LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Players
Several NC State players met with the media after the Wolfpack's 86-81 loss to No. 25 Miami.
Junior Guard Torin Dorn
On difficulty defending...
Give them a lot of credit. They have a great motion offense, and their movement is hard for us to guard. We have to be better defensively if we want to win games like this.
On the positives...
We played well offensively, and we fought to the end. It wasn’t a lack of effort. We just have to clean up some mental mistakes.
On the mistakes...
Games like this come down to one possession, two possessions, so every possession counts. You have to cherish every time you get the ball and score the ball and get stops.
On underestimating Miami...
They just come to play. I feel like we’ve proven we can beat anybody. We just have to learn how to win those games down the stretch.
Sophomore Guard Markell Johnson
On what the team needs to improve on...
Defense, just sliding our feet keeping their guys out of the lane.
On the number of turnovers and ball security...
We were just trying to do too much. I felt like we were just trying to do too much, and when they were blitzing off the screens, we would try to split them, snake them. We just did too much.
On how frustrating the game was...
Very frustrating because we chipped away at everything to come back, and they just kept making shots down the stretch.
Sophomore Center Omer Yurtseven
On his initial thoughts on the game...
I would say both teams scored at a high percentage. Our defense was not really at a point where we wanted it. That’s why we have a lot to learn from, and that’s what we have to get back to, back to working on our defense. Both teams, as you said, scored at a high percentage. I feel like it was a fifty-fifty game. At the end, they were the ones that won, and we were the ones that ended up being frustrated.
On his confidence with the ball...
Any chance I’ve got, I try to score, but it’s mostly about winning. Since we didn’t win, it doesn’t really matter how many points I scored.
On the short bench...
They had a deeper bench compared to us, but at the same time, it’s all about how you stay with them mentally because your body is ready for it. That’s what you prepare for in the offseason. It’s all about keeping your mental game.
On losing at home...
You have to win home games. We have to protect home court. That’s where we failed tonight. We’ve been doing it pretty well in the last three home games, and we just couldn’t get the finish this time.
On executing plays to get over the hump...
We never could just go over that barrier, I guess. It’s, again, a mental thing for us. I feel like our minds were just stuck at the fact that we just can’t get over, as you said, a one or two-point deficit. That’s what we just had going, that was holding us back the whole game. We just have to practice and get more confident in our game.