Clemson vs. Georgia quotes

Clemson head coach Brad Brownell

Opening statement:

“It was a special night for a lot of reasons. Certainly, the win was unbelievable. I’m proud of my team for showing grit and toughness. Super excited about the building and the turnout. To see this much orange and life in the building, it feels like our place. I’m really excited about creating new memories here. Tonight’s great, but this is more than tonight. This is a huge step for Clemson basketball.”

On his team’s play:

“Our defense was the difference in first half. We had guys fighting down there. Our pressure bothered Georgia. They did a couple of things we hadn’t seen that hurt us, but we made some adjustments. That’s the best thing about having older guys; you can make adjustments on the fly. Legend (Robertin) came in in the first half and made some good plays for us. Sidy (Djitte) battled. He’s a glue guy. (Donte) Grantham was down there guarding. He showed more physical presence than he’s had. I was really pleased to see Gabe (DeVoe) make shots early.

On starting 1-0:“It’s going to be hard (in Orlando). Davidson is tough, they can really score it. They have a good inside-outside combination. We need to relax for 24 or 36 hours, heal some wounds, because we are under-manned right now.”

On his team’s defense:“I was pleased. We struggled to rebound the ball, and we knew that was a worry going into the game. We’ve got to really work at it. But in terms of following the game plan and making adjustments within the game, as well as guarding different positions, we handled that well. We worked through some things, and it helps that we have some experienced players.”

Georgia head coach Mark Fox

Opening statement:

“Our congrats to Clemson’s team and their fans. I thought they brought great energy in their opener and got off to a great start. We got back into it, but didn’t make the plays we needed to to come all the way back.”

On switching to a zone defense:

“It contributed to getting back into the game, but we didn’t play well on either end, really. I’m not taking anything away from Clemson at all. We didn’t play well enough to win. Not on the road against a team like this.”

On late comeback effort:

“We got it right where we needed to be (down 51-48), and then we turned the ball right over. We just played soft basketball.”

On Georgia’s defense:

“We let a guy catch it on an inbounds play and lay it off the backboard. That’s ridiculous. That’s one of our best players that falls asleep. We have to be more disciplined, and if you want to be lead dogs, you have got to play well. I was not pleased with our defense.”

On Clemson’s defense:

“I want to give them credit, but I’m very disappointed in the poise we showed. Our first call out of the gate wasn’t right. There was a lot of emotion as expected. I was disappointed in that. Their defense was great. I don’t want to take anything away from coach (Brad) Brownell’s team because they played well.”

On Clemson this year vs. last:“I thought they had a very good team last year. It’s hard to gauge a first game out, obviously. We had not seen any tape of them this year, but they have another good team and I think they have experience and some key guys that shoot the ball very well. They shot the ball much better today, and I think they have a good team.”