East Carolina, Florida A&M Postgame Quotes
December 22, 2014 | Men's Basketball
ECU HEAD COACH Jeff Lebo
Opening statement
" I would like to commend my team on having some energy in the second half. We were dead in the first half. In the second half, we were able to score some points off turnovers by pressing. The biggest thing tonight was the 29-4 differential of points of turnovers. I thought Michel-Ofik Nzege gave us good energy, particularly in the second half and B.J (Tyson) made some baskets in the second half. Caleb (White) with four threes in the second half were big for us. With Terry (Whisnant) struggling from the perimeter, obviously those four 3s from Caleb (White) were big."
On the play of Michel Nzege
"His energy was great tonight and he always has energy. He practices how he played tonight, he will dive on the floor, and sprint on offense and defense. He could go 0-6 the next day and he is not pouting or groaning. He works exactly the same and I really appreciate that from Michel. He works exactly the same no matter how good or bad he plays. You love to see guys like him have some success and he did tonight."
Sophomore Caleb White
On his performance
"I was just telling myself to stay out, to keep taking shots, and not to let my confidence take a hit. I stuck with it tonight and made the shots that I know I can make.
"It was a close game, and I wanted to step up. I knew people were counting on me, so I wanted to come through."
On Coach Lebo's halftime talk
"We got in a funk; we were playing really slow. He wanted us to pick the pace up. He told us to bring the press, that it would bring a lot more energy and speed them up a bit and we could get easy buckets off of that, and it worked."
On what it will take to get two wins in a row
"We need to build on it; keep doing things right in practice. We have a couple of days off, so I think everyone will dial the clock back a little bit, and get a break. We just have to be ready to work when we come back, and string a few (wins) together when we come back -- starting with UNC Greensboro."
Sophomore Michel-Ofik Nzege
On the pace of the game
"I liked the fast pace. I think that's one of the reasons why I came to this program -- I like it a lot when we play that type of game."
On Florida A&M's team
"I think every team that is facing adversity is always hungry every time they play their next game. These guys came here today trying to get a win; we couldn't take them lightly. We played slow the first half, and we knew they were going to come at us the first four minutes. I think we did a good job of stepping up and pulling out the win."
On staying out of foul trouble
"I believe that I can defend most forward positions. I can move pretty well for my size, and Coach Lebo counts on me to guard the big and small. I think I need to bring a lot of energy when I'm on the court. When I get I get in foul trouble I get my team in trouble. I think I've done a better job (of staying out of foul trouble) the last few games."
