UNC-Harvard Quotes

North Carolina 77, Harvard 57 ●January 2, 2019
Postgame Quotes

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement
"I love seeing five guys in double figures. I love that we did a better job of getting to the foul line and not fouling them as much. In the first half they shot 11 free throws and we shot five. In the second half we shot 17 and they shot two. We attacked the basket more; I liked that part. We went to try to do something different in the screen on the ball in the second half and it helped us, except we didn't do a good job of fronting the post, so we got some work to do. This stuff is over now. It's big-time basketball in front of us now. We have to play better."

On keys to 16-1 run in second half
We got some stops defensively and we took better shots. We are a good shooting team. But when Luke Maye tries to bounce around and shoot with four guys all over him, Cam [Johnson] takes a three and gets it blocked that's not a good shot. I think during that stretch we got some stops defensively with our switching. They turned it over and we came down and got good shots and they went in for us."

On forcing turnovers
"It was a little bit of both. I think we were in the right spots a couple of times, but that's one of Tommy's. I can't coach his team and tell you about his team, but if you look at all the stats – and I studied them quite a bit – they're one of the bottom ten teams in the country with turnovers. I feel like we should be, but I think that's a problem that they have. But you've got to understand maybe his two best players aren't playing yet this year. I even told him, 'just think if you had gotten Wendell Carter." They could've been a top 10 team last year. I know without those two players Harvard isn't the team they're going to be when they get those guys back."

On Kenny Williams scoring in double figures in six of last seven games
"He missed two open threes early and he took the ball to the basket and made two or three big-time layups late in the first half. He's finding a way to do things to help us. We have great kids, but we have to play with our brain a little bit more."

On Nassir Little improving on defense
"Well it is an area that has been an area of weakness for him, no question. I think he was better tonight but he gave up two open threes in a row to three-point shooters. He has been trying much harded defensively. He is such a great athlete he was always able to do things because he wants to. So he'll run hard or block your shot or steal your ball. but at this level it is hard to do that. you've got to be more fundamentally sound and he's really working on trying to do that. I think he is handling everything great."

On improvements that need to be made
"Same thing I've said forever: we've got to get better defensively and stop turning the ball over. We need to rebound the ball better. It was more difficult today without Sterling [Manley], without Garrison [Brooks]. We've got to play with our brains a little bit more. Garrison gets an early foul and then gets a second one. We've got to play smarter, we've got to play better defensively, we've got to stop turning the ball over."

Harvard Head Coach Tommy Amaker
Opening Statement
"Really tough for us to be able to run good offense with their length and athleticism. They're just obviously very fast in transition. We tried our darnedest to keep them out of the open floor as best we could by getting back, but easier said than done. Our turnovers I thought really killed us, which we knew coming in if we were able to handle the ball, if we run good offense, at least we thought not the pick-six kind of turnovers but we had a few of those. They're a tremendous basketball team. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to play here and I really appreciate Coach Williams allowing us to have this opportunity to come here to play against them. Amazing program and a great team."

On being back in Chapel Hill
"I've been happier back in the area, but it's wonderful to be back for sure. A lot of fond memories of this community and this area and folks that mean a lot to me and my wife. So it's great to be back, but certainly we came here for an opportunity to hopefully get our team better and we get into conference play starting up next so we have a lot of work to do as you probably saw."

On when he thinks he'll be able to set the full lineup he wants on the court
"I'm not sure. We certainly have missed a few pieces and it shows up in games like today, but certainly we should be a little better than what we are right now. I'm a little disappointed in that, in some errors of our team, but I'm not sure to be honest with you. We don't know and I just ask our training and our medical community to tell me when they're ready and when they're ready, we'll welcome them back."

On whether turnovers were self-inflicted or due to Carolina's defense
"Well I think a lot of times it's a combination. They can speed you up with how hard they play defensively in denying and creating turnovers and that's something they've done so well forever, and we certainly — a few that I thought we just kind of self-inflicted. But you have to give them credit for forcing us into areas in the times when we kind of were rushed and pressured and that's when we turned some things over."

UNC Player Quotes
Cameron Johnson, Graduate Senior, Guard
On difference in second half performance:
"Just attacking them more. Trying to play a little more solid on defense."

On feeling about the game:
"I wouldn't say we feel good about it. It is always good to get a win, but we want to play better. Come conference play now our goal is to be better than we were today."

On the start of conference play:
"I feel like we are ready. Now honestly, I want to continue to improve over the course of conference play but going in I am pretty confident in our guys."

On the difference in ACC play:
"It is just a lot different. Pace of play is different. Officiating is different. Rotations are different. It is tougher. It is a grind and we got to be ready to be resilient. We got to be able to adjust and we got to be able to play hard and we just got to be able to win."

Nassir Little, Freshman Forward
On coming into ACC Play:
"I feel good. Last week has been pretty good for me and I think it is good confidence and good momentum going into ACC play."

On getting comfortable on the court:
"You get more comfortable, more experience then things get easier with time. That is how it is starting to be right now with me."

On how far he is from his best:
"I do not think I have a ceiling. As long as I keep working hard I will go as far as I want."

Luke Maye, Senior, Forward
On forcing turnovers during the game
"I thought we did a lot of great things defensively, especially during the second half. We really pressured the ball, and we only gave up 26 points in the second half. At the end they made some easy baskets, and some of that is on me, but I think moving into ACC play we aremoving in the right direction… Coach just wants us to play as perfect as we can. We had three turnovers that I felt like were just passing turnovers, and we just didn't make the right catch or pass. We can clean that up, and we are moving in the right direction like I said."

On the best way to describe ACC play
"Every night, especially on the road…it's tough. The other teams are obviously trying to win in their home place. We just need to get out and get started on the right foot. Pitt's a great team, and they are always going to bring their A-game at home. We just need to go up there with the right mentality and try to play as well as we can."

On what he likes about the team going into ACC play
"I think we can really score. We didn't really shoot well today, which falls some on myself. We just need to continue to get better. I think Nassir had a really good game today, and he showed a lot of great energy off the bench. Without Sterling he is going to have to be a key player for us moving forward, but hopefully Sterling can get back and continue moving forward in the right direction."

Kenny Williams, Senior, Guard
On how the team is doing going into conference play
"Of course we want to be playing better. We are still having the lapses we were having in November and it's January. We need to fix that and we need to fix it quick because the ACC is a gauntlet. Every game is tough, and we are starting on the road for the first two. We need to fine tune ourselves."

On how different ACC is versus nonconference play
"Everyone is just as talented as everybody else. You're not just going to go against the guys that you can overpower. Everybody is coming to fight, and it's a battle every night. We are fighting for regular season, and we are fighting for a tournament position… It's a battle…you're going to war. You can't really take a night off, but that's a good thing. They are going to make you play and you are going to play hard every night. That's when basketball is fun, when you're playing hard and you're doing things that you do well."

On getting better on the defensive end of the court
"We just need to pay more attention to the detail. We aren't really looking at the little things right now, and that's just beating us. We need to do what Coach is asking us to do. That's the bottom line…if we do what Coach is asking us to do, our defense will be top notch."

Players Mentioned

Cameron Johnson

Nassir Little

Luke Maye

Kenny Williams

Related Videos