University of North Carolina Athletics
Maximo Adams
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
November 2, 2026 | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME QUOTES
UNC 80, WESTERN CAROLINA 72
NOVEMBER 2, 2026
DEAN E. SMITH CENTER, CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
UNC 80, WESTERN CAROLINA 72
NOVEMBER 2, 2026
DEAN E. SMITH CENTER, CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
UNC Head Coach Michael Malone
On playing a talented Western Carolina…
"...Give them credit, their coach, their players. They play hard. They never quit. They kept coming at us."
On the emotions of receiving the game ball from Coach Roy Williams…
"Coach Williams is the best… how he and his wife Wanda have welcomed me into his family means the world to myself, my wife Jocelyn, and just kind of reminded me that I'm sharing the seat that Dean Smith sat in, and how fortunate you are to be doing that."
On his first official win…
"I'm thankful to get that first one… And the fans here have been just so kind to me and welcoming, and you know I love that, and I appreciate that. And I just want to make sure I'm doing my job to make the Carolina family proud. You know, I don't take this opportunity lightly, and that's a huge responsibility."
On his thoughts going into the game and moving forward with this new team…
"... I knew tonight was going to be a dogfight. You know, we have 11 new players ... So, we're trying to take these 11 new players and meld them with Jarin and Jaydon and Isaiah and John Holbrook and Evan Smith, and it's not going to happen overnight. And I have to remind myself constantly that this really is going to be a process."
On the team's rebounding…
"I think it's something where we just have to continue to harp on it, drill it, demand it, and you know I'm going to keep on pounding that rock. It's going to break one day… But it's something that we have to continue to focus on and demand from our players. It's just not there yet, but it will. I promise you that it will get there."
On Terrence Brown having the ball on offense…
"... He played ultra aggressive tonight… So that's what I like about Terrence… is you know he plays hard. He leaves it out there. I never question if Terrence Brown is going to compete and play hard because that's just how he's wired."
On the team trusting the process each game…
"You know it's going to be probably a different guy for us every night, and we have to stop fighting that. Sometimes we have to embrace that. That's who we are, and if we can, you know, just start trusting, just trust more… And when we do it, we look really good."
Western Carolina Head Coach Tim Craft
On playing a new North Carolina team under Coach Malone…
"I thought just the pace that they play with and the organization offensively was really impressive, and you know, just being able to kind of get into a variety of different actions and run them really sharp and disciplined…they put you in some tough spots."
Neo Avdalas
On learning to play with Terrence Brown…
"We're working on it. We take a win, but I think we can play better. I'm not happy with our game tonight. We just have to play better, win, win more, dominate these teams…We keep progressing. It's a long season."
On Coach Malone's postgame message…
"He said that a win's a win. He said that we'll watch film. We'll have another one Friday. We'll get better…keep getting better. Appreciate the win."
On the team's rebounding challenges…
"We can't let it happen. I mean, I'm disappointed. I have to be better at that part. I'm trying to go rebound the ball every time. I'm trying to help my teammates every time in practice. Coach emphasized this point every time in practice. We just have to be better. We just have to box out. Now teams that are scouting us, they know that we're not good at rebounding, and they're gonna punish us. They're gonna go to the rebound. So we have to get better because when we play defense, and we run, it's our game. You know, we play good basketball at that point, so have to be better."
Matt Able
On winning his first game at Carolina…
"It feels amazing. I love winning. That's the whole reason I came here was to win at the highest level, and I feel like it's a good start. But there's definitely more to accomplish, and we can always do better."
On the team's inconsistency…
"We definitely have spurts. I feel like we take two steps forward, but then we don't close the door on teams because there was times where I believe we got it up to double digits, and you just need to get a kill, which for us is three stops in a row, and I feel like we were unable to get that in key moments. So I think it's just building on that and being consistent with the good stuff that we're doing, and not letting bad habits creep in"
On what the locker room was like…
"So I think we're all happy about the win, but we also know that there's work to be done and there's improvements that we need to make because we're going to play a lot better teams, and you know I feel like we need to prepare for that."
On feeling pressure about the first game with Coach Malone…
"No, I don't think so. I feel like we've been with Coach Malone since the beginning of the summer, and we have so much trust in him and belief in him… there's no real pressure with it being Coach Malone's first win. We were super excited to see Coach Williams giving the game ball, and that was a great honor, and it was just a great thing to be a part of. But I don't think there's any pressure for us."
Terrence Brown
On being a part of the Coach Malone era…
"It's really good. Obviously Coach Malone came from a winning system, where he was with one of, if not the best player in the world. So he has a lot of experience. Just being able, me coming from where I'm from, and then being able to play for him is a blessing every single day. I just get to come in here and work on my game every day with one of the best coaches in the world, and then also learn from one of the best coaches that ever coached college basketball, Roy Williams. It's just a blessing to be in the presence of those two, being able to learn from those guys and get better from them."
On working through stagnant offensive stretches..
"Just trusting the offense, trusting coach's vision, like what he wants from us, and being able to play through all the plays we have in there. Playing through and trusting that it can come back to us and trusting our teammates. I think it would be that, just trusting."
On his mentality…
"Every time you put a jersey on, you're playing for your family. You're playing for your culture, teammates, and the community around you. So, a win is a win… We have to keep executing. We got to keep getting better, coming into practice and accepting coaching and just going out here and executing better every night that we play."
Maximo Adams
On Coach Malone's new era…
"I mean, it's a big moment, especially with the change and him coming… but seeing that after the game that Roy Williams giving the ball after his first home game win, that's a good, great feeling."
On the second half…
"Yes, we were up, and one of the main focuses coming to the game is winning the half. But, a rebound, we have to make shots, and them coming back in the game, we didn't expect that, but you just got to keep playing however the game goes."
On rebounding…
"When you come into the game, that is one of my main focuses: rebounding the ball. Although I only had four today, I expect to do better next game."
On playing the first game that counts…
"As far as our exhibition games have gone, I mean, this one really counts. So having that attention to detail, paying attention, and coming out of the game like this is real. And it's a long way to March, so we have to keep stacking and winning games."
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