Postgame Quotes: Wake Forest vs. No. 8 Louisville
3/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@TieDyeNation)
Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening Statement…
"For us this is a great way to send our seniors out. We have three guys that are seniors this year. Hopefully it's a memory that they'll have for a lifetime because the rest of us will. Louisville is so talented. We were worried about their length and athleticism. Coach Pitino's teams always play at a certain level of aggressiveness on the offensive and defensive end. Their length is hard to prepare for. You know about Mitchell and Snider, but their big guys are good."
On tonight's slow start…
"It's fight or flight. That's the situation that we're in. We have a saying, 'the next game is the most important game.' That's our mindset. Tonight they came out and jumped on us early. I thought we showed some grit and dwindled it down. Coming into halftime being down one but showing a little fight."
On second half performance…
"We did a much better job guarding in the second half than we did in the first. They missed some shots that they normally make. Also, Mitchell getting in foul trouble helped us out."
On John Collins…
"John is playing at a high clip. He's manufacturing points really well. He's getting to the free-throw line and getting second chance opportunities. He's running out in transition to get ahead of the defense to get in an early post position. Through the course of our offense he's going to touch the basketball. He's been really efficient, and tonight was no exception."
Senior guard Mitchell Welbekin
On senior night...
"To send them out like this is huge. We all knew coming into this game that we needed the win. I think we played a great game and we played together. We played 40 mins, and that's what we need to do to be successful."
On making key shots...
"Dinos hit a big shot. Louisville is a great team, we knew they weren't going to quit so we had to continue to get stops and continue to score so they couldn't get back in it. When they collapse on John it makes space for other people, so we just had to take our chances."
Sophomore forward John Collins
On tonight's win...
"This is huge for us. It shows progress. Like I said, we've been doing that kind of stuff all year against big teams but today we got up and closed it out against a very good team. I think it shows progress for us, it shows that we're moving in the right direction at a very good time."
On NCAA Tournament potential...
"This win is huge for our tournament hopes. I was told all we needed was a win against a ranked opponent and we came together and got it tonight. It came down to clutch, we made some good shots, played good defense and came out of here with a win."
Redshirt Sophomore guard Keshawn Woods
On Donovan Mitchell...
"We knew that when Donovan plays well, the team plays well. We had to do our best to take him out of the game. The guards did that to the best of their ability and we came out with a win tonight."
Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino
Opening Statement...
"Wake Forest should be congratulated. They played with great intensity. I'm so impressed with the way they've played this year. John Collins is as good a post player as I've seen all year. We were running our offense and got in foul trouble. That really took away from our basketball team, when we got in foul trouble. We didn't execute as well when we had to go to the bench. But give Wake Forest all the credit. They outplayed us. They played a terrific game and probably put themselves in the NCAA Tournament by beating us, which is great to see."
On Louisville's defense...
"When we substituted, we lost most of our defense. A lot of times you can pinpoint certain things and say this is why you lost. We lost tonight because they were the better basketball team. We can make up all the excuses in the world, but none of it's valid because they were the better basketball team."
On the challenges of defending John Collins...
"Just the way he moves his feet. In the post he's very active. Terrific basketball player, the best post player in our league by far, if not the country."
On Wake Forest defending Donovan Mitchell...
"He's our best player and they just concentrated on him. The lesson that Donavan has to learn is, he's going to be stopped, so then he has to be the best defensive player on the floor, the best passer on the floor, the best rebounder on the floor, and he let his lack of offense dictate how he played the other facets of the game. That's what an inexperienced basketball player will do and he'll learn a good lesson form that."
