Virginia Tech men's basketball head coach Mike Young and forwards Keve Aluma and Justyn Mutts met with the media following the Hokies' 87-80 win over second-seeded Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the 2022 ACC Tournament in Brooklyn, New York. Read some of what they had to say:
MIKE YOUNG
(On the hot start and holding Notre Dame off down the stretch) You know, I don't know if this had anything to do with it, the bye is great. We had one yesterday. I've always been concerned -- you wouldn't trade it for the world, I've always been concerned, that other team has been on that floor. They've shot. They've competed. You're sitting there yesterday watching that. Their teeth are sharp. Not that Notre Dame's wasn't, and Notre Dame is so good and had such a good -- has had such a good season. We just had such a great look about us, and Aluma started it in the first possession of the game. Justyn was awfully, awfully good throughout, got a couple of shots down, and I thought put Notre Dame on their heels a little bit, which is very unusual. Now, in the second half, they are a machine offensively. Their passing, their spacing, what they can do with all those guys gives you a lot of heartburn and keeps you up at night. I don't know any other way to explain it to you than that. I don't have a real succinct answer.
(On this being his team's best performance collectively) I've got really good players. It took us a time to get to this rotation, and maybe I can be faulted for that. But we're getting really good play from Maddox and Pedulla and David N'Guessan. These two guys are just a load in the front court. Such a masterful pass -- a pass rate, five assists and zero turnovers. We've got a lot on the line, man. We've got a lot on the line. To get to 21 wins, to advance to the semifinal of this great tournament. Look forward to coming back over and strapping it on again and seeing them compete. It's a lot of fun.
KEVE ALUMA
(On last night's blown lead in regulation help squander Notre Dame's chances tonight) Definitely. They came back, and that was something we kept saying on the bench. We just wanted to keep them at a good distance, so we did that.
(On Storm Murphy's late 3-pointer that swirled around the rim) What's going through my head when the ball is going around the basket? Well, one of them, I could have got the offensive board, so I was kind of hoping it popped out, but once he made it, I was like, yes. So that's what went through my head.
JUSTYN MUTTS
(On how well the defense played) I thought we did a great job, stayed connected, all five guys on the floor. And at any given point in time I was able to go do what I had to do and trust that my teammates were going to be there for me. And I felt that they were also in the same position where they can just play hard and trust that I'm going to be there for them.
(On making the ACC Tournament semifinals for the first time in school history in 11 years) It's huge. One more day of life. Just trying to make the most out of it. That's all we really can do at this point.
