University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes
January 11, 2003 | Men's Basketball
NORTH CAROLINA COACH MATT DOHERTY
It may seem crazy to say it, but I'm as excited about my group as I've been. To be down 18 at the half against a good team like UVa and cut it to 6 with two minutes to play, as young as this team is, is encouraging.
We made a choice to go zone. They struggled against East Tennessee State's zone, they didn't shoot well against N.C. State, but they came out and shot well today. Todd Billet shot the ball well. Maybe we should have gotten out of the zone sooner, but we made the adjustment at halftime.
Rashad McCants only had four shots at halftime. In the second half we wanted to get him some more opportunities. We put him inside the zone and let him attack. We didn't attack the gaps in their zone in the first half.
We should have attacked them a little more around the foul line. We tried to dribble around their zone instead of dribbling through their zone.
[On Todd Billet] He's a tough kid and a very good shooter. He's just what they needed. He's a good shooter who can also be a secondary point guard.
VIRGINIA COACH PETE GILLEN
We beat a tremendous team today. I though we played extremely well in the first half. But we came out and played poorly in the second half. They were energized. We held them to 40% shooting, but if we could have rebounded the ball, it could have been even better.
[On Todd Billet] You can't just punch the clock. You have to put in the extra time in the gym. Todd did that this week. I though he was more aggressive today. His extra [practice] time gave him more confidence.
[On the return of Majestic Mapp] I was thrilled to have him back out on the court. Getting out there was a monumental victory for him. His coming back was probably more important than us winning the game, as great as the victory was. He's not nearly what the old Majestic was, but he's getting better. We'll take it day by day.
[On Keith Jenifer] He's getting better. He played against Raymond Felton, who is a high-profile point guard, and he didn't back down. He didn't get embarrassed or anything like that.
[On Travis Watson] They zoned a lot, especially in the first half, so it was tough to get him the ball. He worked pretty hard to get it. We were looking for him. He has to be maniacal looking for the ball. When he gets touches, good things usually happen.
[On Wednesday's game at Duke] Playing Duke, the number-one team in the country in Cameron, which is probably the toughest place in the country to play, we will give it our best. I really think we have a chance to win if we play our best.
