North Carolina State University Athletics
Post-game coaches quotes
1/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State head coach Sidney Lowe
“The first half we did a nice job and we were able to get the ball inside. The pressure Clemson had didn’t bother us, and we hung in there. The second half we turned the ball over right away and they started pounding us on the boards. Experience definitely took over. They stuck to their game plan and got it done.”
“One thing we talked about was the press. They’re an active team. We have to have two-hand passes, but we kept making one-handed passes. We can’t do that. We need to work on controlling the ball. Clemson kept up the intensity and kept us from scoring. We have to get loose balls and be more aggressive with it, especially when the ball is at the other team’s end of the court.”
“It’s frustrating looking at the numbers and trying to get things done, especially without our point guard and making guys play at positions they aren’t used to. We kept trying to substitute and call timeouts to get fresh bodies out there, but it’s tough when the other team has more players available.”
“[Dennis Horner] is doing a great job. He’s a tough guy who knows how to execute our offense. Sometimes he’s going against bigger guys, but he takes a step back and uses his strengths. I don’t worry about him playing hard because he always gives 100percent.”
Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell
“Obviously, I’m very proud of our group. They tied school history tonight. They’ll be remembered now for getting off to the fastest start in school history. They’re the only unbeaten team in the country. Most importantly, they’re 3-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, with two of those on the road, and those are very hard to get.”
“We thought we could wear [NC State] down tonight, but they hung with us in the first half. I think the Georgia Tech game, on the road last Saturday, took a little something out of us. To their credit, they were able to stay with us. They made us pay for our pressure in the halfcourt game. We were able to pull away a little in the second half. We had a little spurt to get [the lead] to 10-12, and that’s about where it stayed most of the rest of the way.”
“We talk about experience and expectations. We have experienced players and they expect to win. We still haven’t won a lot at 3-0 [in the conference]. To me, seven is a lot to win in the ACC. But they expect to win. Our primary goal this year was to get to the NCAA Tournament. Now, we feel like we’re competing for the ACC title, for the top seed in the conference tournament. This is the last unbeaten team in the country, so we should expect to win.”
