Mike Brey Notebook | Post-Miami

Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey spoke following the 68-64 win over Miami on Wednesday night. 

On the win:
"I told them I'm really proud. It's the ultimate bounce-back challenge to have to come down here after Monday night. For them to deliver like they did - I think there is some special stuff about the group. They've shown it at times. Monday was really disappointing for us, but to be able to come back and do it here and do it fearlessly - 20 assists. Really proud of them. It's an older group that's pretty focused on what they want to do." 

On Prentiss Hubb:
"I can't believe there is a quarterbacking guard playing better than this guy right now. He kind of uses his teammates and he senses when he's got to go for the jugular. He was fabulous. He has quarterbacked us and really helped us.”

On Paul Atkinson Jr.:
"Paul was excited to come home. I knew he would be ready to roll. The first time I met Paul was here at this game last year. He committed to us and we didn't have a visit. It was all Zoom. I never met him. He comes in and does that." 

On Dane Goodwin:
"He wanted to bounce back. We laughed about it the other night. We knew he'd be back. He let the game come to him and that was a senior winner knowing I got to do it. 

"Our passing was just a clinic. We've had many where we just moved it, but in this atmosphere tonight, it was really beautiful to watch. We were hitting Paul on the roll and hitting guys for jump shots and extra passes. Dane's a warrior and you knew he'd be back." 

On strong defense the last two games:
"We've grown in that area. No question. The other night they scored 57. Tonight, we did a pretty good job. The tempo - we had control of that tempo. Between playing zone a lot and our offense that is a little more deliberate, offensive guys didn't get back in their hands as much. There weren't as many possessions. It will be interesting to look at the total possessions. 

"We are more joined at the hip defensively and we've been pretty good at keeping people from making threes, especially at key times." 

On 60 possessions in the game:
"That's low. That's good for us. It started with Kentucky. It's a little bit of ap age out of the Virginia book. If you play slow on offense, your backline doesn't have to be great for 70 possessions. It's helping us offensively because we needed some more structure and where to get shots. It's helped our defense because we do not have to deal with it over and over again, even though I believe we are more committed, in position and keeping it out of the middle better. 

"I was not confident we could sit in a man-to-man stance and keep those guards out of the lane, which proved to be true at many times. Our zone really bought us some time. They started shooting some threes - deep. They started settling a little bit and it kind of helped us." 

On feeling if matchup with Miami favored Notre Dame:
"I really felt good. When we watched them, I thought can we keep them from making too many threes? We controlled the tempo. The zone really helped us because their guards that want to go off the dribble couldn't do it as much. 

"I thought we would be able to score. We've had some clinic nights passing the ball, but that was one of the ultimate ones on just moving the ball and sharing it together. When you're coaching your team and they share it like that, it may be the most gratifying feeling." 

On tonight being a big bounce-back game:
"I was very upfront and vocal with our guys on Tuesday before we got on the plane. This is the ultimate challenge of bounce-back. If you can bounce back at Miami 48 hours after a tough night against Duke - I think you got something. I think our leadership and old guys were very focused on doing it. 

"I think they were focused because they were disappointed in how they performed on Monday. I give them a lot of credit. That's leadership. This group has leadership of itself and we'll get them some rest tomorrow." 

On resume for NCAA Tourney:
"You probably had to get one of these two in the last three days. You had to get one of these two to keep your momentum going for this bracket. We did. 

"We did it the hard way. We did it through a reschedule. To handle it like that has been great. We're back in the mix. When we were four or five games in, I started dropping regular-season champions. I think they're really chasing it." 

On plans for tomorrow:
"We're going to get some rest tomorrow. We're not going to go to a gym tomorrow. We're going to stretch out a little bit and see if we can get another one on the road Saturday."