WATCH: Brad Brownell, Roy Williams postgame press conference

by Tony Crumpton - Assoc. Editor - Tue Jan 03 22:10:34 GMT-04:00 2017

Clemson Head Coach Brad Brownell

Opening statement:

“Terrific game. Great plays were made by players on both teams. I’m proud of my guys for the way we competed and fought. We had a chance to win; we just didn’t get it done. Certainly, rebounding and dribble penetration were the problems for us defensively. We didn’t guard dribble penetration well enough. Sometimes, that created help situations, and in those situations against North Carolina, you’re in trouble on the glass. Offensive rebounds were probably the difference.”

On his team’s overall play:

“Offensively, I thought we played a great first half. I thought we really moved the ball. I thought we made shots. In the second half, we weren’t quite as good. Our defense was good in terms of activity level. We got deflections. We got some steals. We did some things to be disruptive, but we weren’t very sound in terms of individual on-ball defense.”

Thoughts moving forward in ACC play:

“I like our team. It’s a great league, and these are the kind of games you’re going to be in. You’re going to have to win a bunch of close games. Guys need to make shots, make plays and get big defensive stops. Certainly, I like this team. I like the way we’re playing and competing. But this is a great league. We’re going to go to Notre Dame next, so another Top 25 team is par for the course.”

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams

Opening statement:

“Needless to say, we feel a heck of a lot better than we did on Saturday. That was a heck of a college basketball game, ACC game, that went right down to the wire. I thought we had some chances to get more than a one-possession lead and we missed a couple of free throws and had a couple of turnovers and Clemson kept coming back. They were really something. [Jaron] Blossomgame starts off the overtime, jumped up with his left shoulder which we know is his favorite move and we still couldn’t stop it. But I was really pleased with Joel Berry, except for the turnovers. He had two crucial turnovers that you don’t like, but man, oh, man, did he make some big time shots for us. There’s no question about that.

“Kennedy [Meeks] was big on the boards, 10 offensive rebounds, and the rebound margin was 51-32, and second chance points 23-3. We have more size than they do, and I think that was a big factor in the game. Both teams made plays. We had them down six or eight, and they came storming back and made some shots. Marcquise [Reed] stepped into a big time three-pointer. We were on the line for the 1-and-1, in a three-point game and missed it, and he went down just as calm as you can and jumps up and knocks a three in. Then, they missed a free throw with five seconds to play. We go down and Joel [Berry] gets a very tough shot, and it would have been fine for that one to go in, but his shooting [was crucial]. Kenny Williams made a big basket for us in overtime. Then he stepped up and made two big free throws before Kennedy made a big play on the out-of-bounds to throw it deep for us.”

On Kenny Williams’ performance in overtime:

“He missed one right in front of our bench, but he made the big one. I think he made the first basket or the second basket of overtime after they had taken the two-point lead, and came up with some loose balls. He had four rebounds, only one on the offensive end. But he did step up and make the two free throws and made it look like he had been there and done that before.”