LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Players
NC State's Kam Woods and D.J. Horne met with the media following the Wolfpack's 79-70 loss to Tennessee Saturday night in San Antonio as part of the Hall of Fame Series.
Woods made his season debut with the Pack, scoring nine points off the bench to go along with four rebounds. Horne led the offense with 16 points versus the Volunteers while also tallying four boards, three steals, and two assists.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch the players’ press conference.
On Woods playing his first game of the season…
KW: I've been preparing in practice. I've been practicing the whole time, so I was just ready for the moment, ready for the stage. I’m just taking it slow and learning.
On Woods' performance…
KW: I didn’t do my best, but for my first game, it was all right. I know I can do better.
On matching up with Zakai Zeigler…
DJH: He's a great player. We knew that coming into the game. We scouted for that. Personally, he wasn't my matchup for the game going in, but the way we play defense, I saw him a little bit. He’s a great player. That's what great players do, and you get up for games like that. It was a really fun matchup.
On limiting Dalton Knecht…
DJH: He was definitely an emphasis coming into the game. I think he's their leading scorer. I personally watched him play a lot. I knew he was a good player, and I think we did a good job, as a team, limited in his touches.
On the physicality of the game…
DJH: We knew that, coming into this game, SEC teams are going to be physical. They have big guys, and we wanted to use that to our advantage. We're a smaller team, but we like to use our speed to beat teams like that. Like [Kevin Keatts] was saying, it felt like a March Madness game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t come out with the win.
On hitting a three at the end of the first half boosting confidence…
KW: It most definitely was a confidence booster. I didn't think it was going in, but it did go ahead. It definitely gave me confidence for the second half to be better for my team.
On debuting midseason and meshing with the team…
KW: It was hard, but it's nothing that I didn’t wish for. I wished and prayed to be in this position. I wouldn’t say it was that hard. It’s something that I wanted.