Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino

(Opening Statement) "Well we achieved our goal tonight on getting part of that double bye. That was one of our goals this season, to get in the top four. I'm real proud of our guys. Anas (Mahmoud) did not have it tonight, and didn't play physical enough and Mangok (Mathiang) gave us a tremendous lift with a great basketball game. What a great senior night for him. Quentin Snider, Deng Adel, and Donovan Mitchell, with the game on the line, just came up big for us offensively. Down the stretch, we did some really good things with the game on the line, defensively. I thought that was a blocked shot there, and I have to watch the film to see if it was. It was excellent defense, and offense, when the game was on the line and that is what you want to see."

(Both of teams using defensive timeouts. What were you saying?) "Well what they were doing is they were not guarding…they were sort of playing like a triangle and two and letting the four and five catch the basketball. We have to make some moves in the lane and we knocked over a guy one time, and took a straight on jump shot, and then started moving our offense down below the foul line and we got a lot better shots by doing that. I can't say enough about Quentin Snider, Donovan Mitchell, and Deng Adel with the game on the line, how big they came up. I think the schedule we have played has prepared us for these moments. I knew it was an inexperienced team, but when you play Baylor, Wichita State, a healthy Indiana, Kentucky, Purdue, the Big Ten champions, and of course the ACC meat grinder, you are prepared for these moments, and these big moments where you have to make the shot. Quentin Snider came up big as well as Donovan (Donovan Mitchell) and Deng (Deng Adel)."

(Elaborate on Mangok.) "Well we wanted to go inside tonight and move the basketball. We shot the ball way to quick in the beginning and that is why we got down. We didn't even give our rebounders a chance to rebound the ball. Then we started going inside and working it the right way, and we got a lot of good buckets. When they went zone, they didn't play the four, five and that is something we have to work on this week."

(Defense?) "We played all man. You can't play them in matchup zone. We were very aggressive on our man. We still have a lot of work to do with Quentin and Donovan getting off screens. Russ (Smith) and Peyton (Siva) did such a fabulous job of once they passed the screen of getting over it without being clipped. Have to work on Donovan (Mitchell) and Q (Quentin Snider) not getting clipped, but overall it was a good defensive performance."

(Change anything on Vasturia?) "When you play Notre Dame, it is a personnel game. You have to take away the right hand with no question. We gave it a few times, but you have to take away the right hand. Overall we did a good job of, especially at the end, of switching correctly, and playing good man-to-man defense. You can't get behind when you play a team like Notre Dame. We have been losing like Wake Forest because we put people to the foul line. The numbers that you look at, and that is why some of the numbers I don't agree with. I've said we haven't been a good defensive team because when you put the team to the line an incredible number of times, the percentages are really much higher. Tonight, they shot 12 free throws and we were 14-for-16. We are going to have a good chance of winning when we do that."

(Mangok getting his cell phone back) "Both of those guys (Deng Adel and Mangok Mathiang) now are getting everything back, we said until the end of the season and they've been on curfew for the last month, so they finally get a chance to go out and they'll probably do something stupid and be suspended for the ACC Tournament."

(Deng Adel shooting the ball even when struggling) "Look I'm not worried about his offense, he's got to pick up his defense. He ran into too many screens tonight. He needs to pick up his defense. I was really pleased with the way Mangok (Mathiang) talk, the way Mangok switched. Mangok did things tonight and gave us a big lift. He had 18 points and 11 rebounds, I believe. Deng just has to get better defensively like Q (Quentin Snider) and Donovan (Mitchell). We still have so much room for growth and tonight we played all man-to-man. We worked on defense all man-to-man all week because they're a tough team to guard. They can score at all five positions, Colson's (Bonzie Colson) a terrific basketball player and I thought we did a pretty good job on him."

(Snider playing big near the end of the game) "I think he has tremendous moxie. I think Q (Quentin Snider) has no fear of failure, which is great. I don't think Donovan (Mitchell) does either and I don't think Deng (Adel) does. In the beginning of the year, Deng (Adel) did and Donovan (Mitchell) a little bit, but all three of those guys I don't think have fear of failure. I think they have fear when they make a defensive mistake but I don't think they have fear on offense which is what you want to see."

(Comforting to have three guys that can step up down the stretch in tight games) "I think our schedule this year has been a meat grinder. It really has been and I think it's helped us evolve. I was hoping that it would end this way. I was really hoping. I was hoping I didn't bury them mentally or physically. I didn't expect to have this type of record, I didn't expect to be 24-7, I was hoping to be 22-9 or 21-10, something like that with this type of schedule, but they got through it, they did a great job and it's made us a much better basketball team because of it."

(Looking ahead to the post-season) "Look if we don't win it, I'll be shocked. (humorously) I don't know what to think, I really don't know what to think. I know they're going to give me great effort. I know they're going to try their best and anything can happen. The thing I've noticed always in my life, in every run for the roses, so-to-speak to the Final Four, it's always guys that you don't expect that stick out. In 1987 in Freedom Hall, it's Billy Donovan and Delray Brooks that get taken out of the game by Georgetown and it was Darryl Wright, our seventh man, who became the MVP. In 2013, we don't go to the championship game unless Tim Henderson hits those shots against Wichita State. It's always the unexpected guy because everybody's scouting us to stop the better players. So, it was a big lift tonight for Mangok (Mathiang) to come on because that gives you four weapons. We have to get Ray (Spalding) tougher, he coughed the ball up too much and that's something we'll work on this week."

