Dec. 4, 2011
Recap |
Box Score |
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Photo Gallery 2
Opening Statement:
"It was a good win for us. We didn't start the game well at all defensively. Terrell [Stoglin] kept us in it in the first half, and we had some guys come in and give us good minutes. I thought we were really good against their zone, made some shots, and then to be quite honest we practiced against [Jack] Cooley, throwing the ball into the post and all of their split cuts. We didn't really practice too much against the five-man motion they ran in the second half, they had five guards out there which is a tough match up for us. We built the lead up by 8-10, and they went to that line up and cut it back down. I felt like we were just holding on, we adjusted and our guards started to guard better, guard the ball better, we rebounded better, we built the lead back up and of course where we are with our program we're going to always make it interesting. Mistakes down the stretch missing four free throws, twice we didn't know who we were guarding running back and we missed a box out. We made it a lot more interesting than it needed to be, but then Terrell hit the big shot. I was really proud of our guys, Mike's a great coach. They showed man, so we started in our man play, and then they switched to a zone so our guys switched to a zone play I called. We executed well, and then Terrell hit a huge shot for us."
On making progress in learning how to close out and win games:
"Well obviously we did a lot more things right, like rebounding, guarding the basketball, getting second-chance points, executing, and going to the hot hand. So we did a lot of things right to get the lead, and to be quite honest with you, at this point in our press offense guys' ability to catch the ball one-on-one. But with that said, I was kind of glad it was close for these guys, they made a run at us, made us a little bit nervous and we had to make plays. I think that did more for us than winning by 10 or 12 easily, it will probably help us more down the road. It's no fun sitting over there while that's happening, but it's going to help us more down the road."
On getting to the foul line 35 times:
"When we wanted a second chance we really got to the boards, and did a great job with that. We're not going to be more athletic than a lot of teams, but we were more athletic than Notre Dame. We really talked about penetrating under control, and I thought we did that for the most part. We really tried to drive the ball, and we tried to play inside out going through James [Padgett] in the second half when he had a 6'5" guy guarding him. James didn't finish the way he wanted to finish, but him creating double teams, or guys coming to help helped us get on the boards or get open looks. So, it's all part of the learning process for our guys."
On winning a game like this against a team like Notre Dame and in the environment:
"Yeah that's the hard part coming back to practice. I'm on these guys about what you have to do to be a winner. I won't get into all that, but every day I change my story a little bit, and today helps. We'll have to rest tomorrow, prepare for Wednesday's game on Tuesday, but I expect the guys to come to practice a lot more enthused after a win."
On the team's performance:
"I feel that everybody on our team did a great job, defended well, executed well. Everybody on the team stepped up. We needed this win."
On his performance:
"I was happy because I had a great game, but my teammates had great games. That was the key tonight. It was a team win and we needed it."
On his teammates' scoring:
"It helps a lot because it puts more pressure on the defense and if you can do that, you can get a win and that's what we did today."
On how the win helps the team's confidence:
"It just helps our confidence as a whole. We lost the game against Illinois and just winning this game right now builds our confidence. We'll be on a winning streak, that's our goal, that's what we want to do."
On the team's progress:
"It's hard to say. We've had ups and downs, but right now we're doing a great job picking up our intensity each and every game on both ends of the court, executing plays and doing the right things that Coach wants us to do on defense. For us it's a matter of getting better every day and not getting down. When things are going bad we've got to come together as a team and I think tonight when the game got close we did that, and that's why we pulled out a win tonight."
On his improved shot:
"I worked during the summertime on my shot and every time I shoot the ball it feels like it's going in."
Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey
Opening statement:
"You know, given where our group is right now, I'm proud of our group because I wanted to see us battle for 40 minutes, and we've been kind of searching for that a little bit. Credit to Maryland though, they made all the really tough plays, especially with loose balls. We didn't really get any loose balls, and I thought we showed our youth at times. I love that we battled to come back, and [Terrell] Stoglin's just like world be free, man. He's like the microwave of College Park. He makes tough shots. We wanted to play that last possession out and see if we could get it back, and we went zone, and he had a heck of a tough shot -- he had a lot of tough shots, he's a heck of a scorer. For us, we're going to go back and see if we can get a little better in practice, get a little healthier, see if we can win a home game. Little steps for this team, very little steps."
On team confidence:
"We're still searching and wondering a little bit because we haven't had any success in a really big game yet to do that. And I think it's evident by the loose balls. We kind of hope it'll bounce to us instead of going and getting it. Maryland went and got it, and that's an area where I hope we can grow up in because the Big East stuff is coming up real quick."
On Maryland:
"Mark [Turgeon] does a great job. He's just a really good coach, and he's got their system in. They run their stuff, they get stuff for [Terrell] Stoglin, who's just a heck of a player, and [James] Padgett -- I was very impressed by Padgett. He wore us down. Scoring, rebounding, he was a tough matchup for us. But nothing different than what they've been doing, and what they're trying to instill with their guys."
On Maryland forward Sean Mosley:
"I love him, I told him after the game. He is a man. I've usually had a rotation of men like that; last year, we were the ultimate man's team. He's just a man, he's steady, he doesn't do things he can't do, but he makes winning plays. He's a great college basketball player because he's been here four years, he's a man, he knows who he is. Very impressed with him, and he made plays like a man tonight for their team to win."
On guards Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant:
"I'm happy that Atkins and Grant came back here and played. I was very worried, they're young guys coming back here, playing Maryland, [they're] from here. I think that's something to really build on with those two guys. Again, little steps. We needed them to play well here when there was some heat on them and some expectations cause those are our guys and we're going to have to play off of them all season."
