March 12, 2004
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Head Coach Georgia Tech
(Opening statement) — “It is an outstanding win for our team. We beat a very, very good basketball team. With Felton hurting a little bit, and the rest of the guys were a little bit banged up, it would have been easy for them when they were down 11 to just pack it in and play for next week. They really stepped up their defense. They had us scrambling and took us out of our flow. It was an outstanding comeback on their part. As far as the last play is concerned, that was just a player bailing out a coach. The play we had set up got totally busted. He (Jarrett Jack) had the presence of mind to get the ball to Marvin (Lewis) and he moved to get open. He just made a play. That is something we work on all the time in individual instruction. It was just a totally busted play. He just bailed me out. Now we have the opportunity to play against another quality opponent tomorrow.
(On Luke Schenscher) — From my perspective he is the most improved player in this league. There were times last year when I would have to sit him down and tell him he was more frustrated with his play than I was. He is making good progress. We happened to have a kid in front of him that was the fourth pick in the draft. It was tough for him. I don’t know if you guys remember, but at ACC Media Day, I told you we had as much depth, if not more depth in the frontcourt than anyone in this league. I’m glad he has made me look like I know what I’m talking about. He is a good player. I’m not surprised at his performance.
(On Atmosphere of ACC Tournament) — It is a great atmosphere for these players. You only get to go through this one time if you are a player. As coaches, we are going to be fortunate enough to coach a lot more games. I always remind our guys that this is the time to enjoy the moment. There was no better moment for this team, and, in particular, Jarrett Jack than what happened about 20 minutes ago.
Sophomore, Jarrett Jack
(On the last play) — We drew a play to try and get Isma’il (Muhammad) a lob on the bask side. I didn’t think he was quite open so I threw it to Marvin (Lewis). I know the clock was ticking down, so I tried to give Marvin a passing angle. I went in there and made a play and luckily the shot went in. When I threw it in to Marvin they kind of left me. The defense was kind of scrambled and I just tried to find a way to get myself open and be able to make a play going to the basket.
(On the game-winning shot) — “When it left my hand it looked good. It was on target, but I really didn’t know it was in until after it went through the net.
(On the feeling of hitting a game-winning shot) — This is what we all dream about. Coming to the ACC, playing in the big tournament, being the hero, and knocking down the shot to move your team on to the next round.
Junior, Luke Schenscher
(On his effort against Sean May) — I had a down game against Florida State, so I felt I had to come to this game and prove something to myself and my teammates. I knew I had to get back to that form that I had shown in the past. I just tried to get into that zone, concentrate on the game and nothing else. I was just there and active and doing what I needed to do.
(On confidence going against Duke) — We know they are going to come out hard since we beat them last time. It’s going to be a real tough battle. They’ve won the most ACC titles, so they know what they’re doing here. We’ve got to come out hard and get one on them.
Roy Williams
Head Coach University of North Carolina
(Opening statement) — Needless to say we don’t feel very good right now. You have to congratulate Jarrett Jack and Tech. He made a big shot and they made a play when they had to make it. It’s hard, I feel like I’ve been congratulating people for making big plays in games all year, so that part’s not easy.
In the first half we did not play well at all. We were just not any good on either end of the court, I felt very lucky to be only down three at halftime. In the second half, we got off to a good start and then they made their run and we were hanging around. We were down 11 and (I) really was pleased and impressed with my team, with the way they fought and made plays. They made shots, made steals, got offensive rebounds and played basketball the way I’ve seen us play for several times during the season.
We didn’t do a good enough job defensively to get somebody in Jarrett Jack’s face on that last shot. It was a shot that he still had to make, but we didn’t guard it the we would’ve liked to. We would’ve liked to have had someone in front of him so he could shoot it over their hands, but it wasn’t there.
(On a lack of balance) — I’d like to have more balance. I look down and I see that Tech had five guys in double figures and one of those guys coming off the bench, that’s a good positive. I think the best teams I’ve had in the past have had great balance.
We had three guys do a great job, and a lot of times that’s good enough, but I do think it would be more important if we had five guys that the other team would have to guard and play.
(On the winning shot) — We felt like we covered a couple things, but you know in basketball a lot of times broken plays are the best and big-time players have to make big-time plays on game day. I think that’s what Jarrett Jack did. We felt like we had the good plan and felt like we defended what they wanted to do, but the kid still made a play.
Sophomore Sean May
(On the comeback and the final minute of play) — We knew that we hadn’t played the way we wanted to play in the first half. We kind of dug ourselves into a hole. Coach (Williams) talked about, “if you guys want to go home tonight then sit back and keep playing the way you want to play, but if you want to do something special then let’s go out there and get this done.” We came out of the huddle with about 7:50 left on the clock with a lot more enthusiasm and a little more bounce in our step. We just got after it.
(On his final two free throws) — Every player sits at home and dreams about making the big free throws to win the game and I felt confident going to the line. I was actually happy I got fouled because I knew I could go up there and get two free throws. I went up there and shot the first one and I knew as soon as it left my hand that it was a little too hard. Raymond came to me and I told him don’t worry about it I can hit this next one and we can go down and play defense. I hit the second one. But those two free throws weren’t the reason we lost the game. The way we played in the first half, we just can’t have that if we want to be the type of team that Coach wants us to be.
