LOCKER ROOM REPORT: G Matt Able, G Jordan Snell, F Ven-Allen Lubin, and G Quadir Copeland

NC State's G Matt Able, G Jordan Snell, F Ven-Allen Lubin, and G Quadir Copeland met with the media to discuss the 82-58 win over No. 16 North Carolina.

NOTE: Click the video player above to watch the full press conference!

Ven, what's this like for you to be on this side of this game and come out with a win like this?

LUBIN: This means a lot, just knowing that my guys have my back since day one. They know how important this game is to me, and just knowing that I wanna come out and play my hardest and play together like we did today. And it just means a lot that we come out with a win like this and we all play together the right way.

Ven, this is one of the largest margins of victory for NC State over Carolina in program history. What does it mean to get to do it with these guys next to you?

LUBIN: This is something to remember, this definitely will be one of the memory books for me, and I know for a lot of the guys here too. It's just something that we can always come back to and, just look back at it and just kind of have a good time. And just knowing that we wanna continue to do better and continue to finish this season the right way.

This game was definitely a saving piece for you guys. How did you guys prepare for this game coming off of Saturday?

COPELAND: I think the best way we prepared was, not getting too big on the moment. At the end of the day, we knew that we had to get a win in the situation we put ourselves in due to the circumstances. We also put ourselves in the last game, so I think we just understood that we needed to win.

And the energy just felt like when I played against Syracuse and everybody just had my back, it was a ‘Ven’ day. Everybody had their back this whole day. We knew the hype and stuff into the game, and we knew that at the end of the day, we were gonna ride up it, and made it work.

I gotta ask about the belt, obviously. Tell me why the belt, and when you're wearing the belt, just give me the back story behind that.

COPELAND: BTA! 

LUBIN: Yeah, just what we performed when we left on the court down there. I just wanna shout out to my guys who made this belt. For me and for the team, it just represents what we're gonna continue to do for the rest of the team this season.

Is it kind of knock on what Carolina's been doing with their belt?

COPELAND: Yes, it is.

ABLE: Yeah, for sure.

COPELAND; They was talking, they was talking a lot of, we going North Carolina schools this, North Carolina schools that. So it's crazy how fast the tables turn, and, we bedazzled our belt too for them.

Jordan and Matt. Jordan, first of all, for you, what did this moment mean? And Matt, buying into this rivalry, what did it mean to put up 19 points in this one?

SNELL: It meant a lot, mainly because what happened last year, obviously, at Carolina. And there was some stuff transpiring after the game here last year that we felt like was disrespectful. So my job was really just to tell these guys, like, the importance.

We've had amazing crowds this whole year, but I told them, like, the tension in the building was gonna be a lot different. And big ups to them because they took it as seriously as we did, me and Paul. 

And they came out firing, and just the preparation this whole, these past few days after the Miami loss, it was definitely refreshing. And I had all the belief in the world in these guys.

ABLE: Yeah, I mean, just being able to step in and, just do what I gotta do. And most importantly, get a win. It's just an amazing feeling. Snell, obviously. And Ven, they emphasized the meaning of this to them. 

And it was just a great experience for me to go in, play well, and get the win for these guys because at the end of the day, this was for them, really. And obviously, I'm here as he's saying this for me, too. But I really wanted to win this for them.

You look like you said something to Caleb in the handshake line. I was curious if you could share what that was.

COPELAND: I just told him to lace up next time.

Quadir, it seemed like you made a point, sir, to back them down off the dribble. It seemed like it was an emphasis, not just for you. Darrion did it as well. Was backing down, did you feel like you guys could just back them down at will?

COPELAND: I just felt like the guards were small. So we just found the mismatches and just picked on it the whole game. And it worked, shout out to D5, too.

He’s a warrior, he came back, busted his face, he came back. And just playing, he didn't think too much, he didn't think nothing. So shout out to him for that.

But that's usually our best game, playing five of the mismatches and just exposing them cuz you can't keep them out there for too long. So just exposing the mismatches. 

