NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - NOTRE DAME VS TEXAS TECH

March 19, 2022

Mike Brey

Nate Laszewski

Paul Atkinson

Prentiss Hubb

Dane Goodwin

Cormac Ryan

Viejas Arena

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Media Conference

Q. Prentiss, Texas Tech, couple of them talked about what a tough road, hard road they traveled going to junior college or D-II. You didn't have to do that. But how difficult, how challenging was the road for you coming back from 3-15 your freshman year?

PRENTISS HUBB: It definitely was a tough road being at the bottom of the barrel. Nobody really respecting us, but I think a lot of us, including me, worked hard throughout the years and in the offseason, just so we could get to right here.

Q. Cormac, talk about playing in this game, the fans really here seem to have embraced Notre Dame. I don't know if they live here, followed you here or just love the underdog. I'm wondering what you think of that sort of thing in San Diego so far away from your home getting the fan support here?

CORMAC RYAN: The fans have been great. We had a good crowd last night. That's always good. And it feels good to have people rooting for you. And I think our belief in each other is contagious. People can feel that, sense that. We've been together all year no matter if we're on the road or at a neutral site. If there's fans, no fans, we stick together. So I think having fans is, it's nice, but I think we'll be together no matter what.

Q. Paul, Texas Tech players were thinking they're the underdog, although they're the 3 seed and you're the 11 seed. I'm wondering, do you and your teammates think you're the underdog in this game?

PAUL ATKINSON: I don't know if we think we're the underdogs. I think we're just two teams that are going to go battle it out in March Madness. I think seeds kind of go away when you're out on the court. It's just two teams trying to battle and survive and advance.

Q. Nate, you're a great 3-point shooter, how important do you think the 3 will be versus Texas Tech? Is your father following you closely or is he just focusing on the Badgers this month?

NATE LASZEWSKI: No, he's made it out to the two games we've had so far, which has been awesome. But I'm sure he's also watching them during this time. But I think 3-point shot will definitely be important. I think definitely one of our big keys always is trying to drive and kick. Really gets our offense going. Some of my teammates are able to get in the lane. I try to find a window open for them to spot up for 3s and they find me there, which has been awesome.

Q. Nate, you like to drive and kick, and Coach Adams said that's one of the things he's focused on stopping in this matchup. But you've got guys like Cormac who can drop 29 on seven 3s. You guys can catch fire at any point, how do you approach that tomorrow against a very strong defensive team?

PRENTISS HUBB: It's anybody's game. We all have the ability to have a great game. I think when we're all playing the right way, it could go any which way. Anybody could really have a good day.

Q. Coming into this matchup, though, what's the goal here? How far do you all really think you can get? Obviously you want to go as far as you can. But when you look at a team like this, what's the conversation like?

DANE GOODWIN: We've talked about it as a group, I think we can go as far as we want. We've come into this aggressive but humble, and we know that there's a bunch of games in front of us. But we're taking it one game at a time. And we've got the group that we've got, and we're happy with who we've got and we're confident, if we go out and play our game we can really take this as far as we want.

Q. Cormac, what's the challenge of playing a game so quickly and what's the challenge -- it's almost a harken back to another question -- but what's the challenge of playing this unique defense Texas Tech plays where they try to force you to the side?

CORMAC RYAN: I think, I think playing, when you've got a group that's rolling like we are, playing games close together, I think, it's actually a great thing. You just keep the mojo going, keep the flow.

So I think we're ready to get out and -- we'd play today if we could. We're hungry. We want to get out on the court, lace them up and go get it. Texas Tech is a strong defensive team. And we're going to be prepared to play a competitive, tough game. That's kind of what you sign up for in March Madness. And that's what we're going to get.

Q. Dane, what can you do to get maybe in a better flow offensively, knowing tomorrow Texas Tech is probably going to try to run you off the line, just to get into more of a groove than you've been offensively the last couple of games?

DANE GOODWIN: Personally I didn't have offensively the game I wanted, but my teammates were there to pick me up. Everyone else played a great game.

I just need to play my game, be aggressive and play together and have everyone else on the team help me out as well. I think we've done a good job of that, as Prentiss said, it could be anyone's night. I think everyone really understands that. And it wasn't my night, but I'm okay with that. We got the win and we're moving on.

Q. Cormac answered this earlier, but Dane, talk about your struggles. How can fan support help you get back going and the environment get you going shooting from the floor?

DANE GOODWIN: Obviously I think the crowd getting involved and getting really into the game is going to help. And I think a lot of people are rooting for us, because we've been at it a couple years now. And we started to get a little feel of it.

And as Cormac said, people are starting to really rally around us. I think that's pretty cool. So just being involved and really staying confident.

I haven't shot as well as I'd like the past couple of games, but you've got to keep the same mindset of everyone's here for a reason and you've got to do what you gotta do and go play your game. But stick to the script and play as a team as well, just understanding that and understanding that we're going to win this thing as a team and not just individually, as probably the most important thing.

