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VIRGINIA HEAD COACH TONY BENNETT

Opening Statement:

“I told the guys after the game that they certainly showed heart the way they battled. I want to look at the film and see if we used our head or not at times. I think the way we started hurt us. They certainly took it to us the way the game started then we reeled in back in and got to where we needed to be, how we had to play defensively, and even offensively. But some of the baskets at the rim, transition buckets, turnovers early, we were out of sync. The two plays that stand out that hurt were the end of the half and then the second half when we had a rebound corralled and I don’t know if it was Leslie, took it from us and hit a three. Those were two pivotal plays. Again, I never questioned our guys ability to battle. We had our opportunities at the end to tie or push ahead, and we got some good looks and didn’t capitalize on them. NC State certainly was aggressive and played well.”

On NC State’s shooting percentage:
“In the first half, it was sixty percent. I mean the way they got some layups in transition, a couple buckets at the rim, we just were a half a step behind. I thought we made some adjustments and were better in the second half, but they still shot close to fifty. But we wanted to start to make the opponent earn and those easy ones cost us early and we had to fight to get it back to even. When we did, they made some plays down the stretch as well. That ability to not make them earn some easy ones cost us.”

On the minutes and its effects on the players like Sammy Zeglinski:
“I thought Sammy did a good job defensively. Wood, he really trailed and bothered him. Offensively, he got a couple of good looks and didn’t quite get them but I think they were more aware of where he was and the ones he got just didn’t go down so I think they were definitely more aware of his location on the floor.”

VIRGINIA SENIOR FORWARD MIKE SCOTT

On if the amount of minutes he played (37) affected how he played
“No, it didn’t. I was just out there playing. I really didn’t get tired that much.”

On the play of NC State’s C.J. Leslie
“He was very aggressive. He is a very good player, long and athletic. He really took it to us today. He had 14 rebounds and 19 points. He is a very good player.”

On if the Cavaliers deserve an NCAA bid
“I’ve never been to the (NCAA) tournament, so I am hoping they will put us in there.”

NC STATE HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED

Opening statement
“I am tremendously proud of my team. I just think they have improved from the beginning of the year. We’re getting better. I think we’re still improving. At the beginning of the year, we played a great schedule but we just sometimes weren’t good enough. I think now this team is learning how to execute the offense late game, tough situations, get a defensive stop at a tough time and so it’s a process. I’m very proud and thankful for our guys. This is a big win. Tough. Grinding. A win against I think a really good team and a hard team to play against with the way they play.”

On Scott Wood’s four-point play and its impact on the game
“Scott’s shot I think gave us some pep in the step going into the locker room which we didn’t have. I thought it was a big play by him.”

On this ACC Tournament run and how it will affect their selection for the NCAA Tournament
“I think we deserve to play in the NCAA Tournament. Obviously I’m not on the committee. We did what the committee asked us to do. We scheduled hard, tough. And quite frankly, I walked into a new job and we weren’t in the greatest position at that time either. We did what we were supposed to do…. This team pretty much from start to finish has played pretty well and been in a position, even early, to win a lot of games. “

NC STATE FORWARD C.J. LESLIE

On avoiding fouls in the second half after picking up two in the first
“I had to stay disciplined. I realized I had two fouls. Sometimes, you have to play through adversity. I just had to keep it going without getting fouls.”

On whether Virginia’s fatigue was apparent
“The main thing was to stay down on defense. We were talking about that. We were just playing. We couldn’t realize how tired they were. We just got it going.”

On defending Mike Scott in general
“He’s a great player. You can’t take anything from him. He hit a lot of tough shots. His is one of those unique shots. It’s hard to jump up there and get it. We stayed down and played through it. We answered back to them and came out with a victory.”

On defending Mike Scott with a 63-60 lead in the final minutes
“When the time is down, you have to get in a stance and play tough defense. I wanted to be in a position to challenge that shot.”

On his season
“Coach has done an amazing job with me in keeping me in the game and telling me I can do it and sticking with me through all the tough times I had. He has done well to make sure my head is in the right place at game time. I can’t say I’ve done it on my own.”

NC STATE GUARD LORENZO BROWN

On his series of drives to the basket
“It was just beautiful at the moment. I tried to help my team as best I could.”

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