UNC-NCSU Postgame Quotes

North Carolina 113, NC State 96 • February 5, 2019
Postgame Quotes

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams

Opening Statement
"There were a lot of things that I really, really liked. Shooting 56 percent for the game, but I don't like the fact that they shot 50. We had 26 turnovers on 37 baskets, that's pretty good. But we had 17 turnovers. I told Braxton Beverly we're the best thing in the world for him. Every time he sees us, he makes every shot. They had a really difficult time in the game Saturday and it's hard to bounce back from that, but I thought Kevin [Keatts] had his team ready. They were enthused in the whole bit and we just got a stretch right then at the first half that we made a bunch of shots and then all of a sudden we were running it up and down and getting real good shots. I was pleased with what our guys did. Their pressure tends to make you stand around and dribble the ball and the other four guys watch what that one ball handler's doing so we didn't do a very good job of that, but their pressure is good pressure. For us, you know you look down and we've got five guys in double figures and Luke [Maye] with 31 and 12 and Coby [White] 21. But for us, again, everybody's got to be playing close to their potential if we want to be really good. I thought in the second half, their pressure hurt us and we started making some silly plays, but I feel good about it. 41 [to] 27 on the backboards, but that's misleading because we just got them 21 [to] 18 in points on second shots. But all in all we did some real good things and got a home win. We've got a little stretch here. We get to play a couple of games at home and we've got to play every single night and see what the heck happens."

On if Luke Maye's Performance tonight is his best this season
"I was going to say no because I thought you were getting ready to say the best performance of his life because last year, he had something and looked like freakin' Superman out there. But tonight was good. He took two terrible shots in a row and missed both of them so if you take those away, he'd be 10 for 13. He was really good and he was the only guy that was rebounding for a while. He got every rebound and if he didn't get it then North Carolina State got it. I'm very pleased for him except for his four turnovers."

On Luke Maye's performance against NC State
"If I knew that, I'd get him to do that against everybody. If you play golf, it's courses for horses, horses for courses. So maybe it's something like that. He's a hard matchup because he's a guy who can score inside. He's a guy who's a good rebounder but can also shoot the ball. He can go right or he can go left. He's a good player and a hard matchup for a lot of guys. He was very focused, I thought today, during shoot around. I thought he'd play really well tonight. "

On how much better the team is when Garrison Brooks is playing well
"Well, we just need to get him to stop fouling. He spend a lot of time sitting over there with me in the first half and fouling the guy on a free throw on the first shot of a two-shot foul is not the smartest thing I've ever looked at. But if he can stop doing things like that he'd get to play more minutes, too. You go back to what I said earlier in the season, he's dependable. We can count on him to be in the right spot and I think his defense on the screen on the ball is extremely important to us in this game just like it was over there."

On Coby's development throughout the season
"He's getting better. He made a really beautiful pass, a little bounce pass to Luke in the middle of the crowd. He had a silly one throwing it out of bounds in the first half down on the far end, but I think he's getting better and better. He's a better shooter than 6 for 16 and 2 for 5. He's still a freshman academically, but by the time you've played 22 games, you're more experienced so I expect him to keep getting better."

On if UNC outworked NC State tonight
"No, I'm not going to say that. Looking at the tape, I thought if I'm watching it I'm going to say they played much harder. If Kevin watches it he's going to say we played much harder. I think we got some fortunate bounces for us late in the first half… I was mad at halftime at 16 because we gave them four straight rebound opportunities to get a three at the end but I would not say that about them."

On if Louisville loss was a good thing
"I'm one of those guys that doesn't believe you need to lose to have good things happen. We could've played crappy and won off a 55-foot shot and I'd have been much happier. I think it did one very positive thing. That's the last time we had crappy practices the day before or two days before a game and since then, the preparation and focus in practice immediately before a game has been really good."