Q. Cormac, you said you'd play today if you guys could. You will be playing a third game in five days and some people might expect you guys to run out of gas. What is your energy level and whatnot going into tomorrow?

CORMAC RYAN: I think we feel great. We've had stretches during the season where we've played three in five, or five in eight, whatever, three in a row. We've had those stretches. And I think we're a group of veteran guys who know how to kind of prepare our bodies, recover the right way, take care of ourselves. So we're going to be ready to roll on Sunday.

COACH BREY: We are thrilled to be here. We'll go over and stretch out here a little bit. One of those fake practices here. And then certainly we play a really physical, old, tough, good team tomorrow. They're really good. And BPI doesn't give us much of a chance. So I'm really worried.

If you would look back at the BPI on us this year, it was always Notre Dame, 30 percent chance of winning, 20 percent chance of winning. Somehow -- it's been unbelievable. Who does that damn thing?

Anyways, we've got to be ready for a physical game and we play against teams like this in our conference. But they're -- I'm so impressed with them defensively. Coach does an unbelievable job. And they're all men. They're all 22 and 23 years old. So we've got our hands full. But we're excited about the challenge.

Q. Tomorrow's three games in five days. You've kind of done that dance with four and eight earlier, that included the long flight to Florida. How does that help? Can you say, hey, we've done this?

COACH BREY: Yeah, I think I mentioned that last night. We beat Virginia on a Saturday. Got our butts kicked by Duke on Monday. 48 hours later we went to Miami and won. And then we went to NC State and won. We 've had, because of the rescheduled stuff, we've had some jammed-up games.

So this week feels kind of familiar to us and our guys. And you're just playing on fumes. You're just playing. And so we've done a good job in between keeping them fresh and stretching them out.

Q. You're tied with the illustrious Richard Frederick Phelps for the most tourney wins in school history. Do you still talk and are you worried if you break his record he's not going to get you anything for your birthday next week?

COACH BREY: Now that you tell me that, if I get kidnapped tonight, it would be Digger to make sure if we got it done tomorrow I wouldn't break his record.

We do. Fourth of July is Coach's birthday. Took him a bottle of champagne over and we sat on the back porch. I haven't been able to see him as much with the pandemic because he's been very smart about staying away. But he was 80 this past year. Comes to all our games. Good friend. Teases me. I tease him back.

And for 22 years I've had to manage a high maintenance -- you know how you have to manage a high maintenance player? I just manage a high maintenance ex-coach. No problem.

Q. You've already touched on it a little bit, and you had a chance to, I know, watch them a little bit in person yesterday. But with Texas Tech's defense what makes them unique and how do you just describe it?

COACH BREY: The bodies and their stances. I have been so impressed -- you know you're talking about kids, getting them in a stance. You do that at basketball camp. That's a station at basketball camp. Some guys grow up and come to college and they can be in a stance and they stay down.

Everybody they play is in a great stance. And it's a great body in a great stance, with strength and heighth and length. And they almost push each other out of the way to take the charge -- no, no, I'm going to take it; no, no, I'm going to take it.

And we're a really good passing team. We're going to have to rely on moving that ball to move them around a little bit, because if you try and do something after the third pass, you're going to run into a chest.

Q. You mentioned playing on fumes and you mentioned how stout Texas Tech is. How much will the crowd help you get over that hump, play with energy and do as much as you can on Sunday?

COACH BREY: I was really thrilled with our turnout yesterday. We've had a great contingent of ND people. Certainly we have a lot of alums out here on the West Coast. I think it would be even better. So we're going to need that. I think that really helped us in the second half when we got a little run, our crowd was really in it. And it gave us some momentum.

Q. Have you guys had much experience playing against that no-middle defense? What do you think is the best way for your guys to be able to be effective against it?

COACH BREY: Virginia is a little bit like that, how they jam it up. Florida State, I made the comparison because of the physicality of the bodies on the court and they switch a lot of stuff. As I mentioned earlier, you've got to swing that ball a couple of times. You've got to move it. And you can't be excited to try and make a play after three passes. There's just not going to be any room.

There's no question we're going to have to shoot over the top of that some. It's jammed in. It's really jammed in on the help side. When we make double-digit 3s, we're pretty good. And I think we're going to get some looks, the way they play their defense. We're going to have to make some, a good amount, to win.

Q. You talked about, on Thursday, maybe changing our managing your rotation of seven a little bit differently. Do you plan on doing the same thing tomorrow?

COACH BREY: The other day, in the game yesterday, I had my two guards were -- both had two fouls. We kind of just yo-yo'ed them a little bit to get to halftime. I was hoping neither one would have a third.

We play seven. There's some kids on the blue team that practice against us that have a really bright future. But we've rode those seven guys, and we're going to have to continue to do that. Those are the guys that I feel good about. Trey Wertz, Dane will start, Nate comes off the bench sometimes at halftime. We started Nate, Dane comes off the bench. It's kind of how we've had to do it.

