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2010-11 Notre Dame Men’s Basketball
Notre Dame vs. Seton Hall
February 26, 2011
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center º Notre Dame, Ind.

Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

On pulling off the win…
“We found a way to get out of there. In the second half, we were better defensively and more efficient offensively. In the first half, we didn’t do enough stuff defensively, and maybe it’s because we missed our shots and hung our heads a little. We were very fortunate to be down three at halftime. We finished the half with a little momentum and then we found our identity the last 20 minutes.”

On the importance of having an old team…
“Experience and maturity has helped us all year. It helps you not panic; it helps me not panic because they’re not panicking. I thought we were pretty poised. We got into our rhythm. I thought we defended fabulously at time and moved our feet well on drivers.”

On Tim Abromaitis’ play…
“Tim Abromaitis played great offensively. The play of the game was him diving on the floor and getting that loose ball for the three point play. He played fabulous tonight.”

On the score at halftime…
“I kept looking at the score sheet going we’re only down by three. It felt like we should have been down by 15. We deserved to be down 15 quite frankly, but that’s how crazy the game is. Our crowd really helped us in the second half and energized us.”

On Scott Martin’s play…
“He’s playing confidently. He’s shooting the ball more confidently. He’s a veteran guy. We didn’t panic in a low shot clock, which we’re accustomed to doing because we play that way. We try to get one more pass to get a clean look.”

On the Saturday/Monday turnaround…
“This is our third Saturday/Monday, so tomorrow is more of a getting your energy back day and mental day. After that, they have to be really energized on Monday night. We did that really well last time against Pitt and Marquette. It’s in front of our home crowd too, and it’s the last time to see us here.”

Notre Dame Players

Ben Hansbrough – Senior – Guard

On having to work hard in the second half…
“I think that we had our worst first half of the year. Sometimes that happens though. It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish sometimes. We came out in the second half really focused, and it showed.”

On the team hitting big shots…
“They were all huge. I think Scott [Martin] had some very big shots. He hit a big three and got a big loose ball. He played fabulous.”

On the good stretch the team had in the second half…
“I think it really gave us more separation. We were up one and then sunk two free throws to go up three. Little plays like that really helped us out. It was definitely good for us to break open because we never really got into a flow offensively. There were some spurts in the second half.”

On playing at home for the first time in a while…
“I think everyone was just so ready to play. Sometimes you get too ready for a game. Then you go out there and people aren’t moving and flowing. It makes you lose your focus a bit. But we just found a way to win tonight. Sometimes you don’t play your best, but you still have to find a way to win.”

Carleton Scott – Senior – Forward

On wearing the same number as Austin Carr…
“It is an honor to be able to wear his number. I told him that in the locker room. He was a great player coming through here, and he is a great guy. This was the second time that I met him. It’s always good to have that kind of personality in the locker room.”

On the reason for wearing number 34…
“I requested the number from high school. I wore it in high school. It just happened to be Austin Carr’s number, but it is a number that I have always wanted to wear.”

On playing poised when trailing…
“We’ve been here before. You have to just keep plugging away. You need to concentrate on defense and just take good shots. We got stops, and then on the offensive end we made good plays. Slowly but surely we saw that lead sink away.”

Tim Abromaitis – Senior – Forward

On clinching two byes in Big East tournament…
“It would definitely be nice. I think having two days off, while other teams are playing is something that would definitely be nice for us. It would be nice to wrap it up on Monday, but we are still just trying to get us one more big win against a really good team. I think it might be nice to turn around and play quick again, try to get in our rhythm a little bit.”

On big games coming up…
“I think our home court is definitely something we want to defend every time we go out there. It might not have looked it the whole game tonight, but we take pride in defending our home court. It would definitely be nice to finish undefeated at home. I think we have two tough games and it would be nice to keep the momentum going into the post season. To have a couple of big wins under our belt would be nice.”

