UNC-Duke Postgame Quotes

Duke 98, North Carolina 96 • February 8, 2020
Post-Game Quotes
Roy Williams

Opening statement
"I am not disappointed in our team or our effort. We could have played more intelligently, made more free throws, rebounded more of their free throws and all of the things that people will talk about. We also could have made some plays that would have been better in the first half. You have to congratulate them. If you don't care who won the game, you had to enjoy that as a big time college basketball game. I care. So I did not enjoy that outcome. We made some mistakes at any point during the game. Tre made an unbelievably hard play, he's a tough kid and someone I have a lot of respect for as a player and a young man, but he's not on my team. We had some opportunities that we didn't take advantage of, and that in some ways has been our story every time, but it doesn't make any difference. Duke's locker room is very happy, and our locker room is crushed. I was mad at myself a few games ago for not fouling; we fouled today and it didn't work out. I still think good things are going to happen for this team."

On coming together as a team
"We need to play better and not make the same kind of mistakes we made. We're on our own kind of streak right now, I think that's three [losses] in a row. That's not the kind of roll we want to be on. I told [the team] tonight, that's the team that I thought I was going to have preseason. I can give you 89 things that are easy to change that we messed up — we can't do those kind of things. I could give you any player that made mistakes today that I've told them about 50 times. Armando [Bacot] — half of his fouls are him holding onto a guy. I stopped practice yesterday and screamed at him and everybody, saying, 'How many times do we have to say this?' But still, Armando was big for us…Cole [Anthony] played his butt off, Garrison [Brooks] played his tail off and missed free throws. We've made some mistakes, but on game day, you have to play better."

On preventing this loss from having a ripple effect
"It's still just one game. I was more upset after Boston College than I am right now, so it's something where we have to play better…if you want to be a competitor, you have to bust your tail at practice tomorrow and Monday, and go on the road and see if you can play your tail off on Tuesday. We have no assurances. I told them, we've got a chance to play again. We also have a chance to play Duke again. The coach is not going to quit, and they're not going to either."

Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Postgame Quotes

Opening Statement
"Absolutely incredible game. To have an incredible game means you have great performances by both teams and Carolina was outstanding. I thought they were going to run us out of the gym; their crowd was great—I don't know what's happened [to them] the whole year, but they were Carolina tonight. They were fantastic. Our guys weathered the storm a few times—the foul trouble and we went small and Tre Jones was magnificent in leading us. We were fortunate they missed some free throws and we made ours, and Tre made some big time plays… We feel very fortunate—obviously very happy—but totally respect the level of game this was and the level of our opponent. I thought in the overtime we got that five-point lead and then Cole [Anthony] made two great plays, and it looked like we ran out of gas and they went ahead. Then in the last minute of overtime we had this adrenaline push by our captain and we were able to win… Proud of my guys… Terrific win for us and I know it's tough for them. I thought they played great—not good, they played great and Cole is every bit as good as everyone has said he is. He was a big time player tonight."

On adjustments after Vernon Carey fouled out
"We played some zone, we went small—we were having a tough time getting the ball into him anyway so we opened up the court to drive more and that worked for us… we were kind of cutting into the lead but Cassius [Stanley] and Wendell [Moore] had to guard big guys and they're good athletes and they did, but then those guys had to guard them [Stanley and Moore]. We were fortunate that we didn't stop them but they missed so it turned out well for us."

On if the team practices intentional free-throw misses
"We talk about it but he [Tre Jones] made not a good play, that was an amazing play. That's one of those clinic things. He was at another level tonight—we won because of that kid. I thought anything he did tonight might work. He was so good at time outs—we're trying to get him to talk more and his positive talk, 'we're going to win; we've got this; you can count on me.' The kids responded to him. We've been talking about it and now he learned it in combat, so-to-speak."

North Carolina Player Quotes
Cole Anthony, Freshman Guard
On the pain of losing after playing arguably one of the team's best games
"After such a complete 37, maybe 38, minutes it hurts to just let that fall apart the last 7 minutes, including overtime."

On Coach Roy Williams' message after the game
"He stressed how many mistakes we made, and he still thought that was one of our best games of the year, even after all those mistakes. It just shows we have room to improve."

On environment meeting his expectations
"Yeah. The atmosphere was electric."

On the feeling as a leader of being able to play with a top team
"We know we can be that good. It's a little deflating to end up losing that game, but it just shows how good we can be. We've just got to get back and regroup. Obviously, it's going to hurt tonight, but we've got practice tomorrow. We've got to regroup and just come in focused. We've got another game on Tuesday."

Christian Keeling, Graduate Guard
On tonight's game
"We have a tradition - we expect to win every game. If we just soak in this game, then it's not going to help. It's a long journey, we still have goals to reach."

Armando Bacot, Freshman Forward
On the end of the game
"It was just so tough, the way we lost. I was just stressed out the whole time, I couldn't even look at it. And the way they won, it was just sad, but I tip my hat off to them."

On fast breaks down the court
"It's something we've been watching. We just knew that I could use my speed to an advantage. We knew that I could get some easy buckets by just running, so that's what I tried to do."

On the positive effect of the fast breaks
"I think it was a positive effect because it allowed Cole [Anthony] to not have to dribble the ball down, and he could just be a scorer and not worry about facilitating. It made the offense flow a lot easier."

On why the game was deflating
"I think for all of us, it was probably the most deflating game we've ever had to play in our lives. We were up 11 with two minutes left, and I was just on the bench like, 'Please, it can't happen again. It can't happen again. Why is this happening?' It's just sad, terrible."

On the overall atmosphere of the game
"It was crazy, none like I had ever played in. The fans were all in it. It was a great game, possibly the best game I've ever played in, as far as the full game. It was just tough."

On how it felt to foul out
"It's just tough, man. I kept telling myself to stop getting dumb fouls. It's the third or fourth game I've been in foul trouble. It just comes to the point where I have to stop doing this stuff. It's just deflating for the team. You'd think, on the last two free throw, if I was out there then there was a high probability that as one of the best rebounders in the country I could have gotten one of those rebounds."

On the team's mood in the locker room and moving on from this game
"Everybody was hurt. It was deflating. We have practice tomorrow, just keep it going. That's a good team, even just being in the game, but we have to win that game."

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Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Armando Bacot

Christian Keeling

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