Feb. 15, 2005
Head Coach Gary Williams
On NC State:
"NC State is in a situation where they're back is to the wall a little bit. They feel like they have to win out the rest of the way. We're going to catch a team that has confidence coming off its win against Georgia Tech. In conference play, a lot is determined by when you play a team. Whether someone is injured, or the team is coming off of a tough loss, or they're in a situation where they have to win or maybe they have confidence because they did get a win ... it happens with every team in the league and no one is immune to it.
"Any time Duke, Wake Forest and North Carolina are ranked where they are, someone can get overlooked. NC State has four starters back from last year, the ACC Player of the Year Julius Hodge back from last year and they finished second in the league last year. This is a good basketball team."
On forward Travis Garrison:
"He played great against Duke, in the second half especially. He was very aggressive and we need him that way for 40 minutes Wednesday night. When he plays like that, he's a really good player. He can shoot the ball, he's a good free throw shooter and he can rebound. He should be a force inside."
On guard Mike Jones:
"It takes time to develop, especially when you move to the next level. His defense has really improved, his ball handling is better than it was last year and he knows now that he can use his athletic ability to help him score."
On his team's intensity:
"You always want to get better and I think we can play better. There's always something you can work on. The big thing is to put emotion into every game. If you can come out with that intensity level every game, then the other things will come. If you can't play with intensity at this time of year, then you're in trouble."
On forward Ekene Ibekwe:
"I hope he gives us what he gave us against Duke. That was a great game he had. He made a big play with the tip-in and if he can continue to play like that it will really help us."
On using different starting lineups throughout the season:
"We've changed our starting lineup more this year than we ever have, depending on who we're playing. We have the luxury of some really quick inside players and we have Will's size that we can use. So there are several ways for us to go in terms of a starting lineup."
On the ups and downs of the season so far:
"We've had our ups and downs, there's no doubt about it. We've seen what it takes to be a good team, so we've had our ups and downs but we're the No. 22 team in the country. I like where we are right now."
