What Louisville's Mike Pegues, Malik Williams Said After 70-63 Loss at North Carolina

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville put themselves in a position to win down at North Carolina, but once again could put together the plays down the stretch to come out on top, falling 70-63 at the Dean Dome.

Here's what interim head coach Mike Pegues and forward/center Malik Williams had to say following the loss:

Interim Head Coach Mike Pegues

(Opening Statement)

Our team fought hard today, I was proud to see them come out and compete and go toe-to-toe with Carolina, who's a very good basketball team. Nonetheless, as I said throughout some of these losses this year, moral victories are not what Louisville Basketball is about. We had to find a way to execute down the stretch on both ends of the floor, and get over the hump and win a game. There are some things offensively and defensively that we all have to do a little better in order for that to happen, especially against against good teams like Carolina. I thought we had some bad shots down the stretch, couldn't really get what we wanted. We have to be able to attack some switches. When it's all said and done, sometimes when the action dies down, somebody's got to be able to make a play and get in the lane. I thought Carolina did a good job of that down the stretch. They got some second shots, (Armando) Bacot get 15 rebounds, five of their six (offensive), timely second shots. We did some really good things as well, but we just have to be able to find a way to get the stops when we need them. We have to be able to find a way to create a high quality shot towards the end of the game, possession after possession.

(On the different approach down the stretch)

They started to deny our ball reversal front and post, make it hard to get in there. I remember one play in particular: I thought Mason dropped it off to Dre, he fumbled one. I can distinctly remember some a couple possessions where Caleb Love does a good job of the denying the guy who was expected to feed the post. The timing of the play gets disrupted, and now you have to go to a secondary action. I have to figure out a way to help those guys a little bit with that, but they have to be able to help themselves by being able to get open and catch the ball when they need to catch it, and get the ball in the post. Then once we get it in there, we have to be able to convert.

(On the second half turnovers)

Some of those turnovers are egregious and cannot happen. Not if you go and win on the road at Carolina. You just can't afford to have mishaps like that, in an environment like this against a quality team like that. Good teams find a way to secure the ball, retain the ball, make plays in the biggest moments. We've done that at times, this team has to challenge themselves to be able to do that more consistently, and not beat ourselves.

(On how they contained Armando Bacot)

I thought that we did a good job on him. Obviously, the emphasis was on making sure that he didn't get a lot of easy touches. We wanted to limit his touches by fronting the posts and forcing his catches away from the basket. I thought that Malik (Williams), and Syd (Curry) and even Rose (Roosevelt Wheeler) for a couple minutes there, as well as Jae'Lyn Withers for a few minutes - all four of those guys did a good job. Going from playing ball screen defense to post defense, and back and forth, and not giving him anything in transition. We did the job on him in the lane. He gets some timely offensive rebounds, we lose him on the drop off, but for the most part, I thought we did a good job on arguably the best big guy in the league.

(On the inability to finish down the stretch in several games)

First, I thought a couple of those looks were pretty good, and we just mss it. I know that Jae'Lyn Withers had one right in front of me that didn't hit the rim, and I know he wishes he had that one back. But there are some other moments where we don't make good decisions. That's something that has plagued us throughout the year. I'm not gonna put it all on the kids. I'm sure that there are some situations there where I can probably help them a little better with a different set play. But again, when the game is on the fly, and I'm out of the picture, and you have the ball in your hands, these are the moments that you want. This is why you come to Louisville. In those moments, we have to do a better job of being smarter with the ball, and more fundamentally sound, and being a responsible play maker that's capable of making a play for himself or others depending on what the defensive coverage is.

(On if Malik Williams and Jae'Lyn Withers gets too comfortable with shooting three as big men)

Again, some of those looks are wide open. Malik Williams, just in case you guys don't know, he is not a traditional back to the basket big. He's capable of making the jump hook from time to time, but he is not going to back Armando Bacot down and make jump hooks over him. That's not his game. He's more of a stretch big that can face up out of long posts. He's a pick and pop guy that can make a shot. And again, every now and again he can get a dunk in if he's close to the basket and make a jump hook. But you're not going to be able to play through Malik Williams like you would play through Hakeem Olajuwon or Patrick Ewing. That's not who that kid is.

Jae'Lyn Withers is a kid who has the potential to play out in the post, and we wanted to get it into it. But as we've told Jae'Lyn time and time again, he has to catch the ball at a better operating areas. He ends up catching the ball far too close to the three point line, and that allows him to be crowded. That creates more opportunities for mistakes - him mishandling the ball, the defense being able to collapse on him. We have to be able to catch the ball, when we do catch it in the post, closer to the lay in line, so that shortens up your trip to the rim. But when we were able to get the ball in the lane, we got good things. We just got to figure out a way to keep the ball in the paint more, especially down the stretch. Guys have to be committed to that, and then when you do get a good look - again, which we have some good looks - got to step up and make shots.

(On the challenges of not having a double digit scorer, and having to tweak the offense this late in the season)

All of that's a challenge. Not having a guy that you can just put the ball in his hands - I feel like Carolina has four guys that, any one of those four guys can make a play. Our guys have the propensity, and have shown that they can make a play as well. We just didn't do it tonight. I'm not gonna be down on my guys as much as people may want me to be. I know that they can make plays, I know that they can make some shots that we didn't make tonight. But, again, our focus has to be on making it easy on ourselves by getting to the rim. North Carolina, as good of the team as they are, they aren't stalwarts on defense. You can get in their lane, and we didn't demand enough of that from ourselves, in particular down the stretch. As far as not having a double digit scorer, that is unique. But, it's been a thing with consistency amongst our group, in terms of who we can rely on from one night to the next. It's fluctuated a lot, and we have to be able to find a way to milk the hot hand, and keep the ball in that guy's hands in moments late in the game.

Forward/Center Malik Williams

(Photo of Mike Pegues: Bob Donnan - USA TODAY Sports)

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