Kennedy Meeks
Q: You held [Zach] Auguste to about five points, you and Brice together, what can you say about that? You were working really hard to hold him to pretty much nothing.
A: We knew if we could contain him we’d be fine. We did a great job, and kept him off the boards, that was the main thing. He’s a tremendous rebounder and coach kept preaching about him getting 22 boards against Duke, and we just wanted to do our job, and did we a great job with him.
Q: The bench had about a 14-3 run while Brice was out with that technical foul, can you tell me what inspired you and Isiah [Hicks] particularly to work hard on those boards and continue to put up points.
A: When your best player goes out of the game you always want to pick up the slack, and it doesn’t matter who does that. Me and Isiah did a tremendous job coming into the game and giving a good effort. Isiah really bounced back getting those foul calls on him and gave us a lift.
Q: Can’t make it out through background noise
A: I told Theo [Pinson] before the game that he’s going to be one of the reasons we win this game. He’s our energy guy. Him and Isiah [Hicks] are our energy guys, and they did a great job today. Theo really gave us a push, really showed that and we continued to play defense, they tried to hold the ball as long as they could and we decided to spring on the ball in a different way and that helped.
Justin Jackson
Q: Asked about how the team reacted to the pace of the game
A: Notre Dame slowed it down a whole lot and we still scored 88 points. I think we did a great job even as they slowed it down to push it back at them. Defensively, I think we did a good job as they held the ball to go [run a play] under 15 seconds. Shawn said at halftime our defense had to be at its best during that last 10 seconds and we did that.
Q: This team struggled at times last year in the half-court offense. How has it been this year, and whjat’s changed the most?
A: We have so many guys that are threats. Last year everybody tended to go towards Marcus [] or Brice [] and all five guys on the court weren’t necessarily threats. Now we have six, seven, eight threats so being as deep as we are that really helps us.
Q: Now you get to go home. How does it feel?
A: It feels great. In about 20 minutes it’ll be my birthday as well so you can’t get a much better of a gift than going back to your home town.
Q: Any added pressure going back there with all your friends watching?
A: No, they’ve done it all my life so there’s no added pressure. I’m going to enjoy it for sure.
Q: How were you guys able to bounce back so quickly after Brice left the game following the tech?
A: It all started on defense. During that stretch we couldn’t seem get a stop and they were forcing us to take tough shots. When we locked down and guarded the ball, in particular on Jackson who had a great game, and didn’t have to help out on the shooters I think that turned it around.
Q: The Final Four is the standard for North Carolina, but it’s been a long time. Is it a relief, is it fun? What are you feeling about getting back
A: It’s all fun. All the work we put in during the offseason, during the season in practice, the games in the tournament, it feels really good. We’re going to enjoy this a little bit longer than any other game, but we still have two more games left and we have to get ready for that, but it’s a great feeling and words can’t really explain it.
Q: How many goals do you still have to check off now from the beginning of the season?
A: Still two. We feel like we still have some unfinished business. We’re not even worried about Final Four right now though, we’re just enjoying this and then when it’s time to get ready for Syracuse we’ll move on to that.
Q: How was the locker room after the game?
A: Crazy! Everybody laughing, joking and smiling. These are the feeling you really can’t explain from a one of the kind tournament.
Joel Berry II
Q: Indiana wanted to run with you guys, Notre Dame wanted to do the opposite today. What does that say about this team being able to deal with either approach?
A: I think it shows our growth. If the game is fast, well that’s what we want to do. If the game is slow, we’re capable of playing that as well. I think we tried to play more into their game [Notre Dame] in the first half. In the second half we did a better job of trying to get them to play our game. They were being more aggressive and not holding the ball as long as they were in the first half and I think that’s because of what we did. We spread them out and denied the ball, getting them play our game in the second half.
Q: How are you felling right now?
A: I’m feeling great. We worked through ups and downs to get to this point. We’ve been through a lot and people have criticized us about our toughness and to make it to this point is a great feeling.
Q: He [Roy Williams] gets credit all the time for being a great recruiter, but considering your second half performances is he an underrated Xs and Os, and second half adjustments?
A: I think so. A lot of people overlook it. It’s not necessarily Xs and Os, he just does a great job bringing out the best in us and motivating us.
