Virginia Tech men's basketball head coach Mike Young, forward Keve Aluma and guard Darius Maddox met with the media following the Hokies' 72-59 win over third-seeded North Carolina in the semifinals of the 2022 ACC Tournament in Brooklyn, New York. Read some of what they had to say:
MIKE YOUNG
(On his halftime speech) You'd be underwhelmed if you heard our halftime. I mean, you would. They understand the significance of that first four minutes. Man, we had an edge to us all night defensively. We had a good pop. I thought we were a little too dependent on Keve and Mutts in the first half. We weren't bad offensively, but we weren't great. Three turnovers in the first half was significant. They had three offensive rebounds, which was significant. But I thought our defense really carried us. I thought we made a couple of shots, but our defense carried us in that 9-0 run to get some separation and make a little hay.
(On if defensive approach changed playing UNC the second time tonight) We didn't alter anything. We just did it better. A little better connectivity. A little quicker to the ball. We have great admiration for Leaky and Armando, Caleb, RJ. Those guys are -- Brady Manek is an enormous matchup, and he has scored over 20 their last three games, and he is ripping people to shreds. His cuts out of the corner to the basket on Caleb Love's dribble penetration, his exit screen to the corner in the front of their bench is lethal. We did a whale of a job in keeping a body on a body. Now, we're going to switch stuff, and he got one on Pedulla in the second half, that's something we're giving up, right? He may have a couple of those, and he did, but over the long haul, we thought that would pay dividends and certainly thought that it did. Just keeping a body on a body. If you try to hedge it, he's got such a quick trigger that you can't get back to him, and now you're in rotation. That's too long of an answer here at 11:45 p.m. sorry.
KEVE ALUMA
(On first meeting with Duke this season) I think we started off, the first half was good, but then I think the second half, they just started getting better. I know Paolo played pretty well the second half. So it will be a good game.
(On playing defense with quite the intensity) Definitely, that's something that's been drilled into us. If we can guard them and keep them at a low score, then offense comes easier and everything just starts to click.
DARIUS MADDOX
(On making the ACC title game for the first time in school history) I feel like it's big, not only for me, but for our team, definitely send our seniors out the right way. I didn't even know that was the first time in history. So, it's a blessing.
(On his four-point play) Most definitely. I think the play we ran -- I think we ran it twice before, and the defender seemed like he knew exactly where I was going, so I gave him a little push. Coming off it, I got a good amount of separation, and when I let it go, I knew it was good. I think he hit my foot or my arm, but the ref caught it.