Jan. 29, 2012
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January 29, 2012
Connecticut vs. Notre Dame
Connecticut Head Coach Jim Calhoun
Congratulations to Notre Dame. They came in here, ground us down with a delay-type offense, which plays to their strength....When we played them at Notre Dame two weeks, we were able to pace the game up a little bit and play with some enthusiasm. In second half, we opened and we didn't score for seven minutes, and that was the game. Down the stretch, win lose or draw, it doesn't make any difference, you can't wait until there are two minutes to go and see if you can win the game. So, they stayed with what they do. They beat us in what we - I'm not sure what we did, but what we didn't do, I guess.
They certainly made the most of running their offense late in the clock. A couple of times we kind of forgot they were going to shoot a late three-pointer and didn't get out there. They were all killing shots. They controlled the clock, controlled the ball and won the game.
Right now, we just don't have very good leadership in the backcourt. We're just not getting much done as far as any kind of direction.
We had that one stretch of three loose balls, one where we passed to the other kid so they could have a four-point lead instead of a two-point lead. And then we had a pass - Jeremy was wide open and someone threw it off his shoulder, and they got another layup out of that. Then one of our guys went up to get the ball at midcourt and their guard came in, flipped it away, and they got another fast break and we fouled them and they scored on the out-of-bounds play. In a game like this, every single possession is very important.
It was a possession game, and they took it away from us. And they deserve 100 percent credit. And we did a very poor job. With what we have coming up, it's difficult loss.
The ending - we lost because we didn't play well. We didn't lose because Jeremy didn't give it a good try to try to miss that second one. We tipped it, we got the shot....but that's not how we lost the game. We lost the game because we didn't play....
Their strategy worked, and we didn't do anything to counter it. Thus, we lost a very important game for us.
On offensive rebounds for ND
Down the stretch it really hurt us. We needed to get the ball back. The crowd, God bless them because they were all here, 16,000 people. They tried to do the best they could to get the team awake, and that was a hard thing to do. I know I couldn't. I tried to play as low-key as I could with them today. I've tried different things with this team and none of them seem to be working as well as I would like. A possession team, you can't give two or three possessions in a row because they're going to grind you down. I always believe that comes from mental toughness, that we're not going to let it happen.
On Jeremy Lamb's nine shots
I don't think we set good set good screens. Conversely, I don't think we got him the ball. And then I think he passed on a couple shots we would like to see him take. It's a combination of things. Occasionally, and I know that this sounds like a revelation, but the other team does know who he is. So when he comes off a pick and roll, he's doubled. And that guy who's open has got to be open as opposed to just stand there and let his man, after helping, reconnect, and that happened a lot.
UConn Player Quotes
UConn v. Notre Dame
January 29, 2012
What happened today?
I don't think we moved the ball around. Ur offense was horrible today. We couldn't rebound. We were horrible.
On your last second shot to try to tie the game after intentionally missing the free throw?
They said, `make the first one, miss the second one.' I got the rebound and I missed my floater. I don't know how I missed it, but I missed it.
On not scoring for the first 7 minutes of the second half
I don't know why we're playing the way we're playing right now. Seven minutes without a bucket that was a huge reason why we lost.
We're going through a drought. We're going through hard times right now. We just have to find a way to get through it.
Do you need to shoot more?
Yeah, I do think I need to shoot more, be more aggressive.
It felt good just to be back on the court competing. It's painful to have to sit out and watch.
Was there some rust to shake off?
Yes, most definitely, that's why I didn't shoot that much. I just tried to get in the flow of the game and whatever I had to do to get the win -playing defense and distributing the ball. But things didn't turn out that way.
Is the NCAA investigation over?
It's finally over. We can finally put it behind us. We don't have to worry about me getting pulled out again. We just have to use this to our advantage and come together as a team and make this last final run.
Yes, they shut the whole thing down. The didn't have any more questions about anything.
Is there a pending lawsuit by you against the NCAA?
I don't know what's going on. I'm just happy to be back on the court. Whatever my mom and the lawyer got going on, that's with them.
Did you ever imagine this much attention your freshman year?
No, not at all. Especially me, I was never really ranked as high as the other guys so I never really had to deal with this kind of stuff. It's been mentally draining, but I can finally say that it has been put behind me and we're moving on.
At the beginning there was energy, but I felt like in the second half there was no energy.
We fell asleep late in the clock and they got good shots on us. It's tough taking that loss. It's frustrating.
Is difficult facing that kind of offense when they use 32-34 seconds every time?
Yes, because you have to play defense for the full 35 and if you don't, you fall asleep, somebody's going to back door you or find a wide-open three.
On the 7 minute scoring drought to start the second half
They played great defense, and we took some bad shots, and some of our shots we're falling.
January 29, 2012
Connecticut Men's Basketball vs. Notre Dame
Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey
I couldn't be prouder of this group and what we're becoming, I hope. The run we're on right now to beat a really good team here. I think we didn't win any of the lose ball or rebounding battles in South Bend and that's why they kind of pushed us around. We were much more physical today and held our own. Again, I think we defended well. But the key is with us, we really controlled the tempo and that takes its toll on a team I think over 40 minutes when the offensive rhythm just isn't quite there.
To be 6-3 halfway through the league, if you would have told me that after the Indiana game or after Missouri beat us by 29. We were just trying to figure it out so I don't know. I'm really proud of this group and it's a lot of fun working with them. You can see them getting more confident every week.
We got some great looks. We missed some looks that maybe would have had us up by 15.
I think the tempo, first of all, is a big effect. You know, guys don't get as many shots. There's not as many possessions. I think it can really affect talented guys.
On fouling Jeremy Lamb with a 3 point lead with 2.3 seconds to go.
We haven't done that and we haven't worked on that. We've more guarded it out and switched everything. Something told me, it was kind of seat of the pants, let's do it. I'm not sure it was the right thing.