What Louisville's Mike Pegues, Sydney Curry Said After 99-77 Loss at Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Louisville dug themselves into an early hole against Wake Forest, gave themselves a chance towards the end of the first half, but then completely collapsed in the second half for a 99-77 loss to guarantee a losing regular season.

Here's what interim head coach Mike Pegues and forward Sydney Curry had to say following the loss:

Interim Head Coach Mike Pegues

(Opening Statement)

It goes without saying I'm really frustrated that we don't start the game the right way. Wake Forest had a lot to play for, given that they lost to Clemson. They're fighting to get an at-large bid, but we have our own agenda, and our agenda was to come in here tonight and start the game a hell of a lot better than we did. We didn't do that. We dug ourselves a huge hole, and it's tough to get back out of that hole. But we did find five guys who competed, and had a really good rhythm, and played together, and we ended up cutting the lead to single digits. I take responsibility, I should have started those guys in the second half. I wanted to give the guys who didn't necessarily play great to start the game, I wanted to give them a chance to get into the game, because I knew that we couldn't just play five guys the entire game. But we dig ourselves another hole in the second half, and can't climb out of that one. Rough night. Rough, rough night for everybody involved. It's a quick turnaround, and we have to find a way to bounce back, and get prepared to have a far greater performance against a really good Virginia Tech team.

(On if he thought his guys were past getting blown out considering they had played in a lot of close games)

I did. I was hopeful that the way that we finished the game down the stretch ar North Carolina would have propelled us into being more committed on offense. Getting the ball in the paint, getting more around the rim. We tried that at the start, Isaiah Mucius did a really good job of guarding Dre Davis in particular in the post. He's a guy that we want to play through. Obviously, Syd (Curry) got it going. But in all, I just felt like our team was hopefully past the point of not starting games with the proper energy, and the right intention, and being more a lot more locked in on the defensive end, and given us a chance to stay in the game. Hang around with a really good Wake Forest team, and give ourselves a chance to win, and we didn't do that to start the game. It's been a rough year in terms of five and five guys that are steady, and that certainly proved itself true tonight.

(On what the five guys that helped trim the deficit brought that the others didn't)

Commitment, investment, sacrifice, will, togetherness, fortitude, connectivity on the defensive end, hustle. Basic things that can win you basketball games if you committed to it for 40 minutes, and unfortunately we only found five guys to do it for - I don't know how long that stretch was, but I do know at one time Wake Forest only scored six points in 10 minutes. We played some zone that helped our calls, but I think it's the character, the fortitude of the group that was in the game at that time that allowed us to get back in the game, and cut into single digits.

(On the what the technical foul for)

Jamie Luckie said that he gave it to our bench. He said that we were all up. I know that I jumped in the air because he reluctantly called that last foul, which was an obvious one on that play. He reluctantly called it late, and I was astonished that it was a late whistle, because I thought it was an obvious foul. But I was told that it was a bench technical, and that's what I was told.

(On the reaction in the locker room afterwards)

It was a somber locker room. I did all of the talking, and tried not to talk too much in the heat of the moment. You don't want to make rash assumptions, or assertions about certain things. But it goes without saying that we didn't start the game the right way. Some of the guys that started and didn't play as much, they were responsible, but it wasn't just those guys. It was different guys at different times that, for whatever reason, just weren't on the job, and didn't execute the game plan, and dug ourselves in a hole in the first half and then we dug ourselves another hole in the second half. I kicked myself for not starting those guys in the second half, but I don't know that that necessarily wins us the game, or keeps us in the game. I'm big on ownership. I realize that I haven't done this as long as Steve Forbes and some of these other guys, so I'm figuring out who I am as the head coach along the way, and I'm learning. But if I had to do it over again, I would have given those guys who finished the half an opportunity to start the second half, just because I thought they had a good thing going, and it could have propelled us into continuing to play well in the second half. Or it may not have, who knows. But if I had to do it over again, I would have probably tried that.

(On what they are playing for now)

I think we're playing for pride at this point. We're playing to show that we can win a game. That we can be connected for 40 minutes, and we can do things the right way, and give ourselves a chance to win. We're still playing for an opportunity to finish strong, and get to Brooklyn, and understanding that if we can put a string of good games together, that anything can happen there. But obviously, those teams are playing for at large bid. They're playing for an opportunity to get into the (NCAA) Tournament without having to necessarily win the ACC Tournament. That's not our situation It has to be about pride. It has to do with integrity, and character, and doing things the right way. It's hard. I get it that we're going through a rough time, but that is no excuse to not carry yourself the right way, and have the integrity and the character that this game expects - and this world is going to expect if you're going to have any success at all.

(On if they can play for pride)

We've proven that before. We've proven that. Of the games that I've been the head coach, this is the second time - nobody wants to get blown out. We lose two bad games. Every other game, we're right there in the game. So of course they can.

(On Sydney Curry)

Syd was great. Syn can really score the ball. We knew that, and we wanted to get the ball to him in the post. In the second half, they started to double and tried to prevent him from playing one-on-one, and he still found ways to score. Syd hadn't played as much as we would have liked to play him as a staff in some of the games, because defensively, he was hurting us. Syd and I, and our staff, we've been trying to coach him to help him through that, and he was much better defensively today. That allowed us to play him for a longer stretch. I hope that he stays committed on the defensive end, because we could certainly use his offensive prowess, his offensive physicality and punch down on the paint. He was phenomenal. I'm thrilled for Syd and the way that he played. Just want him to be equally locked in on the defensive end, so we can keep them out there for longer stretches.

Forward Sydney Curry

(Photo of Mike Pegues: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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