Sporting News

North Carolina's Tyler Zeller: 'We knew we could do this'

Tyler Zeller enjoyed one of his best games of the season Friday with 27 points and 12 rebounds, leading North Carolina to an 81-63 victory over Marquette. Sporting News’ Clifton Brown was one of several reporters who spoke with Zeller in the locker room following the game.

Q: Why were you able to take such a huge lead early?

North Carolina's Tyler Zeller (44) reacts as Marquette's Darius Johnson-Odom looks on during the second half of an an East regional semifinal game in the NCAA college basketball tournament on Friday, March 25, 2011, in Newark, N.J. Zeller scored 27 points as North Carolina won the game 81-63. (AP Photo)

A: Our defense did a lot of it. Marquette’s a great team but we were able to push them out of their offense. We got them to take a lot of uncomfortable shots.

Q: How close was this to a complete game for your team?

A: It’s still not a complete game. The first half was excellent. In the second half, we were kind of off and on.

Q: How gratifying was it not to play catch-up as you have done often this season?

A: It was great. Everybody’s been saying we can’t get off to quick starts. To be able to take the lead was big for us.

Q: What are your feelings about being one step from the Final Four after not making the tournament last year?

A: It means a great deal to all of us. We always knew that we were a great team. When we were 4-3 at the beginning of the year we had a meeting. We told each other that we can’t be going back to where we were last year. This team’s done a great job of reacting the right way to every situation and improving over the course of the season.

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