WESTERN CAROLINA HEAD COACH JUSTIN GRAY
On the team's performance...
"Coach (Mike) White and his team, he gets his guys to play hard. They really came out and competed. In the early stages of the game, they were the more aggressive team. We came over in the first TV timeout, and I said, 'Hey fellas, great job. We gave them two points. Bad job, we haven't scored. At the end of the day, our guys came to Western Carolina for the opportunity. There is opportunity there. I told them, this is the best stage you could play on. This platform, in the SEC, on national TV as the first game of the year, all of this excitement. You have got to make some plays. I thought there in the second half, we settled in a little bit. With a really good ball team, they imposed their will on us in the back door. I think that is one place that we have to be way better at. We talk about the season as a journey. We need to show some growth the next time we go out there and play."
 
On the second half comeback...
"When it got to that point, it is making plays. It was a stretch there that three possessions, we weren't good. There is a small margin for error in a big time game. It is hard to win college basketball games. That is what I try to tell our guys, but the opportunity is there. You say you want it. I wish I could get out there and play. I am out there sweating. I wish I could be out there, but I can't. We just try to put our best guys in the best situation for them to be successful. We try to help them with their confidence. We focus on the wars. A war is every four-minute segment. Whether you are up or you are down, let's focus on winning the wars. There in the second half, the first three, we were winning them. For us, that is how we got back in the game. Georgia made a run there in that one stretch that kept us at bay."