Georgia Tech Head Coach Josh Pastner
Opening statement:
“Okay first off, good win for Georgia Tech. We had 29 assists. It was the most assists since 2015; 29 assists on 35 made field goals … that is an excellent stat. I think Kennesaw State runs really good actions. They guard well, and they are very well-coached. Obviously, coach Skinner has been very, very successful for a very long time, and we know we were going to have to play really great defense to win the game. For the most part, we were good defensively. In the second half, there was some letdown, but that’s a credit to Kennesaw State. And obviously, us making threes in the first half helps. When you’re shooting the ball better everything looks better too.”
On key performances and turnovers:
“I thought Moses Wright really played well, especially in the first half. Michael Devoe had six assists and no turnovers … that’s a great stat for us. We had eight turnovers in the first half. Our goal is to have 11 or less, and we ended up with only four in the second half. We had four three-stops in a row in the first half … that was a goal of ours. But an overall good win. Anytime you can get a W, it’s a great thing, and we’ll keep getting better and keep proving.”
On scoring off the bench:
“First of all, I thought AD (Abdoulaye Gueye) gave us good minutes around the hoop, and we need him to be effective for us. Unfortunately AD had been in a little bit of a slump so hopefully, this game can trigger his mojo back to get him going. And I thought Shembari (Phillips) came in … he had a three and three assists with no turnovers. I thought Evan Cole gave us good action again. Evan Cole was starting for us, and he had that injury, and he just has been gradually getting back to where he was. So, seeing those guys come off the bench and give us good minutes like that [was good]. And our starters did a nice job of getting us a nice start again which is a positive sign.”
On the importance of win entering ACC play
“This one is important, and obviously we’ve got Wednesday vs USC Upstate. So, we have to finish out and close out the non-conference schedule the right way. And again, there are no gimmies, there are no easy ones. We’re going to have to play at a really high level. I’ll start watching tape on them tomorrow or later tonight, but we need to continue to have good momentum before we enter ACC play. I was talking to somebody yesterday … they just said in the ACC from top to bottom, maybe one or two teams that are really, really good, but it’s just every night is just going to be an absolute grind. And everybody is really good, and everybody can beat everybody, and includes from top, middle to bottom. It’s just going to be one heck of a league.”
Kennesaw State Head Coach Al Skinner
On Georgia Tech’s early shooting success:
“I’m not surprised. They’re very capable. That’s clearly the difference in the ballgame. They started off the game shooting the ball extremely well. Give them credit for their good execution and getting the shots that they wanted. We didn’t make them feel uncomfortable. They got comfortable and shot the ball well. That’s the difference in the ballgame. We put ourselves in a hole and it’s hard to catch up.”
On first half offensive struggles beyond Tyler Hooker:
“Our execution to start the game… we actually got some of the shots that we wanted we just didn’t put the ball in the basket. Sometimes [with] a young team on the road those are the things that happen. Like I told guys in the locker room, we’ve got to get ourselves a little better prepared to play. We cannot continue to put ourselves in a hole as we did today. Again, our defense wasn’t as good as it needed to be but you give credit to your opponent for shooting the ball extremely well. They executed well, and they got some open looks and put them in the basket. It’s just that simple.”
On Georgia Tech’s defensive switches:
“I think they played good defense [and] that got them out in transition a number of times and that contributed to their shooting percentage. Those things happen. We did not shoot the ball well [and] it got them in transition, but they also started off the game making some threes. And they had not consistently shot the ball well in the past. This afternoon they shot the ball extremely well.”
On defending Georgia Tech beyond the arc:
“We did not do a good job of recognizing guys on the perimeter. Some of that is due to our inexperience. We are a fairly young basketball team. But even though they were open they’ve still got to put the ball in the open. In previous games, they’ve had some similar looks and didn’t necessarily score the ball. They felt comfortable today and they executed well. They did what they had to do, and they dominated the ballgame in a lot of different areas. You give them credit for playing as well as they did.”
