in the post. We have to be better scrambling out of traps than they are passing out of traps. It’s like a chess match and they were better at moving the ball. They were not only better they were outstanding. They had great spacing and the moved the ball fast. They went ten for twenty from three. They were really spacing you and doing a nice job with that. “

On what he likedââ’¬¦ “I liked that the people here are awesome. Everybody says welcome to Notre Dame. That was phenomenal. In terms of my team, I liked that they really believed we were going to win. It was really nice seeing them at halftime. I really felt that they thought we could win. We just didn’t play well enough to win.”

On Notre Dame’s Pressââ’¬¦ “We faced that press. We had a senior cough it up. That one turnover led to an easy basket. What it does is it takes time off. The first couple possessions, when they fell back into that zone, it changed the rhythm and we were getting into our offense a little late. That is what it does. It was a good move changing to a zone. But then you have to make some shots. We adjusted and were just missing some shots in the zone. It changes rhythm. I thought we had a nice rhythm going. You can’t have, in basketball terms, a pick six. Upfront, we had one and it just turned into a quick basket. You just cannot have those. They are designed to take time off the clock. They are designed to have you break it and starting your zone offense at 18. You jut cannot afford to have those turnovers at the front end of things turn into easy layups and that’s what happened. “

On what affected Milton Doyle’s playââ’¬¦ “They are long. The length forced him to put a little more arch on his shot. What I liked about Milton today was that his offense was not on but he had nine assists and if the post had dropped three or four more I bet you he could have had twelve. He still was facilitating the offense. Between him and Devon Turk, he was two of seven, that’s five from nineteen from two of your guys that can really make shots. I think their length affected him. They have a long team.”

On it being harder to guard Irish with Auguste outââ’¬¦ “No, not when Auguste comes out. It seems that way because were so depleted inside they can still score one on one. We took the trap off, but when Auguste is in there you have to make a decision. When you look at his possessions throughout the year, we were charting a bunch, when he gets single coverage in there he is shooting crazy numbers. Now, when he slows down against the trap and they’re spotting up out there, they’re definitely not harder to guard when he’s out. They’re harder to guard when he’s in there because you have to make some decisions. When you trap him he moves further out and you have to come further to do your trap. They make you make decisions. He is a tough matchup because he’s driving you if he steps out and posting up he’s so fast. He changes speed really well. He looks at and he changes speed. He is very difficult.”

Notre Dame Player Quotes

V.J. Beachem ââ’¬” F ââ’¬” Jr.

On playing at the same time with Bonzie Colsonââ’¬¦ “Good, we continue to play better everyday. It’s something that we obviously can work on. I think we’re getting more comfortable with each other and I think it has a lot to do with understanding each other and understanding each other’s games and knowing the space and how to rotate around each other.”

On the early lack of energyââ’¬¦ “Coach kind of got on us, so that definitely got us going, but we knew we had to make a run right then and there to try to blow the game open and I think we did. We were able to get some good shots and find our rhythm offensively.”

On translating defense into offenseââ’¬¦ “That’s something we try to work on ââ’¬” getting stops really allows us to get out and transition into where we really are our best. When we’re getting stops and getting the ball out quick, I think that really helps us as far as our movement.”

On going to a zone defenseââ’¬¦ “It really cut them out of our lane and it really didn’t allow them to stretch the floor the way they did in the first half. They really stretched the floor and were knocking down open shots so we were able clog up the lane and make them pass outside, which really helped us a lot.”

Zach Auguste ââ’¬” F ââ’¬” Sr.

On the team’s sizeââ’¬¦ “I think our length is troublesome to people too, especially with me, V.J. and Bonzie in the backline. I think we just have great rotation, we have great space ââ’¬” we force teams to take on more.”

On playing a zone defenseââ’¬¦ “I think of it more as trying to take a different look at the defensive tempo, especially with the teams we’re playing against.”

On generating energyââ’¬¦ “I think it has to do with our defense. If we can get good stops that leads to some great offensive transition stuff.”

Matt Ryan ââ’¬” G ââ’¬” Fr.

On his playing time and the gameââ’¬¦ “I’ve been playing hard in practice the past couple of days, trying to get better. The coaches told me to continue that momentum into the game, to continue to look for my shot on offense, and to be aggressive both defensively and offensively on the boards. That’s what I tried to do today.”

On his role going forwardââ’¬¦ “I am going to play whatever role the coaches expect from me coming off the bench. I thought I brought a lot of energy in the first half. We got a couple of defensive stops. I’m going to continue to try to make a bunch of shots. That’s really it.”

On his defenseââ’¬¦ “Everyday I am getting better at defense by going at it with these guys in practice. We got a couple steals and layups in the first half. I’m out there yelling and trying to pick up the energy. I am going to continue to do that.”

Bonzie Colson II ââ’¬” F ââ’¬” So.

On returning to a “junkyard dog mentality” and what that entailsââ’¬¦ “It’s diving for loose balls, getting rebounds, and flying around everywhere.”

On the 19-3 run in the second half and the game plan for Loyola Chicagoââ’¬¦ “They were a team who could shoot the ball, but I thought the 2-3-zone frustrated them a little bit. They didn’t really know what to do. I thought V.J. Beachem, Matt Ryan, myself, and a lot other guys rebounded well. When we rebound and outlet, I feel like that is our best basketball.”

On the next game against Indianaââ’¬¦ “I’m really excited about that. I’ve never gotten to play IU, but I know so many guys on the team. I’m excited and hope to play well.”

Loyola Chicago Player Quotes

Donte Ingram ââ’¬” G/F ââ’¬” So.

On playing Notre Dameââ’¬¦ “It was a great experience for us, but we really wanted to come in and just play hard and show character. We have a couple of guys injured and banged up. We didn’t want to use that as an excuse though. We wish we could have come out with different results.”

On his personal performanceââ’¬¦ “I could have done a lot of things better. We’re really undersized right now so I have to make sure I’m doing a better job of playing hard and competing to make more winning plays.”

On the differences between the first and second halfââ’¬¦ “The first half I feel like we were way more aggressive; we got to loose balls, we had a nice tempo. The second half, the first couple of minutes it was the same, but after that we just broke down. We didn’t get stops.”

On making improvements moving forwardââ’¬¦ “We have to work on playing a complete game. We can’t play half of a game. When playing good teams like Notre Dame, that won’t last long. We have to work on playing a complete game.”