BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 3, 1999

John MacLeod

Troy Murphy

JOHN MACLEOD: . I thought Seton Hall did a real good job changing defenses and they forced a lot of turnovers. I think we had 23 for the game and they only had 11. So defensively, they created a lot of problems for us with their defense and we weren't able to get the inside track from an offensive standpoint. We were behind the entire game, and it was a catchup -- catchup for the most part. We still had that great opportunity -- I think it was 55-52. We had a wide-open three; they go down and score, and from that point on we don't get ourselves back in the game. You've got to give Seton Hall credit. They moved the ball -- Kaukenas -- in the other two outings, we've been able to keep him under wraps and he got away from us and we don't control him. He had three 3s in the second half and we were zoning. You've got to give Seton Hall credit. They did a good job changing the ball, defenses -- a very good team. They have gotten better and better since the last time we played them.

Q. What happened to the offense during the second half?

JOHN MACLEOD: We got stuck at the beginning of the second half and we wanted to come out and really get rolling and we just misfired. We couldn't get anything going and got ourselves on a 12 -- I don't know how down we got, 12, 13 points, and then we were battling the rest of the way to get back. We just had shot opportunities. We sometimes rushed it when we didn't really have to rush it. And we have a young team and they are going to learn -- they will learn how to handle these different types of situations. We didn't shoot it particularly well. Ton was 2 for 9 and David was 1 for 5; so two guys that have scored points went 3 for 14; that makes it pretty tough.

Q. Can you talk about how Jordan played for them?

COACH MACLEOD: He was really effective. I thought all of their big guys were effective. They rebounded well. Jordan is a very good player. Six offensive rebounds, 13 for the game -- total of 13 and 18 points; so Jordan, that's the biggest game he's had in the three games we've played. So that was a huge game for Jordan.

COACH MACLEOD: I like what Troy did. The thing he does, he never gives up. He was still trying like heck at the end to score points to help us out. He's the focal point, obviously of the opposition's defense. He's learned well how to react to it, but next year he'll be a lot better, and perhaps we'll be able to counter better some of the things that people did to him defensively. I thought throughout the year he's held up very, very well. He's kept his composure. Once in awhile, you know, it's really difficult with all of the physical contact, but I'll tell you what, Troy Murphy had a tremendous freshman year at Notre Dame. Excellent.

TROY MURPHY: It's disappointing for the season to end today because we were hoping to make a run in the tournament and probably lead into an NIT bid and we fell short of that. It's tough because we had four seniors that really played hard for us and were main contributors all year, and for them to lose a game -- and for them to lose a game today is tough.

TROY MURPHY: I thought they would be able to come back and hit some shots. Ton is the type of guy that cannot score on the half or shoot the ball poorly all game, and then at the end of the game, hit a game-winning shot. And David is probably the best shooter on the team, and I'm very confident in those two guys and I thought they would be able to turn it back around.

TROY MURPHY: I learned a lot this year. Coach MacLeod, he was a great teacher. He spent time helping me through film sessions and in practice and helping me improve things that I needed to work on, such as defense. And I had a lot of fun playing this year, and it's just disappointing for us to lose. We were, as I said, we were hoping to make a run in this tournament.

COACH MACLEOD: It was surprising for me to have these type of numbers this year.