Q: You held [Zach] Auguste to about five points, you and Brice together, what can you say about that? You were working really hard to hold him to pretty much nothing.
A: We knew if we could contain him we’d be fine. We did a great job, and kept him off the boards, that was the main thing. He’s a tremendous rebounder and coach kept preaching about him getting 22 boards against Duke, and we just wanted to do our job, and did we a great job with him.
Q: The bench had about a 14-3 run while Brice was out with that technical foul, can you tell me what inspired you and Isiah [Hicks] particularly to work hard on those boards and continue to put up points.
A: When your best player goes out of the game you always want to pick up the slack, and it doesn’t matter who does that. Me and Isiah did a tremendous job coming into the game and giving a good effort. Isiah really bounced back getting those foul calls on him and gave us a lift.
Q: Can’t make it out through background noise
A: I told Theo [Pinson] before the game that he’s going to be one of the reasons we win this game. He’s our energy guy. Him and Isiah [Hicks] are our energy guys, and they did a great job today. Theo really gave us a push, really showed that and we continued to play defense, they tried to hold the ball as long as they could and we decided to spring on the ball in a different way and that helped.
Justin Jackson
Q: Asked about how the team reacted to the pace of the game
A: Notre Dame slowed it down a whole lot and we still scored 88 points. I think we did a great job even as they slowed it down to push it back at them. Defensively, I think we did a good job as they held the ball to go [run a play] under 15 seconds. Shawn said at halftime our defense had to be at its best during that last 10 seconds and we did that.
Q: This team struggled at times last year in the half-court offense. How has it been this year, and whjat’s changed the most?
A: We have so many guys that are threats. Last year everybody tended to go towards Marcus [] or Brice [] and all five guys on the court weren’t necessarily threats. Now we have six, seven, eight threats so being as deep as we are that really helps us.
Q: Now you get to go home. How does it feel?
A: It feels great. In about 20 minutes it’ll be my birthday as well so you can’t get a much better of a gift than going back to your home town.
Q: Any added pressure going back there with all your friends watching?
A: No, they’ve done it all my life so there’s no added pressure. I’m going to enjoy it for sure.
Q: How were you guys able to bounce back so quickly after Brice left the game following the tech?
A: It all started on defense. During that stretch we couldn’t seem get a stop and they were forcing us to take tough shots. When we locked down and guarded the ball, in particular on Jackson who had a great game, and didn’t have to help out on the shooters I think that turned it around.
Q: The Final Four is the standard for North Carolina, but it’s been a long time. Is it a relief, is it fun? What are you feeling about getting back
A: It’s all fun. All the work we put in during the offseason, during the season in practice, the games in the tournament, it feels really good. We’re going to enjoy this a little bit longer than any other game, but we still have two more games left and we have to get ready for that, but it’s a great feeling and words can’t really explain it.
Q: How many goals do you still have to check off now from the beginning of the season?
A: Still two. We feel like we still have some unfinished business. We’re not even worried about Final Four right now though, we’re just enjoying this and then when it’s time to get ready for Syracuse we’ll move on to that.
Q: How was the locker room after the game?
A: Crazy! Everybody laughing, joking and smiling. These are the feeling you really can’t explain from a one of the kind tournament.
Joel Berry II
Q: Indiana wanted to run with you guys, Notre Dame wanted to do the opposite today. What does that say about this team being able to deal with either approach?
A: I think it shows our growth. If the game is fast, well that’s what we want to do. If the game is slow, we’re capable of playing that as well. I think we tried to play more into their game [Notre Dame] in the first half. In the second half we did a better job of trying to get them to play our game. They were being more aggressive and not holding the ball as long as they were in the first half and I think that’s because of what we did. We spread them out and denied the ball, getting them play our game in the second half.
Q: How are you felling right now?
A: I’m feeling great. We worked through ups and downs to get to this point. We’ve been through a lot and people have criticized us about our toughness and to make it to this point is a great feeling.
Q: He [Roy Williams] gets credit all the time for being a great recruiter, but considering your second half performances is he an underrated Xs and Os, and second half adjustments?
A: I think so. A lot of people overlook it. It’s not necessarily Xs and Os, he just does a great job bringing out the best in us and motivating us.
