University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes: North Carolina 78, UCLA 56
November 28, 2014 | Men's Basketball
North Carolina 78, UCLA 56
November 27, 2014
UCLA head coach Steve Alford
opening statement
“The efforts out of Thomas [Welsh] and G.G. [Goloman] were terrific. We have got to learn, and we've got a big one tomorrow night to get out of here with a win. We want to get to 5-2 before we leave the island go back home. It's been a very difficult stretch, and we knew it would be. But we got a lot of lessons tonight.”
on what UCLA struggled with Thursday night
“Our guard play wasn't very good, and our frontcourt wasn't very good. That's not a good combination. We have a lot to work on, and these are lessons we have to learn from. I think this is as young team that will bounce back. Hopefully, we'll bounce back as quick as tomorrow because we'll have a tough opponent.”
on what North Carolina did to disrupt UCLA's rhythm
“Their pressure defense was outstanding. Our guards had five assists and 18 turnovers. You can't have guard play that has that many turnovers, and we have not had that all year. You have to give them credit. I thought their pressure was very good, and it wore us down a little bit.”
on what caused issues in UCLA's backcourt
“We are logging a lot of minutes without much depth. We had very little depth, and you have to play three games at this caliber in back-to-back nights. That's not an easy thing. We have to find a way to win late tomorrow night.”
on handling youth and inexperience on this year's team
“We continue to develop, and that's going to really help us. G.G. [Goloman] didn't play at all last night and tonight he played 10 minutes. He got a steal, had three rebounds and makes a basket. He was in the right position at the right time. Thomas [Welsh] is starting to relax and fill his role very well. That's what we have to see in order to take pressure off our starters. We got worn down. We have to find a way to get extra minutes and relieve some pressure in other places. We have to find a backup that can get Bryce off the ball, where there is not so much pressure on him to run the show for the entire game.”
on what he expects on Friday night
“It's going to be a battle, because someone is trying to get a win. [We're looking for] how these guys respond and how you pick yourself up after back-to-back losses. That's all we can look for. We're not going to be changing our offense. We're not changing our defense overnight. We've just got to execute better at both ends and try to get out of here with a win.”
Thomas Welsh (center, freshman)
on what UCLA needs to do moving forward
“Our plan right now is to just forget about this game, learn what we can from it, learn from the mistakes we made, accept it and move on. We need to get ready for the next one and move forward. We just have to take it one game at a time.”
G.G. Goloman (forward, freshman)
on being prepared to play Thursday after having not played Wednesday
“Coach told me to always be ready. I was more hyped up to play [tonight]. I think that I worked hard and tried to do my best. It wasn't easy, and UNC is a pretty good team, they're pretty tough. But I tried to do my best.”
