Post Game Quotes
1/15/2019 10:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NC State Head Coach Kevin Keatts
On the game:
"Give Wake Forest a lot of credit, they played a very game tonight and they were playing inspired and played like a team that obviously wanted to win the game. I thought that we did a tremendous job considering the hole we dug ourselves in before the half, and we cut it obviously and tied the game up but we made some mistakes down the stretch where we didn't do a good job of finishing. And I thought we took some ill advised shots and didn't put ourselves in the best situation to win. But give those guys all the credit, I thought they played inspired basketball on the whole floor."
On how NC State played in the first half:
"You know we played on the back of our heels in the first half and we didn't make shots. And what happens with this team right now, because we're obviously a young team in terms of playing together, is that our defense tends to struggle a little bit when the ball is not going in the hole and we clearly didn't shoot the ball well before the half."
On the troubles of not having Markell Johnson:
"I think more than anything his presence being there just having the ability to be there as a junior, and as a guy who's played in the league for 3 years. But I'm not going to take away from Wake Forest's performance because we didn't have Markell Johnson. Surely we put ourselves in the situation to have the opportunity to win the game, and to we didn't execute down the stretch."
Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening Statement:
"It was a hard-played game by both teams. We scored the ball well in the first half, they scored it well in the second half. We did enough things, obviously, to come away with the win. I thought for our guys, they were [good] down the stretch when NC State made its run. We found ways to give us a chance to win the game. I thought some of our younger guys took a step. I thought Torry Johnson was really big for us and made that key "J" and made a few free throws. I thought Jaylen Hoard's second half was good and thought Brandon played a really good floor game with the amount of pressure that was on him based on how they pressure the basketball. NC State is a very very talented team. Their resume is well-deserved -- it's a really impressive group."
On if the game went how he envisioned...
"No not really. Going into the ball game I assumed that Markell [Johnson] was going to play the point guard [position]. I thought he was going to play but obviously he didn't. A lot of it was we matched up with them -- they went small. They went with a smaller lineup, which gave us the opportunity to send Jaylen to the five and play that type of lineup for us. I thought the zone was really good for us. Obviously they didn't shoot the ball like they normally shoot it but for us we were able to keep them off the free throw line -- which for us is one of the biggest things when looking at the stat sheet."
On how the team was able to protect the basketball after turning the ball over four times in the first few minutes of the game...
"They got aggressive counseling during all the timeouts. Protect the damn ball. That's it, value the ball, make easy plays."
On what it meant to get a win over a ranked in-state opponent...
"It's always rewarding when win, especially in our league. All wins are things that you value and appreciate. For us, being 0-3 at the time, this is a big win. It comes against one of the Big Four schools -- does anyone still say that or am I showing my age -- but I mean against a team that's ranked pretty high in the country. For us, there are a lot of things we can get better from from this game -- but there are a lot of things we can pull from to create some more energy and confidence as we move forward."
Wake Forest Players
Brandon Childress
On how satisfying it was to put together a good 40 minutes as a team…
"We got over the hump. It's going to take its time; we're a young team. We got over the hump one time, and now we need to do it again. This is a tough conference, and the best conference in college basketball right now. We have another top-25 team on Saturday, so our execution offensively and defensively has to get better. But right now, I'm going to enjoy this win."
On if the first 20 minutes was the best half they have played as a team…
"Of course. We were moving the ball and trusting each other. I haven't been shooting the ball well recently, and my teammates still believed in me. I love my teammates, and the coaches kept their faith in me. I'm just really happy we got this win."
On what was different defensively…
"We were talking, and our energy was better. NC State is a top-25 team, and you can see why. They came back from that big lead we had, and that shows how good of a team they are. We just have to keep working."
Jalen Hoard
On what the message was when the game was tied 58-58…
"When they cut the lead down, Chaundee (Brown) and Brandon told us to stay composed. The other team is going to make runs. We just have to continue to execute and not get to phased by the moment."
On what keeping their composure could do for them in the future…
"It's going to give us confidence that we can stay composed and play well in big games. We work on this in practice, so I'm glad it finally paid off. Not getting the results we wanted was frustrating. Today it paid off, and I'm really happy about that."
