ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 8, 2022

Earl Grant

DeMarr Langford

Quinten Post

Barclays Center

Boston College Eagles

Postgame Press Conference

Boston College - 66, Pittsburgh - 46

THE MODERATOR: We're now ready to begin the Boston College press conference. We're joined by head coach Earl Grant, student-athletes, DeMarr Langford and Quinten Post. Coach, start us off.

EARL GRANT: Very fortunate and thankful. The good Lord gave us a lot of strength today to come out and compete at a high level. After a long year, to come out with great energy -- I saw a lot of energy yesterday at our workout. The guys had good spirits.

I was really proud of our players for having the collective determined spirit and working really hard to find a way to advance in this tournament.

Q. Coach, I was very impressed with how your team, when they had a big lead, used the clock very judiciously. I watched NBA games where players don't seem to care about the clock. I'm just curious, is that something that you work on, game management situations? Anything else?

EARL GRANT: Not really. We have four really good guards out there. We put a four guard lineup in so everybody can ball handle and drive it. We spread the floor. The guys do a good job of moving the ball and being patient and trying to get into the paint towards the end of the shot clock.

I think us having the four guards out there with so much ball handling, that was probably the biggest reason we were able to manage that game the way we did.

Q. Coach, it felt like at the beginning of the game the physicality had really jumped up there. There was a lot of pushing and shoving. I was just curious how your team responded to that and if that helped with your style of play to be able to play in a little bit more physical manner.

EARL GRANT: We play physically. We like to defend and rebound and take care of the ball. So guys adjusted to it well. I thought they hurt us a little bit on the offensive glass early, but we make the adjustments, do what we needed to do. Played really physical after the first ten minutes.

I think our guys did a great job. We rebounded the ball well. That's one of our standards. We want to defensive rebound. I think we hit our number tonight.

Q. The first time you guys played Pitt, John Hugley had 30 points, 13 rebounds. The second game, you held him in check a little bit. Tonight it looked like he was on his way to have another big game, and you were able to hold him in check a little bit more. How were you able to do that?

DEMARR LANGFORD: We knew he was like the motor to their team. We knew that the big was going to need help with him from the first game. Our game plan was just kind of double him in the post and make somebody else make a play.

QUINTEN POST: Yeah, I think he started off the game really well, being physical. Then he also made some jump shots. I think we kind of said that we would live with the jump shots and then we tried to help, me and James, as much as possible. I think we did a better job after the first few minutes of the half.

He's a great player, and I think we did a decent job of holding him down after that.

Q. This one's for DeMarr. I wanted to ask about how important this was to you guys in the senior class here. A couple of guys may be leaving the program after this season. Just to get a win and not end on what would have been a four-game losing streak, and you get a win here in Brooklyn?

DEMARR LANGFORD: It's very important to our guys. Grant talks about them every day and how many practices they've got left. He just shows us how important they are to us. Not just the seniors, but everybody on the staff and all the players to us.

To come out here in Brooklyn and play in the Barclays Center for the ACC tournament, it's a great feeling for them to kind of end their college career and kind of send them off. Hopefully, we can just keep advancing, keep playing, keep winning.

Q. For DeMarr and Quentin, you all went on a 25-4 run late in the first period and early in the second. When did it feel to you two like the game was breaking open? What did you see from your opponents in that time that you guys were starting to take control?

QUINTEN POST: I think for me, it was two things that really broke the game open. At first, they had -- one of their players had the flagrant foul and then the technical. That gave us four free throws, and I think that also kind of rattled their spirit. I think we as a team did a really good job just to stay together and stay the course.

After that, we also kind of changed our offense a little bit. We played a more five-out system that really helped us to get us a lot of open shots and good cuts. So I think those two things really helped us in the second half.

DEMARR LANGFORD: For me, when I kind of saw it breaking away was I think at the four-minute mark in the first half. I think they had 22 points, and they ended the half with 22 points. So it was kind of -- it just showed us like the aggression that we played with, us keeping possession of the ball, being smart, making a smart play, making a smart read. We played aggressive, and it kind of like gave them a little shock, I guess you could say.

