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NCAA MEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: KANSAS CITY

March 29, 2019

Kansas City, Missouri

Auburn - 97 North Carolina - 80

THE MODERATOR: North Carolina is now with us. Kenny Williams and Luke Maye represent the student body. Head Coach Roy Williams is here. We're going to ask him to make statement on the game and go to questions for all three gentlemen from North Carolina.

Roy, please.

ROY WILLIAMS: He didn't know how correctly he said that when he said that Kenny Williams and Luke Maye were representing the student body, because I've been about as lucky as you can be the last four years to coach these two guys up here right now.

I feel like that I've been so, so lucky, and they've won 121 games in their four years and represented our university the way that it should be represented and they were true pictures of student-athletes that some of us are really lucky enough to coach.

I didn't help them a heck of a lot today. I didn't get them as prepared as Bruce got his team prepared. But Bruce loves his team, but he can't love his team any more than Roy Williams loves his team. I've loved coaching these guys. They've taught me something every single day. It's been fun to come to practice every single day. When I think of Luke Maye and Kenny Williams and Cam -- only had Cam for two years, but man, that's what every coach should love to have.

It was tough for us today. Cam is not up here because he's throwing up. His temperature went up to 100 last night as well. Nassir was over a 100 yesterday, and Nassir didn't have as much lift as he had, and Cam wasn't the same person on the court. Those are excuses. We've got to congratulate Auburn and Bruce and the job that he and his coaching staff did.

I really, really hope that that youngster is not hurt badly because he's a heck of a player and you don't want that for anybody. But I didn't do as good a job today as Bruce did and -- but Bruce, as I said, loves his team, but I wouldn't trade my guys for anybody.

THE MODERATOR: First question in the back. Go.

Q. Roy, my question is about Chuma Okeke. You had a big injury in the NCAA Tournament before. How do you balance the high of moving on in the tournament and then also the low of an apparent serious injury moving forward?
ROY WILLIAMS: It's the most unpleasant thing in the world. In 2012 we played Duke at Duke and had a great win for the conference championship and I thought we were playing great. The next game, first game in the ACC tournament, John Henson got hurt. In the second game in the NCAA, Kendall got hurt and we lost him. I thought we were as good as anybody in the country. Kentucky won it that year. Anthony Davis blocked a shot on a great play.

What you just have to do is keep going forward, because Auburn is going to show up to play regardless of who is out there, and those kids who are still playing have to try to pick up the load a little bit more and a little bit more. Nobody should have to try to play over their head, but it gives them a little more motivation now to play even a little bit better. Every one of them will have to do it. Needless to say, Bruce will motivate his team in the right way.

Q. Question for all three of you, if I could. Where did you feel like tonight's game got away from you?
LUKE MAYE: I felt like the second half we came out, didn't play our principles. They hit some shots, and we kind of tried to get it back all on one play and didn't go in our favor, and felt like we didn't play to our strengths at the end and we forced some shots. And credit to Auburn, they shot the ball well and we didn't guard well enough to win tonight.

KENNY WILLIAMS: Like he said, in the second half, early second half, we made some mental mistakes and they capitalized on it and, you know, they're a team that once they hit a couple, they got hot, and they got hot in the second half and they kind of carried that momentum throughout the whole half.

ROY WILLIAMS: I would agree. I'll never use my halftime talk again because it sure as dickens didn't work tonight. Couple of -- I think they made three 3s out of four possessions early in the second half and didn't have the right communication and they made shots.

I asked Kirsh, I think 17 is the most 3s any of my teams have ever given up in 16 years. It was a bad time to have that happen. Left them open a little bit too much and they made the shots. Sort of snowballed and we got it back to 5 or 6, something like that, and then they made 2, 3 again and we weren't -- you know, they've got the reputation and statistically it shows they're not a good rebounding team. They got the offensive boards today better than we did.

At halftime I think they had 8 second chance points to the 3 for us, or something like that, and they kept making some offensive rebounds in the second half, too. You got to give them some credit, all the credit except for me.

