Dec. 1, 2015
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– GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Brian Gregory
Opening statement
“I know you guys all follow college basketball and obviously we beat very a good team today. That team had a lot of guys back from the squad that won 28 games last year and has been to postseasons. They know how to win. They know who they are, and it’s an unbelievably, well-coached team. I’m very proud of the way our guys responded and played. The game started off tough. They’re a very physical team, a very good defensive team. And they don’t give up a lot of second-chance points, run a lot of different things, offensively, that you don’t see. Our defense kind of held us in there a little bit early, and then we responded much better in the last 10 minutes of the first half. And I thought the second half is big because some of the wins that we’ve had already, against Tennessee and Arkansas, we played well in spurts against Villanova, but I thought we played maybe as well as we’ve played all year in that second half, especially defensively. We just did a lot of good things. We are a team that’s deep, and we’ve got to rely on other guys. And for us to be up 25 points against this team with Marcus [Georges-Hunt] and Nick [Jacobs] not scoring a lot for us was impressive. So, this was an important game for us, bouncing back after the last loss. And now we’ve got to move forward and get ready to go on Saturday.”
On Wofford hanging with Tech on the boards in the first half, but Tech’s ability to dominate the glass in the second half
“Yeah, obviously that was a point of emphasis for them. They only give up six offensive rebounds a game, which is an incredible stat. And we got 14 of them. But, what you have to do, you’ve got to go to get. If you don’t go, you aren’t getting any. And you’ve got to keep going even if you get smacked and get knocked down going, or if they do a great job of wedging. I think you saw in the first half, there were times we were going and they were full-body contact. And that’s totally the way you are supposed to play. They do everything right, but you’ve got to keep going. You’ve just got to try to eventually wear them down a little bit. And good offense always creates better offensive-rebounding opportunities. We had seven [offensive rebounds] in the first half and some of those came in the last 10 minutes. So, we did a lot of good things today. And rebounding, again, a 40-22 margin is pretty good.”
On Tech’s three-point shooting
“Adam [Smith], he’s a game-changer. Quinton [Stephens] hit a big one for us. He hit two big ones for us, one in the first half, one in the second half. Travis [Jorgenson] hit a big one in the first half and hit a big one in the second half as well. So, we were 8-of-18 from 3. Anytime you want to give me 44 percent from the 3, I’ll take that thing and run. But, for Adam, two were off of some set actions and the other was him just making a play off it. And that’s what he does.”
WOFFORD HEAD COACH MIKE YOUNG
What was the difference between the two halves?
“I like Brian [Gregory]’s team. I was thinking about it walking up here. You consider [Chuck] Mitchell, [Nick] Jacobs, [Marcus] Georges-Hunt and Adam Smith. Those guys have seen a lot of plays. They didn’t flinch. I thought we had played probably our best half of the year in the first. I’ve got as good a shooting team as I’ve had and I thought we continued to get pretty good shots, but needless to say the Yellow Jackets outplayed us in the game’s most critical stretches.”
How did Georgia Tech win the rebounding battle?
“They absolutely destroyed us [in the second half]. Brian [Gregory’s] playing good people. They’re averaging 14 or 16 offensive rebounds a night. They pose a lot of problems. [Ben] Lammers comes off the bench with good length as does James White. I thought we did a lot better job in the first [half] than we did in the second [with] gang-rebounding with guards and everybody. It’ll be interesting to see when we go back and watch it on film. I really can’t put my finger on it other than that they’re just enormous. They’ve got a big front line and [Quinton] Stephens is a long small forward and [Marcus] Georges-Hunt at 6-5 is a really good looking small forward.”
How does the tighter officiating affect the game?
“I think those three guys did a really nice job. I can’t say that I’m a big fan of what’s transpiring. I thought those three guys did a nice job. They’re doing what they’re charged to do, but I don’t think we shot a foul shot in the first half. Come on man. Let’s play the game here. For the third time, those three guys are friends and are good officials. They did a nice job.”
