North Carolina State University Athletics
Postgame Quotes
2/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2003
NC STATE COACH HERB SENDEK
I was proud of our effort. I thought we competed terrifically. I could be any more proud of the way they battled.
(On N.C. State's last shot) Virginia did a good job defending us. Their defender was draped all over Julius [Hodge], and he was off balance.
(On the confrontation between Marcus Melvin and Travis Watson) It was just a fiercely contested game on both sides. The effort level and competitiveness were terrific.
(On N.C. State's second-half offense) Nothing changed with our offense. The ball didn't go in the basket and some circumstances didn't go in our favor.
(On N.C. State's defense against Virginia's three-point shooting) They have a number of guys who can hurt you from three-point range. We were aware that Todd Billet was averaging 18 points a game, and he didn't make a three. That just shows you how hard we played on defense.
VIRGINIA COACH PETE GILLEN
Today was a hard fought game for both teams. I though our defense was very good against a very good offensive team. They spread you our and carve you up. ... Our offensive execution wasn't very good, but our defense was solid.
Free throws win games, and today we made some big ones.
(On the last N.C. State play) We just said, 'Hey, don't let [Julius Hodge] hit a three.' We put Jason Clark on him. When Hodge scored his points, not a lot were against [Clark]. We actually wanted to foul, but they weren't listening to us. We wanted to give a foul, but we froze a little bit. We just didn't want them to hit a three. ... A three-point shot is not a difficult shot. We've [fouled] in the past, and it's helped us.
(On Travis Watson's play) He was spectacular. He did some great things. But he hasn't practiced ... so he wasn't in sync. The reason he loses the ball was because he wasn't in sync.
(On Jermaine Harper's three pointer) He's not afraid. He's a tough guy. That was a big three -- a giant shot.
We have great competition [in the ACC]. We have a good team that I think has a chance to be very good. ... We just need to keep improving. If we focus on 'we' and 'us' and 'our,' we have a chance to be a pretty good team down the stretch.
