UNC-Georgia Tech: Roy Williams Postgame - 247Sports

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Georgia Tech closed the final seven minutes of Wednesday's game on a 19-6 run to take the lead and hand North Carolina its second conference loss of the season. The Tar Heels fall to 5-4. It's their worst start to a season since beginning 2001-02 with a 4-5 record.

With a new starting lineup for the first time this season made up of R.J. Davis, Kerwin Walton, Andrew Platek, Day'Ron Sharpe and Armando Bacot, UNC never trailed in the first half. Most of that, however, was credited to the Yellow Jackets shooting 44 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent from three with eight turnovers. In the second half, Ga. Tech shot 61.5 percent from the floor, 66.7 percent from three and had five turnovers.

Two Tar Heels finished in double figures. Bacot led the team with 14 points and he was joined by Leaky Black, who had 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting. UNC made a season-high eight threes thanks to three made deep-balls by Walton and two by Caleb Love.

Read all of the postgame comments from UNC head coach Roy Williams below and watch his interview with media members here:

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Georgia Tech scored 43 points in the second half. What’s allowing teams to go on those second-half scoring runs?

“Okay, it's not just a second half problem. We've been getting our butts kicked in the first half. The defensive end of the floor has been a problem for us. We haven't gotten turnovers like we've been able to do in the past and a team shoots 61% -- you're not getting turnovers, and they're shooting 61% -- so your defense is not very good. You can say that we're playing a lot of freshmen and that they've not bought into it enough. But the defensive end of the floor is the most important thing at this level of college basketball. Everybody's got guys who can make shots when they're not guarded, but special teams have guys who can make shots when they really are guarded, and we're giving them too many open shots. They make three straight possessions ... and we didn't have the proper matchups a single time and didn't get the guy picked up. And so it's some breakdowns. The defensive end of the floor has been more important to us. In lower scoring games, it's got to be more important, as well, because we're not gifted enough on the offensive end to make a lot of shots. We made eight threes tonight. That has been more than we've been making, but going two-for-seven from the foul line in the second half doesn't help you. So it's a lot of things, guys.”

Six points in the final seven minutes. What were some of the problems there?

“Well, we missed some, I can't remember if it was during the time where we missed a couple of free throws. It might have been earlier than that. But we had an open spot, Garrison missed an open one (from) about 10 feet ... Armando missed one; he banked it off the board and it came around on the other side. You know, you stop runs by other people by scoring yourself or getting defensive stops. And we were not able to keep up the pressure on them by scoring and we were not able to get stops, as well. So it wasn't just our defense, guys.”

Explaining the starting lineup changes and the second half starting lineup

“Went into the decision because of our defensive grades in the North Carolina State game more than anything, but there's a lot of things that goes into decisions about who starts and who doesn't start. The hardest one was Garrison because his defensive grade wasn't as bad as the other two, but at the same time, I try to treat everybody fairly. And at halftime, I decided just to go with different people. I trust Garrison, but even Garrison has got to be held to a high standard defensively, and Leaky, I think, could be the one of the best defensive players in the league and he's got to be held to a high standard defensively. And Caleb, as well, his defensive grade was really bad at North Carolina State. And they all ended up playing. I tried to bring up to them it really didn't make a heck of a lot of difference who you start. It really doesn't. I mean, Marvin Williams never started a game for us and we won a national championship and he was the second player taken in the NBA Draft. Steve Woodbury at Kansas one time never started a game for us his entire junior year and he ended up being second-team all conference. So you've got to be successful whether you're out there as a sub or a starter.”

Never trailed in the first half for the first time since the season opener

“You know, we turned it over 10 times in the first half. It's not exactly like we played great. Georgia Tech helped us out with their ability to make shots wasn't as good in the first half as it was in the second half. They turned it over a few times themselves, but we were able to have the lead. I wasn't pleased with the way we played, but again, I don't think the starting lineup change had anything to do with us having the lead. We just got the ball inside a little bit and made some baskets there, but got to play the total game.”

Starting lineup change a sudden decision or something you thought about?

“Guys, you’ve got to understand, I get to make a lot of decisions. I don’t put it through the freakin’ press and everything. If you want me to tell you, the defensive grades sucked. They weren’t just bad, they were terrible. And I don’t have to... Well, I decided to start some different guys. It made no difference how much they played. They still played minutes. You watch the State game and you tell me if you thought we were good defensively.

What’s not translating between practice and games?

“Our focus. Again, I'll say the focus on the defensive end of the floor. Our movement without the ball on the offensive end of the floor. And guys who make shots in practice don't necessarily make them a lot into games. And then the head coach is screwing it up himself.”

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