Notre Dame basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry spoke following the 64-63 loss to Ohio State on Sunday afternoon.
Opening statement:
“Congrats to Ohio State. I just thought it was really just a hard-fought game both ways. Neither one of us had really been tested. This is a good opportunity for both of us early in the season to see where we're at. Jake's (Diebler) got a good team. He's got really good guards. (Chris) Tilly's a good player. They got some supporting guys that do things that help those guys.
“I told our team at the beginning of the year, I still am able to read a bunch of stuff early in the year, and everybody's saying that's an NCAA tournament team right there, right? We came in here in front 13,000, went toe-to-toe with them, so what's that make us?”
On what does that make Notre Dame:
“Whatever we want to be, right? I'm not afraid to take this team anywhere and play anybody. Our defense, I told them, when practice is over and go upstairs and pack your stuff, bring your defense with you. I thought we did that. We got stops. We didn't get the stop that we neede, but we got stops.
“We fouled too much, sitting in the line on some of their drives. I'm comfortable. We're averaging 90 points a game, so I'm comfortable playing that game. Tonight it was 64-63. I'm comfortable playing that game too. We got a team that can do both.”
On if the plan was to let Markus Burton create at the end of the game:
“I think in that moment, you're always kind of second-guessing what you want to do. We got a couple of late game kind of quick hitters that we go to. But you run the risk of them getting in their lineup that they want, right? They had their offensive group in. We were trying to get Mobley on switches late. So now he's in. You're probably going to get a better shot versus an unset defense. If we call a timeout, they get set and now they can be ready for whatever.
“We got a chance. We got to switch, and then the five set it, and he got to switch on the Tilly, right? It was a good shot. It was a good look. It might have been a better look than we would have gotten if we had called a timeout and tried to run something.”
On shooting just four threes in the first half:
“It was more of what they did than us, right? We were just trying to play off of advantages, right? We got the ball into the seam to Carson (Towt). They stayed home. A lot of people would help on that. He's spraying and playing. They stayed home. They said they were not going to give us threes and were going to force us to play twos. That was the game, right?
“We make layups, we make free throws, we're leaving here a lot happier, right? That's the game. We missed layups. We got the ball to the rim and didn't make it. They got the ball near the rim, and we fouled them, right? That's the difference in the game right there. They chose to guard us in a certain way. We attacked them in a certain way. W’vee got to make those layups to win the game.”
On teaching moments from the loss:
“You want to go on the road and beat somebody really good, you've got to make your layups. You've got to make your free throws. Kudos to them, whenever we had a defensive mistake or a breakdown, they capitalized, right? They went guard-to-guard screen, goes with John (Mobley) and Bruce (Thornton). We don't switch it the right way. Bruce, shot fake side step three, right? A couple times we don't get a 4-5 switch and they get behind us and throw it. Now we're late in our help, and they get a dunk at the rim, right?
“We've got to be more disciplined for longer defensively to not give up those mistakes that turned into points for them, right? It's game four. We're going to make mistakes, but the quicker we can clean those up, the better we're going to be.”
On Ohio State big man Chris Tilly:
“It's a choice of whether it's called or not, right? We had three really good officials. Thought they were great. But he caught it and drove it, and he got fouls called, right? We caught it and drove it. Sometimes we did. Sometimes we didn't. That's the game. That's it in a nutshell right there.
“If Markus gets fouled on some more of those drives, then he's probably shooting a few more free throws or shooting the same as Tilly, right? Markus shot nine. Tilly shot 13, right? Give him four more. Four more opportunities. He's probably making three or he's making four, and that's it. That's the game.
“This game was free throws and layups and he got fouled, Tilly got fouled, and made a good amount of his. I thought our guys did a pretty good job. He just got by us or got an angle and got fouled too much.”
On missing layups in the second half:
“I don't know if they were harder, right? Sir Muhammad missed a wide-open layup to start the second half. It didn't have anything to do with their defense, right? Markus is getting to the rim and going and finishing. I don't think it had anything to do with their defense. I think it was maybe concentration on our level, on our part to make some of those.
“I think they play really hard defense. I think Bruce Thornton is a really good defender and is physical and makes it tough. I think Gabe Cupps does the same. He makes it tough on you. We just got to finish them, right? Jalen Haralson is getting two feet in the paint. He's got to finish them. That's on us. I felt like he rushed it a little bit. I felt like Markus rushed it a little bit. They take their time. Like I said, we make those. We're leaving here a little bit happier.”
On Jalen Haralson:
“Jalen's been good. This is really game two for him. He got to play 12 minutes in our first game, but got hit and had a concussion, right? So that game was a wash. Then he missed our second game, so he played maybe 25 minutes in game three.
“Now he's got to go to Ohio State and play. He's going to be good for us. The game's still fast for him, right? Some of those layups he missed was just him playing faster than normal. Once he begins to start to slow down, he's going to make some of those. But he can push the pace. He does a good job getting into the paint and scoring.”
On Carson Towt:
“Carson is just max effort, man. He just plays really hard. They took away his ability to pass with some of the stuff that they do, but just his effort on the glass on both ends, his physicality. Before the game even starts, like he's a big brother to these dudes, right? He's giving them, he's feeding their belief because of the energy that he gives them, the confidence that he gives them.”
On Tilly’s impact on the defensive end:
“He did a good job, man. H hadn't been blocking shots. We were going to try and attack the rim more to put that pressure on him. We just got to adjust a little bit better now, get in there and start shot-faking him, getting him in the air, maybe because they're overhelping, we can start spraying it a little bit more.
“That's things I think we'll get better at as the season goes on. He did a good job for his first real big game here, too. I know there's a lot of angst and nerves and excitement to play a game like this, and he delivered, right? That's why you go get a good player like him to deliver in moments like this.”
On how Bruce Thornton has improved:
“I recruited Bruce really hard when I was at Purdue. I've watched him play since he was at Milton High School and I made a lot of trips to Atlanta and to Milton to recruit him.
“That was one of the guys who at the end of the game, I just wanted to give him a hug and just tell him how proud I was of him. You just kind of watch from afar, right? I don't get to watch him play a whole lot unless he's playing somebody that we're getting ready to play or playing somebody that we want to watch.
“One of the best kids I've ever been around or ever talked to. Such a leader. He's a guy who has always done it on both ends of the court, right? He gets his team in the offense. He can go score when he needs to score. He can facilitate when he needs to facilitate. His shooting has improved tremendously, right? You've got to make decisions on how you guard him and what you do. So just happy for him and his growth and what he's been doing. I'm glad I never have to see him again on the other side of the court.”
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