Everything From Virginia Tech Head Coach Mike Young After NC State Loss

Virginia Tech men's basketball head coach Mike Young spoke to the media after the Hokies' 82-73 loss to NC State Saturday afternoon. Here's the entirety of what Young had to say:

Opening statement:

"Congratulations to the Wolfpack and Coach [Will] Wade, who I admire a lot. Go way back with him; he's doing a nice job with his team. We had our chances and played very well in the first half. We're down 12 at the half, were terrible offensively. Had nine turnovers, which you can't do anywhere. Certainly not on the road against a good team. Better job in the second, cut it to three, had a couple of bad possessions. [Tre] Holloman makes a three over there and [Quadir] Copeland does what they does. Paul [McNeil] is playing really well. What they've done from three over the last three or four games is quite, quite impressive. I thought they had three made threes in the first half. [Editor's note: NC State cashed in on four triples in the first half.] When they lose, they make eight. When they win, they make 12. Or 16, as they had against SMU. Not quite good enough against the Wolfpack. Not quite good enough on the road. But we did some good things, also. We'll head to Clemson on Wednesday and tee it up again."

On holding Darrion Williams (1-for-9) to four points:

"Well, they've got good players. Tre Holloman's a good player. Copeland and his ability. 16 assists, zero turnovers he had against SMU. And we thought we could take those shots away. Once he's backing you down, he just flips it over there to Paul or flips it back there to Darion. That you've got to eliminate. We did that, and I thought we did all in all, a good job with Paul. They weren't catch-and-shoot plays. He was coming off of some actions, and we tried to go underneath, which you can't do with a kid like him. We got stuck, and the ball gets in the basket. So, Williams didn't have his best stuff. He's still a presence. He's still a factor in that game. He's such a talented basketball player."

On NC State holding Ben Hammond scoreless on 0-for-9 shooting:

"They want to take the ball out of his hands. They want somebody else to bring up the floor, which we've seen. As good as he's been, he wasn't great today. That will change direction here quickly. He's really good, you know that."

On Neoklis Avdalas' 14-point output:

"Great. Thought he was great. It looked more like himself. I think he was 2-for-3 from three. [Editor's note: He was.] He sturggle dhere. If we can get him going. Tobi Lawal was better today. 15 rebounds, 17 points, those are good numbers. Ben Hammond has been our leading scorer coming into this game, and he draws a collar. They did a nice job on him, but still, four assists from Ben, zero turnovers. So, we had some positive signs, much too porous defensively in the second half."

On 12 rebounds and 17 second-chance points:

"It's not so much what you're doing, it's that you're going after them. Every time that ball comes off the rim, that's an offensive opportunity, and Lawal can jump over Raleigh to snare balls. And Hansberry is an excellent offensive rebounder. Gurdak, big and strong. He's got really good hands, so sticking your nose in there and going after it."

On Amani Hansberry's 1-for-9 effort in the first half and what changed in the second:

"Wasn't himself. He still did some really good things. Still had a hard time playing without him. He just wasn't himself. And I don't have a great explanation. Still, the kid has 19 and seven, give me a break. But turns around and plays great basketball. He's an all-timer, and we continue to get that have been, come on what you will. Bedford was good. Thought he did a good job on Copeland. All in all, we're going to be fine."

On how Virginia Tech was able to counteract some of the NC State runs early in the secon dhalf:

"This isn't a criticism, they're going to play the way they play. I say this with admiration, they play the way they're going to play. No agenda here, they will give you the opportunity to get back, all right. They'll also punch you again if you don't take advantage of those opportunities. So, we were able to cut it back to three. We did some nice things. We had a couple of second-chance baskets. [Schutt] got one [three-pointer] opposite our bench. But you got to keep it going. And it was Holloman that got one down, I think it was opposite their bench, that hurt us. We had a hard time recovering from there."

On if NC State's volume impacted their percentage:

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. And again, don't misinterpret what I'm saying here. I say it with great admiration. I love what Will is doing. I really like their team. I like their pieces. They're going to play the way they play. And I don't say that disrespectfully."

On if N.C. State's defense did anything specific to cause those turnovers:

"They speed you up with some things in the full court. I would admonish our team and our ability to find a better pace and a better flow into the offensive end. They do, Will's team. He's done it at Chattanooga a long time ago. Speed you up a little bit. We didn't handle some of that great. At times, we handled it very, very well."