UNC-Boston College Quotes

North Carolina 70, Boston College 71. February 1, 2020
Postgame Quotes
Coach Roy Williams

Opening Statement
"I want to congratulate Jimmy [Christian] and his club. They made two or three big plays down the stretch. I thought we had done a decent job on him [Derryck Thornton] until that point and made big plays. I thought Cole [Anthony] was sensational for us. We had two big box outs at the far end at the end of the game and a turnover on the inbounds pass. Congratulations to them on making some big plays."

On Last Possession
"This is something silly but this past week we stopped practice one day and said that if it was a one-point game or the score was tied, we wanted to attack the basket. Cole [Anthony] might have been with the trainer. I am serious, that is how silly the game is. It is just one possession. I wanted to get somebody to get the ball inside. I wanted to attack where we would set an early screen. We had one guy come up and Cole [Anthony] was trying to get Garrison [Brooks] to come up and there was a miscommunication and we settled for a terrible shot."

On Brandon Robinson's injury tonight and this year
"Senior year you want things to go smoothly and it has been really tough on him. Just to have that happen. His first remark is coach I did not foul him. Bottom line is he is in there right now getting an X-ray. We are going to have to wait and see."

On Cole Anthony's changing the offense
"I was very disappointed in Garrison [Brooks] and Armando [Bacot]. First three or four possessions they are moving aggressively and we were throwing the ball to them. Then they stopped moving. That is pointing fingers at individuals. North Carolina shot 36% which is what we have shot all year. It is not any personnel changes, but our team needs to be coached better and play better."

Boston College Head Coach Jim Christian
Postgame Quotes
On expectations for Cole Anthony returning
"He's a great player. He hasn't played in a long time and it's hard to do that, so I'm sure he'll keep getting better and better. For us to win this game there are certain things that you have to do, regardless of who is playing for North Carolina. They're such a great offensive rebounding team you've got to do as best as you can to neutralize that. You've got to take care fo the basketball and in the first half we did not and in the second half I thought we did a great job of that. And obviously you've got to try to keep them off the foul line. So those are the three things we came into the game saying, 'Okay we've got to do those three things regardless of if Cole is going to play or not.' Obviously he presents different problems because he's such a great offensive player, he can create his own shot and all the great things he does."

On the decision to play zone defense late in the game
"We don't play zone a lot but they were attacking the basket. They had us spread out and they were getting layups. So, we had to do something just to make them earn it, maybe make somebody else touch it and make a play."

On what made Derryck Thornton successful late in the game
"I thought we kept the floor spread and instead of forcing shots--in the middle of the second half I thought we started taking some questionable shots and the crowd got into it and they got on a run. Derryck got us settled down and took care of the basketball, we moved it and got great shots all the way through the end. The thing I'm most proud of our team--this is a very hard place to play, they're a very good basketball team. When they got up for us to show the character to fight back, to make plays and to shoot back, that's a huge step for our team."

North Carolina Player Quotes
Cole Anthony, Point Guard
On the last play
"I made a bad decision. I should have called a timeout, there were a bunch of things I could have done. I let my team down with that play; that was my fault."

On his first game back
"I was a little nervous at first. My shots were short, but at the end of the day, basketball is basketball, and that's what I love to do. I'm just having fun out there...it was about getting that feel back — there's nothing like real game experience."

On the rest of the season
"We're going to regroup. We can obviously get better as a team, as a unit, and just stick together...It was a little deflating to lose the game like that at home, but there's a lot of basketball left to be played. Our season is not over. We're going to regroup and get better — we're going to learn from this."

On how his return affects the team.
"The team, before this game, even with the Virginia Tech game, we've made a lot of strides as a unit, with everyone getting their confidence together. I'm not trying to disrupt that. I'm trying to make sure everyone keeps their confidence and just build off of what they've built so far. I'm still trying to be a leader for this team, but I'm not going to overstep my boundaries."

Armando Bacot, Freshman Forward
On if they got away from working the ball inside
"Maybe a little bit, yeah. But me and Garrison [Brooks] could have done a lot better today, too. I guess it was just an adjustment. I feel like we're going to be good though. But yeah, it was tough."

On the most difficult adjustment with Cole Anthony returning
"I feel like me and Garrison [Brooks] got a little stagnant again, just watching instead of doing what we were doing—posting up, just giving Cole [Anthony] other options. We were just kind of leaving it all up to him, but that's kind of unfair to him. Me and Garrison [Brooks] we definitely have to do better."

On the mood in the locker room
"I mean, we were all really hurting. It was just a tough loss, so yeah...I still feel like we're in good spirits, though. We have two big games next week, and I feel like we're going to do a good job and going to shock a couple people next week."

Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Armando Bacot

Brandon Robinson

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