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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 10, 2017

New York, New York

Notre Dame - 77, Florida State - 73

THE MODERATOR: We have Notre Dame here, Coach Mike Brey, Matt Farrell, Bonzie Colson. Just a brief opening statement, and we'll go to questions.

COACH BREY: Getting off to a great start like we did last night was a key. I thought we were amazingly efficient offensively again. What did we shoot? We shot 47 percent, took great care of the ball.

When they beat us in Tallahassee, we turned it over. We were good with the ball, and every time they made a run in the second half, we really answered.

We're really proud to be playing for a banner tomorrow night.

Q. For Mike and then the guys, what is it about this place that seems to bring out the best in you guys in a relatively new arena, and you haven't had such great success here?
COACH BREY: We believe here. When you had the success we had in the NCAA Tournament here last year, it was so dramatic. We talked about the karma when we came back here for the Legends Classic. And I think we believed, and these two games we feel really comfortable.

We get a good fan base up here. But we feel good about this building.

MATT FARRELL: Yeah, I think it's obvious we have a lot of fun playing here. For me, it's fun playing close to home, a lot of family and friends here.

I think all of us are just really comfortable here with the things that have happened in the past with us playing here. I think a lot of guys enjoy it here. A lot of guys love being in the city, and we just have a lot of fun together here.

BONZIE COLSON: I agree. Really confident in this building. It's good to have your family and friends cheering you on. We're just playing really well in this building. I can't complain. Just got to keep doing what we do.

Q. Matt, can you just talk about the experience you got in the NCAA Tournament last year and how that can help you in this tournament and moving forward in the NCAA Tournament this year.
MATT FARRELL: Yeah, I think that was huge for me. Getting in the lineup, playing a lot of minutes with guys, with Demetrius and guys like that and even Bonzie and Steve, the guys that were running, getting out there and being comfortable with them. I think that kind of jump started me.

Then me and Coach had a meeting and talked about next year and said it's your keys. I think that experience really helped me and helped me become a leader on this team moving forward.

Q. Mike, Bonzie's had a really strong season, really turned it on the last couple of weeks as well. Just wondering what sort of growth you've seen from him over the last three years.
COACH BREY: I think it's been a methodical progression. It's the kind of guys we get that get better over four years. I thought this year, one of the things I noticed when we were practicing in the summer, was he became a better passer. He's finding people and passing the ball, and he's become a better defender.

But that nose for the ball and that edge that he plays with gives the rest of our group a lot of confidence.

Q. What does it mean to you to be playing for the ACC Championship here tomorrow night?
BONZIE COLSON: It's a blessing. We're really excited, especially to be in this building playing. It's been a great one here. We've just got to keep playing on both sides of the floor, but we're excited, and it's really a blessing.

MATT FARRELL: I think it's safe to say we're definitely excited. We've got to have a quick turnaround with this one because we play another really good team tomorrow. Like Bonzie said, we're excited. We're confident, and we're flowing really well offensively, and we're playing good defense. We're excited for tomorrow, and we're going to go in and have fun and do what we do.

Q. Coach, a lot of folks use the phrase one-and-done era of college basketball, but two years ago when you won this led by juniors and seniors, you have four unbelievably reliable juniors and seniors now. Can you just elaborate on how many ways does that show up?
COACH BREY: You know, it shows up in poise. It shows up in outstanding leadership. It shows up in great stability in times of taking punches in a league like ours, which we did.

I've always had great senior leaders because I've always had great seniors. It's the rhythm to our program, and I'm really proud of this next wave of old guys that are leading the team.

Q. Looking forward to Duke now, what is it going to take to beat them, especially with their trio of Kennard, Allen, and Tatum?
COACH BREY: We got to score. We're going to have to score. You're not stopping them. They're a gifted offensive team. We've got to put numbers on the board. We've got to score more than 77 to win tomorrow. Hopefully, we can slow them up a little bit, but we're going to have to be really efficient offensively.

Q. Mike, you've had some success against your old boss. Do you think your team matches up well against what Duke does, or is it just you've had some good games?
COACH BREY: I think they've been great matchups. I think the matchups were good, and our guys have always been very excited to play the Duke program.

When I got this job, when we were able to steal a win from Connecticut or Syracuse, those were real program wins for us. And when we've been able to beat the Duke or the North Carolinas, those have been great program wins for us in this league. We're in the early stages of this league. But our guys have always been excited to play against them.

Q. This is for Matt and Bonzie. Heading into today, the talk was Duke-North Carolina. It seems like you guys were left out of the picture as far as the media was concerned. Does that give you guys any extra motivation heading into the championship playing Duke tomorrow?
BONZIE COLSON: Yeah, we don't focus on anybody else. We stay within ourselves and lock in. We had Florida State. That was our main focus. We don't really care about what the media says. We locked in ourselves, and we got it done tonight.

MATT FARRELL: Yeah, we don't care about that. We focus on us. We worry about us. We stick to what we do, and we stick to what we know.

COACH BREY: I focus on it a little more because I think we were left out of the picture in October. Have you ever seen the two polls where -- the coaches poll, we've been like six ahead of the AP? It's interesting. But it certainly drives -- we've been pretty damn good. We've been pretty darn consistent.

Now, because we don't have anybody on Chad Ford's big board, is that why we're overlooked? I think so. But these two guys probably (indiscernible), by the way.

Q. Mike, you played a lot of games at the Garden too in the Big East. Is there any comparison between this arena, that arena?
COACH BREY: I like this building way more because my record in Barclays is way better than the Garden. This had the electricity tonight in the semis tonight. We were fortunate enough to play in the semis in the Garden, we never got to the Saturday night. And it was electric. I thought tonight was really good. Both arenas I think are on par. We'll probably be in that arena someday. I don't know if I'll still be coaching when we get there, but we'll be in that arena someday too.

Q. For the players, they're real big, and they outrebounded you, as I think a lot of people would have expected tonight. How do you overcome that? What do you guys do when you know it's going to be tough to beat them on the board?
BONZIE COLSON: Just keep battling, keep fighting for position. Try to outplay them as best we can. If there's a loose ball opportunity, get on the loose balls. We have to rebound and move on and continue to defend. That's something Coach Brey has continued to emphasize, and we do that really well.

MATT FARRELL: We try to get five guys in there to help Bonzie and Marty and help them rebound. Going up against big bodies every night in this league. I thought we did a good job tonight, all five guys rebounding on the floor and getting the loose balls and the 50-50 balls are something we need to do every night.

Q. How do you guys match up with Duke? Where do you have the advantages and disadvantages? What are you going to look for to sort of change?
COACH BREY: Well, we're similar because I refer to our big four, these two guys with Vasturia and Beachem, those are the guys who really have to get it done for us on the offensive end. They kind of have four that do the work for them. It's the battle of the big fours.

Then who comes in and does some stuff off the bench? We got a great contribution from Matt Ryan tonight. I sure hope we can ride him tomorrow and beyond. Rex Pflueger, T.J. Gibbs, they have guys coming in.

But the big fours of both teams, it will come down to those two groups. The group that has the better night will win it.

MATT FARRELL: Yeah, I think they've got, obviously, really good players, and we have really good players, and I think it's just going to come down to who's going to play better defense. They're really gifted. We're confident in the way we score. We think we're very efficient. But all four of us have to show up tomorrow. We need everybody else too. This is a team effort, and we're excited to go at it tomorrow.

BONZIE COLSON: This a team effort. This is togetherness. They've got scorers. We've got scorers. Just trying to dig on the defensive end -- who can get all the rebounds, who can get the loose balls -- and continue to do what we do on both sides of the floor.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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