LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Beverly, Funderburk on ACC Tournament loss

Wednesday was simply not NC State’s day, as the Wolfpack had few answers for Syracuse in an 89-68 loss in the ACC Tournament. 

Seniors Braxton Beverly and D.J. Funderburk spoke to the media following the loss, and here’s a full breakdown of everything they had to say: 

Braxton Beverly

Rough night tonight, but you did hit your 1,000-point mark, so can you talk a little bit about what that means to you personally?

It would have been a whole lot better if we would have got the win with it. I mean, it's really cool, it's really a blessing and an honor to have my name in that kind of category at a university like this and a program like this. So it will probably -- I'll be more excited about it a little down the road. Right now it just hurts a little more. But it's still an honor, a big honor.

What has made Syracuse such a difficult matchup for you guys this season? 

Those guys get hot from behind the line. You know, when you've got people like [Buddy Boeheim] and [Joseph Girard] and [Alan Griffin] that can take a lot of tough shots and they hit a lot of tough shots, and it just seemed like they were able to do that against us. I don't really know why, or the matchup, but like I said, they seemed to get hot quick in a hurry, just seemed to hit a lot of shots.

You have the option to come back if you want. Have you given that any thought, and what kind of plans do you have?

I'm not sure yet. I'm going to talk to the coaching staff. I know it's been floating around throughout the year, and it's definitely something I've considered. But I don't really know. I haven't really thought about it too much. I wanted to put that on after-season thoughts, so we'll see what happens.

You were shooting the ball really well in the first half and it seemed like all things considered, you guys were in a good spot, down just five at halftime. What did Coach tell you guys in the locker room and what do you think led to Syracuse's run at the beginning of the second half?

The biggest message in the locker room was to start the second half like we ended the first half. We kind of started slow. They had more energy and a little more effort than we did to start the game. But the last probably seven, eight minutes of the first half we picked it up. We came back and we had a little run going, had a little rhythm. And then the second half, it's like they hit  like two straight open shots or something like that, and they were seeing a big basket after that.

Being a senior at the ACC Tournament, this could be your last ACC Tournament.  Could you just describe the emotions walking off the floor?

I've got a lot of emotions going on right now. It's like a mixture of a dream come true but also like heartache. Of course I couldn't be any more thankful that I've gotten to play in the ACC Tournament for four years. But I think anybody in this program will tell you that I'm a competitor and I want to win first and foremost. So it was hard. It kind of started to sink in -- probably the last minute of the game when I was on the court is when it really started to hit.

I think you're NC State's first four-time ACC all-academic team member. What does that mean to you, and how close are you to getting your degree?

Actually tomorrow is my last day of classes, so I have like two things I've got to just finish up and get turned in, and I'll be done completely. It's pretty crazy to think that I'm about done, about graduated from college. Of course that's more credit to my mom, definitely. She's the one that pushed me in the classroom the most. She never really cared about the court too much. It was ‘Get your degree, work hard in the classroom, always have something to fall back on.’ So she gets the most credit for that. Yeah, it's crazy how that time is here now.

Obviously Boeheim got going, but they had four other guys hit, too. As a shooter, do you think you get extra aggressive if you see your main guy really get going? Maybe the other guys fed off of him? 

Yeah, I think they definitely did. A shooter like Buddy Boeheim, it's contagious. It can even be contagious for the other team sometimes. That's how good of a shooter he is. So definitely seeing like him being their main guy, hit two or three shots and just seeing the energy that he had, the other players are definitely going to feed off of him. And I think that's definitely a big part in their success today.

You guys were here to play a game this week, but across the parking lot from your hotel, there's a mass vaccination site set up. When you get to the Coliseum, there are people coming to see basketball, but there are also people coming to get vaccines. What's your perspective on what that environment has been like this week kind of given where we were a year ago at this time?

Yes, this is a really different environment. Somebody actually asked me this morning how it felt compared to last year, how it felt. And I still have these same jittery ACC Tournament feel, but without all the fans being here and the different protocols that you have now. I know we're a year in, but you're not necessarily used to them yet. It's been different. All the different checkpoints and the testing. You can't really just be out hanging out with guys on your team or guys on the other team, whatnot. You've got to stay separated, which that takes a little bit away from the experience, as well. So it's definitely been a different one to remember for years to come.

