Wake Forest vs. NC State - Postgame Quotes
3/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2002
WaWake Forest vs. NC State March 2, 2002 - Postgame Quotes
Wake Forest Head Coach Skip Prosser "I'm very proud of our players. One of my prevailing emotions is gratitude. We came here nine moths ago and wanted to do something special, to beat a team the caliber of NC State."
On early momentum: "I'm not always a big advocate of starting seniors. But these guys are special. They had all started at one point in the season already. The thing I'm most proud of is the backboard. I like a good fight once in a while. We had a good practice on Thursday."
"I'm blessed with good assistant coaches that do a great job preparing the kids. Chris Mack did a good job for today's game, but I also give credit to our players."
On playing Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament: "They may have won eight out of 10, and beat everyone in the league except Duke and Maryland, but their youth is now overstated. Hopefully we'll play well in Charlotte."
Wake Forest's Darius Songaila "They double-teamed in the post and the other guys did a good job getting the open shots. They were very physical and aggressive. You can't back down. You have to be just as aggressive and physical."
"It was good to finish the season on a winning note. That was huge for us going into the tournament. The five seniors, we've been here for four years, we've been through some good times and bad times, and you want to celebrate with guys you've been with for four years."
Wake Forest's Josh Howard "That win builds us up. We had to win this game to accomplish what we wanted, which is third place. Now we have to play tough in the tournament. This is a big confidence builder going into the tournament. We did a good job on defense against Grundy. I didn't know he was 6-for-18. He hit some big shots, but we just tried to play good defense on him."
NC State Head Coach Herb Sendek "Darius Songaila was dominant today with 20 points, 18 rebounds - it was very much like our first game in that he was able to control the basketball game."
"We knew today would be tough. Wake Forest is a good, veteran squad. Obviously we wanted to win the game, but today's game is not going to detract from our season."
On NC State's second half defense: "We just had a better defensive presence. In the first half, Wake was able to score easy baskets and put 45 points on the board. We just had a better defensive presence in the second half."