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University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
UNC-Gonzaga Quotes
December 16, 2018 | Men's Basketball
North Carolina 103, Gonzaga 90 • December 15, 2018
Postgame Quotes
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement
"It was a big-time game. One of the best crowds we've ever had for a nonconference December game. That just says a lot about their program, too. Defensively, I thought at times we had been much better than we had been, but you guys saw it yourselves. We had two-out-of-three plays we didn't even know who the dickens we were guarding down there... We made shots. I thought we rebounded the ball really well. I thought we worked on the offensive glass and got baskets to put us in. I mean that's an amazing stat – 27 points off of offensive rebounds. Also, it's an amazing stat, they got 29 points off our turnovers. The biggest negative of the game no question was just turnovers. Just simple guard-to-guard passes. I mean I've never seen anything like that… Takeaway the turnovers and the miscommunication on the defensive end of the floor, there are several times I thought we really did some good things. We made a bunch of shots. I've been telling Cam [Johnson], Kenny [Williams] and Luke [Maye] that 'you guys are our best shooters, how 'bout trying to be our best makers?' I thought Cam was really something tonight. Luke is stepping up. They cut it to eight, and I think that's when Luke made a tough one on the baseline. He gets fouled and goes seven-for-seven from the free throw line. Between 20 points and 16 rebounds is a big night for him as well. But if we don't play really, really well, we can't win this game."
Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Few
On North Carolina's performance tonight
"They made shots. I mean they really, really shot the ball really well from a variety of spots. They just pounded us on the glass, too. I mean we tried – as best as we could with limited practices and limited bodies – tried to mimic how hard they go to the glass and they did a great job. The shots we did get them to miss, they usually got the rebound and put it back in."
On the appeal of playing the game
"Oh, everything is appealing about it. First of all, the guy I have more respect for in the business than Coach [Roy] Williams. These are two big-time programs. When you play games like this in December, I think college basketball gets noticed and people make it instead of waiting until February to pay attention. It's the right time and the right game to play. With that being said, I really loaded up on the schedule for this particular team and it's going to be a tough little run here, but I'd definitely do it again, especially with this group of guys. Again, Carolina was just fantastic all night tonight. Shooting it, rebounding it and defended our ball screen action pretty good."
On UNC versus other top teams played so far
"Look, the way they were tonight, they were terrific. They were right up there with anyone we've played especially on the glass. We haven't been beat like that on the glass all year and we certainly haven't given up over 50 percent both halves."
On UNC being a tough matchup
"Again, they come at you, come at you and keep coming at you. Coby [White] at the point was playing a great pace and they create some tough mismatches with [Luke] Maye, and Cam Johnson was shooting the heck out of it tonight. Then obviously, just the rebounds. They take shots you want them to take or you defend pretty well and then they just clean up on the glass. That is one thing we are going to have to get a lot better at if we want to accomplish what we want to accomplish."
Cameron Johnson, Graduate Guard
On the game
"We came out with a different kind of energy than we've had in previous games. I thought that was really big for us. We really got on the boards so that was a big use for us… We made shots… We turned the ball over way too many times and had a couple defensive lapses that we can improve. So, definitely errors we can improve, but overall it was a good effort.
On whether shooting was different tonight
"No. Except in shoot around I was going around saying 'This is our day, This is our day.' We've been slumping for nine games now. You'd think we'd break through one game, and this was it. So, we're capable of it. We make shots in practice, we make shots all day long. We've got guys that can really shoot the ball and today was the day we made a couple."
On whether the atmosphere had an impact tonight
"Yeah, the atmosphere was great – it was like a big-time conference game… The crowd did a great job, the fans did a great job, so we really appreciate that."
Luke Maye, Senior Forward
On reaching 1,000 career points
"There's not a lot of people that thought I would get to 1,000. I had confidence in myself and I knew Coach [Roy Williams] had confidence in me. That's really all that matters. My family supported me. I think that's big for me. But beside the fact, that's a big win. It's really about what we put in on the defensive end and that is huge for us."
On individual accolades being satisfying
"It's nice, but I think the biggest thing is that we have lost two games this season and we cannot lose anymore. We are coming together defensively and Cam [Johnson] did an unbelievable job tonight on the ball and we rebounded the ball really well which was huge."
On how much Roy Williams talks about turnovers
"He brings it up a lot. That's just kind of how he is. He wants to play the perfect game and we are nothing like that. But, we can come as close to perfect as he wants. The biggest thing is we came out with the victory and it's a lot happier locker room in there."
