Head Coach Matt McCall
On the first half.
"I was really proud of our guys in the first half. I thought that we played extremely unselfish. I thought there was a stretch there for about two or three minutes where we got bogged down and the ball wasn't moving. I thought 14 assists in the first half is tremendous, and that's just a sign that we were driving, kicking, playing, finding an open man, playing on two feet, playing unselfish and the ball was really moving. That's why we shot at such a high percentage.

"We were executing our offense. We end the game with 21 assists. We had 14 at the half. Greg Pryor had six assists, no turnovers, so he was running our team. I needed to get him out of there. He bumped knees at the end of the first half. I needed to get Greg out of there in the second half. I didn't want to have to play him because obviously, we're really going to need him on Saturday."

Are you enthused with the amount of energy the team came out with?
"I really am, I think that as coaches we were concerned. I kept standing in the locker room before the game and me and Coach (Peter) Gash kept watching the clock. I felt like it was on 18 forever in the locker room. It was just a long day. I think it was such a long day for us coaches because we were so used to playing a game every other day. This is the first game we haven't done that in a long time.

"Coach Gash kept saying to me, 'Man this day seems long.' I'm like 'I know, but you're supposed to keep me calmed down as the assistant coach.' But yeah I thought our guys came with the right focus, the right mentality. We talked a lot about fighting human nature. There is a lot on the line right now that we are playing for.

"I even put up there on the board, a lot of these top 25 teams that have lost to unranked opponents because of their focus and mentality. Anyone can beat anyone on any given night if you don't have the right focus and the right mentality. I thought our guys had a business-like win tonight, and they really handled their business so I was proud of them."

Thought's on the upcoming game against UNCG.
"We talked about it. It's the next game, and it's the championship game. They know. We talked about it in April that we wanted to come here, win championships, hang banners and cut down nets. Obviously, we have the opportunity to do that. But again it's one game at a time, and we'll play against a really good team on Saturday. At their place, they had us down 10 at the second half, one of the more talented teams in the league.

"So we'll have our work cut out for us. Our players are no question excited for the game. I told them up to this point in time they deserve and have earned a championship. But they're going to have to go take it because it's not going to be given to them. They're going to have to take it and play each possession in order to earn it because it's not over."

On the second half.
"I think that it's about getting better. I kept saying during the timeouts that we need to get better right now.  Don't look at the scoreboard. Keep playing the game and get better. Focus on defense, focus on your assignments and play the right way.

"I thought it was big to be able to get some of those young guys in because we haven't had a lot of games where they've had an enormous amount of experience. There's nothing like game experience especially for those guys. Practice is totally different. To be able to get them in the game I think is big for them going forward in their growth and development.

Is 21 assists a high water mark when you look at a stat sheet?
"That's a goal to get 20-plus assists every night. Obviously if you're doing that, that's a high number. We did a good job a taking care of the ball too to only have 11 turnovers. That just shows me that we were playing the right way and playing unselfish."

On Chuck Ester.
"I think Chuck is one of those guys, what he does and the impact that he has on the floor does not always show up on the stat sheet. He's always in the right spot defensively and he impacts winning in so many different ways. Tonight he was open, he made some shots, but his impact on this team is so much more than just stats.

"He's guarding forwards, he's guarding guards, he's guarding five's, and he does a tremendous job rebounding the ball for us. Sometimes his impact on our team doesn't show up on the stat sheet, but as a coach, I know exactly what he does and how important he is to our team." 

Chuck Ester, junior, forward
On mentality in the first half.
"I just came out aggressive. I told my coach and team that I wanted to come out aggressive, and it can be anyone's night. I guess tonight was my night."
 
On recording a high shooting percentage.
"Everyone can shoot on our team, but it was one of those nights where the ball was just going in."
 
On playing up-tempo early in the game.
"Coach tells us all the time about the press and getting in the flow of the game. We want the game to go our way and go at our pace."
 
Tre' McLean, junior, forward
On having rest before the game.
"It was game day, so we are always ready to go on game day. Every day, we know that we're chasing something here. We're playing for a championship, so as the season is winding down, the games are getting more and more important.
 
"We understand what is at stake, so tonight was a championship game for us. Saturday will be a championship game for us, and the next Saturday will too. Every game from here on out is a championship game for us, and that's how we are going to approach it."