Postgame Quotes
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Jan. 2, 2016
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | USATSI Gallery 
Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett
On Malcolm Brogdon’s offense:
“One time I thought he forced his shot and I told him ‘let it come and take the right shots.’ I can coach Malcolm [Brogdon], he’s a player. He is complete. He’s good and he’s been through it. He wants me to coach him and I want to coach him. I’m going to challenge him both offensively and defensively for him to be his best. He missed a couple shots, but in the second half he got his rhythm and he spread out. That’s what I was most pleased with. He spread out on [Demetrius] Jackson who looked like [Kay] Felder from Oakland. You can see why Notre Dame is dangerous offensively. They can get it going with some threes, but it was absolutely an efficient and well played second half for Malcolm.”
On offensive contribution:
“Balance is this team. Especially when you look at what Mike [Tobey] did. Sometimes they went with five small guys. They put [Bonzie] Colson at the five and then they had four guards. Those were some matchups there, but when they did I thought we got great contributions. London [Perrantes] managed the game well, and he didn’t score as much, but that has hopefully become a strength of this team. Different guys at different times, and of course Malcolm and Anthony [Gill] will score, but then it could be any of the other guys who are capable. That helps us from an offensive standpoint no doubt.”
On Mike Tobey:
“I thought he gave us a great lift and then carried it on. I of course liked what he did offensively on the glass, but also defensively. When we played Villanova he allowed us to play one on one. I thought Isaiah [Wilkins], Anthony [Gill] and Mike played good position defense when their guy didn’t have the ball, and then when their guys did have it they did a good job of walling their guys by keeping them in front and making them work for shots. To see Mike [Tobey] do that job was good, and that’s why you keep working and playing. We need his size and his length. He can get discouraged at times, but he works hard and it’s good to see what he’s doing and we will continue to need it for sure. And it’s the same thing for the guys who aren’t playing. It’s the hardest thing as a coach to not be able to play all of those guys. Jarred [Reuter] didn’t play today and Marial [Shayok] didn’t play as much after a good game against Oakland. Evan [Noltle] didn’t play, but those guys will have opportunities, I believe that.”
On offense:
“I think we’ve been pretty efficient this year. I think that has been showing and obviously tonight we didn’t over shoot the three. Tonight we got shots against their zone. We got some right at the rim plays, nine offensive rebounds and 11 second chance points that certainly helps. When you get those drives, the point blank shots make a difference in you percentages. We’ve been pretty efficient offensively the past two games, especially in the second half of Oakland and then this game. I was happy with what I saw and now we have to turn around and do it again in a hostile environment.”
Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey Quotes
Opening Statement:
“They are really good. Today was kind of men among boys. I thought anytime we tried to make a run and get some hope, they squelched it like a veteran mature group. If you told me we’d shoot 48 percent against them, I would have thought the game would have been better. We couldn’t really dig it out in the paint and they beat us up around there. It’s an area where we’re going to have to be tougher or it’s going to be a long winter. I have a lot of respect for them. They do what they do and they did it at a high level today.”
On what they tried to do defensively:
“We tried a couple of different things — played some zone. We couldn’t get a clean defensive rebound in the first 10 minutes, so you’re always taking the ball out of the net. It puts extreme pressure on your offense and we’re pretty good offensively. Again, if you would have told me we’d shoot 48 percent down here, I thought it’d be more of a game, but it wasn’t. We put them on the foul line a bunch. We had a hard time guarding the curling stuff. [Mike] Tobey and [Anthony] Gill are really good. They’re men. When do they graduate? And I’m glad we play them once. We get this over with quick.”
On what they tried to do defensively against Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill:
“We wanted to play some zone to start the half because they were beating us in the paint and [Malcolm] Brogdon bangs down two threes so that idea goes out the window. I wish I would have stayed in it longer because they don’t shoot a lot of jump shots so just ride it out and see if you can absorb it but we went back to man. We had some other guys in there who stuck their nose in there and competed. We had a good offensive rhythm and you’re digging out of a hole in a place like this against a methodical team. It’s hard to close that gap. We didn’t get to the foul line much. You’ve got to get to the line and score a little bit against them. It’s one of those where you look and you go, ‘I’m glad it only counts as one loss in league play’ because we need to go back and regroup and see if we can win one on Thursday.”
On how to adjust at halftime to Virginia’s various players:
“They’re so secure with who they are and they never waver. Their game is tight on both ends. They are the tightest in the league, and maybe in the country, on both ends of the floor in what they do. Certainly, I have the upmost respect for that. Let’s try zone because they are crushing us in the paint. Let’s just see if they make some challenged jump shots. Then my guys are looking at me when Brogdon bangs down two threes to start the half and the whole thing changes. They are a confident group and maturity is such a key for them. It’s been a hallmark of their program. We kind of run our programs the same. We don’t really have ‘one and dones’. We kind of grow guys up in the program. They redshirted some guys, taken some transfers, and keep them old — that’s such a great advantage.”
Virginia Senior Center Mike Tobey
On Virginia’s play inside:
“We definitely had an advantage inside, especially in the first half. I think that we did a good job taking advantage of that. I just knew going into the game just to try to get on the offensive glass and use my size as an advantage.”
On his increased role in the past two games:
“It feels good. It is just a confidence booster for myself just being able to go in there and play well. My teammates have been supportive throughout, so it is definitely a confidence booster.”
Virginia Senior Guard Malcolm Brogdon
On playing with an aggressive offensive mindset:
“I think me and AG especially being the main scorers on our team, we try to come out aggressive. We know if we can get it going and attract a lot of attention, then our teammates can really get going if we start dishing to them and getting other people involved. So it’s always a mindset to look for your shot, but if it’s not falling keep shooting, and get other people involved and just stay aggressive.”
On Mike Tobey:
“As for anybody in their last college season, you want to see them go out on a blast, on a good season, and Tobey is really starting to pick it up and play well. When he’s aggressive and plays with a motor, he’s great, and that’s what we need from him to make a good run in March.”
Virginia Senior Forward Anthony Gill
On defending ND Forward Chris Auguste:
“We really just wanted to see if he could finish over top of us. The first half we really started off aggressive on the post trap, and then he was doing a really good job of throwing it out of that, and then Coach Bennett made a decision to just choke it and see what happens from there, and our job was to stay big and make him finish over top of us.”
On the upcoming game at Virginia Tech:
“No matter what their team is supposed to be ranked or anything like that, anytime we go into Virginia Tech, it’s always a close game. They always get up for us and it seems to be a good game no matter what. We just have to be ready from the beginning and, like Malcolm said, rest our bodies and be willing to do the little things in order to get the win.”
On Mike Tobey:
“Mike has had two really good games back to back, and that’s what we’re going to need from him throughout the season. He’s a great player and has soft touch around the rim and he takes up a lot of space on defense. When his mind is right, I think that he can be a really effective player for this team and help this team go to the next level that we need to go to.”