Kenny Williams, Senior Guard
On the importance of this win
"I think we needed it to show ourselves how good we can be. We see everyone talking about how Carolina's defense is horrible and all that, so we just needed to show ourselves how good we can be and the potential we can play with going deeper into the season."
On Coby White's impact to the team
"He brings a different pace and aggressiveness. He gets the ball and as you can see, he is gone. He is not waiting for anybody. He is going to get the ball and try and get to the rim every time he gets the ball. It forces us to play faster on offense because we have to keep up with him."
On Seventh Woods' performance
"He finished the first half. That was all him... He was just being aggressive looking for his own shot and knocking it down. He has confidence in himself and works on it every day. I'm sure it was no surprise for him. If he can play like that the whole season, I think it will be big for us."
Seventh Woods, Junior Guard
On whether winning a game like this helps his confidence level
"Most definitely. We got Kentucky coming up, we got a couple other games to prepare us for the ACC. The ACC plays like that every night. You got to come out there and play."
On Luke Maye looking like the "Old Luke"
"When Luke is like that, he is the best player in college basketball. That doesn't surprise us at all. We know he is capable of all that. We're happy to have him have a game like that."
Coby White, Freshman Guard
On confidence in outscoring anyone even when things aren't going right (re: turns)
"Yes for sure, but we had how many? 23 turnovers, so that's not going to happen against every good team. That's probably one-in-ten games where you're going to have 23 turnovers and win by that margin. But that's something that we can fix. That's an easy fix, just don't turn the ball over. It'll be an easy fix.
On team confidence beating a team like Gonzaga:
"Definitely it boosts our confidence… The confidence has always been there. It was just a matter of going on the court and performing. It was a big-time win. It was a great atmosphere tonight. I want to thank all the fans for coming out. It was a big win for us. We're going to carry it over, but we can't linger on this because we play a good team in Kentucky next weekend."
As a young player how does this help you going into ACC play?
"It helps me a lot. In a big-time game in a big time atmosphere against a top five team… Gonzaga is really good.I feel like it helped not only me but [Nassir Little] and Leaky [Black] going forward."
What do you think this offense is capable of doing?
"A lot of things. You see the scoresheet – you see how spread out it is and how everybody gets involved. We have a lot of talent on this team and a lot of hard workers. We know we can score the ball. It all comes down to getting turnovers and getting stops and not turning the ball over.
Postgame Quotes
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement
"It was a big-time game. One of the best crowds we've ever had for a nonconference December game. That just says a lot about their program, too. Defensively, I thought at times we had been much better than we had been, but you guys saw it yourselves. We had two-out-of-three plays we didn't even know who the dickens we were guarding down there... We made shots. I thought we rebounded the ball really well. I thought we worked on the offensive glass and got baskets to put us in. I mean that's an amazing stat – 27 points off of offensive rebounds. Also, it's an amazing stat, they got 29 points off our turnovers. The biggest negative of the game no question was just turnovers. Just simple guard-to-guard passes. I mean I've never seen anything like that… Takeaway the turnovers and the miscommunication on the defensive end of the floor, there are several times I thought we really did some good things. We made a bunch of shots. I've been telling Cam [Johnson], Kenny [Williams] and Luke [Maye] that 'you guys are our best shooters, how 'bout trying to be our best makers?' I thought Cam was really something tonight. Luke is stepping up. They cut it to eight, and I think that's when Luke made a tough one on the baseline. He gets fouled and goes seven-for-seven from the free throw line. Between 20 points and 16 rebounds is a big night for him as well. But if we don't play really, really well, we can't win this game."
Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Few
On North Carolina's performance tonight
"They made shots. I mean they really, really shot the ball really well from a variety of spots. They just pounded us on the glass, too. I mean we tried – as best as we could with limited practices and limited bodies – tried to mimic how hard they go to the glass and they did a great job. The shots we did get them to miss, they usually got the rebound and put it back in."
On the appeal of playing the game
"Oh, everything is appealing about it. First of all, the guy I have more respect for in the business than Coach [Roy] Williams. These are two big-time programs. When you play games like this in December, I think college basketball gets noticed and people make it instead of waiting until February to pay attention. It's the right time and the right game to play. With that being said, I really loaded up on the schedule for this particular team and it's going to be a tough little run here, but I'd definitely do it again, especially with this group of guys. Again, Carolina was just fantastic all night tonight. Shooting it, rebounding it and defended our ball screen action pretty good."
On UNC versus other top teams played so far
"Look, the way they were tonight, they were terrific. They were right up there with anyone we've played especially on the glass. We haven't been beat like that on the glass all year and we certainly haven't given up over 50 percent both halves."