(Does that add anything for you though with the tournament in Brooklyn?) " I think it is for me, obviously being a New Yorker and going back to the Barclays Center I'm curious how it turns out. You know our fans. We starting going maybe with 50 to 100 fans in the Big East. We ended up getting 1,500 people there, so New York is the greatest city in the world. Best restaurants, best theater, best opera, best social life. It is just an awesome place. You know it's a special place. New York is the greatest place to visit if you are a non-New Yorker. If you are a New Yorker its great because they are not like you sick people, they don't take sports real serious. It's not their life or their religion. If the Giants lose they immediately switch and pay attention to something else. There is no senior nights like Louisville or Kentucky or Kansas and it is really, really special how the people care. You know seniors, senior night is something really special here because the fans care so much for the players and that doesn't happen in many places. You know it is probably less than five that you see this and these guys are very, very lucky. I told them before the game that some of you guys may play in the NBA, but you will never experience the love that you get from our fans and as a coach you it feels the same way. I will feel the same way when I leave and pack it in and move on. I am just going to remember how special it was coaching at this place because it is really a special feeling and I am so happy for our seniors. I was so happy for Mangok and the way he went out like that and now we will keep improving, keep getting better. This is a team can accomplish anything because of their attitude and we will see what happens in the tournament. We like to play some of the teams that beat us."

Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey

(Opening statement) "That had a NCAA tournament feel to it, huh? What a great college game. Give credit to Louisville. I thought a couple of guys made big, big shots when they needed to and Adel's three over a Steve Vasturia challenge was the difference. I love our group. We gave ourselves a chance. It was hard to score against Louisville's defense. They're really hard to deal with, with their length. Again, they made some big plays and big shots when they had to."

(On Deng Adel's three-point shot late in the game) "Yeah, I loved where we were at. You know, we're playing around with zone and going big. That really helped us. I figured let's go zone and I want somebody to hit a jump shot to beat us instead of a tip dunk or a drive. And he hit it, so you take your hat off to him in an afternoon like this."

(On if he anticipated Mangok Mathiang's performance) "Maybe a little bit. He got some great angles on us. We probably didn't do as good a job of contesting him early. He got a couple of put-backs, didn't he? He was on that backboard. He had six offensive rebounds. That's where he hurt us. And you know, their size wears on you over 40 minutes and their front line did wear us down a little bit."

(On using a bigger lineup) "I'm so pleased with Martin Geben right now. Martin Geben started for us and then he DNP'd for a couple of games and in this atmosphere against that front line, to do what he did, he's playing better now than he did when he started. And it comes at a right time. I'm looking at a positive coming out of here even though we lost. We've got another big that can help us in the postseason."

(On how Martin Geben has been practicing) "We weren't practicing long enough this time of year to show it. I had Ryan Humphrey work him out in the morning and just spend time with him and tell him we need him. Now, I haven't talked for two weeks. I'm just cold-shouldering his backside. I haven't even looked at him. Now today, I told him great, you're back, we need you. But, now I'm not going to talk to him until we play. Sometimes tough love helps."

(On balancing rebounding and playing a small lineup) "It's the $20 million question with who we are. Are we efficient enough with the small lineup, at making enough shots that we can absorb offensive rebounds? Tonight we couldn't – what did they get? 16 (rebounds) – tonight we weren't efficient enough offensively. What did we score? 64. You know, you couldn't get efficient enough, that' why we went big for a while and we did some difference things. Which, when I watched it, I said, 'okay that can help us moving forward' because we hadn't played that way in awhile."

(On V.J. Beachem playing well in March) "He's been on a pretty good roll anyways, I hope he continues. Our guys are excited for March. Brooklyn's been good to us. We're excited to go to Brooklyn and play up there. Excited to know that a week from tomorrow we'll show up on Selection Sunday. That makes a coach's offseason really good. When you show up on that board on Sunday, your offseason is pretty good. You don't show up on that board, it can be a tough offseason."

(On the ACC Tournament) "It's unbelievable. It's going to be great. I think it's going to be great in New York. I think it's new for some of our other Southern friends. You think they can find their from Manhattan to Brooklyn? The Clemson fans with their big orange jackets? They're like targets man. I can't wait to see that. But, I think it's awesome. When we first got to the league, and Louisville came a year after, Jamie Dixon, Jim Boeheim, and myself, in the first league meetings we attended, they made us talk about how thrilling it was, and obviously Louisville fans know, it was playing in New York for your league tournament. I thought there'd be blowback and that night at the cocktail hour I had, you know, the Associate AD from Florida State, 'Man, that sounds great. That sounds exciting.' So, I think it's awesome that we'll be up there for two years and what a league. This league is unbelievable and we're just thrilled we survived most of it."

(On how he feels about the top four seeds still being undecided) "Yeah, I told our guys, you know what, I know some things can happen to give us the four seed. If we're the five seed, we'll just play Wednesday. I'm tired. I don't have any energy to root for anybody else. I gotta root for my own guys. So, if it happens and we're a four that's great because it's difficult to get to Saturday night if you don't have the double bye. That's just the reality. But, we'll be ready to play whenever they ask us."

(On if there's any frustration about almost getting first place but possibly finishing fifth)
"We'd still be tied for second. We'd just be the fifth seed. I'm going to tweet that out. 'Still tied for second even though we're the fifth seed'. You know our group, they're already thinking about Brooklyn. I turn the page quick. We give Louisville a heck of a lot of credit. They were good and made big winning plays. And what a great atmosphere this is. Our guys always love playing here. It's such a basketball place. Great environment."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Mangok Mathiang

Donovan Mitchell

Quentin Snider

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