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UNC 90, Wyoming 74
March 24, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Recap| Box Score| Notes| Photo Gallery
Coach Matt Doherty Quotes - Wyoming
"First of all, I just want to thank that crowd. For 20,000 people to come in here and cheer us on - I think that is a credit to Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, all the great players and great teams that we've had here before us and to our guys for the way they play. They've captured the hearts of a lot of people in this state. Thank you to all those fans that drove long distances to come in here and support this team. It means a lot."
"I thought it was a great effort and a good basketball game. I thought it was tough for us to be up 17 going into half and to fight human nature with a young team to have to maintain that against a good team for 40 minutes is difficult. I was very impressed with Wyoming - Steve McClain's team to make a comeback and come within three, but I felt our kids were always in control. I don't think they ever lost their poise."
"We had some good shots that didn't go down and it was just a matter of time before some of them did go down and guys hit some big shots. ... It was just a great team effort."
On adjusting to Wyoming's zone defense ...
"It changes the tempo of the game. It was a good move by Steve (McClain) to change the momentum, change the pace. We had to get our shots in a different rhythm with different looks and it took us a few minutes to get acclimated to that and once we did we built our lead back."
On the crowd ...
"I was expecting a bigger crowd than the other day because it wasn't on TV and it was an eight o'clock game. Dick Baddour came to our shoot around about four o'clock today and said 17,000 seats had been sold at that point. ... During the course of the game I looked up and I didn't see many empty seats. It's Carolina basketball. That's why kids want to come here and play."
On Raymond Felton ...
"He has all the clich?s. The heart of a lion - his toughness, his enthusiasm, his competitiveness is contagious and I think that spreads to our guys. ... He doesn't care if he scores - he just wants to win. ... I'm lucky. I'm lucky to be his coach."
On Melvin Scott ...
"Melvin is shooting the ball extremely well. Since he's been starting and playing more our shooting percentages have gone up."
UNC Player Quotes
On owning the freshman record for assists...
"I just run out there and play. I give my teammates the ball and try to win the game. I didn't try to go for the record - I just went out there and played."
On if they're having fun in the NIT Tournament...
"Definitely. We're still playing, but we are disappointed we didn't make the NCAA. But we're going to try to make the best of this. We're in it, so we might as well try to win it."
On the crowd...
"The fans have been following us forever. They've been supportive this year. I love the fans. I thank them for supporting us - much love."
On when Wyoming cut the 20 point lead to 10...
"We didn't get impatient. They threw a zone at us, threw us a little off track. We were pushing the ball and playing the man-to-man drive. We didn't knock down shots at first, but we started penetrating the zone, getting open shots and we got the lead right back."
On if they're having fun...
"This is just another opportunity for us to play basketball, no matter where it is - NIT or NCAA. We're just going out and having fun, and we're getting some good wins."
On the crowd...
"The crowd has been great these last two games. With the students sitting all around it's been louder. The atmosphere is really good. It's Carolina basketball no matter where we're playing. A lot of people want to see us play, and they're coming out and giving us great support."
On if they can win the NIT...
"Definitely. We came in with that mindset. We're getting closer to a 20 win season - why stop there. We might as well go ahead and try to win this thing, and that's what we're going to try to do."
On what is going better for the offense...
"Coach defined our roles more. People who need to get shots and guys who need to get guys open to get shots - it works for us, and everybody has an understanding."
On what the players get from the crowd...
"I take whatever energy they give me and put it into the game. They've never been able to see us so close - it makes them more energetic."
On the crowd...
"Excellent. We have the best crowd in the world. Best ever - 21,000 - it's crazy. We owe them a lot. They've been behind us 100 percent. It's been a rollercoaster season and they never gave up on us. With fans like that, you're down, you're destined to play well. They were off the hook."
On if they're playing different basketball today...
"We're playing so unselfishly today. It's the bets basketball of the season. If we'd played like this the entire season, we'd be in the big games. We're learning, we're a young team. I think we're playing for next year."
Wyoming Head Coach Steve McClain
On Carolina's team and effort...
You could tell that they had done their homework on us. I think they were excited, and that's good. I like this (Carolina) team. It's a young team. There are some guys out there who are going to be doing good things here for a long time.
On the crowd...
It was a pretty good crowd out there. I think any time you can get 20,000 fans for an NIT game it says something about this program.
On Carolina's defense...
They fed off the crowd and when we turned it over, we just didn't take care of the basketball. They did a great job of getting up in us, but we didn't take care of it and that fed into a lot of layups for them. You can't win on the road giving up layups.
