Jan. 12, 2000
Notre Dame Player Quotes
On the week off after the Connecticut game and a possible let down:
Troy Murphy: “We just went to war with each other in practice. (A let down) was in our minds but we just want to play hard and together in every game. Every conference game is tough. We just try to work it up and play our game and do the things that make us successful.”
Matt Carroll: “It was very important to not have a let down. That was something Coach Doherty was very concerned about. Personally, I felt confident and I think everyone else on the team is confident. We have to keep winning and that is what we are going to do. Every game in the BIG EAST is tough and we were not going to take Boston College lightly.”
On the effectiveness of the 2-3 zone:
Jimmy Dillon: “It is our base defense. It gives a lot of teams trouble – we went up to UConn and used it on them and snuck out of there with a win. It has been successful for us all year and we were not going to change anything for Boston College.”
On the number of three pointers Boston College attempted:
Jimmy Dillon: “We expected a high number of those shots. When you play a zone, the other team wants to penetrate and find the gaps. The more penetration the team gets, the higher number of kick-outs for three point attempts they will get. The first half they hit a lot of three’s with the shot clock running down. Those shots didn’t fall for them in the second half.”
On a limited amount of touches for Murphy in the first half:
Troy Murphy: “The guys are always looking for me. A lot of teams collapse their defense on the big guys and make it tough to get the ball. As long as we are hitting our outside shots teams are going to have to respect that. That is why we have been winning because my teammates have been hitting the outside shot and opening up the inside.”
Notre Dame head coach Matt Doherty
“We did shoot very well. When you give a team in the BIG EAST almost 30 more shots, that’s unbelievable. It’s like playing a pick-up game and giving your opponent 30 possessions and then going ‘alright, let’s play’.”
“We have to do a better job of boxing out. At UConn we outrebounded them. Tonight we did not do a good job of boxing out.”
“You have to give credit to Boston College, too. I think they had a pretty good attack. They went to a small lineup, which was tough because they have some shooters and drivers in there. We didn’t want to match-up in man-to-man because they were quick.”
“Our intensity picked up in the second half and we were able to get some of those rebounds. We did a decent job of getting back on defense. They had a lot of looks. We would have liked to get the ball into Troy (Murphy) more because they were guarding him a lot with (Michael) Cotton who is 6’5″. In the second half it was neat to see us attack. I got our guys in trouble by talking about when they’re in this defense we’ll do this and when they’re in that defense we’ll do that. They just said, ‘let’s break this press and attack,’ and I thought a couple times we did that.”
“It took a mature team with character to win this game. We could have really set back and basked in our glory of beating UConn. We beat a good team on our home court tonight.”
“It’s been a tough stretch since Christmas. They need their legs to freshen up, so we’ll watch some film tomorrow, but there will be no practice.”
Boston College Coach Al Skinner Quotes
“There wasn’t anything wrong with our effort. Our shot selection was good. We just missed shots and free throws.”
On the difference in the game: “There were a couple of loose balls that were the difference. They got them and we didn’t. I think there were eight points (on loose balls) in the second half and they came up with every one. That was the difference in the game. We need to come up with plays to win on the road.”
On Notre Dame: “We knew that Murphy was good but they had a couple of guys come off the bench in the first half and make some shots. To shooting 60 percent is a pretty good shooting night (for Notre Dame). A couple of guys stepped up for them at the end.”
On Troy Murphy: “When he got the ball, he was able to score. At times we did an excellent job on him and at other times we didn’t. He allowed the game to come to him.”
On Boston College’s shooting: “If we can make our free throws, it’s a much different game. Missed shots (field goals) do not concern me.”
Boston College Player Quotes
Troy Bell
On Boston College shooting effort: “We did not shoot as well as we felt we should have. We basically had an off shooting night. I do not believe the Notre Dame zone had anything to do with it.”
On BIG EAST play: “Its tough. Anybody can knock off anybody on any given night. It is a competitive conference, but we will have many more opportunities. I just hope we can improve on tonight’s effort and learn from it.”
On personal shooting effort: “In the first half I was just not hitting the shots. I felt I had the opportunity and did not capitalize on it”
Xavier Singletary
On the Notre Dame zone: “It led to us taking a lot of shots. Although we took a lot of shots, I felt they were good shots. We had an off shooting night and should have hit more of our shots. We also could have penetrated to the basket more. It was there, but we did not seem to take it to the basket enough.”
On playing Notre Dame: “It gave us a lot of confidence to come in here and play them well. They beat Connecticut on the road and have established themselves as a great BIG EAST team. They have defeated some great teams and we feel we can play at that same level. They are tough.”