Mike Brey Notebook | Post- Virginia Tech

Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey spoke following Saturday’s loss at Virginia Tech. 

On the loss:
"First of all, what a great atmosphere after playing a year with no fans. I thought the Virginia Tech crowd kept their team believing the whole time and they made big plays on us. Their front line was really hard for us to handle—the two big guys. 

"Proud of our group. We kept giving ourselves a chance, but we couldn't get over the hump. I'm very impressed with Virginia Tech. I know they're only 1-4 in the league, but they're really good. It's how fragile the league is -  It's just hard to get a league win. 

"Tip of the cap to Virginia Tech. They made big plays at key times." 

On the poor shooting in the second half and Virginia Tech getting hot:
"I think they really went inside on us and we were so worried about helping and giving up three-point shots, even though they made 10 threes. I don't know if we did a very good job of either today. 

"Their post stuff - the two big guys are relentless. They're really good, physical and athletic. They're just hard to guard 1-on-1. 

"We kind of told (Paul) Atkinson and (Nate) Laszewski we're not going to help you much because we don't want them kicking it out to shooters. They're hard to deal with. They're really good players and played together a lot." 

On Paul Atkinson Jr.:
"I thought Paul was fabulous. We lost him there at the end, but he was great. We're going into the low post with him. He gave us an opportunity. We love throwing it to him. He's got footwork and can score. We want to continue to do that. 

"I try to tell our guys we're 4-2 in the league and all of our games other than Clemson have come down to stuff like this at the end. We've won our share of them, so I'm not complaining. We need to get a win out of this road swing as we head to D.C. tonight." 

On Virginia Tech's second half defense:
"I thought their physicality is really hard to deal with. We got to the bonus quick in the first half because of their physicality. They're really physical. 

"They took away the arc. That's why Paul was the only guy to get stuff. They're really a sound defensive team and always have been with Mike." 

On what he took away from the six-game win streak compared to tonight:
"I don't think we were as good defensively as we've been during those six straight. We gave up 78 points. They just shot the heck out of it on us. We were trying to take away the arc, but they made 10 of those. You try to hammer the post - I just don't think we were good enough defensively to win. 

"We were good enough offensively all night to win the game."