Jan. 8, 2011
Recap | Box Score | Notes | AP Photo Gallery 
Notre Dame Men’s Basketball
Notre Dame vs. St. John’s
January 8, 2011
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center o Notre Dame, Ind.
Notre Dame Players
Ben Hansbrough – Senior – Guard
On the strategy on defending Dwight Hardy…
“Obviously he has proven himself to be a great player. I think he is the one that pretty much beat us here at home last year when he hit some big time threes, but this year is a different team and we came out very aggressive on him. We maintained the lead and enforced our will on him.”
On if the Irish deserve to be a top-10 team…
“We could care less if we are a top-10 team right now. We are focused on our chances of competing for the BIG EAST Championship, but more importantly focused now on Marquette for Monday. It doesn’t matter what we are ranked.”
On what the Irish need to do better on the road Monday…
“We have to clean up our turnovers. I think we are still making way too many turnovers especially late in the game. When you go on the road you really have to be ready to handle pressure, and be ready to rebound and defend because that is how you win on the road. We are going to have to be at our best in those areas if we want to win.”
Tim Abromaitis – Senior – Forward
On getting redemption on the Red Storm from last year…
“I think it was definitely in the back of our heads. The way they beat us here last year, it makes it very nice to get the win tonight. They have gotten a few wins over us throughout my career here, but I think it would be even better to beat them next week when we go to New York.”
On how the Irish were able to control the flow of the game…
“I think it was rebounding and defense really. For the most part we got a lot of easy looks in the first half, and we were able to shut down the easy buckets for their guards, which is one of their biggest strengths. With us getting so many good looks in the first half, and knocking them down, we were able to control the game the way we wanted.
Scott Martin – Senior – Forward
On when the Irish established their defensive mindsets for this year…
“I think right away this season. We really made an effort from day one with our defense, and I think we have been pretty good defensively. From the get go we were really focused on defense and ready to defend everyone this year. I think it has shown in every game this year that we are really trying to step out and guard our man right away, and if we get beat we will have help behind us. “
Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey
Opening Statement…
“Defending drivers was going to be the key against Saint John’s. I thought that for the most part we did a great job of keeping people in front of us and rotating and helping on defense. Certainly we got into a great offensive rhythm in the first half. In the second half, we didn’t shoot as well. However, this group has continued to show that when there is a disappointing offensive possession they don’t let it affect them on the defensive end. It’s great to reach that 3-1 mark in the BIG EAST.”
On the defensive success…
“I’m pleasantly surprised that we are still defending well without Carleton (Scott) in there. He anchors us back there while also giving us some blocked shots. I was concerned about that and will probably continue to be concerned with that, but again Jack Cooley was a great anchor on the defensive glass for us tonight. Our size most definitely helps us though. When we rotate over, especially as big as we are, we’re able to cover up our mistakes because our help-side guys are so big.”
On the possibilities of this being Brey’s best defensive team…
“I think this group loves to defend together and they constantly talk about defending together and rebounding together. It’s something that they have really hung their hat on this year. Also because of our size we can keep people to one and done. Size keeps our defensive field goal percentage in a fair range.”
On Ben Hansbrough…
“I give Ben (Hansbrough) a lot of credit out there. No one talks about him, but is anybody playing better than him in the BIG EAST? He sets a great tone for us because of his strong personality of defending and he truly takes pride in that. He’s not only typically playing the whole game for us, but he’s scoring and going for the jugular on teams to put them away. Then he uses a lot of energy to keep this team focused. I don’t think you can ignore what he has been doing.”
St. John’s Head Coach Steve Lavin
On the loss to Notre Dame…
“I thought Notre Dame played an excellent game. They controlled the tempo and executed efficiently on the offensive end, and I think they disrupted what we were trying to do offensively with their defense. Notre Dame played well on both ends of the floor and had everything go the way that their staff would ideally want and as a result, they got an impressive win tonight. “
On Notre Dame’s offense…
“They are very patient and they space the floor well. They have a number of talented shooters from long range that stretch the floor and utilize the bounce in a prudent fashion. They are able to get good looks at the basket. Combine their experience with the confidence they have in front of their home crowd and they are a very tough match up. Also, with our struggles on offense we were unable to use the full-court press and they did a nice job congesting the lane area so weren’t able to get much dribble penetration.”
On Ben Hansbrough…
“He has a competitive spirit and has the ball on the string. He has a nice change of pace on the bounce and can drain it from long range. He’s crafty and knows how to draw the foul and get his team closer to the bonus and double bonus. Coach Brey utilizes him well.”
St. John’s Players
Justin Burrell – Senior – Forward
On what Notre Dame did defensively that threw St. John’s off…
“They took us out of rhythm. Notre Dame is a good team and made us uncomfortable. They pressured the ball. They scouted us really well. We missed a lot of point blank buckets that we needed.”
On missing the easy shots and committing the early turnovers…
“Most definitely, those baskets and plays really hurt because after missing those baskets and them going down and scoring hurt a lot. We really needed those baskets so we could set up in our full court press and set up in our defensive sets and we weren’t able to do that tonight. Credit to Notre Dame they took advantage of each and every one of them.”
On what this game meant as far as where they stand in the conference…
“We know where we stand. We definitely wanted this game really bad. This doesn’t change who we are. We just have to go get this one against Syracuse and then we are right back in (Madison Square) Garden.”
Justin Brownlee – Senior – Forward
On what Notre Dame did defensively…
“They played us good and tough. We made a lot of mistakes offensively. We had a lot of quick shots and weren’t really ourselves tonight.”
On what the Irish did to take St. John’s out of their gameplan…
“We have to give them a lot of credit. They scouted us really well and they knew our strengths and beat ourselves. And we were really just out of rhythm on offense.”