Postgame Quotes
12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening statement…
"Coach Ellis has been coaching for a very long time and has been extremely successful. He's taken four programs to the NCAA Tournament and this is a team, I thought, came out and played well. I thought they executed their offense, particularly in the second half, really well. As for us, we have to do a much better job in guarding. As talented as that Coastal Carolina team is, especially on the offensive end shooting the basketball, if we let our next opponent shoot that type of percentage we'll get beat by 100. That's what I told my guys."
On playing No. 10 Xavier on Tuesday…
"That is one of the best teams in the country. They're a top-10 team. This is a conference game for us. If you cannot get excited to play against Xavier, we can't help you."
On slow nights for Devin Thomas and Mitchell Wilbekin…
"There are going to be more nights like that for all of our guys. It was not a great night for Mitch either, but we have other pieces. It's a team sport and somebody else got an opportunity to help us a little more than they have in the past. That's where we're going to have to be throughout the rest of the season. That's who our team is. We have a lot of guys capable of coming in the game and making contributions. I've said it all along, whoever is playing best at that particular time will get some minutes to help us out and give us a chance to be successful. Tonight just was not Devin's night, it happens."
Coastal Carolina Head Coach Cliff Ellis
Opening statement...
"You've got to give Wake Forest credit, they made some big shots when they needed big shots. You see Crawford hitting shots that were huge for a freshman to deliver. (Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning) has got a lot of young freshmen who are still learning the game, but this is a good team."
On cutting the deficit to two with 1:23 to play...
"We had that turnover that was just huge and you can't afford to have that—a little turnover here, a missed foul shot here, a rebound here and they make a shot. It's one of those things where you know each possession is huge."
On the state of his team after making the game close toward the end...
"You learn from games like these that moral victories aren't good enough. We've been battling injuries throughout the year and it seems that every time we take a step forward, we take a step back. Maybe tonight we took a step forward because we played three guys who hadn't played very many minutes and they did a very good job. This depth, or new team, really got a good baptism tonight. They kept us in the game."
Wake Forest Freshman Guard Bryant Crawford
On the defensive struggles in the second half...
"We just lost our focus on the defensive end. I feel like the defensive effort in the first half is what got us our lead and contributed to us scoring a lot in the first half. In the second half, we tried to create for ourselves and stopped focusing on the defensive end. That's just something we've got to work on."
On winning close games...
"We know how to gut out a win, but it also says that we have to focus more and continue to do things that get us those leads. We need to continue to put our foot on the gas when we're up."
On Codi Miller-McIntyre's performance...
"It's just his second games back and he's just getting into the groove of things. He's playing how Codi plays, just letting the game come to him."
Wake Forest Senior Guard Codi Miller-McIntyre
On feeling more comfortable...
"As I keep getting more practices and games, I start getting more confident."
On the team's good offensive performance...
"It's frustrating because we were up by 14 points and let them back in the game. But it's positive because this year, if you look at the games we've won, almost all of them are around that 10-point range. It's kind of frustrating because these games shouldn't be that close, but it also shows improvement because those are games we would lose last year."
Wake Forest Freshman Forward John Collins
On stepping up for Devin Thomas...
"It's something Coach Manning has been slowly working me into. Some of the games previously, he would sub me in on offense. So, it's something that I'm getting more comfortable doing, getting those clutch minutes. I think I've been doing a decent job, but I just need to keep getting more experience."
On the team's chemistry...
"I would never like to say that we have too much of a brotherhood. It's something that we need to do a better job of taking shots when they should be taken instead of trying to get that extra, extra pass. We take good shots, good first shots. I think it's something we could easily fix, just telling the guy to shoot the ball."
