University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-NCSU Postgame Quotes
January 16, 2016 | Men's Basketball
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement
“Well, we feel very fortunate. It's a weird game. They shoot 48%. We shoot 38%, but it's a very hard fought game. I thought in the first half that Mark [Gottfried]'s club was the aggressor. I thought they were first to the loose balls, and they killed us on the offensive backboards in the first six minutes of the game. After that in the first half, it was fairly even. Story in the first half was Nate Britt was the only guy that gave us a chance. I thought he really picked us up defensively and in the second half I thought Nate and Joel [Berry] defensively and Kennedy [Meeks] on the offensive end. Plus, Kennedy had two or three blocks in the second half too, so defensively, we were much better in the second half. They shoot 46% in the first half and 33% in the second half. Like I said, it was a weird game. Brice [Johnson] was three for six, plays 18 minutes because he's got four fouls. Marcus [Paige] was one for nine. Some strange things going on, but Joel Berry was 5-9. Everyone else on the perimeter was four for 28. We're going to shoot the ball in the basket some games. We really will. I keep saying that, but we're going to do it before I die. Kennedy was 10 for 16, 10 for 14 in the second half. Everybody else was less than 30%. For us, our depth has always been a positive. I think Isaiah [Hicks] and Nate really kept us in the game in the first half, and then Kennedy really was much better in the second half. We've got to rebound the defensive board a lot better. There's no question about that. Points off of turnovers, we had 17 to their four. They had 18 turnovers. We had 9, so that was good for us as well. It wasn't the prettiest basketball game I've ever coached, to say the least.”
On the team's depth
“I told them in the locker room that that's a good thing for our team. Marcus one for nine, Brice three for six, Theo zero for five. You've got some guys that can't throw it in the ocean from the beach, and you still are able to squeeze out a win. I do think that I always try to recruit for and coach with as much depth as I can try to build. Luke [Maye] gave us a couple of good minutes. Luke had two or three offensive rebounds. Luke had four rebounds in seven minutes, so even he gave us a lift in the first half too.”
On the defensive strategy against Cat Barber
“We tried to keep him contained. Nate, in the first half, was good defensively on him, and I thought Joel was good. Joel almost blocked a shot. Cat didn't even take it from the corner. He ended up dropping the ball. I think just keeping him in front of you. The big guys did a better job on the screen on the ball too.”
“In the first half, he didn't deserve to play anymore. In the second half, he really did deserve to keep playing. I told him at half time, you're always concerned about yourself. If you want to play more, you play better. It's a pretty easy deal. Head coaches have no favorites. I do not like one guy better than I do the other, and I do not dislike anybody. If you're freaking playing, you get more minutes. In the second half, Kennedy was playing."
N.C. State Head Coach Mark Gottfried
Opening Statement
“First of all we're disappointed, but at the same time I'm really proud. I thought our kids gave a great effort. I thought there were some things in the second half that changed the game. Number one was their ability to get offensive rebounds I thought hurt us, and our turnovers. I probably think those two things probably magnified the difference of them having a better second half than we did. They went inside, if they didn't score it they shot it, went and got it off the rim. So that was probably the difference of the game. At the same time, like I said, there's a lot of reasons for us not to come in here and play hard. You know, we've lost some games. Guys can be down. North Carolina is really, really good. This is a really good basketball team this year that Roy [Williams] has. They're deep. They can score; they're averaging 88 points a game. And our guys, in the first half, wow they were terrific. We're sitting there 29 all, and the second half, like I said, probably their depth maybe wore us down a little bit. But their ability to get a second-shot basket and our inability to execute our offense very well and turn it over, those two things hurt us more than anything. So we're disappointed, but I'm really proud and we're gonna keep swinging. We're gonna get better and we're going to find a way. So that's what we got to do.”
On what they did to contain Marcus Paige
“[It was] one of the things we put on the board obviously. You know, there's a lot of things. You've got a team scoring 88. So number one is we're going to figure out how to guard them and not let them play in the eighties and nineties. I thought we accomplished that; you know they have 29 [points] at the half. And second, for us, is Marcus Paige, and that guy has been amazing against us every time we've played him. I started Cody [Martin] on him, and we rotated Cody and Cat [Barber], and those two guys have a little bit of size. I think they did a good job, but I also think Marcus is very unselfish too. I think, the second half, he didn't force shots. They went inside a little bit more. But I was proud of Cody, starting the game on him. And that was a big thing for us, is not to let Paige get going, and we accomplished that.”
On having more balanced scoring
“I think for us, we have to be more balanced. Now I say that, but we need Cat to score more. He's a good scorer, a good player, a good scoring point guard. I thought they did a nice job of keeping a fresh body on him, whether it was Nate [Britt], [Joel] Berry. They just kept fresh bodies on him, probably wore him down just a little bit. But I did think Abdul-Malik [Abu]'s effort was phenomenal. I thought the way that we ran our offense helped us. BeeJay [Anya] had a couple nice moves. Caleb [Martin] and Cody both contributed there. So our balance was better, we just didn't have enough of it in the second half.”
North Carolina Player Quotes
On his strong return
“It just gives me confidence. I can be one of the players on this team; I know the guys are having a good game. That's something about our team; someone is always going to pick it up. Our depth is crazy and it showed today. “
On the strength of the team
“We are capable of that depth. Isaiah [Hicks] is capable of coming off of the bench and having a monster game, Joel [Berry II] is, whoever may be, Theo [Pinson]. So today we kind of showed that in different spurts. Isaiah in the first half was demanding the ball. Him and Nate [Britt] were playing intense in the first half and no one else was. So that's the team that we are.”
On blocking shots in the second half
“That's kind of the stuff I have been working on. It's all about effort though. I mean in the second half, I think that as a team we showed a lot more effort. In the first half we kind of stunk it up, coming into that half with it tied up. Coach [Williams] got on us a little bit, and I don't think that anyone wanted to look back at that.”
Isaiah Hicks, F
On success in the inside in the second half
“First half they just outplayed us. Coach was mad, and it's the type of stuff we have to not let happen in the first half. Second half we came back with energy and more effort, and it took care of itself.”
On providing energy off the bench
“That's my job, I guess. Just come off the bench and provide energy. If the first four minutes aren't going to well, we will go in. One of us has to provide energy if we are going to win. Somebody has to do it.”
On the team's depth
“It's very important in the long run. It gives the bench time to rest. It just shows all of our leading scorers didn't have the games they wanted, but we still came out and played hard, and we won. It shows it just doesn't have to be Marcus [Paige] or Brice [Johnson] or even Justin [Jackson] to score 20 tonight. It is a team thing.”
Marcus Paige, G
On the win
“This is not what we expected and a crazy game offensively, but to still win by 12 against a tough ACC team that rebounds as well as State does is a positive thing. Obviously we didn't play as well as we wanted to, but to have our three best scorers play the way we did and to still put them away and not make it a question at the end of the game is still pretty impressive.”