And I think also, not even just us, D's, we had a lot of the mismatches. And a lot of times we missed them today, too. Missed them a lot, I think he had a mismatch almost the whole night. So I feel like that's just what the game plan, and we just executed it.

Quadir, Tre Holloman goes in on the first play of the game. In comes someone you called your young bull, Matt Able. He had 19 points, 5-7 from three. Can you talk about his development as a player and the impact he's had?

COPELAND: I felt like Matt just fully bought in. He not really, I wanna say, accepted his role because Matt does so much different things for us. But it's just, he bought into actually understanding that the winning part of this, not the individual.

And I think that's not even just him, it's all of us. I feel like all of us have to grow and mature with that. But this is just being new and fresh for Matt. And I just think he bought in amazing. 

He was, what, 19 points today, 6-10, only missed four shots. And I think the four shots he missed, none of them were bad, really. So it was just him just coming in, being a spark for us. Every game, and never knowing what you, Matt does way more than just shoot in the passing lanes. He's rebounding.

He got, I think he got a free throw rebound that was big for us. Got the momentum back on our side. So it was just, I think his development been amazing. But I think it's all been on him. Yeah, we hard on him and stuff, but he grown himself. He understood his own mistakes and fixed them himself.

He didn't really need us doing too much talking to him or something like that. So it was rather a fact that he got us to lean on. But Matt is a strong mind. He gets a lot of the things done himself. So I don't want to take credit for his growth. He did that on his own.

This is a huge resume builder for your tournament. Yeah, resume builder for the tournament. Was that something that you talked about going into this game? Or was it solely kind of, hey, let's just win this rivalry?

SNELL: I think, like Coach said in the last game, we're a long way from March. So you just kind of got to take it game by game. Especially this game, it's another game with a little extra meaning to it, or at least I guess there definitely was.

But kind of got to take it one game at a time. We have a tough back in the schedule, but definitely a big win. But looking to add more to the resume as well.

You mentioned how big a game this was for you, obviously. Did you have a chance to speak to Hubert Davis at all? What was that interaction like? Did he say anything to him? Did he say anything to you? 

LUBIN: Not really, just in the free throw. At the end of the game, as you guys know, it was good to see you, way to play. And just good luck the rest of the season. So, nothing really personal.

Y'all talked a little bit about Darrion and him coming back. But anybody can speak to this. Just how much did that motivate you guys, seeing him come back out of the locker room, stitches in his eye, new jersey on, all those different things?

COPELAND: Warrior. 

SNELL: Dog.

COPELAND: Warrior.

ABLE: Straight dog. I mean, I feel like D-Will, when one of your leaders goes ahead. I mean, we all saw him bleeding on the ground. I mean, it was pretty bad. And for him to come back out a couple minutes later and be there. And not only just be there, but play hard, just as hard as he was before he left.

And do everything that we know he can do. It was just, especially for me, seeing him go through that, I'm like, maybe I get hit or something hurts. And it makes you not even feel that, because it's like, look at D-Will, he's got stitches on his eye and he's still out here playing.

Just two short, quick questions. First question is one word to describe Coach Wade and then Quadir. Is this kind of the expectation? I mean, you were with him at McNeese, we follow him at McNeese. Is this kind of like the start of something here at NC State?

COPELAND: One word to describe Coach, I would say, I would say loyal. That's like big with me. I would say his loyalty with all of us and all of his players, Coach, it comes from a good place. At the end of the day, you know that no matter how this ends, however the season ends, he will look out for you.

And I wouldn't say it was the expectations, but I would say he trusted me and he knew that I could do this. I would say that, he had faith in me and he knew that we would be able to get to this point and he would just bring me along for no reason, I felt like. But one thing about him, he can recruit.

Every one of these players, he went and got up on his own, he don't just send his coaches and stuff out, he can recruit, he can go get his players. See, we kept Snell! So it's like, he does his part and that's one thing I do give him as a coach. His communication is amazing.

So, he's trying to keep everybody on the same page, trying to keep everybody level-headed and things like that, but that's one thing he can do, he can get players, he can get Hoopers, so we just trust him. We just trust him to drive the ship and we just do our part. He let us be players with our freedom, so.