Ben Middlebrooks: "There's No Better Feeling"
NC State forward Ben Middlebrooks met with the media following the Wolfpack's 78-77 win over Clemson Saturday evening.
The Pack’s road game marked Middlebrooks’ return to Littlejohn Coliseum after spending his first two years with the Tigers. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native scored four points to go along with one rebound and one steal.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch Middlebrooks’ interview.
“It’s incredible to see our team come together like that after the rough start in the second half. We had a great first half. We played well and followed our game plan through. Then they came out. [Joseph] Girard was hitting every shot he took, killing us. P.J. [Hall] was playing tough. It seemed like everything was going against us. We just managed to put some stops together and get a couple of big buckets. [D.J.] Horne with the amazing floater put us up one, and we were able to get the stop at the end. There’s no better feeling.”
“I did, but I would say it’s definitely not bittersweet. It’s just sweet. My team won, and I can’t be upset about that.”
“I would say it wasn’t too strange. Obviously, I played a lot of games in here on the other side of the court. At the end of the day, it’s basketball. We were here to play, we had a plan, and we followed it through and got a win.”
“Momentum is huge, especially now with the way this year has gone. With the way all the teams are playing, anybody can beat anybody. This is going to give us a lot of momentum moving forward.”
“We had a little bit of rough stretch there. We dropped some games we felt like we shouldn’t have, some one-possession, two-possession [games]. This is a whole different vibe right now. At the end of the day, we put in a lot of work during our week off, and it paid off.”
“Before the game, as we were dressing out and coming out, that was the surreal part. Once you’re on the court, everything goes away. Especially now looking back on it, I was definitely aware of the moment for sure.”
“I know Chase [Hunter]. That’s my guy. I know how athletic he is. I was hoping I wasn’t going to get dunked on. I knew, at the end of the day, I had to wall up with my body on the line, stay straight, and not get a foul."