Gary Williams Comments

I expected that today. They had a great win last night. I thought that gave them some momentum going into today's game. We didn't play our best, but obviously Florida State had something to do with that early. It took us a long time to get moving like we can move. They made a great run coming out of halftime, we had to use two timeouts to try to stop it. And then we raised it up maybe 10 or 15 percent in terms of our activity, but from then on we were o.k.

Tahj Holden and Ryan Randle did a great job for us to give us the energy that finally got us moving. We just didn't seem to have much energy early. I really thought the other players kind of fed off those two guys. That got us going.

Byron Mouton really played well. He's really been our unsung hero for us the last two months of the season and with some of the other players get, Byron doesn't always get his share, but he's really playing well for us. And of course Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter. It's a pretty good combination we've got working for us.

Importance of the T.V. timeout before the 21-0 run

It didn't matter of it was a T.V. timeout I would have burned another one. You don't want to keep them in your pocket until the end of the game. The way that thing was going, we had to get it stopped somehow.

Can you talk about the contributions of Steve Blake?

Well he only made third team All-ACC so ...

Anyway, I think Steve, all year, all career really has been able to hit the big shot. His job is to get the guys the ball the way we run the offense, but when they sag and double team on these guys, it's up to Steve to step up and he's as a junior, he really picks his spots. He thought we were really struggling offensively. We had thrown it away quite a bit at the beginning of the first half and we needed a spark. He's got the guts to do it. That's the best way I can describe it. A lot of guys, they see that situation, (and think) 'yea I'm open, but ...' And Steve just goes ahead and pulls the hammer and whatever happens happens.

Do you think coming into this game without much energy was inevitable considering how many times your team has come in with energy?

I think that's a possibility. We have to try to change that if you get into a game situation with that. And it took us a while to get that change today. But these guys have been around, and they knew it as well as I did, we were just looking for the right button to push to get that going.

A coach can say whatever he wants but the players have to respond to the situation. Our guys, they've been around, they've heard me before. I was upset without a doubt but at the same time, I'm going to get upset in that situation. Those guys have worked too hard, too long. It's interesting that we won the game by 25 or 26 points and there's a lot of questions about what's wrong. The key is the 40 minute total in the end. We had some great stretches where we played some great basketball. We had some stretches where we didn't play particularly well. This is our first experience as a number one seed and I think we had to get through this game to know how that felt.

We just had bad stretches. We weren't mentally tough enough to go 20 minutes. The first four minutes (of the second half) were a nightmare, to Florida State's credit.

On going from the last game in Cole on a Sunday night to a noon game on a Friday

We played in Idaho where there were people who were there because it was the biggest event in town. We've played in front of all different crowds. it's not like weren't experienced for that.

Did Byron take over the 'Gary Williams role'?

I don't know, I wasn't there.

Juan Dixon Comments

Florida State gave a tremendous effort. They played a tremendous game last night, it was an emotional win, so we knew those guys wouldn't be tired. The came in and gave us a great effort, they came close and then we made a run in the end and pulled the win out.

I think that we need to get prepared for a team's best effort. We just need to stick togethe and stay strong mentally throughout the tournament, like we have all year.

Compare this year's team to last year's at this point

The talent is probably the same, but what we experienced last year, getting to the final four, we had the tough loss in the ACC tournament to Duke. We just remember what it takes to get back to where we want to be.

Ryan Randle Comments

As time went on, my confidence started to build up. What I wanted to do today was provide a spark off the bench, like Tahj and Drew.

Steve Blake Comments

Is there too much pressure as the No. 1 seed?

I don't think so, I just look at it as, who are we playing next?

What type of game was this for you guys?

It was a good win for us. We did what we had to do to win the game, and that's most important. Now we have to move on.

Chris Wilcox

I didn't play a great game, but every game isn't going to be my game. I think a lot of the players on our bench did a great job of stepping up.

Tahj Holden Comments

Did you have the sense that you'd be able to contribute today based on how the game was going in the first half?

Definitely. I had that sense. Guys weren't particularly playing their best basketball today. I just wanted to go in there, not make every shot not grab every rebound and that sometimes is the difference is the effort, from my perspective. Ryan Randle came in and gave us good minutes, got some blocks and stuff there. His effort was tremendous as well today.

How hard is it to get a rhythm on a noon game on a Friday?

It's a little different, we're used to those 9 o'clock games ... We haven't had that many 12 o'clock games. It's the best thing for us. We can get some rest, get something to eat and watch the games on T.V.

How much did Blake's three-pointer help you guys loosen up?

I think it helped tremendously. We weren't shooting the ball well from the three-point line. Steve's shot gave us a lot of confidence. He's done that all year. He's been there to hit big shots. The shot was open and he took it. Coach says never pass up an open shot.

Byron Mouton Comments

He just walked off. He just wanted to see who was going to step up. He left it up to the players to be man enough to tell each other who's not playing, and who's not being aggressive. I think we did a great job over the next 10 minutes.

He came in the huddle and was about to say something, and then said 'I'm tired of this.' He just took a step back and came in at the end.

Florida State is going to give us their best shot, they got some good players. They beat Duke, man, you know, you got to give a lot of credit for that. Any given night you can lose, and we're not trying to lose. We're trying to win an ACC championship.

Do you still have something to prove?

We've always got something to prove because some people keep telling us we're underdogs, man. We don't get no credit for the wins we got in the regular season. It's always Duke. Yea, I'll say it. It's always Duke.

Are you the emotional spark plug for this team?

I've got to be fired up. I'll turn to these guys and say, you think I was fired up, I got five other guys on my high school team fired up. We'd make a basket and run into the stands and come back on the court of something like that.

It's all fun. I don't like the crowd when they are just sitting there looking around. Next time they ask somebody what happened. I just want to get everybody involved.

How much would you enjoy playing N.C. State?

It would be great, because I got a lot of history with N.C. State. I played N.C. State at Tulane -- I was almost committed to N.C. State. ... Just playing one more time against them would be great because there's more involved relationship between coach and player.

On the technical foul

It was nothing. We talked about it. He said he had to call it because I tapped the ref and I guess with him running up the court I was being a distraction to the game. There's no hard feeling between me and the ref.

On what he said to Chris Wilcox