CHAPEL HILL - Following North Carolina's 93-62 victory over N.C. State in the Smith Center Saturday afternoon, head coaches Roy Williams and Sidney Lowe spoke to reporters. Williams was particularly pleased with his team's effort in the first half, while Lowe indicated how his team has to be prepared for such hostile road environments if they are going to be competitive in the ACC standings this winter.

Opening thoughts…..

Needless to say, it was a great first half for us. They had a lot of shots that they (NCSU) normally make that didn't go in for them today. I think our defense had something to do with it, but it wasn't the only reason. A couple of things that were really pleasing to me were that Ty (Lawson) did sprain his ankle early, and he got re-taped. I told him that he wasn't any better looking than he was last year, but that I think he was tougher. He really showed that in the second half because he got re-focused again and came out and did a nice job for us. Quentin Thomas had a good game, did some good things for us, so hopefully, this will give him some more confidence.

One of the other things I said at halftime was that the guys that came off the bench really gave us something. Will Graves is just sick. He missed practice I think on both Thursday and Friday. Q didn't practice Thursday, came back on Friday and said he felt better. Again, I think it was really good for us in the first half. It was one of those days where things broke well for us, and it didn't do it for them. I am a little disappointed in the way we played in the second half. They shot 58 percent (from the field), and we can't have that, but it's hard to maintain the kind of play we had in the first half. Sidney's guys kept battling, and really did some good stuff for them in the second half.

Danny has done some good things. I still get frustrated when he doesn't close out and lets a guy drive right past him, and then the guy scores on Marcus (Ginyard), then everyone says that the guy scored over Marcus, but the reason he did was because Marcus had to help out Danny. But Danny has played pretty doggone well for us all year, and has given us really good things. He couldn't make an outside shot today, but just his activity on the outside boards was great. I said the other day that I feel like I have six starters, and I feel like Danny is playing really good basketball for us. I had a session with Danny and Deon (Thompson) yesterday, and we talked more about defense than anything else, really.

I still don't know. If we play defense like we did in the first half, and again, our defense didn't cause all that 18 percent shooting (for NCSU). They just missed some shots that they usually make, but I was real pleased with how we swarmed the ball. We had eight blocks at the half, and one in the second half. I don't know how many steals we had, but most of those were in the first half. When we play defense, are really swarming, doing what we are supposed to do, and listening to the scouting report, then I think we are pretty doggone good. It's two games into the conference season, so we will find out (how good we are) in the next couple of weeks.

Opening thoughts…..

It was a tough one. A tough game. We played against a very good ball club. We didn't play particularly well in that first half. We missed a lot of shots inside, and we were probably about three-for-23 (shooting) in the paint, and only one free throw. So twenty-three shots we missed, and didn't have an opportunity to go to the free throw line. They came down and executed their stuff, which they do well, and got some breaks. I thought the second half, we came out and played a lot better. (We were) a little more patient in the second half, and as a result, we shot a higher percentage. They already had a big lead, and executed their stuff. We tried to make a run and they jumped right back on us. They played a great game, and it's a good ball game for them.

(It's a) huge factor. Playing against this team in this arena with the pressure on is tough. If you've never done it before, it is an eye-opener and it was an experience for our young guys. Last year we had a veteran (point guard) to keep us under control. Our guards are going to continue to get better, and this was a good experience for them.

We played against a very good ball club, the No. 1 team in the country, and they play well. I did not expect us to shoot three-of-23 in the paint and one free throw (in the first half). If we make a couple of those (shots), or we get a couple fouls and get to the line, who knows? It is maybe a different game. A little closer, anyway. I did not see this coming, or going three-for-23 in the paint. Taking a bad shot against this team is like a turnover, because it is going to lead to a fast break, or they are going to execute their stuff.

The fact that this is what it's going to be like. This is how the conference is going to be played. I don't know how building on it (this loss), but understand that this is the type of environment we are going to be in, and we are going to have to execute. We have to play good basketball to win on the road, or at home (in the ACC). These type of environments exist in our conference and we have to be ready to play. We have to do the right things at the start and be patient---not break away or be so excited that we try to do it ourselves.