Jan. 12, 2012
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery
GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Brian Gregory
“It was a great effort by our guys, no question about it, from start to finish. We made a lot of mistakes, and give North Carolina State credit. They battled back, made a couple of runs, and our guys fought through it. We talked about a great effort for 40 minutes, sticking together through tough times, and you saw the whole gamut in that game. I was proud of our guys’ ability to handle some frustrating situations and continue to plug through and come out with a big road win.”
On taking charge of the game late in the first half
“The one thing we did well in the last 10 minutes of the first half, we eliminated their transition baskets and kept them off the offensive glass. That was the difference. Our defense is getting better, and North Carolina State is no different than us and a lot of teams in that they struggle to score sometimes in the halfcourt. So if you eliminate some transition and second-chance points, and then all of a sudden Glen [Rice] makes a couple of shots, Mfon [Udofia] makes a couple of shots, Daniel [Miller] makes a couple of shots, and like the Georgia game, our defense created some offensive opportunities for us.”
On how the lessons of the last few games paid off in the second half
“It was good. I’m not pleased with the last two minutes, but it’s going to be another opportunity to teach them. We wanted to finish that game better than we did, but give North Carolina State credit. That’s Mark Gottfried. Those guys scrapped and clawed to the very end. They’re a good team, an NCAA Tournament team. I don’t think there’s any question about it. They had a little slip-up today, but I think we had something to do with it because we played well.”
NC STATE HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
“I think that we certainly didn’t play very well. I think we’re better defensively than we showed. I think we’re better, offensively, than we showed. On the flip side, I think there were times were did defend very well and they hit some really tough shots. Rough night for us tonight, and we have to find a way to come back playing better.
On Foul trouble
“It hurt us not having key guys in there at certain times, especially right before the half. The foul trouble put us in a little bit of a disadvantage, but they still made those tough shots and you have to hand it to them.”
On Shooting disparity
“We tried to turn them over, but they were very solid with the ball. We missed a lot of shots that, when you watch this team over the last month, we’ve been making. We had a night offensively where we really struggled. At the same time, they were playing better than they have been lately.
“They had balanced scoring and two or three guys playing really well. Some of the threes they made were behind screens or tough shots, or leaning threes. They’ve struggled to score at times, but tonight they got 27 points from behind the line and that helped them.”
