BURNS: "That's what we're here for"

DJ Burns met with the media following the Wolfpack's 77-69 win over North Carolina on Sunday.

Note: Click the video in the player above to watch.

On how Jarkel Joiner sparked the offense in the second half…

He came out of a timeout and looked me dead in my face and said “Set me some ball screens, I’m hot.” I don’t think he was even scoring that much at that point, but that just says a lot about the kind of person he is. That guy gives relentless effort every time and it makes it easy for us. They were starting to focus on him and that opened up a lot for me. So just having a teammate like that is all we need.

On if today was the loudest he’s heard PNC Arena…

For sure, by far. It’s a rivalry game, so it’s always gonna be lit like that. We love it, that’s what we’re here for.

On Carolina Hurricanes player Seth Jarvis wearing sunglasses in the postgame interviews like Burns…

Keep it going, man, keep it going for the state. Let’s do it, I love it.

On how cool it’s been to see the crowds grow as the season has progressed…

That speaks directly to what coach [Kevin] Keatts said before the game. He said, “When we first started, nobody was in this gym. Nobody was expecting us to win or do good, they thought it would be just like last year. You guys built this. Be proud of this and go defend it.” That right there alone got the whole [locker room] rocking before we even went out for the game. That gave us the energy and the spark we needed.

On what he said to Joiner after his personal 7-0 run…

I said, “Bro, you might be the toughest point guard I’ve ever played with.” I’m not gonna lie, that guy is phenomenal. I love him.