Mike Brey Notebook | Boston College

Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey spoke following the win over Boston College on Wednesday night. 

On the win:
"We'll take it any way we can get it. It wasn't one of those lovely ones and a lot of it was because how Boston College defends. They're hard to score on. They shot it great in the first half and we were hanging on for dear life.

"I'm proud of our group for how they've grown. We couldn't win games like this or the North Carolina game in early January. We have a poise about us and our seniors are leading us - (TJ) Gibbs, (John) Mooney and (Rex) Pflueger."

On defense
"Our zone was great in the second half. We played all zone. They're hard to guard in man-to-man stuff and that helped us.

"We couldn't guard them man-to-man. Jim has always run great man-to-man stuff. It's exhausting and hurts you on the offensive end because you don't have any energy from chasing them. 

"They couldn't get into our lane as much with zone. We stayed with it. Even the last possession when he hit the runner over the top, but it was good to us all half."

On game situations:
"We have a rule. We know the clock stops. You look up, so you don't have to panic. If it's four or less (seconds), we call timeout. If it's more than four, we're getting it in and getting it down the floor. It was eight. 

Mooney got it into Hubb and we came down poised. Hubb did a good job of not shooting a crazy one and pivoted one more time. A lot of times, the defense is in a panic mode and Gibbs had a great look. 

"I loved our poise. We got it in, came down and TJ made a big play." 

On poise on the last possession:
"It was one of those where Hubb has become a really mature guard after last year where we threw him to the wolves. He's played a lot. He does have a poise to him. 

"I don't think he was playing great, but he drills a three to give us the lead. He can be not in a great rhythm or frustrated, but when the lights are bright - the three he made and the play he made, he has done that over and over again. He's a bright lights guy." 

On 7-of-27 three-point shooting:
"10 helps us. I have to give credit to their D, but I thought in the second half when we were making the comeback, we had great looks we didn't make. I can't tell our guys not to shoot it because they were good looks from our best guys." 

On the momentum of Pflueger's halfcourt shot before halftime:
"It was a momentum play because they were crushing us. We were holding on for dear life. They were shooting it well and we weren't able to keep up with them. They take your guards away and they did in South Bend. They did for most of tonight. 

"That's what Pflueger does. You saw the block out he had against North Carolina. He's tipped one in to get us to the Sweet 16 and the Carrier Dome. He makes winning smart basketball plays. That's a huge play. You're down seven, but you feel like you're tied mentally."