Clemson vs. North Carolina Quotes

Feb. 6, 2000

Recap| Play by Play | Notes

Clemson Head Coach Larry Shyatt:

“First of all I would like to compliment the very talented North Carolina team. Any time we play against five McDonald All Americans you have to give up something.

“To have a team with freshman and sophomores on the floor and not turn turning the ball over was a major improvement by the team. It was a great job by all of the players. The dagger in the back from North Carolina was that they have Cota.

“We did an excellent job of getting the shots that we wanted but we could not get them all to fall. Our team has shown a lot of improvement, and I expect great things down the road.”

North Carolina Head Coach Bill Guthridge:

“It was a very important game. I was very scared after watching the NC State and Georgia Tech games. I thought it was a great win for us. Clemson played a lot better than they did in January.

“We had a hard time stopping Solomon, but towards the end Joseph Forte did a good job on him. Forte started guarding Solomon closer. Our guys did a good job because Solomon is a handful.

“The blue team had been doing a good job in practice and I decided they had earned it. I knew I wanted to get them in the in first half and I don’t know if it will be a regular thing.

“I thought Kris Lang played real well. We were getting the ball to him underneath. Haywood made some big plays for us as well.

“Clemson is a hard team to put away and at one point I would have been thrilled with a one point win. They just kept coming back at us. We have improved and gotten better, but Clemson has too. They have key players back such as Jurkunas and Braddick. This was an important game for us because we needed a road win. Hopefully we can build on this.”

Clemson’s Edward Scott

“I think we played pretty well. (Ed) Cota just came out and played a great game. He broke us down and created some shots. He can do so many things. He can create for others and create for himself. Tonight he proved he could create for himself.

“It was just a case of them making some shots and our shots did not go in. We had great execution and great looks, but they just wouldn’t fall for us.”

Clemson’s Will Solomon

“I just went out fired up. I practiced hard last week. I tried to get the team fired up. It is a matter of confidence. If you miss the first two shots you can’t think about it. As a shooter you just have to let it go. That is part of the game.

“I saw their lead getting bigger and bigger. I looked up at the scoreboard and said I have to do something to get my team back in the game. The whole team just got me open by setting screens. I was open and I just let them go and they fell for me.”