NC State head coach Wes Moore met with the media to discuss the 83-65 road loss at No. 9 Duke.
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Opening statement...
I don't know who was it a couple years ago said football coach. They are who we thought they were or whatever, are who we thought they are. And again, Kara Lawson done a great job of getting this program. I think Pat Summitt, I've told Kara this many times, be proud of her. They defend and they rebound. And we knew coming into the game, rebounding was going to be a big, important part of it. And we didn't get that done. Got out rebounded by 16. We turned the ball over way too much, not enough assists.
They get after you defensively and we, a lot of times, settled for a one-on-one instead of sharing the ball. I am proud of the way we responded in third quarter, came back and, cut it down to single digits. And it was a chance, but again, we got quit digging a hole.We did first quarter tonight, fell down by 12.
Second quarter at Notre Dame, we dug a hole. So we got to make sure we're ready to play and put 40 minutes together, especially when you're playing a really quality team. So, but, knew it was going to be a tough stretch. We had three straight road games against really good teams. And we just got to try to pick up, move on.
If you have a question, raise your hand and then a mic will go to you. Wes, you said last summer that you felt okay with a roster of 11. But, you're down 10 and then you have a couple of injuries. Is there a part of you that wishes that you'd try and get a couple more?
You got money? You got money? Go buy me a couple. I mean, hey, it's a new era. I think 11, 12 players may be what you get. And, yeah, we, we went a different direction with a player at Christmas. And, tonight we had a couple down. Not for long, hopefully. But, yeah, that's part of it. Hey, we played what, eight? Did we play eight? I heard somebody say this, talking about an NBA coach. They said he wouldn't play nine if he coached baseball. So, we'll be all right. I'm not worried about the roster. I'm worried about numbers. I'm worried about us getting it done.
Wes, how much of a concern is the rebounding?
That's what I'm saying. we came over here knowing they're a great rebounding team. And, transition D and rebounding were at the top of my list, the things we were going to have to control. And, they're a great rebounding team. So we knew it was going to be a challenge, and we didn't get it done. Tiller was in foul trouble some.
But, again, hey, their point guard had more rebounds than both our start and post players. So that's, right there, that's a scary sign. And, we knew it, like I said. They are who we thought they are. Were whatever.
What was your team able to do in the third period that you weren't able to do in the other three?
I don't know. I mean, I probably played with some urgency. We went zone. We played zone. And they had a stretch there where they didn't hit shots. And that always helps. They shot, they shot the ball pretty well for the most part, but they had a stretch in that third quarter where they didn't shoot it as well.
So, they only scored 15 in the third quarter. Unfortunately, they scored 28 in the first and 27 in the fourth. And that's not going to work. But, yeah, we did play a lot of zone in the third quarter, and then, they hit a few shots. We had to get out of it.
Coach Moore, you guys know what it's like to go on some runs in the ACC. What did you see from this run from Duke?
Yeah, I mean, again, what impressed me is that, and I think our whole league played, or several of us played really tough non-conference schedules, and Duke was right there with us. We did as well, and they took a couple of hits. But it made them better, and now, now they're playing with a whole lot of confidence.
And, yeah, that's what's tough right now. We're used to being in that conversation. And, we're not quite there right now. And I thought we were playing pretty well. I thought, Virginia Tech, I thought we played a great game. I thought we were trending the right direction.
But then you go to Notre Dame, and you come here and get hit in the mouth, and you don't respond the way you need to. And you take a couple of tough losses. And we just kind of hope that, I see it happening all around the country. I mean, I see a lot of really good teams, going through a tough game.
When you're on the road in this league against one of the top-tier teams, it's tough. And you're going to have to really be mentally and physically tough. And I think that's an area we got to get better. When things don't go well, we got to be able to fight through it. And we talked about that a lot coming in as well. So, but, yeah, I mean, they're playing really well right now. A lot of confidence and, like I said, defense and rebounding travels. So that's why they've been able to win on the road.
On the 3pt shooting struggles...
Well, I mean, again, I think we got to give a lot of credit to Duke's defense. They really get out and extend it and pressure you and make it hard for you to get those open looks. I do think there was times we needed to kick the ball better. Five assists, that's not very good.
We've got to be able to get by somebody and then be able to kick it out and get open looks and get set shots. And I don't think we did that a whole lot tonight. We went one-on-one too much. And we were doing that early in the year. I thought we got away from it. But these last couple of games, they both played good defense. And so we settled. There was a stretch there in the first half.
I said, if the next person takes a fadeaway, you're coming out. Because, we were able to get a couple of posts with a couple of fouls, and then we're going in there shooting fadeaways. Our guards are shooting fadeaways. That's just not the shots you want. You want to be aggressive and get downhill.
Statistically, Khamil had a solid game, numbers-wise. Sometimes it looks, and I'm treading carefully here, sir, but sometimes it looks like she has more to give. Do you feel that way, or just, I mean, where are you at with that?
Khamil played quite a few minutes tonight. So, that probably affected her some. And I do think,for the first two or three, really, three quarters, she was the one that was getting in there working really hard to get a post up and get the ball. And so that probably did wear her down some. I think our whole team can play harder.
I'll be honest. I just think, again, this is crunch time. And this is a tough time because we're not quite March yet, all right, and we've been going a long time. And so February is what I call the dog days of the season. And then when you hit March, but we can't wait till March. I mean, we're in a dog fight to try to get the double bye.
And, right now we're behind it. But we're in a position where we control our own destiny. And so we've got to find that extra gear and not just one person. Our whole team has got to find that.
Again, one reason you're pressed, two reasons, to get a turnover or to force a quick shot. We fought three times in the fourth quarter against the press. We at least forced a quick shot. And all three, at least three times, they got a rebound, got an offensive board. So you can't play that way.
You've got to be able to finish the position. And that's what, we got drilled on boards. And, again, we knew coming in it was going to be tough. We'll look at the film. We've got to move on. We've got Syracuse, and it's a big game now. Big game anyway. Big game before. But, no, I think our whole team, could be.
They say they're dogs. What kind of dog are we? I keep bringing that up. We've got to be Doberman, whatever. We can't beat Chihuahuas. So, and I think Duke's done a good job. They’re kids. They get after it. They compete.
