BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 8, 2001

Mike Brey

Martin Ingelsby

Troy Murphy

COACH MIKE BREY: I got to give a lot of credit to Pitt. They were very ready to play tonight. They jumped on us early. I thought they really did a great job defensively on us as compared to the previous two games. We really struggled offensively, especially around the bucket guarding our big guys. Their ball pressure bothered us, you know, they got out and got on us. That's been something when people get into us with the -- with man-to-man pressure, that rattled us and it certainly did.

COACH MIKE BREY: We got a little tight when it wasn't going, you know, however it was supposed to go. We got a little uptight, you start aiming shots and try to start forcing passes. A lot of that was really Pitt, you know, doing that to us. It's happened a couple times this year - not much, but a handful of times. And, you know, that's kind of how I felt with our guys. You know, you're trying to force some passes and we shot the ball pretty well from the perimeter. But it was hard for us to get anything established around the bucket, and that's the strength of ours. We got to get something around the basket. We missed some easy ones, which were ones we usually make.

TROY MURPHY: I think I might be mistaken, but I think they doubled me on the catch rather than some time -- when I put the ball on the floor, then the double team comes and that allows an easier pass to a shooter or something like that. But on the catch, it's so scrambled, everyone running everywhere, it's tough sometimes to kind of get the ball, and it's tough to really make a move.

MARTIN INGELSBY: We switched up a couple things. They put Page on me and put Brandin Knight on Mark Carroll. They switched it up a little bit. We were ready for it and we just tried to get the ball inside. They did a great job of taking things away. You got to give them a lot of credit.

COACH MIKE BREY: Definitely a concern, because when we got on a nice run in late January and through February, that front line, you know, Murph's one and Hump did a great job on the backboard. So that's a concern since our season isn't over yet, as we try and figure out who we play next week. You know, I think we're a pretty good defensive rebounding team but we have not been, you know, the last couple of games.

COACH MIKE BREY: Little bit. You know, I'll be very honest with you, it was a little hard for me to concentrate, you know, early this past week because, you know, these guys even before I got to town July 14th talked about the big bracket and certainly I capitalized on that when I got here July 14th. But, you know, I thought by Tuesday, Wednesday, you know, even though our travel was -- you know, we came in in a good frame of mind, we practiced well yesterday. I thought this morning we were sharp and ready to compete. And, you know, but for me, a little bit. Yeah, there was some distractions. I have been thinking about that one that's going to start next week. I was anxious for us on the, you know, prime time and on the ultimate stage to do well, you know. I wanted it so bad for these guys; I thought they deserved it. I think at times you mentioned frustration. We wanted it almost too much. We've tied ourselves in knots. We've done that a few times when we've lost.

COACH MIKE BREY: You know, we played a little bit of both, played zone on them at our place and played them pretty well. We played man at their place and won the basketball game. We were trying to switch defenses a little bit. A lot of times when we switch to twelve quick, it's almost like a little bit of an emergency situation, like uh-oh, this may be the only thing to bail us out. I thought they got into the lane on penetration, put our big guys in help and recover and got them out of position. And so second half, we tried to play a little bit -- we weren't very good defensively. We were out of position. I think that's why we got beat up on the backboard, too.

COACH MIKE BREY: Yeah, they did. I think like Murph said, he read that wrong. They really came in and trapped. He was kicking it out, we were trying to move it. They have guys who have quick hands. They stripped us early a little bit, sometimes you're looking around for it a little bit when you get stripped early.

TROY MURPHY: I don't think Pittsburgh played the top of their game either time they played us. Ricardo Greer was a major factor tonight, and I think he was kind of injured both times we played, with the ankle, maybe both times. And he really played well tonight. They played great on back-to-back nights. I think they can -- I think they can go pretty far in this thing.

TROY MURPHY: I think we can. We need to go back to South Bend. We need to practice, and kind of get together and, you know, just have a good couple days of practice and regroup and figure out where we're going to be playing. Then get back on a roll I guess.

COACH MIKE BREY: Are we still in?

TROY MURPHY: I didn't play well tonight. I hurt our team. We ran plays. I got wide open looks, I just didn't shoot the ball well. They did a nice job defensively. But my poor play definitely helped their defensive scheme. You know, I can't -- I'm counted on to do a lot of things for this team, and I can't come out and play like I did tonight and, you know, have a game where I, you know, consider, you know -- this bothers me. It bothers me the way I played, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

COACH MIKE BREY: We're really proud of that. You know, that was -- I knew when I got there July 14th if we didn't get in, these young men would be very disappointed and maybe the jury would still be out on me after seven months. Yeah, again, I'm proud of this group. I'm not proud of our display tonight and I don't know if we really were mentally as prepared. I take, you know, a lot of responsibility for that, you know, coming out here. But we'll be ready to play next week. We'll be very excited. There are some things we have to address before we play basketball again, but, you know, we're going to be thrilled Sunday night when we see ourselves flash up in that bracket; believe me. But we'll, you know, there's some things that probably came out the last couple of weeks that, you know, I felt a little bit at times in there afterwards, a little bit like the Kentucky locker room. That was a little bit of a crossroads for us. Maybe this one was tonight.

MARTIN INGELSBY: Definitely. We had a couple days off this week. I thought we were really prepared to play this game. The ball didn't bounce our way tonight. They did a great job. You have to give them a lot of credit. We have to go back to South Bend, regroup and get ready for the tournament.