Feb. 27, 2005

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes

Wake Forest Head Coach Skip Prosser

On the game:
"It's always hard when you have to coach against a very dear friend. I thought coach [Gillen] really had those guys ready to play. Give Virginia credit for that. I thought we played more like Wake Forest basketball in the second half rather than the first half. When we missed as many free throws as we did in the first half and when you miss as many put back shots, sometimes it saps some of your energy from a psychological standpoint. I thought we were in a malaise both offensively and defensively, and I thought we shook the malaise in the second half. Again, its an ACC win, and it's good to get back on the winning track in our conference."

"I thought our effort on the boards were good. We had 13 offensive rebounds. We assisted on almost half our baskets despite the fact they gave us driving opportunities. So it was a good day for Wake Forest."

On offensive rebounding:
"We missed a lot of shots so we gave ourselves the opportunity to get offensive rebounds. We shot the ball better in the second half. Sometimes that's a misleading stat. We try and lead the conference in offensive rebounds, that's an effort stat. The only stats I look at are ACC stat because while we're not playing equal schedules, they're comparable. We're third behind Clemson and Miami and we have a higher shooting percentage than those teams. We try and work hard to lead our conference to lead a stat like that."

On the seniors:
"Coach [Dave] Odom deserves a lot of credit. I've said on many occasions, as a coach when you come into a university, you would always like to have Jerry West and the Big O [Oscar Robertson] in the backcourt. He left me these three kids who are quality young men. What they've done here in three years is really notable. They've set some milestones. That didn't have to happen. They deserve a lion's share of the credit for the perception of Wake Forest basketball. They're all going to graduate, and they're all really good people. We're really going to miss those guys and we're hoping to send them out on a high note as we keep playing basketball."

Virginia Head Coach Pete Gillen

On giving up 13 offensive rebounds:
"We didn't screen out well. They're bigger and stronger than us at several of the positions. We didn't do a good job on the defensive boards. They are very talented, but we didn't do a good job screening. We worked on that for a number of days, but we didn't do a good job of it today."

On Gary Forbes:
"I wasn't pleased with his defensive effort and I took him out."

On Wake Forest extending the lead:
"We were in foul trouble, and our young player [Sean] Singletary was in foul trouble, and we had trouble defending him when we're in foul trouble. They are so big and athletic they were getting second shots and we kept getting in foul trouble."

On Sean Singletary:
"He's a young player and playing against maybe the best player in the country. He's playing against a great player in Chris Paul and Taron Downey is a very fine player and a senior and Sean will make mistakes. I thought he did a really good job playing tonight. He got hurt, sprained an ankle, hobbled off the floor, came back and hit a three. That shows you how hard he works. He's a freshman point guard playing against some great players in a tough atmosphere, and I thought he played a good game."

Wake Forest Players

Taron Downey

On the game:
"This is my last go around, so I'm just trying to do whatever I can to keep this team going. Virginia is a tough team and they play us tough every time. We needed something to get us going. I thought we weren't playing with enough confidence in the first half but finally we snapped out of it and started playing well."

Chris Paul

On the seniors:
"They've done so much for the team. Before the game coach was talking about it. They're now 91-33 as a class. They've just done so much for this team and this school it's unbelievable."

Justin Gray

On Chris Paul:
"We always tell him to be more aggressive. He has a real good knack for knowing where the ball is and getting steals and running in the open court. I think he gets frustrated sometimes with the calls the referees make, but we just tell him to keep playing."

Eric Williams

On the team:
"It just shows that we have a deep bench. Like I said before, our second five that comes off the bench could beat some teams' starting five. It's just tremendous support how we trust all our guys coming off the bench. We're not sending them in just to give some guys a rest. We're sending them in to make some things happen. That's what makes us such a good team."