North Carolina 81, Virginia Tech 73
Q. I'm curious, a year ago you guys obviously had that size disadvantage that you dealt with all year long. Was this the first time this season that it really showed up, and are there things you guys can do to counter that?
WABISSA BEDE: Yeah, I can't really say that. In the first half, we were really rebounding bad. Clearly our size didn't really matter. It just like we just have to do one shot. I think when they went on that run, we got a little bit tired and that's why they kept going to those offensive rebounds. But other than that, I don't think our size is that big of a deal. I think we're capable of rebounding at a high level versus any team, so I don't believe in all that height stuff.
We just had to box out and limit them to one shot. We were doing that at first, but we got a little bit tired, but we're going to bounce back the next game.
Q. How much of a factor do you think coming off the pause was in terms of wearing down in that second half?
WABISSA BEDE: None. That was just us. We're not going to blame the loss on the pause or anything. That was just us. We were very capable of winning that game regardless. Next time we will.
Q. Considering where you guys were last season, how much are you looking forward to Selection Sunday and seeing your name?
WABISSA BEDE: Pretty cool. Happy. Just to say we're on a three-year streak because last year didn't count, COVID happened. Let's just say we're on a three-year streak of going to the tournament.
Q. When you guys work so hard to get them to miss a shot and then you see them get the rebound, what kind of effect does that have on morale?
WABISSA BEDE: A little bit because we know their size is -- they're one of the tallest teams in the ACC, so we just have to be able to box them out. Us guards, we have to crack down a lot better. I think that's the biggest thing. We were doing that in the first half, cracking down. But as time wound down, we didn't and that's why kept going on offensive rebounds. But next time us guards will crack down a lot better and not let them get the rebounds.
Q. You guys went 12 minutes before you gave up your first offensive rebound. Is there sort of a domino effect once they start getting some, though?
WABISSA BEDE: It was just us -- like us guards, we have to stop doing that. We have to keep cracking down, helping out J Mutts, Cordell, Keve, David. We just got to keep helping them out. I think the second half we fell away from that, but after that -- I think next time we're going to know what to do when we watch the film.
Q. Coach Young was saying that he was worried about the conditioning, he thought the pause and the conditioning took its toll in the second half. You said you guys were tired in the second half. How did you see that pause and the conditioning that maybe you guys were missing out on in the last week or so? How did you see that taking its toll in the second half?
WABISSA BEDE: I don't want to say too much, I don't want to blame the loss on the pause. Like I said before, I think we were very capable of winning the game. We had it in the bag, we just did little things here and there that led us the wrong way, and that's why UNC got the win, and all credit towards them.
Q. You said you got tired. You went 11 straight days without playing a game. Give credit to UNC, but could you tell in practice you guys were losing your legs or -- Coach was privately worried about the conditioning. Were you privately concerned going into it just like you were probably going into the Georgia Tech game?
WABISSA BEDE: Like I said, I think we were capable of winning. I'm not trying to blame it on the pause or anything, but I just think we're very capable of winning those games, and we will next time. You can say because we haven't played in a game for so long, it's just the atmosphere, but other than that, I think our conditioning, we were all right, but we're just going to bounce back next time.
Q. Do you feel like you guys having played a game more prepared for whatever comes next than you were today?
WABISSA BEDE: Yeah, it's very hard to do that because it's kind of hard to do scout defense because it's not really their personnel. And we can't mimic UNC's offensive rebounding, we can't mimic UNC's size. This is the biggest thing. It's hard to mimic everybody, but we were doing our best. Like I said, all credit towards UNC today. They were great.
Q. How nice is it to feel like win or lose today, you know that you're going to get a call on Sunday?
WABISSA BEDE: It's pretty cool, but I wish we won today still. But it's still nice that we're going to hear our name on Sunday, and we're just going to go out there and compete our next game.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports