BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 8, 2000

Kevin Bannon

COACH BANNON: Well, you've just got to take your hat off to Notre Dame. They obviously were very well prepared. I thought they just got off to such a terrific start at both ends. They played their zone very, very well, matched up, did a terrific job with that. We didn't get a lot of good looks early, we missed some shots early. I thought we lost some offensive confidence, took a long time to get that back. I think most importantly they just did a great job running their offense. They got us very early in the game on our heels. The game at Rutgers this year we really disrupted their offense and were able to get after them a little bit and I think, you know, what they did tonight was put us on their heels. We were really chasing them around. And then when they made shots early, I thought that just, you know, we knew that was going to be tough. When they're making shots, that gives Troy that much more room to operate. When you have to worry about both, that's when this is a team that could play with anybody in the country, in my estimation. So to me, that's what it was all about. Making those shots early and doing a pretty good job of, I thought, in their zone most of the night.

COACH BANNON: Well, I know they had a lot to play for. They sure played like it. They really did a great job. You know, that's -- that looked like a team that, you know, really had something in mind and was out to achieve something and, like I said, we played them at Rutgers. We really were able to really get them out of the their offensive flow. Tonight, you know, I think Matt really had them ready. They cut so hard and they ran their offense so well that we just -- we just really had a hard time taking them out of anything they ran.

COACH BANNON: Yeah, I mean I think last game it was a very emotional thing for Troy coming back to Jersey and our fans were on him and all that stuff. He's about as tough a cookie as there is. And, you know, he was struggling a little bit. That's very unusual for Troy Murphy. Tonight, I think he was clearly a very confident, determined guy, and I -- I thought he did a great job of knowing that the other guys were shooting the ball well and I thought his shot selection was excellent. He could have scored more tonight, let's put it that way. He really got the other guys involved. Like I say, when they're making those shots and he's playing with that kind of confidence, it's murder. It's really hard on your kids emotionally to be chasing them all around and all of a sudden, bang, a three, then Troy makes a terrific move. It was a very tough night defensively for us.

COACH BANNON: Yeah, it's -- I mean we definitely have some young guys. It's going to be an important off season for us, not that our season's over. But I think it's a very important off season for us because we do have a good nucleus of young guys. This is a critical off season. We have a trip in August where we'll go away. Yeah, I mean I'm very excited about the young talent that we have. But, you know, Notre Dame, I mean those guys, young guys got to bring it. You know, and I think when our guys can be a little bit more consistent, I think we'll reap some of the benefits that the other teams are reaping right now.

COACH BANNON: I've been asked that a lot. Unless they've changed the precedent, I mean anybody that's ever been 500 I think has gone in our league, and I don't see why that would stop. I mean I think in recent history there were some 500 teams that had Non-Division One wins. I don't know why we wouldn't go.

COACH BANNON: Our season really has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride. We've seemed to kind of put something to bed and then something else pops up. Last four games of the year we got off to bad starts. 85 percent of the year we were a very quick-starting team, really did a good job early defensively. To say that it's been an odd year for us, it really has. It's been a tough year for us. Like I said, this last couple games it's just digging holes that we can't get out of, has been the pattern.

COACH BANNON: I don't know if it's fatigue. I don't think -- I really don't think it's fatigue.

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