University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC 68, UConn 65
January 18, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2003
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Head Coach Matt Doherty
"I'm extremely proud of my team. For a young team to go against a team of UConn's stature and ability is tough. They press, they've got great talent and to answer that run, especially at the end was big. Raymond executed the play and hit Jawad for a big, big, big, big shot.
"I'm making a public statement that my relationship with Raymond is very good, and I encourage you to ask our players about me and my relationship with them. It's not to say we don't disagree at times - that's coaching. I push and prod, but there's respect there."
On Byron Sanders... "Byron Sanders made huge foul shots. His play in that zone was very intelligent. He made some subtle adjustments at the end."
On playing without Sean May... "4-2 since Sean May. We certainly miss Sean, but if and when he comes back, we're going to be that much better."
On the Smith Center crowd... "The crowd was unbelievable again tonight. We couldn't ask for better support from (the fans)."
On the magnitude of the win... "I've never been in circumstances quite like this. It does remind me of the Wake Forest win at home. Obviously a different time, but a great win at a great time."
On the long UConn rally... "We kept telling the guys, 'We've got to score, we've got to be aggressive.' We got stagnant and made some turnovers, we got too impatient. That's youth - being in that situation against a team that presses and has that kind of energy. But the bottom line is that we won by three against a great team and a great coach."
On the team's growth... "I would have like to have handled the ball a little better. I thought we tried to force some things, I didn't think our movement was great. But the fact that they took the lead and we came back and Jawad made that basket was huge.
"We know we've got to play hard for 40 minutes to win, especially in the ACC."
On the team's emotion... "I definitely want a show of emotion. I've never told them not to wave to the crowd and pump their fists. I did that when I played, usually it was when someone else was scoring. It's what we talked about before the Clemson game. It was our theme - 'Energy and emotion.'
UNC Player Quotes
On the win... "I feel great. I knew we were going to come in, we were going to beat them. I had a lot of confidence about that. We've played against Kansas, different teams like that and we beat them. It wasn't any different. They're a great team, they have great athletes, great shooters, they can drive the ball to the basket. It was a tough test for us, and we passed it. I felt that we had the upper hand on them, and it would be hard for them to come back from that lead."
On UConn taking the lead with about a minute left... "I didn't panic. I knew we'd get a great shot. I had confidence that one of my teammates was going to take it. I know everybody was thinking in their minds that I was going to take the shot, but I have confidence in my teammates that they can take the big shots. I know I want to take the big shots, and I'm capable of taking the big shots. But I don't worry about it because I know my teammates can make those shots too."
On the upcoming game against Maryland... "It's going to be a great college basketball game. They can expect us to go out, play hard and hopefully get a win."
On the win... "I feel really good about the win. It doesn't get any better than this. College basketball, in front of our home crowd - all the fans ran out there. It felt really good."
On McCants' free throws... "That was big. I wasn't nervous about it. I knew Rashad would hit those free throws. He's a clutch player, and he played a great game tonight."
On UConn taking the lead... "I wasn't really nervous. I knew we still had another possession and we have enough scorers on this team to get the job done."
On Carolina's initial lead... "I was kind of shocked. They're a great team, and hats of to them, but we played with a lot of heart tonight and that's what let us win."
On the win... "This is just huge for us and our confidence on getting back to where we were when we played Kansas and Stanford. It was really big."
On his free throws... "I've told you guys before - I'm very confident at the free throw line even though my percentage right now is not too great. In the clutch, I'm trying to make big plays.
On the first half... "I just wanted to come out and play like I was playing in high school. It's just having fun, smiling, getting the crowd into it...all that kind of stuff."
On the initial lead... "It just sent them the message that we were going to play tonight, and that we weren't going to back down because of their record or because of their shooters or because of their big man - we were just going to play hard.
UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun
"First thing, I'd like to congratulate North Carolina. I thought obviously their 20-3 start filled them with energy."
"We in turn got defeated by the fact that we couldn't make shots early and allowed ourselves to feel bad for ourselves. We started to right the ship, but it was too late to make it happen."
"I said the first question would be about the last 31 seconds because the first 30 seconds in Connecticut are never played. We tried to work to foul on a little delay. We said as soon as it gets down to 20 we'll grab him. Felton, I think we had, and then we had Williams. We had a list of guys to grab. The only thing I think I could have done was to tell them to cover Williams for the jumpshot. Actually, the game was settled before then, unless we made a miracle three. We did a poor job. After the game ended, I said, 'Ben why?' and he said, 'Why would we foul him?'" I said because there's a new rule they just put in that says they don't have to shoot again.
"Regardless we made a mental error that didn't cost us the game. As a matter of fact we got a better three-point shot than we would have. But that's not the game. The game is 20-3. The game is having Taliek Brown having the guts to bring us back. Some people don't think he's very good, but he really got it going. Ben played poorly. Tony played awful. Emeka had about blocked about 15 shots, but he had five in the first half and one in the second half. Did anyone watch the game? Did you only see one block in the second half? ... I would like to see him at least get credit for what he does."
"Bottom line is I would give credit to North Carolina, and I would give discredit to us. We played very poorly."
"We were down 20-3 and we came back and with under a minute to go we lead by one."
"We put ourselves in predicaments on the road. Today we found ourselves only in a 17-point hole. The good thing is we're doing at home too. This is the fifth straight game we've trailed by 10 or more."
"I thought they played with great energy. I thought McCants and Felton were a terrific backcourt. I thought their other kids scrapped and got loose balls and made a difference. I thought Matt did a good job of getting his kids ready, and our team wasn't ready to step into one of what I consider to be the best places to play basketball in the country."
