Dec. 13, 2009
Notre Dame Men’s Basketball
Notre Dame vs. Loyola Marymount
December 12, 2009
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center
Notre Dame, Ind.
Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey
On what needs to happen after this disappointing finish…
“Getting the ball in bounds there at the end, that’s this game right there. There are definitely some things we’ve got to work on. I think this will be a good wake up call for our guys. I know we’ve got exams coming up, but after exams are over it’s all basketball for the next two to three weeks, and that gives you the opportunity to get to work on the things you know you need to work on. Even though it’s exam week, we’ve got UCLA coming in, and I know their weapons are good. They’ll come in and do the same thing to us if we’re not ready to play.”
Luke Harangody Senior Forward
On the ending of the game…
“LMU used the lane, with a lot of ball screens and had the wide open man on the kickout. We needed to have a better stand, but it shouldn’t have come down to that one play. Coach Brey said if you give up baseline points, you don’t win the game, and I believe that to.”
On last possession being scattered…
“We needed to just get a look, and Tory (Jackson) usually hits a shot like that in practice. We like the ball in Tory’s hands at the end going the length of the court.”
On bouncing back…
“This is a long season, it’s a marathon. This was one of the games we need to forget about. We have a week off now (from games) and need to concentrate and focus on finals now and get ready for resilient a UCLA team coming in here. So, as seniors, we need to realize to look forward and forget about this.”
Tyrone Nash Junior Forward
On Loyola Marymount …
“Yeah, the number 00 (Jarred DuBois) hit a bunch of big shots. We saw him more as a driver but he ended up shooting down threes. It’s the whole team, we need to man up more defensively in the game, and we didn’t do that. It’s a long season and we need to learn from this. We just have to improve.”
On the last possession with Tory Jackson…
“Tory is our best shot, he can get into the lane. I would put the ball in his hands or (Ben) Hansbrough or (Luke) Harangody’s hands, but this one just didn’t fall.”
On being aggressive in the first 30 minutes…
“I just had my teammates around me and I got open. Coach kept me confident, and my teammates kept me confident. I just wish we got the win.”
Tim Abromaitis Junior Guard
On where the problem was…
“Just defense, we couldn’t really stop them. They (LMU) were getting good looks every possession, and they had some good shooters.”
On moving forward and rallying around…
“We learn from this, increasing our defensive effort, being able to communicate better, and move our feet better and everything that goes into defense. It doesn’t get easier from here, so we need to just come together as a team, and start working on that.”
On the five second call…
“I just wasn’t poised out there. I thought (Luke) Harangody was somewhat open, posting up, and then he lost position, so I couldn’t get it there, and then I was trying to yell time-out as I was passing over to Ben (Hansbrough), but it was too late at that point.”
On the 10 point early start, and how it was lost…
“I don’t think we had it defensively there the whole game. We didn’t really communicate that well, we didn’t switch and talk about screens, and identify the shooters, because they were getting good looks every possession out there, and when that happens, they are going to score 87 points.”
On whether the loss will linger…
“Obviously it hurts right now, but I think we have some pretty good senior leaders on the team. I think the coaches did a good job of getting on us, but moving forward, because it doesn’t really get easier from here.”
Ben Hansbrough Senior Guard
On the scrambled defensive situation…
“We just weren’t ourselves defensively tonight, and even offensively, hopefully we’ll work on that to get better.”
Loyola Marymount Head Coach Max Good
Opening statement…
“I’ve been a lot of places and I’ve never been to a place that exudes more class than Notre Dame. I would have said the same thing if we’d lost, trust me. Mike Brey is one of those guys in college coaching who you never hear anything bad about. There is never a sense of impropriety. Nobody ever wonders if they’re cutting corners. He’s done a magnificent job and I knew Mike back even when he was at Delaware. I wanted to win the game obviously, but I take no satisfaction in what happened to Mike Brey out here.”
On the intent behind the last possession’s three-point play…
“To be honest with you, it was designed to be a three-pointer to Drew Viney, but they didn’t bite. Larry Davis came off a ball screen and we were going to throw it back to Drew Viney, but Larry Davis had the presence of mind to make the great pass to J.D. (Jarred DuBois) who hit a huge basket.”
On keeping team morale going down 10 points so early…
“I was so frustrated, because (Luke) Harangody was getting the ball so deep so easily, and we weren’t willing to make a stand. It’s like we were just conceding to him. We had to wall up and man up. Obviously he gets your attention, but we didn’t do anything special on him. We just played him man-to-man. We didn’t double off of him at all.”