On the game:
"Give Wake Forest a lot of credit, they played a very game tonight and they were playing inspired and played like a team that obviously wanted to win the game. I thought that we did a tremendous job considering the hole we dug ourselves in before the half, and we cut it obviously and tied the game up but we made some mistakes down the stretch where we didn't do a good job of finishing. And I thought we took some ill advised shots and didn't put ourselves in the best situation to win. But give those guys all the credit, I thought they played inspired basketball on the whole floor."
On how NC State played in the first half:
"You know we played on the back of our heels in the first half and we didn't make shots. And what happens with this team right now, because we're obviously a young team in terms of playing together, is that our defense tends to struggle a little bit when the ball is not going in the hole and we clearly didn't shoot the ball well before the half."
On the troubles of not having Markell Johnson:
"I think more than anything his presence being there just having the ability to be there as a junior, and as a guy who's played in the league for 3 years. But I'm not going to take away from Wake Forest's performance because we didn't have Markell Johnson. Surely we put ourselves in the situation to have the opportunity to win the game, and to we didn't execute down the stretch."
Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening Statement:
"It was a hard-played game by both teams. We scored the ball well in the first half, they scored it well in the second half. We did enough things, obviously, to come away with the win. I thought for our guys, they were [good] down the stretch when NC State made its run. We found ways to give us a chance to win the game. I thought some of our younger guys took a step. I thought Torry Johnson was really big for us and made that key "J" and made a few free throws. I thought Jaylen Hoard's second half was good and thought Brandon played a really good floor game with the amount of pressure that was on him based on how they pressure the basketball. NC State is a very very talented team. Their resume is well-deserved -- it's a really impressive group."
On if the game went how he envisioned...
"No not really. Going into the ball game I assumed that Markell [Johnson] was going to play the point guard [position]. I thought he was going to play but obviously he didn't. A lot of it was we matched up with them -- they went small. They went with a smaller lineup, which gave us the opportunity to send Jaylen to the five and play that type of lineup for us. I thought the zone was really good for us. Obviously they didn't shoot the ball like they normally shoot it but for us we were able to keep them off the free throw line -- which for us is one of the biggest things when looking at the stat sheet."
On how the team was able to protect the basketball after turning the ball over four times in the first few minutes of the game...
"They got aggressive counseling during all the timeouts. Protect the damn ball. That's it, value the ball, make easy plays."
On what it meant to get a win over a ranked in-state opponent...
"It's always rewarding when win, especially in our league. All wins are things that you value and appreciate. For us, being 0-3 at the time, this is a big win. It comes against one of the Big Four schools -- does anyone still say that or am I showing my age -- but I mean against a team that's ranked pretty high in the country. For us, there are a lot of things we can get better from from this game -- but there are a lot of things we can pull from to create some more energy and confidence as we move forward."
Wake Forest Players
Brandon Childress
On how satisfying it was to put together a good 40 minutes as a team…
"We got over the hump. It's going to take its time; we're a young team. We got over the hump one time, and now we need to do it again. This is a tough conference, and the best conference in college basketball right now. We have another top-25 team on Saturday, so our execution offensively and defensively has to get better. But right now, I'm going to enjoy this win."
On if the first 20 minutes was the best half they have played as a team…
"Of course. We were moving the ball and trusting each other. I haven't been shooting the ball well recently, and my teammates still believed in me. I love my teammates, and the coaches kept their faith in me. I'm just really happy we got this win."
On what was different defensively…
"We were talking, and our energy was better. NC State is a top-25 team, and you can see why. They came back from that big lead we had, and that shows how good of a team they are. We just have to keep working."
Jalen Hoard
On what the message was when the game was tied 58-58…
"When they cut the lead down, Chaundee (Brown) and Brandon told us to stay composed. The other team is going to make runs. We just have to continue to execute and not get to phased by the moment."
On what keeping their composure could do for them in the future…
"It's going to give us confidence that we can stay composed and play well in big games. We work on this in practice, so I'm glad it finally paid off. Not getting the results we wanted was frustrating. Today it paid off, and I'm really happy about that."
Players Mentioned
Guard
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Forward
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