MAUI INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY NOVAVAX

November 25, 2024

Anthony Grant

Nate Santos

Lahaina Civic Center

Dayton Flyers

Postgame Press Conference

North Carolina 92, Dayton 90

THE MODERATOR: Coach, what did you see from your team this evening?

ANTHONY GRANT: I think I give Carolina credit. They played 40 minutes. Always going to be a 40-minute game. We understood that. I thought our guys battled. We gave ourselves a chance. Proud of the effort.

This is a heck of a field. We have a quick turnaround. We need to get prepared to play one of the best teams in the country again tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the players.

Q. Nate, you played one of the best teams in the country so close. What do you take from this game even though you lost?

NATE SANTOS: What we're capable of, that we can fight, we can go together. Like coach said, quick turnaround. We got to put together a full 40 minutes.

Obviously a great effort but a disappointing loss.

Q. What was the biggest difference that you saw from North Carolina in the second half? More what they were doing or something that you guys maybe weren't doing in the first half?

NATE SANTOS: Yeah, I think credit to them. They went on a roll. They punched back. I think us, we got to keep our composure, just continue to go together.

You have to give them credit. They fought back. Ended up going their way.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Nate.

Questions for Coach Grant.

Q. Anthony, what did you see in the second half out of North Carolina that they were able to turn the page like that?

ANTHONY GRANT: Yeah, I thought their pressure, the defensive pressure, kind of sped us up. We kind of lost our composure there, made some questionable decisions.

They're great in transition. They allowed them to get out in transition. They were able to get a lot of three-point plays. Transition, the free-throw line, those things I really thought was the difference.

Q. Anthony, such a late finish here. What do you do as a coach to keep your team focused, physically prepared for such a quick turnaround, a loaded field? What is your approach like for tomorrow?

ANTHONY GRANT: I'm going to try to get them out of here as quickly as I can, get our scouting report, get them ready for tomorrow.

Q. Given that you had more time to prep for this game as opposed to tomorrow, do you change anything with how you prepare for the turnaround?

ANTHONY GRANT: No, we'll prepare the same way.

Q. 10 guys played in the first half. All 10 scored. Really was a team effort. Is that a silver lining tonight?

ANTHONY GRANT: It's a hard loss. We felt like we had chances to win the game. So we got to be able to be resilient and put our focus on the next game. That's what I'm trying to do right now.

We can't really relive what happened tonight. Didn't go our way. Our guys fought. We gave it everything we had. Give Carolina credit. They were able to win the game. So now we got to get prepared for another tough, really challenging game tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.