On comparing UNC team to other teams
"I was really pleased with what we did in the first half except for a couple of plays. In the last one, we were giving four shots but in the second half, we acted like – none of you guys are old enough to know the Keystone Cops routine – we were throwing the sucker everywhere. People sitting on the front row had to pay attention because we were throwing the ball in every direction. I think we are getting better defensively. We're paying better attention to the rebounds, to the backboards… We had two [threes] in the second half and it seemed like we had five, so it would be three. My math is a little better than that. I think we're getting better, but I don't know if I would say I'd compare them to anybody else right now. I had the same kind of question in the press conference yesterday. I don't really ever look and say 'Okay, this is where I want to be right now or this is where we were,' to answer your question, after 22 games, ten years ago. I have a really good memory about junk like that. I do try to go to practice every day and get better and I told them, the last thing I said, we'll have clips pulled from this game and there will be a lot of negative clips because we've got to get better. That's corny as all get out, but that what I focus on every single day. "

North Carolina State Coach Kevin Keatts
Opening Statement
"Obviously we lost to a very good basketball team on their home floor. We knew coming in it was going to be a tough battle for us. I don't think that we did the two things that we said we wanted to take away from Carolina. I thought we did an awful job at the top of the scouting report. We talked about transition defense and we talked about making sure we don't give them second and third opportunities and I don't think we did a good job in either area. The first half was a little different, I think it changed the game a little bit when I had to sit Markell [Johnson] because he had his second foul. But that being said, it was a tough game for us, I thought we bounced back and did some good things on the offensive end when you look at the fact that we shot fifty-something percent and was able to score 96 points but certainly giving up 113 was not what we envisioned to win the game."

On DJ Funderburk being a bright spot
"I thought DJ was one of the bright spots; I thought we were able to get some minutes out of Blake Harris, I thought he came in and did a good job, especially on the defensive end. I like the fact that Braxton [Beverly] was back shooting the basketball. It's a lot of takeaways, especially offensively, we've just got to get back and we've got to lock in. We've got to comprehend scouting reports and do a better job of taking away teams' strengths."

On frustration in different struggles between losses
"I don't know that it's frustrating. Going back to Saturday, I think that was a once in a lifetime game – I hope it is. I thought we did some really good things offensively, unfortunately when you're playing another high powered offensive team on their home floor, you've got to do a better job defensively and we wasn't there tonight."

On what NC State failed to comprehend on the scouting report
"We talked about the two things at the top of the scouting report is the two things why I thought the game was the way it was. Number one, we said let's get back in transition and we gave up transition baskets. Number two, you have to do a great job of making sure that we block back and I thought in the first half they really beat us on the glass. I was happy with us – when you look at us, we ended the game with fourteen offensive rebounds, which we've been doing, but we gave up I don't know how many in the first half but we gave up fourteen for the game. That's Carolina basketball, that's the way his team has played this year. They've done a great job of getting out in transition and they really kill you on the glass and that's what happened to us tonight."

On what has gone wrong since the Virginia game
"Well I don't think it's what's gone wrong, I think if you look back at our schedule, we've probably played the toughest part of our schedule and I think people forget that. We played number three in the country at the time from Virginia, then you turn around and I think Virginia Tech was eleven or twelve, then you come on the road and play the number-eight team in the country. That's a tough schedule for anybody and we have to now lock in and get better and improve on some things that we've got to work on."

On Braxton Beverly bouncing back from Saturday
"I didn't say much – I didn't say much to any of the guys. Those guys knew that that was an unusual game. We didn't even talk about that game; I knew they didn't mean to miss the shots. I know Braxton Beverly, he's a competitor and so I knew that he would come back the next opportunity we played and play hard and make shots, and he did."

North Carolina Players

Coby White • G • Fr.
On Luke Maye's performance
"[Luke Maye] was great. Terrific performance. There is something about playing State and thirty balls. He played like he normally does – played hard and really got after it on the boards. He was attacking the offense boards. Really played within himself and being a great leader."

On Luke Maye's senior leadership
"Learning from his composure. Being positive on the court through the bad times. Luke [Maye] always stays positive trying to uplift his teammates. That is something I am learning from him and to continue to encourage my teammates and being positive on the court."