It looked like Syracuse was able to use a lot of pick-and-roll to really open up their offense. Is that something you guys were expecting them to rely on a lot coming in, and how did you have to adjust defensively? 

Yeah, at first we we weren't switching like we normally we switch 1 through 4. We were coming in, decided not to switch 1 through 4 and just switch 1 through 3. And then as the game went on, we tried to trickle in more to get back to switching 1 through 4 once they were able to find a couple openings that we weren't really too happy about. But yeah, they utilized the ball screens a little more, a little better than they did in the first two meetings that we had against them.

Obviously this season doesn't end the way that you guys wanted, but how exciting do you think it is for the future of this program, the way that the freshman guards played down the stretch and the experience that they've gotten this year? 

I'm extremely excited for [Kevin Keatts], the coaching staff, the players, the fans. Everybody got to see there's a lot of talent on the team, a lot of young talent. As much playing time that [Cam Hayes], [Shakeel Moore], [Dereon Seabron], those three especially, got to play this year and got to see what it's really like at this level and in this world. It's going to be great for their tenure here. They're extremely talented players. Not only that, they're smart and they've accepted the role of learning this year. Coming out of high school, they were the guys. And no matter how good you are, it's just hard to do that at this level. It's hard to just be the guy, especially as a freshman. So it's been really good to see them, understand that they have stuff to learn, to take on and learn, and they've got to make sure they take each day to grow as a player, so I'm really excited for them.

D.J. Funderburk

You guys came into this game shooting really well from the field over the last few games and kind of struggled a little bit around the rim tonight. Was it their defense? Was it just a real physical game? What do you think led to that?

I think it was a mixture of both, but most of all it was just us. We didn't hit shots. We were flustered by their defense, and the turnovers carried over to us thinking about it later on in the game in different possessions, and I feel like that factored, too.

It seemed like you guys were in a pretty good place at halftime, down just five, considering all the things that happened in the first half. What did Coach tell you guys at halftime in the locker room and what do you think led to that Syracuse run to begin the second half?

You know, we wanted to focus on our energy. Other than that, contain Boeheim. He had 20 going into the half, and he ended up with 27, so I feel like we did what we were supposed to as far as containing him. But we let everybody else start to find their shot, and they were just one unit as a team today.

Obviously as a senior this year, you do have the opportunity to come back next year, but if this is your last game at NC State, what has this program meant to you?

It's meant a lot. They've been there for me when I was in the wrong, when I was down, my highs and my lows. It definitely meant a lot to me, off the court more so than on the court. I'll cherish it with my decision later on after the season.

How exciting do you think the future is for this program with the way that some of these young players, especially the young guards have played and gotten some experience down the stretch here?

I think it's going to be very exciting to see in the upcoming year what these guys develop into. Right now they're super excited to keep playing. There's an exciting group of freshmen right now and freshmen coming in next year, and I'm just looking forward to them gelling as a team and seeing what they can offer the team next year. 

It looked like Syracuse was really able to utilize ball screens and pick-and-rolls to open up their offense. What did you see from them using that and how did you and your teammates have to adjust defensively?

So a couple of times down the court, they would do like a naked ball screen or something. Obviously there's no help on the naked side. They might have a decent shooter in that ball screen, but somebody else is creeping out and getting away from the guy that would help off of their man on the naked ball screen, and they just left him open. For instance, there was a play, [Robert Braswell] had just hit two on me, so I lifted up and [Marek Dolezaj] got a naked ball screen and they gave it to him, and there was no help side. Just stuff like that. They were just the smart team today, and we weren't together on the defensive side all 40 minutes. 

They beat you all three times you played them. Why was Syracuse such a difficult matchup for you guys?

Probably the zone. That's all I can really put it to is the zone, and we let them beat us from the three-point line. I could say honestly in the game today -- maybe all three games, they probably had like 10 lay-ups total against us. Majority of their points was from the free-throw line and from the 3-point line. For the next team to play them, I just hope they cover the 3-point line and make sure they stay together as a team.