ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2021

Scottie Barnes

Florida State Seminoles

Postgame Press Conference

Florida State 69, North Carolina 66

Q. Talk about clamping down defensively down the stretch there, and secondly, you guys faced adversity tonight and responded to it.

SCOTTIE BARNES: I would just say we knew that we needed to make big key stops and were all just motivated and committed to making those stops as a team. So I would just say that's why the last four minutes that we just -- we just really knew what we needed to do defensively. We needed to get stops. We needed to grind it out because it was going to be a tough win.

I would say facing adversity, we knew what happened last time, so we just knew we couldn't give that up and this opportunity that we have this time. So that's what probably made us have that willingness to come back and just keep fighting and go through down the stretch.

Q. What was it like playing against a team you saw twice this season. Did they do something differently tonight that you guys didn't see the last two meetings?

SCOTTIE BARNES: I would just say they really did the same things. They have a really good physical presence in the inside. We knew that we needed to box-out because they're a very big team. They're very big and physical. I would say that it wasn't really a lot of big different things. It was just -- it was basically we knew our game plan and we just knew what we needed to do.

Q. What can you say about Balsa and what he did for you guys tonight inside?

SCOTTIE BARNES: I'll tell you, Balsa had a hell of a game. He really played hard. He just did a lot of things. He ran in transition, allowed them to break them down defensively, helped us get our transition points. He rebounded very well. He boxed out. I think he really took on that challenge, and he fought all game, all night.

Q. You play Georgia Tech for the championship game tomorrow. They have the ACC Player of the Year and the defensive Player of the Year. What have you learned from both match-ups against Georgia Tech that you can use to your advantage tomorrow?

SCOTTIE BARNES: Of course they have the defensive Player of the Year with José Alvarado. He's a very good defender. We know he's very active and he wants to get on the -- he knows he wants to get on the best scorers and just tries to shut them down the entire game. We know we've got to hold down Moses Wright. They have a great team, they have a great offense that they run, and they're very good defensively with switching up their defenses throughout the game.

So we know we've just got to hand it to the offense, lock in defensively as a team. We've played them two times, but they have a very good toughness about their team, where their willingness, where their players put their bodies on the line each and every night.

Q. I was curious the last couple days with Duke and Virginia getting knocked out with COVID issues. When you see that kind of news whether you're in the hotel or whatever, what goes through your mind, what's your reaction to that?

SCOTTIE BARNES: It's sad to see those teams go out with COVID. Those are two good teams, where you would just want to play them and try to get in that environment where you want to play them down the road. But it's just a thing where you've just got to be grateful for each and every game that you play. You never know what's going to happen throughout these tough times. You've just got to be grateful for every game that you get to play.

Q. You came down kind of hard, challenging an inbounds pass late in the first half. Obviously you were able to come back in the game, that's good. How are you feeling after that? Is it giving you any trouble still?

SCOTTIE BARNES: I don't think so. I hurt my wrist a little bit, but I feel fine. I don't really feel nothing right now, so I feel good.

Q. There was a time, I think it was when you guys took back the lead late in the game, you seemed very fired up and emotional. What were the emotions like going down the stretch of this game?

SCOTTIE BARNES: Going down the stretch of the game, I just wanted us to just stay hyped as a team because I wanted us to keep fighting and fighting and have that power to get through that bump in the road that we hit for a little while. We just needed a really -- I just wanted us to keep having motivation and keep fighting and fighting because we still won that game and we just needed to fight through adversity at that moment.