ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2021

Prentiss Hubb

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Postgame Press Conference

North Carolina 101, Notre Dame 59

Q. Prentiss, what happened in the second half there?

PRENTISS HUBB: They just kind of got hot. They were pounding us on the boards, and we tip our caps to them, they played really well today, and they were hitting a lot of shots, and I think that it kind of shocked us a little bit.

Q. I know you need time to process this, it's not a one-night thing, but what is the challenge for you and your fellow seniors and Cormac and Trey coming back and the new guys joining the program so you're not in this position again a year from now?

PRENTISS HUBB: This off-season we've got to work as hard as we ever did if we want to make the tournament or even just have like respect in the league and in the NCAA. I think that we all as a whole just got to like each sit down on our own, look at our game and how we can fit in with this team and just work. That's the only thing we really can do. There's nothing really more we can do about this loss. They came out, they jumped up on us quick and did it the whole game, so yeah.

Q. We've heard Coach tell us a few minutes ago the message in the locker room was about next year. What kinds of stuff did he get into and how was that received?

PRENTISS HUBB: I mean, he just talked about how like we've got to play harder. I mean, we kind of got to have that edge about ourselves. Like we've got to have this feeling and always remember even as soon as we get back to South Bend and start workouts again, just remember that we lost by 40, 50 points, and that's just the worst feeling because I know that me personally and none of my other teammates have lost that bad before, and we just don't like the feeling. Coach Brey just reminded us that we need to always have that remembrance of what just happened in this game and think about it throughout the whole off-season.

Q. What is it about Mike Brey that you believe he's a coach you can still and want to play for next year?

PRENTISS HUBB: Well, that's no question about it. I'm a hundred percent playing for Coach Brey next year. He has the utmost -- I've got the utmost respect for him and everybody on the coaching staff. He believes in us. Even when we lose games -- we lost, what, four games in a row two times, two separate occasions, and he did nothing but blame himself for it, and when it was really on us, the players.

I think that he really believes in each and every one of us, me especially, and I think that the respect that he has for us, it's outstanding. He's not going to lie to us. He's not going to sugar coat things. He wants us to know that he sees the potential in all of us, and we can get there, so we've just got to keep believing in him.