Nov. 15, 2006

Recap |  Box Score

COACH Brian Gregory
"You have to give North Carolina A&T credit. They outplayed us for the first half of the game. They will have a heck of a season. The first half we didn't play offensively. We lost our concentration and had 14 turnovers. The thing I told our players in the locker room was that I didn't think our performance was better in our game tonight. I did think we did do something better though. We took a big step as a team. At the half, our heads were up, the guys talked about constructive things and went out in the second half and made it happen. Brian Roberts single handedly took over the game and that's what a good player does. He was frustrated with his three-point shooting so he took it to the basket more. Our offensive rebounding was great. We had 20 offensive rebounds which is an impressive stat. When we get going, we go."

"SMU is very good. They have a quality program that is on the rise and is definitely well coached. It should be a heck of a game. Going on the road will be a test for us to see if we can be more aggressive and have the mentality to do well on the road."

"The freshman are freshman and are going to have games like this. You have to live with that, they are rookies. Kurt (Huelsman) had a great game and sometimes we forget he can score. He does so many things so well."

PLAYERS QUOTES
Brian Roberts
"I think in the first half we were setting for jump shots and they were not falling. We were turning the ball over, so in the second half we calmed down and started going more inside. We knew we were bigger inside and started playing aggressively."

"We just played harder on defense. We knew they would be shooting a lot of threes coming into the game. We had to make it hard for them and not give them open looks. In the first half, they were getting some open looks and some not and were still knocking them down. Once they got going it was hard for us to stop them. Luckily we did stop them in the second half."

"The post players really stepped up for us. We knew we had a size advantage and the guys down low were aggressive. Guys like Charles (Little) and Kurt (Huelsman) kept some things alive down low and Marcus (Johnson) got some big tip-ins for us."

"We know it's a big game and our first road test of the year. It's a big challenge and SMU is a good team. We're looking forward to going down to Dallas and coming away 3-0."

Monty Scott
"They were shooting lights out. It seemed like everything they put up went in. When you play a team like that, you have to hunker down on the defensive end."

"They were a smaller team and we tried to get the ball down low because our shots weren't falling. We did try to make a conscious effort to get the ball down low in the second half."

"I don't think we weren't fired up. Our defensive intensity did pick up in the second half and that was something coach talked about at halftime and we made those adjustments."

"We really have to be focused and more focused on the road because we have a young team. We have to go in there and take the show on the road to see what happens. It's a different type of focus. We have to be more focused and keyed in on the game plan, especially on the defensive end."

"We have young guards, but we'll be alright. We just have to make a conscious effort to take care of the ball. If we do that, we'll be fine."

Charles Little
"Most teams like to focus on our guards and we have big guards who can get down low. We have to take advantage of the opportunities we get."

"I just try to be more aggressive and take some of the pressure off our guards. I just try to do what I can to help the team."

"We're excited to go on the road. It's a new challenge. We weren't good on the road last year. It's a big challenge for us, but we'll be up to it."

"We just had to hunker down on defense and they were getting a lot of easy shots off of turnovers. We just had to get back on defense and play rock solid."