Head Coach Kenny Payne (Opening Statement)
First and foremost, we’re facing a club that has a serious shot at making the NCAA tournament. I like their team. I like their roughness. We understood it would be a physical war. We know they are superb shooters. Even if they haven’t shot well lately, they’re still a very good shooting squad. They are a full team. I’m proud of my men for coming in here and fighting as hard as we did. I know people want us to feel depressed because we lost, but at the end of the day, I saw five players on the court – whichever five – giving it their all to win the game. I’m proud of my guys. We didn’t shoot well from three, going 2-for-20. Don’t care; they fought. We have outperformed them by 19. We were one of the conference’s most physically active teams, and we fought. So I can’t sit here and be pessimistic when my team, without two point guards, goes out and battles like they did.
(On not getting an assist until late in the second half.)
I just felt like we were stagnating. We did not make rapid, decisive decisions. We paused for a moment when a guy opened up. But, overall, they fought.
(Out-rebounding Clemson by 19)
I just assumed that our backs were against the wall. We’ve been through so much, and they’re finally tired of it. They competed. They fought their balls off. I hate to tell it, but I can’t urge guys to play any harder while attacking them. They’re probably the most physical team in this conference, and they fought.
(On whether he was shocked that they were able to fight as much as they did.)
It does not surprise me. Again, young people, when we’ve been doing this for as long as I have, you can’t write them off. I wish certain guys had put in a bit more effort; the outcome could have been different. But I believe in my guys. I like my teammates. I simply want to see them play like that in the second half every time they get on the court. I believe Tre White demonstrated why we wanted him here, and I just told him in the locker room, “I just saw the guy that I wanted out of the transfer portal.” How should I respond if you don’t give me that type of player?
Leave a Reply