UNC-NC State Postgame Quotes

POSTGAME QUOTES
NORTH CAROLINA 97, NC STATE 73
FEBRUARY 19, 2025
DEAN E. SMITH CENTER, CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

North Carolina Head Coach Hubert Davis
On what the differences and adjustments were between this game and the last game against State…
"Our defense and our rebounding. I thought our defense was really good– especially off of ball screens. We stayed with the shooters, we didn't allow lanes to get to the basket. You know, the first time that we played, they were scoring at will in the paint. And then the biggest reason is the rebounding. We out rebounded them by I think it's 19. And I mean, they had 16 offensive rebounds against us; that's something that I communicated to them every second of the day the last couple of days at practice. It was huge for us to finish the possession with the box out, and we felt like if we could box out and rebound, we would be in perfect position to get out in transition, and that's what we were able to do."

On how important it was for the guys coming off the bench to provide 40+ points…
"I mean, the energy level stayed the same– or was even better– coming off the bench. You got Seth coming off the bench and giving his energy on both ends of the floor. And Cade– Cade came in there, knocked a couple threes in. I'm so happy for him, and I thought he played extremely well. J-Wash… and so everybody was smiling in the locker room after the game, and so that puts a smile on my face."

On whether or not he feels this team is turning the corner after two games leading wire-to-wire…
"I thought it was one of our most– if not the most– complete game that we played all season. I thought, you know, our energy, our effort, our attention to detail on both ends of the floor was really good. The energy from the bench was sustained– or even better. And so, I'm really happy about that. Turning a corner? I don't know, but I know that we played well tonight. I know that our practices over the last week have been very spirited, and it's been the best practices we've had all season in terms of competitiveness. And we'll do that Thursday and Friday in preparation for a really good Virginia team."

North Carolina State Head Coach Kevin Keatts
On the game…
"Very disappointed in that first half. Obviously I am not taking away from what Carolina did. I thought Carolina played really well on their home floor. We got beat to a lot of fifty-fifty basketball. We gave up seven three's in the first half. We turned the ball over nine times in the first half. So what we did, we dug such a huge hole and it's hard to come back. I thought our guys that played in the second half fought. But obviously when you give up fifty-four points and dig yourself in such a big hole it's really hard to come back, especially on somebody's floor. We gotta build on it. It's hard to win a game when a team plays so well in the first half. If you want to look at some bright spots, I thought Paul Mcneil came in and played well. I thought Jayden and Dontrez did a great job. You know we scored forty-seven points in the second half and fought. But we were so deeply behind and it took a long time to even try and get back in there."

Ian Jackson
On the crowd impact…
"The crowd had a huge impact today… I appreciate them for coming out during the snow. It was great to have an arena with a majority of students, and the vibe was good."

On the high-scoring first-half run…
"We want to come on, set a tone and protect the home floor to get a big time win. We got a big time lead, and we didn't want to let that up."

On a win over N.C. State at home…
"It felt great, you know, two in a row. Hopefully three on Saturday."

On playing a bigger starting lineup…
"We're just making adjustments and seeing what works, just constant adjustments. We found something good here in terms of bigger lineups. If we find something else, we will adjust it again and go with it."

Ven-Allen Lubin
On the preparation…
"The way that we emphasize preparation is really important. We knew what NC State was trying to do and we knew that they had a chip on their shoulder after the last game."

On the environment…
"It was incredible. We really appreciate the students for coming out with the conditions outside to support us. It was very huge for us to get the momentum going and just feel the atmosphere. It was really electric."

On the final stretch…
"The win up at Syracuse and tonight really get us going. It gives us a lot of momentum going into Saturday and Monday. We're really just taking it one game at a time and one day at a time."

On Jae'Lyn Withers…
"The way Jae'Lyn is able to space the floor and knock down shots is huge. His ability on the defensive end, his height, and his athleticism really helped us out on both ends of the floor. I think we're a good duo out there that can be impactful."

R.J. Davis
On the crowd…
"I just want to give a huge shout out to the fans that came through. I think that given the weather and the conditions, to just come through tonight and show their support is huge. I feel like we fed off of their energy. There were a lot of students so that young energy was gifted to us. They put themselves at risk given the snowstorm and we really appreciate that."

On having fun…
"We all took it upon ourselves to compete and we saw what happened. When we did that we were able to get stops. You should have fun competing."

On the preparation help…
"Harrison Ingram was here these past couple days and just having him back made us remember what he brought to the table. He was a competitive bully everyday he came into practice. So the main message was just to go out there and compete and we will have fun competing."

Seth Trimble
On the student attendance…
"That was the most fun I've ever played in other than playing Duke at home last year. For me, that was a top 3 game. Their energy was incredible and we had no choice but to feed off of it."

On NSCU's energy through the game…
"We felt that they wanted no part of our pressure. We found success early in our full-court press, in our half-court pressure, just everything on the defensive end we were finding success in and we saw that they wanted no part of it.

On team motivation for performance…
"It's State. We wanna whoop State. They beat us last year in the ACC Tournament and they still talk about it. So we want to beat them and beat them and beat them until they don't talk about it anymore."

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Harrison Ingram

Ian Jackson

Ven-Allen Lubin

Seth Trimble

Jae'Lyn Withers

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