LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Players
NC State's D.J. Burns, Jarkel Joiner, and Terquavion Smith met with the media following the Wolfpack's 84-60 win over No. 16 Duke Wednesday evening.
Burns vaulted the Pack with 18 points off the bench to go along with four blocks, two assists, and one rebound. Joiner dished out a team-high nine assists against the Blue Devils while also putting up 21 points, six rebounds, and two steals. Smith led all scorers with 24 points and added three rebounds, three steals, and one block.
NOTE: Click on each player’s respective thumbnail to watch each interview in the player above.
D.J. Burns
“We knew Duke was a tough team, and we knew that we were going to have to come out and hit them in the mouth as soon as the game started. That’s exactly what we did.”
“It’s really coming together. The guys are all starting to understand that all the pieces that we have together can really be effective if we put them in the right places. I think we did a good job of that tonight.”
“It’s always fun. I’m just doing whatever it takes to see our team win. They gave me the ball again. Our coaches believe in me. Our team believes in me, and I went out.”
“I think [résumé-building wins] are very important, and we want a lot more of them. We’ve got them coming very soon.”
“I definitely thrive off of the fan engagement. Just being with a group of people that supports you like these guys do, they had a rough year last year, so we’re just trying to give them something to live for.”
“It’s a great feeling. That’s the type of stuff that we live for. That’s why we go so hard. It’s just the engagement that we want.”
“It’s not really something that we wanted to focus on necessarily from the blocks aspect, but it’s just defense in general. I feel like we did a good job of holding it down tonight.”
“I think it did. I think that we made bigger plays early on, and it kind of took their heart early, and they never really recovered from it.”
“This is exactly what I came for: to come out and get the wins against all the teams that are supposed to be ‘better’ than us and bigger than us. We came to fight.”
Jarkel Joiner
“I feel like [Burns] is one of the best low-spot scorers in the country. It’s exciting to watch D.J. go to work.”
"We showed it a lot. Like I stated earlier, we have to be consistent across the board with that. Like I said, we're not going to make shots every night, but we’ve got to find ways to win when we don’t."
“Like I said, I put a lot of work in. I’m comfortable in my shot, so it felt good when it left my hands.”
"Big games like this [are why I came here]. Coach [Kevin] Keatts and the coaching staff put me in a position to play in the best conference in college basketball, and we got a big one tonight.”
“From the last game against Clemson, we got out-toughed, and we weren't going to let Duke out-tough us tonight. I think that’s what we did tonight; we out-toughed them.”
Terquavion Smith
“We had two good practices. We pushed each other in practice. We just wanted it, you know?”
“It let me know that we wanted it more than them.”
“We just wanted to get after them. We preached a lot about how teams think they’re nice just because of the name on the front of the jersey. We know. We took it personally and sat down on them."
"This is big. It’s a quality win. It gets no better than that. It was a big win for us, and I’m happy.”
"I can’t even tell you the feeling I’m feeling right now. This is my first time beating a ranked team, so I’m all for it.”
"That means a lot to me. Growing up, they always had powerhouses every year with Coach [Mike Krzyzewski]. He’s a great coach, and I wish he was still there so we could’ve gotten the win against him. Growing up watching them was always fun.”
"Honestly, I just wanted to keep going at them.”
"We just wanted to keep it going and keep throwing punches. We can’t get back on our heels because we’re winning. We have to keep going and see if they can handle it or if they will throw one back.”
“He’s my guy, 'Big 30.' He’s great for this team because he’s an inside presence, so you have to double him the majority of the time, so it opens everybody else up. With him being able to score so easily, it just helps us.”
"It means a lot. Just like any other place, it means a lot to have everybody in here. You can’t just beat that environment.”