Tony Bethel Quotations

We're fine. We're not playing horrible, we're just not playing our best when we need to.

This win kind of separates us from the pack a little bit. It's a big win.

When I let it go, I thought all my shots were going in. I'm just going to keep shooting the ball and I'm going to leave it at that.

He came in the next day and had his best practice of the year. He was the best player on the court that day.

When he (Simmons) is playing at his best, we win.

He's able to find guys when they're open. And if they're not, he's open. He's going to score or get fouled. When you play with a big guy like that, it's a lot of fun.

He's playing with a lot of confidence right now.

He was big for us down the stretch.

I think it comes from great offense. If they don't give us that, somebody will have a wide-open basket at the rim.

I tip my hat off to them for a great comeback, but we were just able to close it out.

It gives us some extra confidence that is sort of hidden behind the fact that we are getting these wins. We know that we can play way better and we just go to practice, listen to coach and get better and better.

I think that was a key play in tonight's game. For them to hit a crazy shot like that and then us coming down and getting it right back was big. I got an open look and knocked it right down.

We'd rather not play like that. But we've had a lot of games like that, so we're probably more experienced in those types of situations than other teams.

We came out here and did what we needed to do, and in doing that we were preparing for UNC, too.

We were just out of sync. We just didn't make the plays we needed to win.

We were just out of sync. We couldn't figure out how to get back in sync.

We shouldn't need wake-up calls. We don't look at it that way. But when you lose, it's like a slap upside the head. It's like, 'Come on, get it together.' So we've got to put this behind us and just get refocused as a team.

We just weren't running our stuff, doing the same things we did in the first half.

We have to buckle down and make the corrections.

We've just got to move on. This game will stick with us (until we play again).

We all wanted to show our support, just pat him on the back and wish him the best. We're all a big family in the ACC, even though we compete hard.

We got an A-plus. We came out and did what we wanted to do. We controlled the game, even though they pressured us a lot and tried to get us out of our game. We were able to do what we do. This is a big win for us, and it proves a lot to us and our fans.

We knew he was a good shooter. Because of their offense, their guards are going to get open looks. He knocked down some tough ones.

We knew coming in he was a great shooter. We gave him some of those shots. But he also hit some really tough ones.

We knew coming in he was a great shooter. We gave him some, and he knocked down some tough ones, too.

We just kept fighting and got the win. It'd be nice not to play close games like that, but a win is a win.

With him making plays like that, and guys being able to get open, we are tough to beat. He stepped up like a senior should.

As soon as the game was over, guys were ready to get on the bus, get to BC. It shows the character of our team, to win at BC, a nationally ranked team, on the road. That's what great teams do, they're able to bounce back.

Our effort caught up to us. Throughout the whole 40 minutes, we didn't sustain great effort.

That's where I think we won the game.

That's what was open. Guys were able to get by their man and make plays, or get a foul called.

That shows we took the heart out of them. They're a good team, but we didn't expect them to play like that down the stretch.

That's how it should be. It's fun to play that way.

This is exactly what we didn't want to have happen. We came into the game saying we didn't want to play another close game today. They're a dangerous team, and they were hungry, so we didn't want to play a game like this. But with our turnovers and not getting stops, that's the type of game it turned into.

This is going to sit on our stomach. We have to look to go forward. That game Saturday is against a very good team. We have to look forward to doing what we need to do to beat them.

It should have never come down to that.

That's a big part of our offense, but it doesn't define us. We're going to look to get it done on the defensive end because that's where it starts.

They weren't giving us many. But the ones they did give, we didn't knock down. And it hurt us.

It was just a good team defensive effort ... we were just looking to keep in front of him and challenge his shot.

Not in our gym, not in front of our friends. We weren't playing tough.

The last couple of practices have been well. Our team togetherness is there. Guys understand what's at stake here.

I'm pretty sure their coach got on them in the first half, telling them, 'Get out there, get on them, don't allow any open looks,' and they did a good job of that. They were able to stop a part of our offense that was going for us in the first half.

In watching the tapes, I wasn't down in the stance on some of the shots I missed that I needed to make. That's what helped me tonight. Once I get in a groove, I close my eyes and shoot it sometimes.