Feb. 28, 2011

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Notre Dame Men’s Basketball
Notre Dame vs. Villanova
February 28, 2010
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center – Notre Dame, Ind.

Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

On tonight’s game…
“To say we were ready to play would be an understatement. Our defense allowed them to not get confident driving the basketball. Our offensive efficiency is part of our defense, and our offensive efficiency was off the charts tonight. It was a great win for us. We shot it well, but we also got good shots. We moved the ball and found open people.”

On the senior class…
“I’m proud of our senior class. It’s very fitting that this senior class, that with the year that we’ve had this year and the great vibe of the team, does this tonight, ties the all-time win record, gets us locked into a double-bye, and really has us playing for a regular season championship on Saturday. It’s a fun group to be around and work with. They’ve taken great ownership of themselves.”

On the team’s ability to concentrate…
“I’ve talked about our ability to concentrate all year and focus, and I guess that is probably the ultimate right there, last home game, senior night. Our collective concentration and sense of urgency helped us in what would be an important night for us. I first noticed our ability to concentrate on championship day at Disney. We’ve had that pretty consistently all year to be where we’re at now. On certain nights it’s been at a really high level, and tonight was one of those nights.”

On Carleton Scott’s leadership…
“There is no question that Carleton Scott being back has helped us. I think we’ve only lost one game since he’s been back. He helps us defensively, he helps us move the ball, and he helps us lead. A lot has been talked about Ben [Hansbrough’s] leadership, but Carleton [Scott] has been that other vocal guy that gives Ben another vocal guy on the floor.”

On taking 32 three point attempts…
“I did not expect it, but we’ve been kind of take what the [defense] gives you. We made a bunch early and then we didn’t make some. I debated telling them to slow down, but we were getting great looks. We’ve got guys that can shoot the ball, but overall I think it was just take what the defense gives you. As long as you continue to make them, you’ve got to keep taking them and tonight we kept making them.”

Villanova Head Coach Jay Wright

On the game as a whole…
“That was impressive. That’s all that I can say about that. I have to give them a lot of credit. [Ben] Hansbrough; I’d have to say that he’s the best I’ve seen so far. We have to go home and relax and think about that. That kid just dominated the game. He did a great job against Corey Fisher. He defended; controlled the tempo. He made shots. He got everyone else shots. They’re good. I was just very, very impressed with them.”

On the closeness of the game…
“I still think that we can play well; they just shot lights out. Everyone can write this script, get down to them, and then you have to try to hold them on the floor. We did not want to do that from the start. The last thing we wanted to do was try to hold them to the floor and give them uncontested three’s. But when you start the game like that, you have to make a choice. Either we’re going to try to sit back and inch back into it or go after them. We tried to go after them, and it obviously didn’t work. I just look at this as another bump in our road. I don’t look at it as disastrous, as disastrous as it did look. We’re going to look at the long-term.”

On the relation to the St. John’s and Syracuse performances…
“I think that we’ve played really good teams, and we’re not coming out on the attack. We tried, and they hit three’s. We were going to the goal early and getting to the rim. We’re not coming out and starting the game confidently after what we’ve been through, obviously.”

On the players’ psyches…
“That’s something that we worry about a lot. That’s the most fragile part of these players; their psyche. That’s our challenge right now; you knew that when you see this schedule. You know that we’re not playing well in this season. Even if we are playing well, this could have been a tough stretch. We’ve got to keep playing, and take it one game at a time. It’s about their psyche, there’s no question about it. We’ve got to give them a great amount of credit, though. We do need to get better. Defensively, we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to get better shots.”

On his talk in the locker room after the game…
“The first thing that I said was, ‘we’ve got to stick together.’ We’ve got to give them credit. We played a great team, and we can learn from that great team. We’ve got a lot of guys that have invested a lot of time here. We’ve got to build their pride back up.”

Notre Dame Players

Ben Hansbrough – Senior – Guard

On the feeling of Senior Night…
“I think I was so overwhelmed with the joy and the moments of this being my last time to play with these guys. I was very emotional before the game. I told these guys before the game, ‘Do it for us.’ I think that really carried over into our play out there tonight.”

On whether or not he ever expected a performance like tonight…
“I think the first thing you have to do is expect things of yourself before you can do them. If you don’t expect yourself to do them, then you’ll never do them.”

On how the team was able to rise to tonight’s challenge…
“I think this group has been very good about being able to rise to the occasion. Every time we’ve had a challenge, we’ve done it. But it’s not over yet. Just our home season is over and that’s it. We still have things we want to accomplish as a team, and we have to continue to be hungry.”

On how Notre Dame was able to connect on 20 three point attempts…
“Yeah I was telling [Tim Abromaitis] after the game, ‘Did me and you hit 16 threes combined? What?’ Yeah, I guess that’s a decent shooting night. I think that was just part of our mental preparation and just our guys getting in the gym and working on their shots by themselves. We seized the opportunities when the were there.”

On the conclusion of Senior Night…
“I don’t think it could have ended any better. [Finishing undefeated at home] was one of the goals we talked about before the season, and for us to come out here and do that makes it all the more special. To see how hard this group worked and how much dedication they’ve put into our goals is why I get so emotional.”

