LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Players
NC State's Jarkel Joiner and D.J. Burns met with the media following the Wolfpack's 71-67 road loss to Duke Tuesday evening.
Joiner led the team with 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the floor, 6-for-12 from three-point range, to go along with eight rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Burns added 13 points against the Blue Devils while also compiling five rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch the players’ press conference.
On Joiner reaching the 2,000-point mark for his career…
JJ: I’d like to give credit to the Man above, first of all, and the coaches and teammates throughout my career.
On what made it difficult to get into tempo…
JJ: We just couldn’t get stops. We’ll go back the rest of the week, watch film, and get better.
On matching up against Dereck Lively and playing inside Cameron Indoor Stadium…
DJB: I actually played here my freshman year. He’s a great athlete. He fills that role well with them, and he gets it done.
On how Duke defended the Wolfpack differently than the first game…
JJ: I feel like they hedged out with their five-man harder. They stayed a little longer. The guards get the ball up on the opposite end, and it worked well for them tonight.
On Duke’s size impacting the second-half performance…
DJB: The double-team. It’s a little harder being double-teamed by two seven-footers to see things. It is what it is.
On if the team had confidence it would win down the stretch…
DJB: Yeah, for sure. As long as we’re playing, we think we can win. We didn’t bat an eye. We knew we were going to come out and give it our best shot.
On the team’s season as a whole…
JJ: It’s been a blessing. This new team has gelled together great. The transfers, me and D.J., Jack [Clark], and Dusan [Mahorcic], even though he got hurt, but we gel together great. There’s been a lot of work put in since May. D.J.’s my roommate. Jack’s my roommate. We always have talks about what we’re going to do this season. We’ve still got [at least] one more to go.
On the opening weekend before the tournament…
JJ: I feel like this team is mature, so I feel like that’s a good thing to rest. I’ve been playing college ball forever… We’re going to get in the gym and, like I said, watch film. Coach [Kevin Keatts] gave us our schedule, and we’re going to attack it.
On ending the season on consecutive losses…
DJB: It’s very frustrating to lose any game, but this one hurts because it’s the last one. I wanted that [win] for the guys who don’t have the eligibility to come back next year or who are going to be moving on. We just wanted that really bad for them. It kind of feels like a letdown, but we’re going to feel not as bad on Wednesday.
On having Clark back…
DJB: That’s my brother. It felt amazing having him back. He comes in, and he might not say too much or show too many facial expressions, but he’s one of the hardest working guys on the court. Anytime we can have him in the game, it’s going to be a good look for us.
On the injury in the first half…
JJ: I stepped back too far, and I stepped on the thing. I tweaked it a little bit, but I was able to tape it up and come back to play.
On the worries about the injury being serious...
JJ: I thought I hurt it pretty bad because I felt it kind of pop a little bit. I’m blessed that it wasn’t a bigger injury.
DJB: I was worried.
On the confidence in Terquavion Smith…
JJ: He’s a pro, man. I stated earlier in one of my interviews: He doesn’t have a conscience. He’s going to get in the gym this week and shake it off. He’s got a new season Wednesday.
On what was said to Smith in the second half scrum…
DJB: I was reminding he has a technical foul. I said it a little more passionately than that. I was like, “You can’t be in that. We don’t need you getting another one because we need you on that court."