Q. Quinten, I was wondering what you saw in the little dust-up with Femi Odukale early in the second half.

QUINTEN POST: I'm not quite sure what happened. I think there was a rebound. I honestly don't fully recall, but I think he tackled me in a way. And then I was on the ground, and I think he kind of stood over me. I don't know. I just had to keep calm, and the refs fixed it kind of for us, so it was good.

Q. Obviously you guys get to play in a lot of different exciting venues, but to have the championship game in Brooklyn in Barclays Center in an NBA facility like that, what's it mean for you guys to be able to close out a season like that and make that push towards the NCAA Tournament here?

DEMARR LANGFORD: It's a great feeling for me personally. I know it means a lot to the team and a lot to Coach Grant. For me, like I said, this is my first time playing here. I watched this arena on TV all the time, Kevin Durant and everything. It really means a lot to me to know that I can maybe probably be in this position one day every game. It's just really nice.

Like I don't know how to put it into words really, but it's a great feeling for me.

QUINTEN POST: I think for me -- obviously, I'm from Europe, from the Netherlands, and over there basketball isn't as big as it is over here. So to come here and to play D-I basketball at the highest level and to play in these kind of arenas, that's like a dream come true. It's just a great experience.

Q. You guys shot the ball really well today, almost 54 percent. What was the Pitt defense giving you that made things easier offensively, and how do you plan on continuing that tomorrow against Wake Forest?

EARL GRANT: I thought we had good balance. We had a lot of guys score. I think we had five guys that scored nine or more points. We were very unselfish, and we were patient. We had good offensive maturity. It's something we talked about all year long. We want to be playing our best basketball in March. We want to get good shots. We want to take care of the ball.

So it really was kind of an accumulation of what we worked on all year. It just showed up today with us having 17 assists, taking care of the ball to our standard. We had 12 turnovers. So five-plus as it pertains to assist to turnover, which is a good number. And we were very unselfish. We waited, and we were patient to get the best shot we could get.

Q. As you guys make a push towards the NCAA Tournament, of course, having familiarity and stuff with all the guys -- like I know you, Coach Grant, brought a lot of guys over from Charleston. You brought Galloway over, Baker; DeMarr, your older brother, Makai, and Gianni, you guys all played for Mass Rivals. Having those guys in your corner that you've had for a long time coming into this situation, how does that help you power through and reach your goals?

EARL GRANT: I think the biggest thing is the guys I inherited. Obviously, the one sitting next to me, DeMarr, and Makai. To have brothers that have that type of relationship and care for each and also be so talented, I think that was the biggest part of it, and then James. I had three guys who were really good players and guys who had been through adversity.

Any time you can inherit three or four players that have been through a lot of adversity, they've got a lot of inner strength in them, and they connect it, so they did a good job giving us a foundation. But being able to get Quinten from Mississippi State with his size and skill level, being able to bring Brendan Galloway, someone who had been with me for five years, certainly that helped as well.

But being able to inherit guys that really actually fit my system and how we played initially had a lot to do with finding a way to make some progress and giving us an opportunity to advance and live to see another day.

Q. I was wondering how much of a relief was it for you and your players when Johnny Hugley went out with foul trouble late in the first half?

EARL GRANT: It wasn't as much relief for me. We had a game plan, so we planned on him being in the game a lot. We had a game plan on how we wanted to guard him. I really didn't recognize it as much. I just thought we needed to continue to stick to our plan and continue to play the game the right way.

So I really didn't think a whole lot about it. The last time we played them in Boston, I think he went out of the game pretty early with some foul trouble. So it really didn't dawn -- it didn't go across my mind. I just thought, hey, we've got to stick to our game plan, try to win each possession, and let the chips fall where they may.

THE MODERATOR: That's all the time we have for you today. Thanks so much, guys. Congrats on the win.