On six-game win streak
"We have all bought in coming together as a team. We all have one common goal to win and everybody is out there trying to win and doing what is best for the team. I feel that we have all come together as a family. We are getting after it every day in practice and getting better day by day. "

On feeling after win against NC State
"It feels good. We got a big time win. We gave up 96 points. That was not good, but a win is a win especially in the ACC against a good team."

Cameron Johnson • G • Gr.
On getting the sweep against State
"It feels good. We were confident going into this one. I feel like we got off to a solid start and made plays when we needed to. We outrebounded them and I think at the end of the day we came in with certain things we wanted to do and got them done. We allowed too many points at the end, but that is something we need to fix going forward. Overall, to come out with the sweep, it is a pretty good feeling."

On aggressive tempo
"We really pushed the pace. I thing a big thing about it was pace. We like getting up and down and I think it kind of wore them down a little bit.

On progression of team
"We have been practicing pretty hard. I think our defense is bumped up a couple notches in practice. Guys are hitting stride and chemistry is clicking. The thing is we have to get better. We can't stay the same. We can't get worse. We have to get better. Coach [Roy Williams] always says our dreams and goals are always bigger than beating North Carolina State on a Tuesday night in February. We want to take this thing a lot further than that and no one is sitting here satisfied after being 8-1 in conference. We have much bigger goals than that."

Garrison Brooks • F • So.
On his near triple-double stat line
"I make the easy play and am more confident and just try to what coach says and rebound the ball."

On Luke Maye's games against NC State
"You know how a bull gets mad when they see red? Thats what I'm thinking… I don't even know. He just comes to play."

On what caused the 41-27 rebounding margin
"It's just the emphasis that coach always puts on rebounding because he says it is the difference between winning games and we believe him. That's what we are taught to do."

Luke Maye • F • Sr.
On what was clicking tonight
"We did a good job moving the ball, I think we had four guys in double-figures. We made a lot of transition buckets and pushed the tempo. We didn't play really well defensively but in that kind of game playing so hard and playing so fast it is hard to keep the ball in front sometimes. But, a win is a win and onto the next game is Saturday."

On if it is more meaningful to beat NC State
"Always. They are a team that we get fired up for and they get fired up. To beat them the way that we did tonight was pretty special."

On Maye's explosive games against NC State
"I think I match up pretty well against them. Just being an in-state kid, like I said over in Raleigh, I always get fired up to play in-state schools, that's kind of a mindset that I have and I need to carry that mindset over to every game. Being from North Carolina it is definitely a little bit sweeter to beat a team from North Carolina."

Kenny Williams • G • Sr.
On if he's been more aggressive the last few games
"Not letting myself do one thing on the offensive end. I think me being aggressive, and taking a couple dribbles in, driving it to the rim, has opened up my game a little bit. I've been able to finish or I've been able to get my teammates layups."

On what's changed in team's approach to not be lazy after big wins
"We're paying a little more attention to the preparation. Everybody's getting mentally ready for the games, and I think that's the big thing that's different."

On why Luke plays so well against NC State
"I was trying to figure that out on the bench. I don't know what they did to Luke, maybe it was in high school. That man just comes out with a different mindset when he sees that red."

Nassir Little • G • Fr.
On coach's response to Louisville loss
"The way coach responded to it, I think, really woke us up. A lot of people probably expected us to just run a thousand suicides. . . . "I can run ya'll as much as I want, but at the end of the day, if you don't want it, then it's not going to do nothing." I think him saying that made us look in the mirror . . ."

On how he's witnessed Luke's work ethic
"Luke is one of those guys that's always putting up shots after practice. I see it because I'm one of those guys as well, always after practice working on my game. I challenge him to see who's the first to leave the gym."

On how team has changed since Louisville loss
"If we do lose again, we want it to be us giving it our all. We don't want to get ran through like that and just lose because of effort. We want to lose, if we do lose, give it 110 percent. In regards to how things have changed, we've just been coming out more enthusiastic, more energy."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Cameron Johnson

Nassir Little

Luke Maye

Coby White

Kenny Williams

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