Postgame Quotes
Coach Perry Clark Quotes
On the difference in the game…
I thought the most important thing was the way Francis came out and started the basketball game. They were determined to go inside, and he created a lot of problems for us early. I think when you struggle early, if you can just get one of your key guys going, it really picks things up.
On Notre Dame’s offense…
I was really impressed with the way Quinn and Jones play. I thought they were very aggressive off the drive and created some problems for us, getting in the gaps and things like that. Thomas was the guy that we were afraid of coming in, and I felt we did a pretty good defensive job on him, but I think their wings really outplayed our wings and did a better job of getting to the hole.
On Miami’s offense…
Robert Hite and Guillermo Diaz weren’t able to shoot the ball as well as they’ve been shooting all year, and we’ve got to give Notre Dame a lot of credit for that. They did a good job of taking it away or forcing us to rush and not really shoot the ball as well as we could be.
Miami Player Quotes
Senior Forward Darius Rice
On the game…
“We came out with a game plan at the beginning, but we didn’t execute it. We let [Torin] Francis get in the post. He was one of the key players to take away, and he had his way in the beginning.”
On Torin Francis…
“We knew he was going to be that quick, and we planned to double team him, but every time we did, he turned the other way. He was really effective for Notre Dame, so we just called that off. In single coverage, our post player couldn’t handle him.”
On the offensive performance…
“We didn’t run our plays. We didn’t execute right. We had a couple of opportunities to open the game up, take the lead and push it out, but we didn’t set our screens or execute. Notre Dame scouted us really well. They played under the screens and their non-shooters and shooters played well.”
Notre Dame Quotes
Coach Mike Brey Quotes
On junior forward Jordan Cornette…
“That was a pretty good night for Jordan Cornette. We changed the line-up tonight because he’s a better guy to guard (Darius) Rice. We’re very happy with his performance.”
On Notre Dame’s bright spots vs. Miami…
“I thought we were really ready to complete right away. I thought Torrian Jones was great and Torin Francis established himself early. We had 18 assists versus nine turnovers, and I thought our shot selection was better tonight. We played mature for close to 40 minutes.”
On his team’s defensive effort…
“We held them to 37 percent shooting from the floor – that’s pretty good defense…Anytime our fans are up when we’re on defense, I don’t think we feel so tired.”
On traveling to Rutgers on Saturday…
“We’ve been darned good on the road this year. We have a resilient group of guys. We still have fun playing the game now.”
Notre Dame Player Quotes
Sophomore F Torin Francis:
On preparation for the game…
“I just focused on making my moves a lot faster and being more decisive…I have the moves, I just have to be quicker with them so that I don’t draw the traffic.”
On his performance tonight…
“After my first couple of baskets, I felt like I could score every time down, so I just kept posting up and kept asking for the ball.”
Sophomore G Chris Quinn:
On the importance of tonight’s win…
“It’s a great win for us. We’re 4-2 now in the Big East and with a couple more wins we can be right up there. We just have to take it one game at a time.”
On tonight’s team effort…
“It helps that other guys are stepping up and making some plays and I think there are a lot of guys that are capable of doing that. When they concentrate on Chris (Thomas) it’s gonna take some of us other guys stepping up.”
Junior G Chris Thomas:
On tonight’s win…
“4-2…that record looks good to us right now. We’d rather be 6-0 but given the way that we’ve been playing…this is a great start which will lead to, hopefully, a good run.
On his sub-par performance…
“I was just hanging loose. Miami was denying me the ball, I didn’t get some calls, but I was letting my teammates take over.”
“I didn’t really force any shots, not many of them went down but, the ones that did as well as patience that I had really helped our team.”
On the team’s performance tonight…
That’s how we have to play defense. My points will come. Other guys are gonna score, and I don’t mind having a 7 point effort if we win by 10.
