Mike Brey Notebook: NC State
Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey spoke about his record-breaking 394th win at Notre Dame and the 88-58 victory over NC State on Wednesday night.
On win:
“What a way to get to 393 and 2-0. When I think about the record-breaking game, I’ll think about how we lost Bonzie Colson the day before, we lost Matt Farrell halfway through the game and our group just really responded.
"I couldn’t have been prouder of a group given what happened in the last day with Bonzie and having only one practice to talk about reinventing ourselves a little bit."
Brey continued.
"I’m glad we have 394 on the board and we can take down those numbers and keep chasing some ACC stuff.
“To be 2-0 in this league and handling your business at home given what we’ve gone through, I love the position we’re in.”
On the team not feeling sorry for itself:
“It’s part of our culture. We’ve had it happen before. We had some guys really deliver tonight. I’m thrilled for DJ Harvey. We don’t win Maui without DJ, but we kind of lost him there in a freshman funk. We decided to start him and he responded."
On Matt Farrell’s injury:
“Matt has an ankle. I think he’ll be very questionable for Saturday. I would hope he’d be healthy to play Wednesday in Atlanta. He just twisted it and he has some swelling. It’s one of those that I don’t think will be ready for Saturday.”
On Bonzie Colson injury:
“It happened Friday in practice. There was no contact and he dribbled out after a rebound. I watched the tape, he didn’t pull up, but he felt he strained something. We come in the next morning for shootaround and he’s moving. He goes 22 points and 17 rebounds and little did we know it was on a broken foot.
“Sunday, a lot of discomfort. It was in the trouble area. We rested it and got an X-ray and got that news on Tuesday.”
On Colson
“I feel for him. I feel for college basketball. Bonzie Colson is the most popular player in college basketball and maybe the best. Coaches love him. The media loves him. He’s a great story. College basketball lost a great story.
“I’m hurting for him. Eight weeks is a long time. The one thing I told him and his father, we will never rush this guy back. I’m very sensitive to his NBA auditions and being healthy and fresh for those. If he doesn’t come back, he doesn’t come back.”
On Colson’s timetable:
“If he were playing on grass or turf, it’d probably be six weeks, but playing on a hard surface, it’s eight. Nothing before that.
“He’s going to be in the starting lineup on Senior Night. We may have to foul or call a timeout, but he’s going to be introduced against Pittsburgh on February 27th. Whether he can play or not, I don’t know if he’ll be able to play.”
On offense:
“We emphasized moving. I thought our movement was really good. That happens sometimes when such a gifted guy leaves the lineup.”
On freshman forward DJ Harvey:
“Where I think he got hit was his first end of semester academic toll. Having to deliver for exams and the first time he had been in this intense atmosphere academically. I thought we lost him a little bit the week before exams and then he was on his heels. We were just trying to find him and get him back.
“Matt Farrell and I talked about it last night at the hotel. I said the floor is open with DJ in there and a four-man is trying to guard him. I thought he really responded well. I sure hope this jumpstarts him because he’s a gifted guy.”
On 394:
“The banner was awesome. Having Digger out there was important. I thought it was great. He’s been really good to me, and we know what he’s done for this program.
“You’re honored and a little humbled that you’ve been here 18 years and you can last long enough to be the all-time winner.”
On road game at Syracuse with Colson and Farrell.
“We’re going without both of them. I don’t want to think about that until about Noon tomorrow. It’s a different dynamic. That group is so confident and upbeat.
“Bonzie has been down a day, and then Matt goes. TJ Gibbs and Rex Pflueger go ‘Ok, we got this. We’re running this now.’ It was neat to see.”
On advice from Bonzie Colson’s dad:
“Bonzie’s dad had a great line the other day. He said to tell the guys to remember Georgia Tech Bonzie’s freshman year. Zach Auguste doesn’t make the road trip, and Bonzie gets a chance to play. He established himself. There will be other guys that step forward.”
On identity without Bonzie:
“I liked how we were running and moving. It’s the best start we’ve got off to in this building in a while. The floor is spread when DJ is the second big, and we’re downshifted. It gives some driving areas, and when we get our hands on it, we can run and cause matchup problems.
“I love how we ran. If we don’t have it, we’ve talked about being patient offensively and keeping the ball moving. Don’t stand and watch. Someone asked me about the burn offense, but everything is on the table as we move forward. All options are open over the next two months.”