ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2021

Nysier Brooks

Miami Hurricanes

Postgame Press Conference

Miami 79, Pittsburgh 73

Q. Nysier, the other night you said after the game that crazy things happen in March and that maybe that win over Boston College was the momentum that you guys needed going into this tournament and that you said crazy things happen in March. What's happening with your team right now, last game and this game? Can you just tell us the mood of the team, the energy of the team right now, and what's your mindset?

NYSIER BROOKS: Our energy is a lot higher because -- from the win in Boston College on senior night and then coming into this game today, we just had a lot more enthusiasm in us and just more energy. We're just more alive. Like more alive, I would say.

This win tonight can definitely help us for tomorrow and just help us with momentum just to carry forward to have another good game to where we come out a victor.

Q. The numbers, you guys had very few turnovers, you had a lot of assists, all five starters in double figures. Can you just talk about the overall team play today and where has that been in recent weeks? Why weren't you guys able to do this earlier in the season?

NYSIER BROOKS: Stuff like that, I would just say that we just get more comfortable with each other because, as you know, injuries have made the starting lineups vary from different players starting from others. And I would just say that our chemistry is just getting a little bit better by each game, and hopefully it can come to a point where we're very sharp and crisp and hopefully just keep winning.

Q. Just what you can say about how this team has dealt with almost no bench and all of the injuries on top of COVID? Just what that's done to develop you as a player and develop this team to be able to essentially be able to bail each other out at different positions if and when need be?

NYSIER BROOKS: Yeah, it shows me as a player that life is full of adversity. And during those times when you're dealing with adversity, that's when the person who you really are and the team who you are, that's when it shows who you really are. It's easy to be negative, give up, and quit. Like that stuff is easy.

But it's hard to just keep pushing through, keep fighting, and just believing the guys that's around you to just be able to see that the sun is going to shine another day. We've just got to get through what we've got to get through.

Q. How would you describe the mood in the locker room after this one?

NYSIER BROOKS: The mood in the locker room is very high. The energy is very high because, as you know, it's been a long season. And we're just trying to just keep winning, keep getting -- just keep playing, and maybe just everybody is happy while we're playing on the court.

Q. The scoring numbers you've been able to put up the last couple games, what's kind of changed for you? You're finishing with dunks and things like that and hitting free throws. What's kind of changed with you? And then also you faced Clemson already a few times. Just the challenges in facing them and containing Aamir?

NYSIER BROOKS: Can you repeat that one more time?

Q. Offensively you've been able to score the ball more the last couple games than you had previously. What's kind of changed with you? And then also facing Clemson again, you've faced them twice already, what is the challenges of facing them again and containing Aamir?

NYSIER BROOKS: The challenges of facing them is just that they've got good players, and they can shoot the ball, 1 through 5, from behind the line. And just trying to game plan for them the right way, I would say more so.

And with me scoring more, Coach has just been running a couple more plays for me. And the guys have been executing the plays and being able to get me the ball, and I either get a score, get an assist from the action that's given to me.

Q. Can you just describe the locker room mood? Were you guys dancing? Was the music playing? Were you throwing Gatorade around? I would think winning an ACC Tournament game is a big deal for this team.

NYSIER BROOKS: Yes, it's a big deal. We actually didn't get to that point because we had to go take a corona test right after. But we can't start just celebrating right here because it's a long weekend. It's a long weekend. We're trying to be here Friday, Saturday, and that's when we might have something to cheer about.

But until then, we've just got to stay humble, stay poised and just keep trying to just win the next one. We're not worrying about Saturday right now, we're just worrying about win the next one.

Q. You all lost a numerous amount of close games by three points or fewer this season. Just how good did it feel to actually win today, and what was Coach Larrañaga's message in the huddle at the end of the game?

NYSIER BROOKS: His message was just don't let them get an open three. And the games that we lost by close points, those are games where I know later on in the season when we get a little bit more experience playing, that I feel like we can just execute the close-out in the last two minutes of the game, and tonight we proved it here. We've just got to keep being able to execute effectively, and hopefully we just keep winning because it's a one-game season from here on out.