"That's where we're better defensively. When we don't have good offensive stretches, we're still able to concentrate defensively.
It came around well enough to Cooley for a double-double, 13 points and 11 rebounds. He led a Notre Dame inside brigade that generated a 33-27 rebounding edge.
There were plenty of reasons for motivation.
-- It could be the dark green on black "secret agent" uniforms, as Brey called them.
"These things are awesome," Cooley said, looking at the shirt that has barely visible lettering. "I don't want to give them back. I just might walk out of here."
nþIt might have had something to do with Notre Dame's football success.
"With all the football things happening, we wanted to make the statement that Notre Dame was going to beat the (Southeastern Conference)."
The Irish will play the SEC champion, either Georgia or Alabama, in the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7.
-- Or, it could have been revenge for losing an 11-point lead and the game to Kentucky two years ago.
"Last time, our lead was because Ben (Hansbrough) was hitting a bunch of shots (in the first half)," Cooley said. "No one really picked up the slack when he went cold. This time, we wanted to be a little more team consistent. We wanted to beat them as one; not one player, one unit."
Mission accomplished. Storm the floor.
Build for the long haul.
