Jan. 17, 2009
– GEORGIA TECH COACH Paul Hewitt
“We played a pretty good basketball game, but down the stretch we couldn’t match the physical presence of NC State. They stepped it up and became physical and we didn’t respond.
“We did a good job on [Ben] McCauley in the post and made him work to get the ball but he has such a presence in the low post that he beat us to the ball down the stretch.
“We didn’t play strong. That’s really all there is to it.”
“On the road you’ve got to play strong down the stretch. We made our free throws and our three’s, but we turned it over too much.
“We’re getting better. Our energy is great, our effort is great and our execution is much better. We’re getting better but there is nothing to show for it. We’ve been in every game but the Duke game and had chances to win. But we’ve got to improve. I’ve got to manage the game better and they’ve got to execute better.”
NC STATE COACH SIDNEY LOWE
“It was a win to be proud of. Our guys came in ready to play, and they made the big plays. It was good to see us come out and make those plays and be aggressive.”
“We changed our defense a couple of times and we got [Georgia Tech] out of rhythm. It helped us get the momentum and it worked in our favor.”
“I wasn’t sure if [Trevor Ferguson] would be ready to play and handle the ball well because of his hand. We put in him situations because we needed him and he knew how to run our stuff. I didn’t know he’d be able to make all those shots for us.”
On Dennis Horner coming in after Brandon Costner fouled out: “You have to tip your hat to him. I expect him to be able to do that. He did what he’s supposed to. He made sure he was ready to play and he didn’t worry about his minutes.”
“[Courtney Fells] did a great job denying [Lewis Clinch]. He didn’t back down. He played for the team. He didn’t worry about his numbers and came up with a big steal for us.”