On playing 40 minutes tonight, will that have a big affect…
“I don’t think so. I’ve been able to take care of my body this season. We have all been mature about getting rest, knowing when to speed up and slow down. Coach has helped us out with that for sure. A lot of guys played a lot of minutes today, but we will definitely be ready to turn it around for Monday and be ready to go.”

On falling behind in the first half…
“I think we weren’t concerned at all in the first half. It seemed unusual out there, that some of the looks that we normally get, weren’t going down. We just weren’t floating like we usually do. I think that is when we needed to focus in, play good defense, get loose balls and offensive rebounds. I think it’s easier when we are flowing like that, but we didn’t take it for granted and were able to grind it out.”

Scott Martin – Senior – Forward

On being a microcosmical team in not getting shots to fall…
“That is exactly what happened. It was one of those games where you just bite down and keep going, keep fighting because you have to know that it is going to down eventually. We definitely knew that. We got some great looks early in the game, they just rimmed out or missed a little long. It just happens. We kept fighting and it worked out for us.”

On being down 11 and not panicking…
“I think it speaks to our age and our experience. Teams are going to make runs, and we didn’t play particularly well in the beginning, but we didn’t going to give up. We didn’t quit, hang out heads or turn on each other. We said we have to get better, and we got better.”

On having the open shot when 1-6, any hesitation on if you should take it…
“Absolutely not. Coach has always told me to shoot if I’m open. The guys will tell me to shoot when open, and I know if I’m open I’m going to shoot it. I know I can make that shot. I need to step up; I was wide open.”

On bouncing back quickly from Saturday to Monday… “I think that’s the greatest thing-we have a lot of experience with this format. We are excited for senior night and a great challenge on senior night.”

On going after the rolling ball…
“I can honestly say I have not seen anyone do that before. I don’t know if he misjudged how far away from him I was or what, but I saw him look up at me, and I just sort of dove. I got lucky I got it.”

Seton Hall Head Coach Kevin Willard

On the sequence of plays to end the half…
“Those are plays that define how our season has gone. Some guys are making really tough shots and we’re not taking advantage of opportunities that we’ve had. Although being up three was still good on the road, [Tim Abromaitis’s three] was a big momentum killer and gave them a lot of energy I thought.”

On Notre Dame’s run to start the second half including the technical foul…
“You’d have to ask [referee] Jim Burr about that. You’d have to ask him. I didn’t give it to myself that’s for sure.”

On the shift of strategy between halves…
“You know, I thought they did a good job in the second half of getting dribble penetration whereas in the first half we did a good job of keeping them out of the lane. Hansbrough made some tough plays, and also made some really good passes. We play good defense and Abromaitis is able to hit a tough shot. Later we foul with one second on the shot clock. Those plays add up. We did a lot of stupid things on defense we don’t usually do and when you’re on the road that sometimes happens.”

On the team’s inability to keep the game close down the stretch…
“We were down one with about eight minutes left to go and they hit some big shots while we missed a few lay-ups. Sometimes on the road that’s the way it happens.”

On the play of Herb Pope…
“Herb has the flu, so the fact that he played 29 minutes was great. He would have played more [if he was healthy].”

Seton Hall Players

Herb Pope – Forward – Junior

On playing with the flu…
“Coach [Willard] was trying to keep me hydrated. I switched up a couple of regiments and was trying to conserve energy.”

Jordan Theodore – Guard – Junior

On the effect of Tim Abromaitis’ shot at the end of the first half…
“It’s the luck of the draw. [Abromaitis] had a big shot. Nobody was going to see that coming. I wouldn’t say it really hurt us because we were still in the lead, but it gave them a little more momentum going in to halftime. It was a tough shot and he knocked it down.”

On Notre Dame coming back in the second half…
“The whistle got tight. They’re at home. They just know how to close out games. They knocked down I don’t know how many threes-about four or five. It was just tough. They got a lot of open looks.”