Feb. 8, 2006
Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey Quotes
On the 27-point victory…
“We are going to come out and play every night. We have certainly been disappointed in the last few games with having a chance to win, but I think we prepared well. I think that is a great tribute to our seniors. They have really set a great tone making sure everyone is ready to compete. We really came out in the second half ready to put somebody away. Now we have a gap that comes at a good time. We can now get some rest and get back in a good practice routine to get ready to play South Florida next Wednesday.”
On having numerous schemes throughout the game and containing Douby….
” I thought we did a great job on Douby and limiting their three-point shots. That was very good defensive effort for us. I also liked our two big guys together. Our two 20-year-old senior big guys only have seven games left in your college career. I just told them I need more, and I need it now. And we got 35 points out of them tonight.”
On the tremendous assist-to-turnover ratio and the play of Kyle McAlarney…
” I am really proud of him. That’s two games now where he has played very many minutes and committed no turnovers. He is really starting to get a feel for it now and is making good decisions as well.”
On the play of Russell Carter…
“He has really taken some things to heart and has really played great for us. He can guard, he is a slasher and a guy that can drive for us. I thought his drives for the most part were smart ones. He also gives us another guy on the backboard. He is really starting to play like a junior now.”
Notre Dame Player Quotes
Senior Guard Chris Quinn
On being able to sit on the bench to end the game…
“It feels good, real good. It is good to get one like this it is good for our team”
On what the difference was tonight… “I think it was the big guys down low, Torin and Rick, they really stepped up to the challenge. Those guys are skilled down there and they can make plays.”
Senior Forward Torin Francis On what went well tonight … “We took a balanced attack, it started with the balanced attack on the defense forcing them to take not-so-good shots which in turn helped our offense. We pounded in the paint and made some from the perimeter. We need to do that every game to win.”
Senior Forward Rick Cornett On how bad Notre Dame needed this win… “We needed this one bad and it feels great. But now we need to get back to work and prepare for Wednesday’s game. We have to be ready for that, but we also need to enjoy this win a little bit. It has been a while since we have had one.”
On the mental preparation for the game… “It has been a struggle for us, losing by one point or two points or overtime. We just knew we needed to get one under our belt and now that we did we can build on that for next game, especially the game in the paint. Guys are always looking to Chris Quinn, Colin Falls, and Russell Carter. I just need to be ready to take some of the slack and get some inside.”
Junior Guard Russell Carter On how it feels to get a win… “I will be smiling all the way to class tomorrow.”
Rutgers Head Coach Gary Waters Quotes
On how injuries influenced Rutgers’ game…
“We played a game down three starters. It’s hard to play like that. I give Quincy [Douby] credit for continuing to play and trying to score for us, but without our second-, third- and fourth-leading scorers, it’s hard to play well. At one point, we had three walk-ons on the floor. It just makes it hard. We’re only going to get one, maybe two players back at this point. We just have to regroup for our big game on Sunday now.”
On spreading the offense out…
“We couldn’t play 40 minutes running all over the place. With only two of our starters, it’s just too hard to do that. I felt bad for both of them because they had to guard Notre Dame’s best players and also had to shoulder all the scoring.”
On Notre Dame…
“Notre Dame has always been able to shoot the ball. That’s their M.O. all the way and they did a great job. Where they hurt us, which disappointed me, was inside. It’s hard to combat that when you’re starting center is out. The guys out there today previously averaged only 10 minutes a game cumulatively.”
On future adjustments to Rutgers’ strategy…
“I really haven’t had much time to work out how to cope with the loss of all our starters. We may not be able to be the aggressive man-to-man team that we’ve been all year because we may have to combat for our inside. We may have to use a zone. I hate to waste the ability of our point guard though, because he’s the best pressure guard out there. It hurts our team if we don’t have that pressure.”
Rutgers Players Quotes
Freshmen Guard Anthony Farmer On sitting out the game…
“It was a frustrating game to watch from the bench, but there was nothing I could do about that. … I should be ready to play on Sunday.”
Junior Guard Quincy Douby
On Notre Dame’s play…
“We just didn’t have an answer for them down low on the post. We let them isolate us and we couldn’t stop them.”
Junior Guard/Forward Marquis Webb
On playing point guard in the game…
“I am versatile player and, with players injured, you have to step into different roles.”