Mike Brey Notebook | Georgia Tech Loss

Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey spoke following the 82-80 loss at Georgia Tech. 

On the loss: 
"I think we knew the run was coming and we did a pretty good job holding off the first punch in the second half. We couldn't hold off the second punch. I think our defense kind of let us down tonight. We scored 80 and had enough on the offensive end." 

On Georgia Tech's hot start to the second half: 
"We sure didn't start the second half like the last two games. They're athletic and hard to guard one-on-one off the dribble. The zone bought us some time in the first half, but we didn't seem to be able to get to it. I don't think our compete drill mentality was very good tonight when we had to put a chest on a guy. I kind of told them that afterward. I said that's where we got beat." 

On second half turnovers:
"I think their pressure bothered us. It kind of wore on us a little bit. We really hadn't played against a team that's pressed us. I thought it got us on our heels a little bit and not letting us get in attack mode probably really hurt us." 

On Cormac Ryan not being able to get the final shot off:
"I feel for him. I think if he had a do-over, he would have rose up and taken that one. The last thing I want is him blaming himself, but that's the kind of guy he is. He takes everything to heart. 

"I think he's still learning to just rise up and shoot it. Not just the end game situation, but throughout the game to go ahead and take that. I thought they defended him pretty well. The press maybe bothered him a little bit." 

On team flushing the loss: 
"It's up to them. It's a nice group of kids and I have no speeches for them. Let's see how they do circling back and seeing how we play Tuesday. There's no rah-rah BS. 

"We didn't finish it. We didn't get it done. We get another chance on the road on Tuesday." 

On compete mentality not being good in the second half:
"They were better athletes than us. They out athleted us. It's happened a bunch to us this season. We're not going to all of a sudden get more athletic this season."

On having no timeouts down the stretch:
"It would be nice to maybe have a timeout, even though in that situation we played the clock out because we knew we could get it back. We didn't want to foul. There was a differential. We had a really good defensive sequence and you're coming down the floor with a chance to tie it and put it to overtime or win it. I'd rather have that than their set defense. 

"We probably overanalyzed it a little bit." 

On Georgia Tech's defense on Prentiss Hubb:
"(Jose) Alvarado is a really good defender. He leads the league in steals and he has great hands. We could have used a call or two when he drove and we couldn't get one. That's how it is on the road. You don't get those. He was trying like heck to save us and get downhill. 

"We got to get him rest and go play on Tuesday. There's no deep speeches. Let's play on Tuesday. We'll go stretch at Cameron (Indoor) tomorrow and practice a little bit on Monday and tee it up on Tuesday." 

On Nate Laszewski:
"He found a rhythm tonight. I feel for him because he was in a rhythm and we couldn't get the win. I love how both big guys have been playing. They played great tonight. 

"Nate's a bounce-back kind of guy. Even though we were winning, he wasn't playing as well or scoring as much, but he was doing other things. I don't want him hanging his head and hopefully, he can come out really confident because we'll need both our big guys on Tuesday."