Here's everything coach Manning had to say after the loss tonight:
Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
(Opening Statement) "I thought tonight was a game where Louisville came out and delivered the first punch and we didn't have enough left and I thought we were on our heels pretty much reeling the first half. I thought the second half we came out and did some things much better, but the hole we dug ourselves in the first half was a little bit too much to overcome. We've got to get better at our attention to detail and things of that nature. But give Louisville credit, they made plays and they delivered that first blow and I think that really helped them."
(On the offense after tying the game) "We missed too many free throws. We missed a lot of front ends of one-and-ones. Guys that are mid-to-high 70 percent free throw shooters just didn't knock it down. It wasn't our night from the line. We have to do a much better job from the free throw line. If we make a few more of those free throws, it's probably a little different ball game in the sense of when they come down and what they were executing. We had opportunities, we made it to the line, but we didn't capitalize. We had 18 assists on 24 field goals, so we moved the ball."
(On if he was okay with shot selection down the stretch) "Yes."
(On the pace of the game) "We want to play fast. Anytime you get the ball you want to get fast break points. I thought tonight we did a really good job on the fast break. We got 12 fast break points. It's a lot easier to score against this team if you can attack in transition as opposed to letting them get that match-up zone set. I know Coach Pitino does a really good job of teaching that. They're very long and very athletic."
(On impression of Louisville this year from last year) "Well everybody changes from year to year, but I do think that the two older guys that came in have given them some experience… a sense of desperation in the sense that it's their last go-round. I think they have come in and adapted to the system well and they are impressive - offensively and defensively. You look at their big guys and they all rebound the ball exceptionally well. They all block shots. So this is a team that is going to be very good throughout the course of conference play and in the post season as well."
(On not being able to get a lead on Louisville after they were able to tie it up) "I thought the first half did us in. I think if we'd handled the first half a little better and had a little better attention to detail. There were a couple of times where we got lifted on a shot fake toward the end of the shot clock – they would score with four or five seconds left on the shot clock. We would guard them up until the last four or five seconds. According to the scouting report then have a miscue at the end. I think that really hurt us. If you go back and look at the second half and I thought we did some good things, obviously not enough to win the ball game. But I think coming out of here with only nine turnovers against a team that picks you up full-court, is pretty good and for us to turn them over 12 times. I just think the first half did us in."
(On Louisville's second chance opportunities) "We talked about that going into it. They got 21 against Kentucky the other night. Kentucky is long and athletic and we knew that; Especially their bigs… their bigs pin their ears back and they go to the glass extremely hard. They create second chance opportunities. I think all their bigs are close to getting two offensive rebounds a game or so. We knew that going into it, we did a much better job in the second half; but once again that first half did us in. They ended up with 14 for the game, I don't know how many they had in the first half- they had at least 10."
(On play of Rondell Watson) "Rondell started out the year suspended. But he was practicing hard. He came back and kind of gradually worked himself into the lineup. I think a few games ago I didn't play him at all and I challenged him to practice harder. Since then he's been great. In the LSU game he plays great defense on Ben Simmons down the stretch. For us tonight, he comes out hits a three, five assists - very good contribution from him but he's earned it from the sense of how he's practiced. It's something that we talked about as well. We've got to make sure when practice starts we get out to good starts and we finish well because it'll have a carryover in the game."
(Their approach on Damion Lee – he didn't get close to his average tonight) "He had 12 but he shot 50 percent from the field. He made a lot of things happen for them. You're always aware of him out there on the court because you know what he's capable of. He averaged 20 a game at his last school. Coming in here he's the leading scorer, so you just try to make him work and we did a fairly good job on him."
(On how effective Codi Miller-McIntyre was since his injury) "I've been blessed enough to go through injuries myself in my career and you don't get it back overnight. You've got to keep chucking ahead. The LSU game he gets 12 rebounds for us, I think he had seven of them at half. Tonight I thought he did a good job of attacking. He's a guy who was an honorable mention all-ACC last year and nobody works harder than him. He's going to be back to the Codi we all knew."
(After shooting 39 percent from the two, 25 percent from the line, and 33 from the three – and you had an opportunity to win, does that surprised you?) "Doesn't surprise me at all. We've played tough road games all year long. Our second game of the year we went on the road to Bucknell. After Christmas break we went on the road to LSU. Those were by design. And we think that non-conference schedule helped prepare us for ACC play. So we expect to win every game we play, I don't care who it is, that's our mindset and we didn't get it done tonight."
Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
(Opening Statement) "I thought tonight was a game where Louisville came out and delivered the first punch and we didn't have enough left and I thought we were on our heels pretty much reeling the first half. I thought the second half we came out and did some things much better, but the hole we dug ourselves in the first half was a little bit too much to overcome. We've got to get better at our attention to detail and things of that nature. But give Louisville credit, they made plays and they delivered that first blow and I think that really helped them."
(On the offense after tying the game) "We missed too many free throws. We missed a lot of front ends of one-and-ones. Guys that are mid-to-high 70 percent free throw shooters just didn't knock it down. It wasn't our night from the line. We have to do a much better job from the free throw line. If we make a few more of those free throws, it's probably a little different ball game in the sense of when they come down and what they were executing. We had opportunities, we made it to the line, but we didn't capitalize. We had 18 assists on 24 field goals, so we moved the ball."
(On if he was okay with shot selection down the stretch) "Yes."
(On the pace of the game) "We want to play fast. Anytime you get the ball you want to get fast break points. I thought tonight we did a really good job on the fast break. We got 12 fast break points. It's a lot easier to score against this team if you can attack in transition as opposed to letting them get that match-up zone set. I know Coach Pitino does a really good job of teaching that. They're very long and very athletic."
(On impression of Louisville this year from last year) "Well everybody changes from year to year, but I do think that the two older guys that came in have given them some experience… a sense of desperation in the sense that it's their last go-round. I think they have come in and adapted to the system well and they are impressive - offensively and defensively. You look at their big guys and they all rebound the ball exceptionally well. They all block shots. So this is a team that is going to be very good throughout the course of conference play and in the post season as well."
(On not being able to get a lead on Louisville after they were able to tie it up) "I thought the first half did us in. I think if we'd handled the first half a little better and had a little better attention to detail. There were a couple of times where we got lifted on a shot fake toward the end of the shot clock – they would score with four or five seconds left on the shot clock. We would guard them up until the last four or five seconds. According to the scouting report then have a miscue at the end. I think that really hurt us. If you go back and look at the second half and I thought we did some good things, obviously not enough to win the ball game. But I think coming out of here with only nine turnovers against a team that picks you up full-court, is pretty good and for us to turn them over 12 times. I just think the first half did us in."
(On Louisville's second chance opportunities) "We talked about that going into it. They got 21 against Kentucky the other night. Kentucky is long and athletic and we knew that; Especially their bigs… their bigs pin their ears back and they go to the glass extremely hard. They create second chance opportunities. I think all their bigs are close to getting two offensive rebounds a game or so. We knew that going into it, we did a much better job in the second half; but once again that first half did us in. They ended up with 14 for the game, I don't know how many they had in the first half- they had at least 10."
(On play of Rondell Watson) "Rondell started out the year suspended. But he was practicing hard. He came back and kind of gradually worked himself into the lineup. I think a few games ago I didn't play him at all and I challenged him to practice harder. Since then he's been great. In the LSU game he plays great defense on Ben Simmons down the stretch. For us tonight, he comes out hits a three, five assists - very good contribution from him but he's earned it from the sense of how he's practiced. It's something that we talked about as well. We've got to make sure when practice starts we get out to good starts and we finish well because it'll have a carryover in the game."
(Their approach on Damion Lee – he didn't get close to his average tonight) "He had 12 but he shot 50 percent from the field. He made a lot of things happen for them. You're always aware of him out there on the court because you know what he's capable of. He averaged 20 a game at his last school. Coming in here he's the leading scorer, so you just try to make him work and we did a fairly good job on him."
(On how effective Codi Miller-McIntyre was since his injury) "I've been blessed enough to go through injuries myself in my career and you don't get it back overnight. You've got to keep chucking ahead. The LSU game he gets 12 rebounds for us, I think he had seven of them at half. Tonight I thought he did a good job of attacking. He's a guy who was an honorable mention all-ACC last year and nobody works harder than him. He's going to be back to the Codi we all knew."
(After shooting 39 percent from the two, 25 percent from the line, and 33 from the three – and you had an opportunity to win, does that surprised you?) "Doesn't surprise me at all. We've played tough road games all year long. Our second game of the year we went on the road to Bucknell. After Christmas break we went on the road to LSU. Those were by design. And we think that non-conference schedule helped prepare us for ACC play. So we expect to win every game we play, I don't care who it is, that's our mindset and we didn't get it done tonight."
