Dec. 12, 2004

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes

UNC Head Coach Roy Williams

Opening remarks
"We're pleased. I thought we were very attentive. I was really concerned with our six days away from practice. Coming in yesterday, we weren't very sharp in practice. We couldn't pass it, couldn't catch it and it was sloppy. But at the same time, I think the kids were real focused today. I told them we had seven games in the first 15 days, and all of a sudden, in one 14-day stretch, we only play once. I challenged them to be attentive at the defensive end of the floor. At halftime, I challenged them to be more attentive to get a hand up on every shot since they had shot 52% in the first half. We still gave some open shots but I think we challenged their shots better in the second half, and they didn't shoot nearly as good of a percentage. We had six guys in double-figures, so that's good. I was able to get Raymond out, he only played 20 minutes. That was important to us, trying to get us some more rest time for his hand. Even with the two times we did practice (Monday and yesterday) we held Raymond out for a good bit of that. So we want him to play a little bit to get back in the rhythm and get him back in playing shape, but hopefully with this, because we're still in exams, we'll have a short week, practice-wise. Hopefully Raymond's hand will be much better at the end of the week. With Marvin and Melvin coming off the bench, giving us some good offense, that's important to us."

on scoring being evenly-distributed
"We should always be that way, because we're unselfish, have good shooters, good scorers. Hopefully we'll always run where we get a chance to get assists. At the same time, I still think we could do it a little bit better in our break, taking care to get more opportunities, taking charges when they're coming down. When we get the ball down at the other end, making sure we don't run over people."

on leading the ACC in free-throws
"Several years ago, I remember Duke had a streak of a couple years where they made more free-throws than their opponents shot. I started trying to do that at Kansas, and there were several years where we did. I think that was extremely important to us because it shows you get the basketball inside first. Hopefully at the end of the game, you'll have a chance for that other team's best players to be sitting at the end. At the Kentucky game, it was a prime example: they cut it to 6, but they had Chuck Hays and Rajan Rondo out, so I always think that's a positive."

on being sharper today than at this time last year
"We're more mature. They are more familiar with what we're trying to do. I think they're more focused on what it's going to be like, more focused on coming to practice and getting things accomplished. I kept challenging them during the game today, once the score got out of control, to build habits. This group is more experienced with trying to build habits and I think that will help us down the line. I took Sean and Rashad out for one possession early in the second half because if they had made the same type of play in the ACC, we would have been burned and I wanted them to understand that."

on starting conference play
"We talked about still having to do exams, and that's our number one focus. But right beneath that is our next game is a conference game. I'd like for us to be ready to play the first game, second game, ninth game and 15th game. I want us to have a couple of good days at practice so we can be sharper than we were today. When we go to Blacksburg, they'll be excited because it will be their first ACC game. I think they'll be excited so we have to be sure to match that enthusiasm."

Loyola Head Coach Jim Whitesell

Opening Statement:
"They are really good; they're very impressive. Obviously I wish we would've given them a better game. They were able to take us out of so many things. They are just so athletic that if you do get out of things, it leaves you with a very difficult time. We tried to double places because we knew we were over-matched in some areas, but they were still able to move the ball without many problems. And they shot the ball well, too."

On Carolina's quick start and the absence of DaJuan Gouard:
"The dunk right off the bat, that's not very good coaching, I don't think, by me. We're not sure what exactly DaJuan [Gouard] did on his knee and he's a guy that can get us out of some of those problems. Sometimes when teams over play he's a guy who can create baskets for someone else and himself. That would have helped us out a little bit, obviously he's not going to make up 60 points."

On taking 24 shots from behind the arc:
"That was an area offensively where we just panicked a lot. We took the first look not necessarily a good look. We took the first look instead of trying to get some things accomplished by moving the ball in and out. That's something we need to talk to our team about. We have to improve offensively in terms of running our stuff, understanding what is a good shot and what is a shot that we want, getting some second shots and getting to the free throw line. We've got to get a lot better at that and obviously Carolina just drove us out of anything we wanted to do."

UNC Player Quotes
Rashad McCants:

On getting back on the court after a rough schedule:
"I think so, a long way off. It was good to be out there running again."

On if the team had to shake off some rust from the break:
"No, not at all. We knew what we had to do, we just got out there and got it done."

Sean May:

On getting back on the court:
"Yeah it has been a long week. We've had finals and a little time off has been good, but eight, nine days, I don't even know how many, I think it was seven actually to be exact. It's been a long wait and it was good just to get out there. We didn't play quite as well as we wanted to, but it was just fun being out there."

On the team playing with a huge margin:
"Playing all those games early in the that short stretch of time helped us. I think we would have liked to do a better job on defense, we shot 52% I think is what coach said at half, and we just tried to keep it focused the entire game. We did do a great job of shooting the ball and we got a good win out of it."

On the first half:
"We came straight out the gates. Jackie [Manuel] got a wide open dunk from the tip and Rashad [McCants] did a good job of knocking down some shots. Marvin [Williams] came in and played really well at the bench. We had it rolling just from the beginning. I think we had a lot of time off and we were just eager to play and I think it showed out there that our intensity level was real high even though at times we played a little bit sloppy."

On Wes Miller playing in the game:
"Yeah Wes, like I said, people probably don't know, he is probably one of the best shooters in the ACC. Once he gets his confidence and a little bit more time, he can really shot that ball and coach put him in for a specific job and he did a great job of knocking it down."