UNC-NCSU Postgame Quotes

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams

Opening Statement
"I congratulate Kevin and his staff. They've done a really nice job. His club has gotten better and better as the season has gone along. [Omer] Yurtseven is really a threat inside and challenges every shot inside. He scores inside and he also defends inside. It is difficult and you've got congratulate Allerik [Freeman]. Seven-for-seven from the three-point line is pretty good. Markell [Johnson] with eleven assists and 3 turnovers. That is good basketball. You've got to congratulate them. I was not pleased with the way we played. We missed a bunch of free throws. We missed some lay ups. We turned it over on two times when it was a crucial time in the game. We almost had a miraculous steal there [in overtime] and sort of panicked and threw it away. I put the biggest guy we had on the ball to make the inbound pass. When the ball comes to [Sterling Manley], he is a freshman and panicked. That's on me. That's not him. We go four-for-nineteen [from the three-point line] with Luke [Maye] making three of them and Andrew [Platek] making one. We have got to shoot the ball better. We have got to defend better. We outrebounded them, but they outscored us on the second chance points. We have to finish our opportunities and defend around the rim better than we are."

On what is most correctable
"I think making shots would definitely help. There is no question about that. We have got to cut down on their second shot opportunities. One big possession early on, they miss and [Omer] Yurtseven got the rebound and put it back in. They were up one and that put them up three. We have to finish the defense by getting a better box out and getting the ball. I also think the execution down the stretch. You cannot have two turnovers in three possessions when it's a one possession game."

On if he had known he was going to be 5-4 through nine ACC games
"I would have been discouraged. I just want us to play better. That's my only thing. We need to move better on offense. A lot of times we really needed a shot, and someone was wide open and shoots it and it goes in. That didn't happen today. We aren't ready to panic or abandon the ship. Even when we won four straight, I came in the press conference and said we needed to play better."

N.C. State Head Coach Kevin Keats

Opening Statement
"Well guys, give Carolina a lot of credit. What an unbelievable game, a game that went back and forth. Obviously, we played a very good basketball team on their home floor with great tradition and we give our guys credit. I thought we fought all the way until the end. It was one of those games where I thought whoever got stops at the end would be able to win the game and certainly I thought our guys did. When you look at our guys and when you look at the stat sheet, I thought we had tremendous effort from a lot of our guys and a lot of our guys had career-highs in the ACC. I thought Markell Johnson's play was extremely outstanding. When you look at him, he had 20 points and 11 assists. I thought Al Freeman really shot the ball well, going seven-for-seven for three, but I'm proud of these guys. Great coaching win. Great team win."

On Markell Johnson's shooting
"He's a very good basketball player but he's a guy that – and I love it because we call this part of our winner's stats – he'll come in and he'll pass the ball and he'll leave the game if he has no points and 15 assists, and he's happy. I love that about him, but I also told him that in the position that you're in, for this particular team, we need him to score the ball also."

On N.C. State's defensive intensity and stops at end of game
"I think, and I've always said this, typically my teams get a little stronger at the end. Reason being is because I think we're in a little bit better shape that everybody else. Not to say that [Carolina wasn't] in shape, but I just think our conditioning tends to kick in at the end of the game."

On tying North Carolina in the ACC standings (5-4)
"I think for me, I try not to give these guys a caution trade on each individual school in the league. Obviously, we know some outstanding programs in the league, Carolina being one, but we just talk about being in the race. I try not to get them to focus on the top tier. We stay the course and we try to focus on the next opponent, and certainly today, North Carolina was the next opponent."

Cameron Johnson, Graduate Guard
On what the team needs to do differently
"We just have to defend. We have to defend better and play with more urgency. Beyond that, we just need to want it a little bit more and it's just a matter of getting it done."

On shift in play after Clemson game
"I think it's just a matter of not making shots. Everybody goes through it. Just for a lot of us to go through it at the same time is a little rough, but I still have confidence in everybody and their ability to make shots. I don't think it means anything from the standpoint for a team that cannot shoot. I just think we had a couple rough shooting games."

On whether record should be higher
"Yes, we should be better than 5-4 in the ACC, but there's nothing we can do about a game we already played. What we need to do is we need to move on. It's just a little bit of adversity right now and we just have to kind of stay composed and keep pushing and keep getting better."

Theo Pinson, Senior Forward
On NC State's three-point shooting success
"It's just tough, because [Omar] Yurtseven is really good. When he pops out, you have to account for him. You have to help Luke and whoever the other big is, also. When they kick it out, they have to have players to make those shots and they did. So, that hurt us."

On whether this feels like an important point in the season
"We don't have time to have a little pity party. We have to get ready for Tuesday against Clemson who is going to be ready for us. We beat them here and they're going to want to protect home court. We have to get back in the lab and get better."

Kenny Williams, Junior Guard
On steal at the end of overtime
"We were trying to get a steal and I gambled a little bit and we came away with it. Sterling [Manley] was falling out of bounds. He did everything he could. He tried to keep the ball in play. It just so happened that none of us went to get it… I went and told him not to worry about it. Don't dwell on it, don't let it take over your whole life. Learn from it. At the end of the day that's all we can do. That was the first time he had been in that situation, so all he can do is learn."

On his 3-point shooting
"Teams are paying a little more attention to me. I can hear the other coaches. For example, today I can hear their coach or their bench saying 'get Kenny, get Kenny' as they're going to transition. I mean, I'm not doing anything different. I don't feel like I'm doing anything different. I've got to find it. I have to do a better job. I have to get in the gym. I've got to find it so I can be a bigger offensive threat, but I can't let that take over my whole game… I've got to work a little bit harder to get those open looks now that I'm the focus of a team's defense… I've had guys step up and score the ball when I'm not shooting it or when I'm not getting hot…I'm still shooting the shots. I'm thinking that everyone is going in even though I haven't made one in three games. I feel like in all three of those games, every one of them is going in. My confidence isn't lower. Like I said, it's just a matter of the ball not going in."

Players Mentioned

Cameron Johnson

Sterling Manley

Theo Pinson

Kenny Williams

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