ACC Quarterfinal – UNC Versus Clemson Postgame Quotes

March 9, 2001

North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty: “We are fortunate to be advancing in the tournament. Clemson is not an easy team to play, especially when they have a great player like Will Solomon. I thought they shot the ball extremely well in the first half, and then our defense tightened up a little bit and held them in the second half to 38 percent, and at the same time, we shot the ball pretty well and did a good job of executing our offense.”

“Jason Capel, Max Owens and Kris Lang all did a good job of distributing the ball. We had 26 assists and did a good job of putting the ball in the basket.”

North Carolina forward Jason Capel: “Our shoot-around yesterday did a lot for us and we felt comfortable and confident. This week we did a lot of shooting in the Smith Center just to get our confidence coming into Atlanta. When guys shoot the ball with confidence, good things are going to happen.”

North Carolina guard Max Owens: “We came out with good enthusiasm and came to play today. We listened to coach and on the defensive end we stepped it up whenever we needed to and came out with a big win.”

Clemson head coach Larry Shyatt: “I thought this was a good experience for us last night and today. I still believe our format is the best because it protects the No. 1 team in terms of rest time, which is important in our league, to take care of our best. I thought our guys gave a great effort. I thought we were in position with eight and a half minutes to play in the game. It’s a six-point game. They were shooting really well, which is probably not what we want but perhaps the shots we want. And I thought they continued to shoot well and overwhelmed us with some talent. But I’m very proud of our effort. I’m very proud of our players keeping their level of frustration because it was a very physical game and perhaps closer than some people thought for a long time. I thought they held off a couple of very good rallies and hopefully this is some very positive things to see in the future.”

“(Jason Capel) had a very, very good shooting game. He’s to be complimented on that.”

“We flip-flopped back and forth. And you know what, North Carolina was just too good and too smart too long.”

Clemson guard Will Solomon: “It was a real competitive game. The lead changed three or four times. They made some big shots and we made some big shots. I just thought it was a well-played game and we fell short tonight.”