On getting back to practice and finishing the rest of the season…
“I think a lot of that has to do with staying focused. What have we done yet? We’ve only won the Old Spice [Classic]. I don’t think anyone is satisfied yet. We still have to go take care of business and focus on getting better everyday. I’ve always said, whoever earns [the BIG EAST title], deserves it.”

Tyrone Nash – Senior – Forward

On being ready to play tonight…
“We were mind-blowing. We came out here and hit a couple of threes in the first four minutes. We really came out hard in the first four minutes, and I think that’s where we won the game. We won both the first four minutes in the first and second half. We really came out here and took care of business. We really imposed our will in the first four minutes.”

On not getting emotional during the game…
“When I’m at home in bed, lights out, music playing, I just look back at all the years and the hard work you put into this and the success you get out of it. Then you get emotional. Nobody will be around for that, just me and my own personal time.”

On why they played the way they did…
“I think we wanted to go out there with a victory. We wanted to end our run at home with a win. As seniors, we wanted to go undefeated at home, and we did that.”

On hitting a wall in the last three minutes of the first half and coming back…
“At halftime, we talked about winning the first four minutes, and imposing our will again. We didn’t do that in the last four minutes of the first half, but we came back out in the second half and did that.”

On Coach Brey being Coach of the Year and Ben Hansbrough being Player of the Year…
“I think we were picked to be seventh in the Big East, and now we are second, potentially could be first. I think we need a good player and great coach to do that. I hope that’s not bias but truth.”

On tying Tory and Luke at being the winningest class in Notre Dame Basketball history…
“I was joking with Tory the other day about possibly breaking his record. It’s definitely good. It’s a great testament to the teams I’ve played on. I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do this if we didn’t have great teams. Now I’m going to have an opportunity with the next win we get to break the record, along with Tom Kopko and help Ben Hansbrough. It’s be a team effort, and we did it all together.”

Tim Abromaitis – Graduate – Forward

On record with 20 three pointers…
“I think it seemed everyone had it going. We were finding each other. Moving, cutting, handling the pressure they were throwing at us, and it all came together for our shooting.”

On having the threes open tonight…
“They were kind of swarming on defense a little bit, so we were able to stay patient and swing the ball, reverse it and get open looks and knock them down.”

On if he could imagine a better way to finish out the season at home…
“No, I don’t think so. A big win against a really good team like that, to even have Kopko go out there and get a bucket. He’s been working hard and deserves it. It’s definitely fitting for us.”

On possibly playing for a conference title on Saturday…
“I think we are aware of that. It’s something that would be great, if Pitt could help us out with, but I think we are just happy with how we are playing right now. Hopefully we can keep that momentum going into the post-season.”

On how you’re playing right now…
“I think with March here now, and a lot of teams going down and banged up. I think we are really coming together and really having fun right now. It’s the best time in the year for that.”

On the quick turnaround and work the team did to be so good at this time of year…
“Well, I mean we kind of took it easy yesterday in practice. We didn’t have any live action and just ran through their stuff. We had a good stretching session and everything. Coach Brey did a good job of helping us rest up, get our legs under us, and getting us mentally prepared for tonight’s game, and I think it showed.”

On feeling the energy in the arena tonight with the students…
“Definitely, right from the beginning. I think it was 4:00, and I was leaving from our team meal and I saw students coming over here. Right then, you knew it was going to be an exciting atmosphere. Fans were definitely great tonight.”

Carleton Scott – Senior – Forward

On the preparation for tonight’s game…
“Our preparation in the days leading up to today – especially yesterday – was great. We’ve been talking to each other this whole time saying we need to stay focused and get the job done.”

On being able to send the seniors out on a high note…
“I can’t even put it into words, as Ben would say. It was great to send those guys out on a good win like this against a good team.”

On playing at such a high level at this point in the season…
“We’re still on the climb. We don’t want to peak just yet, and we have to go in there against Connecticut, which is a really good team, at their place and try to play the same way we play at home. If we take care of our business and the cards fall the right way, then we could be BIG EAST champs.”

Villanova Players

Corey Fisher – Senior – Guard

On Notre Dame making 20 3-pointers…
“There was nothing we could really do. We tried to put pressure on them to speed the game up. They like to run the shot clock down, get [Ben] Hansbrough on some ball screens, play hard, and they kept hitting big shots.”

On Villanova’s poor perimeter defense…
“They were really just skipping it so fast, and kept getting open shots, and knocking them down.”

On Villanova’s concern on the three game losing streak…
“It’s been tough. The seniors, being me, Tony [Pena] and [Corey] Stokes, aren’t feeling good. With the younger guys, we just have to keep their confidence up. Some of the guys have never been through this, so we just have to concentrate on our next game against Pittsburgh. We just have to keep trying get better.”

On the upcoming Pittsburgh game…
“We have to stick to our game plan, and just keep working hard in practice. We have to gel better together on offense and defense. And we definitely need to pick our speed up.”

On his good shooting at the end of the game…
“Yeah, I’ve been missing a lot of shots lately. I’ve just got to keep shooting and stay confident. I’m the go-to guy, but we need to play better as a team for us to win.”