NC State guards Matt Able and Paul McNeil Jr. met with the media to discuss the 77-76 loss to Miami (Fl.).
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Paul, just for you, full action for both of you, just your thoughts on this game immediately afterwards, obviously a rollercoaster ride there at the very end.
MCNEIL JR.: We win together, we lose together, it was a hard game for us. We do see these things every day, so it wasn't new to us and we just fell short again, and we got to bounce back from it.
ABLE: Yeah, I mean, just get better as a team, we can take a lot of things from this game. The ups and downs, but we got to stick together throughout the whole game regardless. We just got to learn from it, move on, and be ready for the next one.
This game had the feel of an NCAA tournament game where it was very close the entire time. How do you guys think that you guys can use this experience to help you guys as you finish out the season?
ABLE: I mean, they're a great team, so it's a good matchup and I think that we can just take away a lot of things in terms of just sticking together as a team. Like you guys mentioned, the ups and downs, but throughout the whole thing we got to be able to stick with each other and trust each other, which I think we did a good job of, but there's always room for improvement. And I think that it's just something that we learn from when we move on.
MCNEIL JR.: Definitely, certainly, I agree with what Matt said. We need to be better before the NCAA tournament.
Matt, what was the emotions like playing against Miami and did you think much of Coach Courtney this past week?
ABLE: So, obviously I was committed to Miami and it was a great school, but I'm really focused on NC State and I was focused on the matchup at hand. And there wasn't anything to me, I was treating it as another game that we have to prepare for. And they're a great team, but I don't think anything was out of the ordinary. And Coach Courtney was a great person and I'm very grateful for him and what he did for me.
On closing games strong and what happened towards the end...
MCNEIL JR.: We made mistakes, the least amount of mistakes win the game. Obviously, there was the amount of offensive rebounds also, so that kind of keeps us there, as small as we is. But I've never seen, they just got four rebounds on us and fought harder.
Yeah, they kind of, I mean, to put it frankly, they blitzed ya’ll in the paint, 56-32. I think that's the most points in the paint y'all have given up all season. I mean, they're elite inside, but was there anything that they were doing that made it easier for them to get in there?
ABLE: I think as a guard, when we get switched on to bigs, it's kind of, obviously they got the size and weight advantage. But at the end of the day, like there's things we can do. So I think it's just a matter of wanting it more than them, playing more aggressive.
And I think that we did that at times, but sometimes we also, we didn't. So that's obviously reflected in what you said with the paint scoring. So definitely something we can improve on and take to the next game.
MCNEIL JR.: I would say, we got to be more physical without fouling. That was our biggest thing. We wouldn't be physical if we don't want to foul. Also, that's like our biggest issue, cheap fouls, early fouls. So that's what we got to be better at as a team.
Guys, just for both of you, I mean, how do you not allow this to kind of compound now after the loss to Louisville in the fashion that you had? And then tonight, just the heartbreak of this game.
MCNEIL JR.: I mean, it's basketball. It's a quick turnaround. We can't dwell on it. A lot of people talk about it. I'm sure we just can't dwell on it. We got to move on. It's still a long season for us. We're going to go for it. We're going to make it far. It's all in God's hand.
ABLE: Yeah, I think it's just belief in the team. And, all my teammates, I know we have belief in each other. And it's just a matter of sticking together. Obviously, no one wants to lose, but we did. And we have to take, my lessons from this game and move on and just become better from it.
Y'all were down by four with a little under six minutes to go. Ben specifically made some big plays in that 11-0 run. How important was he today in allowing y'all to even come back and just like his leadership on the team this season?
ABLE: Ven is that dude. I mean, he does a lot of things for us down there and we're super grateful for him. He's just a dog. Anything you ask him to do, he's going to go ahead and do. And I'm so grateful to have him on our team. And we get to have him and his positivity because that's something he brings us as well. He's a level head. He always is going ahead and saying the right things. And he just is a great teammate to have. And that's, I mean, like you said, that's a big reason why we were able to come back.
MCNEIL Jr: Plus, he's a senior, so he has the spirit. So that's what we also needed to do. But like Matt said, the positivity he brings, the gospel he gives us, the spirit he gives us, that's what we needed. And he showed up almost every time for us.
