NC State head coach Will Wade met with the media after the game to discuss the win over UNC Greensboro, looking ahead to VCU, Maui, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the press conference.
Opening statement…
Real disjointed game, but pleased that we won. We got four of our five game goals, we out-rebounded them. We only turned it over four times. Q, six assists, zero turnovers, very good. Thought Breed, great to see him out there, four assists, no turnovers. Those guys were really good. We got 32 deflections and we got six turkeys. One game goal we didn't get was we were supposed to make more free throws and they attempted, so we came up quite a bit short on that one. So, a good win.
I thought our second half was good. Really proud of Paul, set his career high. Darrion, obviously, over 30 and 10. What was it, 32 and 10? Something like that. So, pleased that those guys were able to pick us up. We've got to be smarter. Can't have guys getting kicked out of games. We'll take it.
Coach, what was kind of the reasoning the officials gave you about Tre getting kicked out?
Said he, I mean, I don't know. They said he pushed the guy, which I think he did, but I think there was some stuff before that. I didn't really, I mean, you can't really go back and change that, so you just keep on moving. It wasn't deemed a fight, so you don't have to miss the next game. It wasn't deemed a fight.
Will, Darrion said you've been getting on him about his rebounding. You've got to figure you're pleased about the efforts, not what you see from him on the boards.
Yeah, I thought he was way better on the boards tonight, especially defensive rebounding. I've been all over him about defensive rebounding. We haven't been as good at some of the other positions in defensive rebounding. I mean, defensive rebounding, in theory, you should be 5-1-4 or 5-1-3 if you have your guys doing it with the other two getting back for transition defense, but we've been trying to defensive rebound 3-on-3, and it's tough.
We only gave up one offensive rebound in the first half. We gave up, I think, four more in the second half, but it makes it tough. But I thought Darrion played really, really well, which, look, we needed it. We were down bodies. We needed it. I know we've talked quite a few times about Paul McNeil throughout these, but tonight, 27 points for him, new career high.
What does it mean to see him not only growing in confidence but continue to put up massive numbers so far this season?
Yeah, just proud of him. He texted me that he'd been dreaming about having a breakout game. We were texting him last night. I thought when he came out, I told him, I said, boy, your dreams came true. But, no, I mean, he works so hard and does everything that you want him to do and is just a great person and really grown off the court, which has allowed him to grow on the court.
And so just extremely, extremely proud of him and pleased that he could see his hard work pay off.
But you mentioned Alyn Breed getting hit up there. Obviously, you've been around him for a long time. Just what's it like to see him finally get significant minutes and really do well after all he's been doing?
I mean, just, I was talking with him earlier today, and I told him, I said, look, man, you don't need to prove anything to me. I know how good you are. Just go out there and be yourself. And I was trying to take some pressure off of him because he wants to just show, he wants to hit a grand slam every time. And, four assists, no turnovers, made the tough layup, made a free throw, missed the front end of the 101. But he was just smooth and what we needed.
I mean, shoot, we were down a point guard. Like, we knew we were going to play him some because we weren't going to have Terrance today. But, we didn't know we were going to have to play him 26 minutes or 27, you know, 27 minutes. But just everybody knew what he'd been through and everything he's gone through just to get back to this point to play. Just incredible, and I'm really, I'm proud of him. Very proud of him.
Well, it looked like Ven had some sort of something on his wrist or his hand or whatever, how's he's doing, and how did you sort of evaluate his performance?
Yeah, Ven, so he sprained his ligaments in his thumb in practice on, what's today, Wednesday, on Sunday. So he's been wearing that. He hadn't done a whole lot, but he was able to get out and play. We've got to get him tomorrow. He's going to a hand specialist so we can get him a little bit better contraption that's not as burdensome on him. But I thought, look, he was four or five from the free throw line.
I was joking with him in practice, it helps because he keeps his palm off the ball so he's able to shoot it off his fingertips. But, I was pleased with him, and we just tried to be cognizant. We're going to need Ven quite a bit, and we don't want to just overload him with minutes, and I thought Musa was phenomenal again tonight, four offensive rebounds, and I thought he was really, really good.
Coach, not to look too far past this game, but you've got VCU on Monday, probably the biggest test for your squad early on.
Not probably.
