Everything From Virginia Tech Head Coach Mike Young After Clemson Win

Virginia Tech men's basketball head coach Mike Young spoke to the media after the Hokies' 76-66 loss to No. 20 Clemson Wednesday afternoon; here's the entirety of what Young had to say:

Opening statement:

"Really good basketball. Great admiration for RJ [Godfrey] and to limit him to six points and five rebounds was big. I think the story of the game, we guarded well. Certainly in the second half, you score 76 points on the Tigers. You're getting something done. So, good. So, enough for me."

On what Young was impressed with the most today:

"A lot. Bedford, not because he scored 23 points. I thought he really fought his matchup with [Dillon] Hunter. And Justin Porter's having a good year for them. Ben Hammond was Ben Hammond again. He drew the collar, as we all well know on Saturday, I thought our second-half defense was quite good. We had some really boneheaded plays in the last eight minutes of the game. Fortunately, so did Clemson, which is uncharacteristic of both teams. But [you] get out of here with a significant road win, and we needed it bad right here."

On what enabled Tech's offense to flourish:

"We tweaked some things. Mark, we took Sunday off. It's hard to tweak a lot this time of year. You're kind of who you are. But we thought the ball was sticking in too many places, too many people catching it and surveying. And against a team like Clemson, you're dead like a snake. They're going to strangle you. The ball's gotta flow. And there's gotta be a cut here. There's gotta be a ball screen here. And I thought we got the Tigers churned up a little bit. We got hands behind the post with the guard. We got big on the perimeter with Hammond couplers and stranded other places on the floor. I just thought we had a better flow to our offense, which again, they're really, really good defensively. Brad's teams have always been really, really good right here."

On what things Young saw that he felt like his team could capitalize on:

"I don't know that I saw anything. I thought we could capitalize on. Again, the ball's got to move. It's got to move from one side to the other. You got to make them spread out as the shot clock goes along. They're sound. They're sound. It's not, 'Oh, we're going to pick on that. We're going to, well, you might even get a basket.' They're going to cover it up."

[Editor's note: Virginia Tech On SI's Josh Poslusny was the next to speak. Young referred to Josh as "John"; Poslusny subsequently corrected him. Young said, "I was close."]

On the magnitude of 23 points from Jailen Bedford, plus 19 points from Hammond:

"Enormous. That shot that Bedford hit in front of our bench to put it back up maybe 10, was enormous. Ben Hammond has been really, really good all year. 30 at home against UVA, who's really good. And had zero [against NC State]. Guys, they're running together here. I forgot where we were on Saturday. It didn't end very well for me. Where the heck? NC State? We're at NC State on Saturday, and we've got another mountain climb in here. He's going to do some kamikaze things, like, 'Dude, what are you doing right now?' Going at 22 [Carter Welling] is probably not the best idea, certainly not late in the game. But he's going to give you everything in his tank. He's going to play the right way. And he was really, really good. [Amani] Hansberry, it's hard to play without him. I was able to get him off the floor a little bit more tonight, which I'm happy with. He's playing 31, it's good for him. So there you have it."

On how promising it was that Virginia Tech closed the game out on the road:

"Good, good observation... Encouraging. You've got to, all right? You've got to, on the road. You've got to step up, and make foul shots. You've got to handle the ball. You've got to do the things necessary to win a game. We did that today, but you are right. We have had a couple that we kicked, and I take great responsibility in that."

On Clemson's roster construction:

"I think it's a master class. None of us are immune to it. I guess he only brought back Dylan and [Ace] Buckner, young man. What [Clemson head coach Brad Brownell] did down to get Godfrey back was huge. But 22 [Carter Welling] and Nick Davidson. 10's [Jake Wahlin] a good player. Justin Porter's helped their team. So it's a master class, and I had a couple people, we saw Clemson in the summer, in the fall, and didn't think they looked very good. I said, 'Yeah, I've heard that before. I know that guy down there blowing the whistle. He'll get them. He'll get them right.' Here we are. Ranked nationally and justifiably so. On their way to another NCAA Tournament more quickly."

On the momentum of a win of that nature:

"Huge. All right, we're not going to belittle what was accomplished. But I told them, we got another scary team coming in here on Saturday to our place in Florida State, who's playing good basketball. Watched some of the UVA game last night. But the season takes a lot of interesting turns. Some good, some bad. Tonight was a great turn. Now. let's make the most of it. Let's get home and let's play a good ball game against the Seminoles, find a way to win again. But, big. Big, man."

Q: Big follow-up on that you're getting, getting a rolling win over number 20 Clemson. You think you just picked up a win that helped me come Selection Sunday?

"I do."

On limiting the rest of Clemson, beyond Welling, Davidson and Buckner to a 5-for-26 clip:

I thought [we defended] really well, I thought we fought alright. Technically, we weren't perfect. We missed a couple of three-point shooters. Our team has been very good in that regard. How many did they make? They made five. That's great. They typically make eight. I think they average eight in league play. We fought on the glass. Not perfect, but great."

[Editor's note: Young said to me the following after the question: "Thomas, I didn't mean to be curt with you. It was a fair question, but you caught me at a tough moment. Fair question. Keep asking. You askgreat questions, and I admire that. Keep going, buddy."]

On Kevin Giltner's success at Wofford:

"Not surprised. I love that boy. We were together for a long time, 18 years, he would know exactly. He was a heck of a player. For me, I am not surprised. He is a very good basketball coach. Thorough. I'm proud of him. I have had a chance to watch him a little bit. They got a great coach and a better person. He loves that school, he loves that place. I'm tickled to death for him. Best wishes, everybody. I don't have to come back to The Upstate for two years."