Mike Brey Notebook | Michigan State Loss
Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey spoke following the 80-70 loss to No. 13 Michigan State on Saturday night.
On the loss:
"It's a great example of how fragile a game is. It's 26-22 with seven minutes to go in the first half and we don't score the rest of the way. We just really had some careless turnovers and then we fouled and kind of lost control of it.
"I liked in the second half, we continued to compete. I thought our defense was better in stretches in the second half. We looked a little bit more like us offensively.
"They're very good. They're playing downhill on you and they have a lot of bodies coming at you. For us, we'll get on back and get some rest. Hopefully, we'll have two games at home."
On what he learned about his team:
"Not having the jerseys on until tonight and then you deal with these guys. That's a little bit of an adjustment that is going to be a little more difficult. For Cormac Ryan, he hadn't played and just to be out there and I thought finding a rhythm at times was good for him.
"We've got to keep finding guys to come off the bench and help us. Matt (Zona) and Tony (Sanders) are freshmen and they're trying their backsides off and their first game is at Michigan State. Nik (Djogo) is going to be a key guy for us. We'll continue to work on getting Trey eligible. We could use his body.
"I think the thing we'll watch is 26-22, seven minutes left and how the half ended. It's a great teaching moment for our group on how a game can get away from you if you're careless with the ball and you're fouling and out of position defensively."
On Michigan State defense during seven-minute scoring drought:
"They're really athletic defensively and they got physically up into us after the run we had. We stopped moving the ball. It was two passes and someone put their head down, forced shots, turnovers and the run was on to knock us out before the half.
"They've always been a really good athletic position defensive team. I thought in that stretch, they just shut us down."
On what he liked:
"I loved that we were going for it. Cormac and Prentiss are going to have to be risk-takers for us. They're going to have to force some plays to make some plays. We're going to have to live with some turnovers and stuff. I thought they were really going for it.
"I thought Dane (Goodwin) competed at a really high level. Our first game up here, against a really good team, weird kind of day - I'm kind of thrilled we got the game in. We went through four COVID tests this week, so we could play. I was so relieved at noon today when we went through the fourth one and you get to play. Now, we can evaluate our group.
"We got some kids that will fight and compete and battle. That's a good instinct to have here early in the season and something to build on."
On Juwan Durham:
"For him, this was new territory. 30 minutes. He was a 17 minutes a game guy. I think his body has to get used to that a little bit. I loved he was going to the rim and trying to get calls. He faded maybe once or twice. He's got to continue to do that.
"I think he's going to get a few calls and get his confidence. We need those five guys to average double-figures. Four of them got in double-figures tonight. Juwan is going to have to average double-figures and I really think he will at the end of the day.
"For him, I kept talking to him, 'This is a new minutes territory for you. You have to play your way into shape feeling what 28-30 minutes is like.'"
On Prentiss Hubb:
"He's stronger, fearless guy and he really does set a tone for us. He's got to almost force some plays at times, which means he's going to turn it over or maybe take a bad shot. He kind of keeps us on edge.
"I liked he and Cormac together. We've seen that in practice. I think they're going to be really good together and Dane is kind of joining that club. Those three guys on the perimeter really know how to play and can score. I think they're really going to get better.
"It's Prentiss' team. He's the one talking in the huddle. We take a big punch and getting our butts kicked, he's the one talking about keeping competing and battling. I appreciated his leadership tonight."