Okay, it's the biggest test. Can you guys talk a little bit about that game where you're expecting?
I mean, look, we've got five high major games coming up. We've got the VCU game, three in Maui, and then at Auburn. So it's about to get real, real quick. We've got to improve, and we're going to have to play better. What worked in these games won't work against VCU. So we have a ton of respect for their program.
I know they beat St. Peter's tonight. Excellent program, excellent team, and it will be a huge test, and hopefully we'll have a great crowd on Monday night. Because, look, I've been on the other side of that from the head coach of VCU, and I know how important these games are. And so we're going to get their best shot and everything that they got.
You mentioned Alyn and everything he's gone through. What did that recovery look like from his injury last year to get to this point now?
I mean, it was a long, long road, and there were days that you didn't know if he'd ever play again. We've seen a bunch of different specialists, gone to a bunch of different people, a bunch of different PT things. So, Shawn Eddy, our athletic trainer, has done a great job with him the last six weeks and really progressed him, where he needs to. And so it was a team effort from a lot of folks in sports medicine and from Alyn.
I mean, it's hard to keep showing up every day if you don't ever know if you're going to be able to play again. That's hard to do, and for him to be able to do that and see him rewarded and play in front of this crowd and be able to perform well was really nice.
Well, when your teammates have a huge lead in the second half and the game's no longer in doubt, what kind of standard are you looking for your team to play at?
We play to the five standards. Like I said, the only one we didn't get was the free throws. So, we wanted to make sure we didn't turn the ball over. We've been giving away efficiency points at the end of these games the last couple games, and so we wanted to be more steady and even with what we were doing.
We dropped three spots after UAB lost to Alabama State last night because we gave up 23 points to UAB in the last seven minutes. And so, we were very cognizant of that and have been on point with that. Our defensive efficiency tonight was great, except for the fouling. I mean, that's the biggest statistical anomaly you'll ever see when a team outscores another team 42 to 8 in the paint.
You can go back 10 years and find stat sheets and won't find a team that outscores somebody 42 to 8 in the paint. Let's call it 30-plus points and gets outshot 41-23 at the free throw line, 18 at the free throw line. So it's impossible. It's absolutely impossible. And so, that kills your defensive efficiency when you're just walking them to the free throw line. Thank God.
I mean, they missed 10 free throws in the first half. It'd be a tight game if they hadn't missed all the free throws. But, 42 to 8 in the paint and 41-23 at the free throw line is hard to overcome and give our guys a lot of credit for doing that. But statistically, it's impossible. You guys get to work on that and find me a game.
Find me a game. I mean, I'm serious. Find me a game where the other team outscored the team by 34 in the paint, which is where all the fouls occur, and was outshot 18 at the free throw line. You can find me a game in the last 10 years. I'll buy you dinner.
You had mentioned VCU, obviously a program you know well. How much did those two years at that coach there kind of shape the way you are now?
At the time, I loved VCU. I loved my time there. I was too eager to leave like everybody else had left there. It's a great program. Great place. The athletic director is phenomenal. He had a hand in getting me this job. He's good friends with Boo. And, it's a great place. Great fans. I've had breakfast with some of their fans. I mean, I still keep in touch with a lot of those folks. It's an incredible basketball spot. Look, I was thrown into the fire. I replaced the best coach there of all time. Took him to the final four. I was just trying not to screw it up.
They gave me the keys to a Ferrari and said, drive fast. Don't put this thing in the ditch. I was just trying to keep that bad boy between the lines. And, went to the tournament both years and won a game. Beat Oregon State. Had Oklahoma on the ropes in Oklahoma City. They went to the final four that year. We had them on the ropes. Got beat. But it is a great place. Great fan support. Tremendous program. I mean, I was fortunate I got to coach there. Anybody can win there. They can hire any of y'all. You can win there. I mean, they got the support. It's a big-time spot.
So they'll be ready. They'll bring a good crowd. They'll have a bunch of folks that come down here. So one of their biggest supporters is actually a big NC State fan as well. But, yeah, it'll be fun. It'll be a big challenge for us. Like I said, it's the first of our high majors. It'll be a quad one, quad two game for us. And so it's a big, big game as we start to try to build a resume that's distinguishable from other folks.
