North Carolina - 67, Stanford - 63
Q. This feels like you guys were in a lot of these sorts of games last year and they never seemed to go your way. This one does. You obviously had such a huge role in the last minute or so making that last basket on the drive and the free throw. What does it tell you about this team, the way that they kept fighting and really refused to quit even when things got a little bit ugly?
LEAKY BLACK: I feel like we were battle tested. I feel like we've been through everything we can possibly have been through going through last year and I felt like we got some guys that's willing to learn and to fight when the going gets tough and that's all you can ask for.
We listened to coach and go out there and play hard. Everything else took care of itself.
Q. How much confidence do you gain from making that last layup to put ya'll ahead or extend the lead there in the last minute, what can that do for your confidence moving forward?
LEAKY BLACK: I feel like I always have confidence. I feel like that was just, I think the right place at the right time and it just happened to be in my hands and I just happened to make it. I feel like I always have confidence, though.
Q. Caleb, not the most efficient day from you guys overall. Lots of turnovers. What is it today that everything was so ugly? Was there something that Stanford was doing to disrupt or was that mistakes that you guys were making?
CALEB LOVE: We just didn't come out with energy like we were supposed to. I think our turnovers led to their easy baskets and it was just, like, a domino effect to the whole team.
But once we got it under control we took over and that's how we got the win.
Q. It seems like this is the second day in a row this has happened with sort of the slow start. Is there a reason for that that you can point to?
CALEB LOVE: Just got to wake up early. Just got to, we got to change it fast because better teams are going to get us and we got to, like, late game situations like that, they will be up more than what we were, so just got to come out with fire and energy next game.
Q. What does it say about the grittiness that you guys showed?
CALEB LOVE: I can't hear you.
Q. You guys turned it over 23 times, I think it is, but you still were able to get the win. What does it say about the grittiness that you guys were able to show, getting a win against a decent team when you turn it over and a lot of things didn't go well for you?
CALEB LOVE: Just staying under control. Coach was telling us we got to stop turning the ball over and we got to make easy baskets, and that's exactly what we did. So we went out there and we just did what coach told us to do and we got the win.
Q. Are you starting to feel comfortable out there? Are you getting a feel for the college game? And what does that feel like after Game 3?
CALEB LOVE: Yeah, I just got to be more efficient on the offensive end, and then just give get my teammates more involved and just letting the game come to me.
I think I was forcing it a little bit too much and that some of the shots just weren't falling, so I got to get out of my head.
But, yeah, I'm getting a great feel for it. These last three games have been good for me, great experience, and we got to finish it out tomorrow.
Q. Did you make a point today to be a little more aggressive taking it to the basket? Is that something you've been trying to do?
CALEB LOVE: Yeah, I got to do, use that to my advantage because I can get to the basket with the best of them, so just using that to my advantage. And then when I do drive, kick out or make a shot for myself.
THE MODERATOR: We'll welcome in Coach and let's start with your thoughts on today's game.
ROY WILLIAMS: All right, guys. Feel very lucky. I loved how we just kept trying to make it ugly but at the same time kept competing. I had five guys in double figures. Caleb was 2-11 the first half. He was 4-7 the second half, 2-3 from three-point line. I thought his baskets were big.
I thought Leaky was sensational again on the defensive end of the floor. Made a big drive that gave us a three- or four-point lead there at the end. Also got a big tip out on a free throw that RJ, I think it was, ended up making the three. So I thought Leaky was sensational.
But the game was just decided in one or two plays. Day'Ron Sharpe, for example, was pressuring the ball out of bounds and got a deflection and we got the ball. He got a block one time as well. But feel very lucky. We were not very good on the offensive end. 24 turnovers, and so many of them can be classified as either selfish or careless and you shouldn't have turnovers in either one of those categories.
But we ended up scoring more points and we were lucky that they missed some shots, missed a couple of free throws down the stretch.
Q. Obviously you guys match up with the Texas Longhorns tomorrow in the championship game. What are you guys looking to do to slow down that team after a big win over Indiana today?
ROY WILLIAMS: I have no idea. I was focused on playing against Stanford. I think it's Coach Davis, I think has got Texas. He'll tell me about them later.
But we're just trying to get better each and every game. We don't try to necessarily match up with any other team. But we had to play tonight. We weren't concerned about Texas or Alabama, either one. We have got to win our own game before we find out who we play.
And Shaka has always done a great job. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and the job he does and we haven't been able to beat him recently either, so we got to play very well. But very few teams in the country have 100 percent of their scoring and 100 percent of their rebounding coming back, but I did read that in their junk that Curtis gives me. (Laughing.)
Q. The matchup play against Jarrod Haase's team, you've never shied away from playing your guys in regular season games. Just what is it like for you, though, to go up against one of your guys like that?
ROY WILLIAMS: Well, I told our staff this afternoon, I hate it. I absolutely hate it. I hated it in '91 when we played North Carolina. I hated it in '93 when we played North Carolina. The things I've done with Jerod or Wes or anybody that's got a head -- or CB -- if it will help their program by giving them money, by playing them, or going and playing at Birmingham like we did with Jerod, I'll still do that, but I hate it. Absolutely despise it.
We win the game and before I can even feel good about it, I look down and I'm walking down to see Jarrod Haase, and he's one of the best competitors I've ever been around in my life. I love him. He's like a son. He's came closer to caring as much about the game as the head coach did of any player I ever coached. When we lost, it hurt Jerod more than anybody I've ever coached and I had great kids and a lot of them cared.
But he's just a tremendous coach, a tremendous person, and, I mean, like I say, I started to go down to shake hands and I wanted to feel good because we had muddled around and won a game and there I see somebody that I care about immensely. So if it helps him with money or helps to get a program started, but the bottom line is, I despise it, despise it.
Q. I know the turnovers made you want to pull your hair out, but what does it say about this team? Can you read into anything that they are able to have 24 turnovers and still find a way to win in a close game?
ROY WILLIAMS: Well, I think that it's one thing, I mean, 24 turnovers gave them 22 points, but we also out-rebounded them by 20. You got to try to take your strengths and make that an important factor of the game, and your weakness, which today was definitely turning the ball over, and try to make sure that that's not the most important factor.
But you can look at stats and turn things, but it absolutely made me sick and I've always told them we got to rebound the ball so we get more shots. The quality of our shots got to be higher than the quality of theirs. And then the third thing is you got to get shots.
So the game is not that confusing and it's not that -- I mean, it's a simple game. It's not that complicated. And what I told you there is what we try to do every game and we did get good shots at times. We did get more shots, but we turned it over and that almost cost us a win.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports