Mike Brey Notebook | Fairleigh Dickinson Win

Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey spoke following Tuesday's win over Fairleigh Dickinson. 

On the injury to TJ Gibbs:
"It's just a strain. He should be fine. He had a little bit of a bruise on a spot a week or two weeks ago. I think he's reaggravated that. He should be fine. 

"Tomorrow has to be our off day, so high Noon on Thanksgiving day, we should be ready to go." 

On the win: 
"We threw a couple in. We threw a couple shots in tonight. It's good to see us throw it in there and make some good ones and share the ball. Goodwin and Laszewski coming off the bench and being aggressive are going to be important for us moving forward. Hopefully, they're more confident to do it regularly." 

On having 80 at the under four-minute timeout:
"We were playing zone and we weren't really playing it well. I was sitting there watching the offensive possessions and that's how we've played in the past. You could only match us bucket for bucket because we're efficient and making shots. Hopefully, we can get a little confidence because we're certainly going to need it next week with the two we have." 

On Fairleigh Dickinson starting 0-for-18:
"They missed 18 straight shots. Wow. We had been good defensively and we played more zone today. Sometimes when we've played zone, where you're not digging in in man-to-man, it helps you offensively and saves some legs a little bit. Guys aren't chasing ball screens and stuff. 

"It may have helped us a little bit. We do love to defend. They talk about it and we did start the game really digging in. I thought we let up a little." 

On the importance of Nate Laszewski following up his big shot with a big game:
"I texted him the other day and said you have arrived. He banged that one down to get us to overtime and he carries himself a little differently. That's a confidence thing. 

"I thought Dane's second half - both of those guys are really gifted guys. Last year, it was hard to get them to be aggressive offensively. They were too nice. They weren't really physically or mentally ready to do it. I think they are now and we want them to be aggressive. 

"The great thing is our seniors know we need them. They keep encouraging them to be aggressive." 

On 38 bench points:
"Bench scoring. Look at that. Those two guys are great weapons. When we get them in the game as you can see, we'll run stuff for Dane. We screen for him to jumpstart him. We try to get Nate isolated in a screen-roll where he can get a look.

"I like how he's driving the ball. People still hang their hat on his jump shot, but he's rebounding, defending and he's driving the ball. They look like they belong in college basketball after a year."

On John Mooney and Juwan Durham:
"Those two guys are just so solid. They love playing together. They look for each other, but to go double-doubles with your starting front line guys is really powerful. 

"They have a neat thing. They room together. They are from Florida and they like talking that up." 

On Thanksgiving plans for the team:
"We'll be here. The dorms are open during Thanksgiving. Christmas is when we have to put them in a hotel. Tomorrow is our off day. We'll go noon on Thanksgiving Day and we'll go to Ruth Chris at 5:00 pm. 

"We'll go on Friday and Saturday. Sunday is our off day for next week and then we have two days to tune it up. We can watch Maryland a lot because they're playing down in Orlando."