On UNC being a tough matchup
"Again, they come at you, come at you and keep coming at you. Coby [White] at the point was playing a great pace and they create some tough mismatches with [Luke] Maye, and Cam Johnson was shooting the heck out of it tonight. Then obviously, just the rebounds. They take shots you want them to take or you defend pretty well and then they just clean up on the glass. That is one thing we are going to have to get a lot better at if we want to accomplish what we want to accomplish."
Cameron Johnson, Graduate Guard
On the game
"We came out with a different kind of energy than we've had in previous games. I thought that was really big for us. We really got on the boards so that was a big use for us… We made shots… We turned the ball over way too many times and had a couple defensive lapses that we can improve. So, definitely errors we can improve, but overall it was a good effort.
On whether shooting was different tonight
"No. Except in shoot around I was going around saying 'This is our day, This is our day.' We've been slumping for nine games now. You'd think we'd break through one game, and this was it. So, we're capable of it. We make shots in practice, we make shots all day long. We've got guys that can really shoot the ball and today was the day we made a couple."
On whether the atmosphere had an impact tonight
"Yeah, the atmosphere was great – it was like a big-time conference game… The crowd did a great job, the fans did a great job, so we really appreciate that."
Luke Maye, Senior Forward
On reaching 1,000 career points
"There's not a lot of people that thought I would get to 1,000. I had confidence in myself and I knew Coach [Roy Williams] had confidence in me. That's really all that matters. My family supported me. I think that's big for me. But beside the fact, that's a big win. It's really about what we put in on the defensive end and that is huge for us."
On individual accolades being satisfying
"It's nice, but I think the biggest thing is that we have lost two games this season and we cannot lose anymore. We are coming together defensively and Cam [Johnson] did an unbelievable job tonight on the ball and we rebounded the ball really well which was huge."
On how much Roy Williams talks about turnovers
"He brings it up a lot. That's just kind of how he is. He wants to play the perfect game and we are nothing like that. But, we can come as close to perfect as he wants. The biggest thing is we came out with the victory and it's a lot happier locker room in there."
Kenny Williams, Senior Guard
On the importance of this win
"I think we needed it to show ourselves how good we can be. We see everyone talking about how Carolina's defense is horrible and all that, so we just needed to show ourselves how good we can be and the potential we can play with going deeper into the season."
On Coby White's impact to the team
"He brings a different pace and aggressiveness. He gets the ball and as you can see, he is gone. He is not waiting for anybody. He is going to get the ball and try and get to the rim every time he gets the ball. It forces us to play faster on offense because we have to keep up with him."
On Seventh Woods' performance
"He finished the first half. That was all him... He was just being aggressive looking for his own shot and knocking it down. He has confidence in himself and works on it every day. I'm sure it was no surprise for him. If he can play like that the whole season, I think it will be big for us."
Seventh Woods, Junior Guard
On whether winning a game like this helps his confidence level
"Most definitely. We got Kentucky coming up, we got a couple other games to prepare us for the ACC. The ACC plays like that every night. You got to come out there and play."
On Luke Maye looking like the "Old Luke"
"When Luke is like that, he is the best player in college basketball. That doesn't surprise us at all. We know he is capable of all that. We're happy to have him have a game like that."
Coby White, Freshman Guard
On confidence in outscoring anyone even when things aren't going right (re: turns)
"Yes for sure, but we had how many? 23 turnovers, so that's not going to happen against every good team. That's probably one-in-ten games where you're going to have 23 turnovers and win by that margin. But that's something that we can fix. That's an easy fix, just don't turn the ball over. It'll be an easy fix.
On team confidence beating a team like Gonzaga:
"Definitely it boosts our confidence… The confidence has always been there. It was just a matter of going on the court and performing. It was a big-time win. It was a great atmosphere tonight. I want to thank all the fans for coming out. It was a big win for us. We're going to carry it over, but we can't linger on this because we play a good team in Kentucky next weekend."
As a young player how does this help you going into ACC play?
"It helps me a lot. In a big-time game in a big time atmosphere against a top five team… Gonzaga is really good.I feel like it helped not only me but [Nassir Little] and Leaky [Black] going forward."
What do you think this offense is capable of doing?
"A lot of things. You see the scoresheet – you see how spread out it is and how everybody gets involved. We have a lot of talent on this team and a lot of hard workers. We know we can score the ball. It all comes down to getting turnovers and getting stops and not turning the ball over.
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