Again, what benefits you during this tournament, the TV timeouts are a minute longer than during the regular season. And the halftime's 20 minutes, not 15. So there's amazing -- there's really time to get your legs under you. And old guys can play a lot. Like older players can play long minutes.

But our seven is our seven. And they've been really good to us. And they kind of know who they are when they get in the game. And that's the mindset going in.

Q. You touched upon it a little bit right there, just the overall maturity and physicality that both you and Texas Tech have. What do you think about having players like that that are a little bit more mature college basketball players adds to a team's physicality?

COACH BREY: One thing I said a couple of years ago, and I've told some coaches when they get jobs -- get old and stay old. I violated that one time with this current senior class when they were freshmen. We played them. We finished last in the ACC.

Certainly with the portal and immediate eligibility, you can really -- I think as a whole college basketball's really old right now. That's also why it's very physical.

I made a comment -- this is how good a year Blake Wesley has had. Blake Wesley just turned 19 when we were in Dayton. He just turned 19. Blake Wesley -- and same against Rutgers, same against probably yesterday against Alabama and definitely tomorrow -- he's doing it against 22-year-olds every night.

I said to my staff, when does he get to play against a 19-year-old? And they're, like, the next team has a grad transfer here, a super transfer here. He's really had a good year. And he's playing against 22-, 23-year-old guys.

So now we have our rotation of good old guys, too, and it's really helped us. But I've always, if you can stay old -- and everybody's staying old right now with this new role. Everybody's really staying old. Even Kentucky went old and had a great regular season. And Duke's probably the only one that's kind of young with their phenoms.

I asked my staff the other day, when do these six-year guys all go and we get back to the regular count? Can we get them out of here and get the regular count? No one knows -- I ask sometimes, Cormac Ryan has two years? How much does Wertz have? We're trying to figure out everybody's eligibility, but it's old and it's physical.

Q. How much has the scar tissue of 3-15 helped these guys do what they've done the past couple of days?

COACH BREY: It's big time. No question, they got beat up. You think about the timing in your league. When they were freshmen and we played them and we took our medicine, we had three 1 seeds in our league. As seniors we didn't have three 1 seeds in the ACC. I've kidded, I thought I was in a one-bid league for a while in February the way they talked about the ACC. Neat to see the league play well in this thing.

But that was I think a great motivating factor as they've grown and got older and gotten better. And they've stuck with us and we've stuck with them. And it's how we've run the program. That's why I'm really happy for the older guys, how they've invested and get to experience this and be hanging around in this for a while.

Q. You talked about earlier with this defense it reminds you of Florida State. What are the similarities? And would you describe it as a junkyard defense, kind of borrowing Leonard's nickname for it?

COACH BREY: I'll say this, the bodies are similar but they're really disciplined. Florida State will come out and trap you and run through a passing lane.

Texas Tech is really disciplined. This is where we go when the ball is there. He's a fabulous defensive coach. And I watched them all season. And really impressed with what they do. And, again, they do what they do. They rep it obviously every day. And then they've got physical guys in every spot. So if we could get some transition buckets, we got a couple yesterday. If we could not play against a set defense, some, that would really help.

Q. How difficult is it to do that, to get guys to commit to playing and being so disciplined on defense, because you always hear that guys don't necessarily prefer that end of the floor. It's not where the glory lies.

COACH BREY: I think it's in this day and time, I think it's hard, kids all have their workout guys and they're not doing closeouts and slides. They're working on their game. And when a kid comes to you, they want to know about their offensive development. And am I going to be a point guard, how are you going to work me? How are you going to play me? Nobody wants to be a center.

You've got to fake them out in recruiting; we'll just call you a 4 and we'll post your butt when the game starts. That's really what you're working with.

But to get a group to buy in and really sell it, it has to come from the top. We have gone in and out of being good enough defensively. I think what's helped us is Anthony Solomon coming back with us and just taking that and being the bad cop during our defensive segments has really helped us grow since June.

But it is a sales job every day to get them in a stance garden rotating. It's not natural. And certainly Texas Tech has a formula of doing it.

Q. You started off by talking about the chance you had to win via the BPI. Is that fuel for you and your team?

COACH BREY: I think it's been great. I tried not to watch the TV during the day in February because I'd look up and go, what, we only have a 25 percent chance of winning? And we kid about it. We kid about it back there. And my younger assistants are into all the analytics, they're freaking out: I'm going to come up with a new one, Coach, I'll come up with a new one.

Yeah, I think it's really helped us. Look, we never were ranked during the year. We kind of have been -- hey, they're good but how good is the league? They finished second, but how good is the league? Duke and Carolina, they've lived that; we've lived that. I think it's been great fuel for us, no question about it. And we're in a very similar scenario as I read the ticker again.