What Mike Pegues, Louisville Players Said After 70-61 Win vs. Clemson

(Opening Statement)

“Great to get one. I’m just proud of the guys. It's been a long, hard road. There’s been a lot said about us, a lot of unfair rhetoric and propaganda about things that are going on internally in our program, which I think is completely unfair to be quite honest with you. I just want you guys to know that, just like any other family, you go through things. I don't know what type of family you come from, but I come from a family where it's not always peaches and cream, and our program hasn’t been any different this year. We've all been at fault, myself included. Our kids have struggled with the loss of their leader, with me taking over the reins again. I've struggled with some of my decisions. We've gone at each other like any other family and I'm just proud of our guys for hanging in there, for sticking together, and getting a really good win. I know PJ Hall goes down and a lot of people will say ‘If he's in the game, we don't win it,’ I could care less. We won a game. It's been a long time since we won one. I'm proud of our kids. Now we’ve got to come back tomorrow and have a really good mental day and get ready to go to North Carolina and get another one.”

(On the adjustments made to the offense to minimize tough shots)

“I just told our guys that we needed to hit singles. We have been there before with some guys taking some hairy threes, trying to break the other team’s back and put us over the hump on their own and that's not what we need. We need the best shot for Louisville, we need to move the ball. Obviously, there are certain circumstances where you want a guy to step into one if he's wide open but primarily, we wanted to move the ball. We wanted to see if we could continue to get the ball in the paint. If we couldn't score on the first touch, we wanted to get another paint touch. At the end of the day, we just wanted to get a good shot for Louisville, not for an individual.”

(On the decision to start Malik Williams, and he performed today)

“I thought Malik (Williams) has been very good the last couple of days in practice. He has reassumed his title, his position, as a leader and as a captain. After the game against Miami, we had a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting. In that meeting, I was blatantly honest with our guys in terms of wanting to show some vulnerability and wanting to show them that what has been happening is not all on them; a big part of it is on me. They are kids that will make mistakes. They want to talk back at times, and they will not do the right things all the time. As a leader, I have to find a better way to manage that, which I have not always done. I am learning on the fly as well; we all are. I just wanted them to know that we are in this together. We can have a clean slate, we can start over, we agreed to that, and we hugged it out. We lucked out and it resulted in us being on the same page today and getting the win.”

(On if any weight has been lifted after today)

“We lost a lot of games in a row, so I feel like there is a huge weight taken off after winning. At the same time, we have another game in less than 48 hours. I am excited about the next game. I am excited about watching our game against North Carolina and seeing where we went wrong, what North Carolina has been doing lately, how our team can attack them, and how we can get our guys ready to go and excited about going on the road. Our fans have been great throughout it all. I feel bad for our fans. I feel bad for our players first and foremost, but I feel bad for our fans because we have had such a rough year but, at the same time, the passion at Louisville is just incredible. We have lost an unprecedented number of games in a row, and it is incredible that we still get a good crowd like we did today on a Saturday afternoon and people cheer for our team and are pulling for us. We are 10th or 11th in the ACC, and the fans are still there. That's incredible. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I am so thankful and grateful to be a part of this team, no matter how much longer I am here. I am thankful that, if for one time in my career, I have been a part of an organization that pulls for their program and gets behind the players. I’m just honored and grateful to be a part of that.”

(On Noah Locke’s play coming off the bench)

“I thought Noah (Locke) was really good for us. Dre (Davis) goes out with some foul trouble, Sam Williamson came and did some things but, we felt like because they were small, we wanted to have Noah on the floor. We were struggling to score in the first half. He made a couple of shots, more so in the second half, but I thought he played a solid all-around game. Nobody really talked about his defensive effort, but I thought he did a really good job of keeping his chest in front of the ball as well and doing the job on defensive end. They have some really dynamic guards, I thought he excelled there as well as making some shots.”

(On the team’s goals for the remainder of the season)

“Just one at a time. One good day at a time. We don't want to try to get too far ahead of ourselves, sufficient for each day has its own troubles. We want to get after tomorrow, mentally. We'll familiarize ourselves with Carolina, tighten up some of the things that we didn't do well today and see if we can go into Carolina, a tough place to play, on Monday and get one.”

(On the feeling of getting a win)

“I was thankful. There are a lot of fans, and I don’t know who they are, because I try my best not to look back, and I know that my mom, uncle, aunt, and wife are in the stands supporting me, and they want to help me, and I am not just trying to pay them any attention because I have a job to do, but there's some fans that are constantly coming down even after a loss and saying ‘hey, good job, Coach. Good job,’ so I want to take the time to acknowledge them. I am able to do that today and I certainly don’t want to do it after a loss because I feel so guilty, but I want to acknowledge them and tell them thank you. It was heartfelt and I'm just grateful again to be a part of such an organization with the passion that our fan base has.”

(On what he learned from the first meeting with North Carolina)

“I remember us miscommunicating on a couple switches and giving Brady Manek some rhythm threes that we have to take away. Armando Bacot is going to be Bacot but he can't have Wilt Chamberlain numbers. He is a 20-20 machine, he can’t have that. He is going to play, and he is going to get his numbers, but we have to contain him. We can’t miscommunicate switches with Manek and we have to keep the ball out of the lane with (RJ) Davis and (Caleb) Love. Leaky Black hit three threes, which is a little bit off an anomaly. He's a good player, but that is not what he normally does. We have to go out there and we have to defend, we must have a defensive mindset, we have to keep the ball in the lane, we have to communicate switches with (Brady) Manek and we have to contain (Armando) Bacot on the inside.”

(On Malik Williams making winning plays)

“Malik Williams is used to making those plays, which is why we need him out on the floor. It was great to have him back, especially in the right frame of mind, body, and spirit. I talk all the time about how you have to be fully invested to play well. Malik is fully invested again. His teammates are behind him. I am behind him. We are moving forward.”

(On the atmosphere of the locker room postgame)

"The guys were excited, enthusiastic about getting one and normally when we get one, we have a poster and then we rip it down and tear it up. We haven't been able to rip that thing down and tear it up in a while, so it was good to be able to do that and see some guys jumping around and enjoying themselves. When you get 10 rebounds for us (in a game), you get to sign the bubble, so Jae'Lyn Withers had an opportunity to do that. Guys were just excited for one another."

Forward/Center Malik Williams

Guard Noah Locke

(Photo of Mike Pegues: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)