Mike Brey Notebook | Post-Virginia Tech

Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey spoke following the ACC Tournament loss to Virginia Tech.

On the loss: 
”We dug ourselves a heck of a hole. You have to give Virginia Tech credit. I'm very impressed with them. They've been a tough matchup for us lately. Those two big guys just set an unbelievable tone and play well together. 

"The second half, we found a little bit better rhythm, but we couldn't defend well enough against a really gifted offensive team." 

On Virginia Tech shooting over 50 percent against Notre Dame in both games this year:
”If you're helping off their shooters and you give up double-digit threes, then I don't think you have a chance. We, at least, I thought, had a shot because they only made seven threes. Those twos are just spirit-breaking a little bit when they are so deep. I haven't seen two big guys pass to each other as well as they do. 

"You're going to have to score. We scored 80. We turned it over too much in the first half. We kicked it around. We're usually pretty good with the ball. You're going to have to outscore them a little bit. You're not going to just shut them down. We scored 80, but they were too efficient." 

On slow start:
”I don’t know. I thought their defense had something to do with it. They’re really physical defensively and they take away a lot of stuff and then you’re putting your head down and driving. I thought some of our drives were forced. The other thing is we had some layups. We missed some layups even after forced drives that are deflating. Now, you're in a hole. Against them, it's too deep to get out of." 

On starting lineup change and bringing Dane Goodwin off the bench:
”We just thought with their two big guys, can we have a little more size when they start backing down? We didn't really want to come off shooters and help. As you saw in the second half, it's tough when Dane is guarding a big who is just going to back down. 

"It was a little bit of let's try something different. Obviously, that experiment wasn't great and I'm responsible for that one. I'm not sure who will start next week, but we got time to figure that out." 

On not being able to get over the hump in the second half:
”I thought we were in a pretty offensive rhythm. We drove it more. We got into our motion a little more. We just couldn’t put together enough stops in a row. That was a hard hurdle to get over.”

On Virginia Tech’s defense:
“Mutts is almost a one-man show. He switches on guards and it's really hard to get by him. He's really an amazing individual and team defender. Thoroughly impressed with him. 

"Give credit to Mike Young and this team. They were 2-7 in the league. It still blows my mind they were 2-7 in the league, but the run they've been on, I think they're an NCAA Tournament team. They're really good." 

On message to the team moving forward:
”I’ve got them coming to my house on Sunday night. We’ll see what our destiny is. I’m excited about us moving forward. I think we’re in pretty good shape. I guess we’ll find out Sunday. I got the food order, so we’ll find out on Sunday. 

“I think what’s great for this group - after tonight and not getting off to a start early, which we have done this year, they get another chance to do that, which is a good thing. I think they’ll do that next week.” 

On knowing they will have a chance to play again compared to past years when this would be the end of the year:
”I’m extremely proud of this group. Selection Sunday a year ago, we watched the show and it was a miserable day. It was a 365 day countdown to be part of Selection Sunday. They’ve done it. It’s pretty cool.”