Q. Luke and Kenny, I know this is a tough ask. Is it possible for you guys to kind of put into words your experiences of your last four years at UNC?
KENNY WILLIAMS: To be honest with you, if I tried to put it into words, it wouldn't do it justice. To really know the feeling, you know the joy that you get playing here, coming to practice, meetings, you really -- you have to be a part of it to actually know the feeling. Like I said, to put into words wouldn't do it justice, but if I had to, I would say it's nothing that I thought it was going to be. You come in with expectations and these past four years have blown that away. I don't know, man. It's not even on the court. It's all the times off the court that you remember the most, bus rides, plane rides, meetings. I guess -- like I said, putting it into words would not do it justice. It would do it an injustice, honestly.

LUKE MAYE: I feel like that it's going to be hard for me to speak on all the memories and all the times that I've had at Carolina just because of so many great ones, and I can't even put into words how honored I am to be able to play for this university, play for Coach Williams, play with teammates, brothers like Kenny.

Like Kenny said, come to practice everyday. Some days were good, some days were bad, but I mean we were all family and we all love being with each other, and it made practice fun each day. And I'll miss coming to practice and seeing my brothers, seeing Kenny and Cam and especially Coach Williams. I mean he's done so much for my development, and I give all the credit to him for the player I've become.

THE MODERATOR: We have time for three more questions.

Q. Kenny, could you go through that sequence at the end of the first half, you had gotten a lead and then they scored the last 6 points of the half. How did that affect you going into the second. And then for both of you, how frustrating is it at this time of year to not have everybody at full strength for such an important game?
KENNY WILLIAMS: In the first half, you know, we were still positive despite them going on a run and taking the lead. But that's always how we are, despite what happens. We know the type of team we are. That wasn't going to be the run that get us down. Honestly, I forgot your second question. I'm sorry.

Q. How frustrating is it at this time of year to not have everybody at full strength, Cam and Nassir both sick.
KENNY WILLIAMS: It's tough and frustrating. We've been dealing with injuries all year. So once we finally got to full strength, we had some guys go down with sicknesses. Like coach said, you can't use that as an excuse. They went out there and gave everything they had. Hats off to them. They didn't want -- they want us to go out there without them. They did everything they could and built up enough strength to get on the court tonight. But, you know, things that you have to deal with. Injuries are part of the game, so you can't really do anything about it.

Q. Coach, they had 17 3s tonight. What were the difficulties of trying to guard them to stop the 3?
ROY WILLIAMS: It was too difficult for us because we didn't do a very good job of it. It was -- like I said, things we focused on in the days prior to the game mentally and physically, but you have to give them credit, they pushed the pace very hard, come right up your backs. They penetrate and trying to make decision whether to help or stay attached to the 3-point shooter and they can back you off with the quickness and shoot it.

But they still had to make them, so you have to give them credit for that and -- but we knew that was a central part of it, 58 percent of their shots the last part of the season have been 3-point shots. Again they made them and we didn't.

Didn't do enough to stop them.

Q. Roy, Bruce said after the game that you couldn't have been more gracious in defeat. I wonder if you could possibly share what you got across to him? And the second part would be just be that moment where you guys went over to Chuma when he was down. I think a lot of people remember that. I know it's a tough loss, but could you just share your thoughts about that?
ROY WILLIAMS: Yeah. The second part, three of our guys started going without me saying anything, and then I motioned for the other two guys to go down there. They realized it. Our guys were going to go without me saying anything. And I love that kind of thing. Because I want us to compete like crazy. I want to beat your rear end as bad as I can beat you, but I love the competition part of it.

That's the kind of kids that I have. You know, in coaching, winning is good but the thrill of victory, what the real thrill is having the looks on your guy's faces when they've done something and been very successful and very difficult. That's the thrill for me. But the competition I love, but I've just been a lucky guy. And I'm as bad as my brother Williams here. I forgot the first part of your question. Oh, I know.

At that stage in the game, the game was over with, there's 3 seconds. I went to congratulate Bruce and tell him how -- what a great job he had done because I feel how poorly I did, but I wanted him to know how a great job I thought did he, and it was just to tell him that I really, really hope that that kid was not hurt badly because he played great. He kicked our rear ends early, and you don't ever like to see anything like that happen.

But I want everybody to understand, my kids were going down there without me saying something. My athletic director is sitting back there and I shouldn't say this, I would coach my guys for nothing. And even right now this feeling because you've had the association with them, you have no idea how good that has been. And Kenny says he can't describe it. I can't describe it, either, but I know I've been a very lucky guy to coach these kids.

Thank you, guys.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Roy. Thank you, gentlemen.

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