The Virginia basketball team picked up a 75-63 ACC Tournament win against Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Freshman Kyle Guy played a key role in the victory by matching his career-high of 20 points.
Guy became the first UVA freshman to score 20 points in an ACC Tournament game since J.R. Reynolds put up 20 against Duke in 2004. The media caught up with him after the game to talk about his postseason debut and the next game against Notre Dame.
Here’s the Quick Take Q&A:
You hit four 3’s tonight. The last one, they had cut the lead to two with about 10 minutes left. That’s when the crowd – it was a pretty pro-UVA crowd – really got into it. And you hit that 3. You’ve risen up in big moments. Did you sense that in the game and in the atmosphere to kind of rise up there?
Kyle Guy: I knew that we needed a bucket, but it wasn’t like, we need a bucket so let me shoot it no matter what. I didn’t even think that shot was going in, to be completely honest. Thank God it did. Like coach [Tony Bennett] said, I’m not really afraid of the moment, but whatever the team needs from me, I’m willing to do.
For you as a freshman, first time in this tournament, with a late game like this and getting out so late, what was it like to wait all day for your chance to take the court?
Kyle Guy: I didn’t really know what to expect with this late of a game and stuff like that. But I was really excited and just ready to play, focused. Coach is always preaching to stay focused and stay on top of things off the court so that on the court there’s no problems and we’re focused the whole time. So with London [Perrantes] as a roommate, it’s pretty easy to stay focused because all he does is sleep. So I have a lot of alone time [laughs].
What do you think about Notre Dame? Do you remember much from that game against them at their place?
Kyle Guy: Oh yeah, I remember it a lot. That was really close to home for me, so I had a lot of family there. They’re a great team. They play pretty much five guards when Bonzie [Colson]’s in there. So they’re a tough matchup, and we’re looking forward to it.
You matched your career high, which obviously was needed. But you were stuck there for the last several minutes of the game. You’re a scorer! You couldn’t get another shot?
Kyle Guy: I wasn’t even looking at my score, or how many points I had. I know one of my lay-ups should have went in, it sat on the rim for a while. But London, I mean, he scored like 10 of our last [15] points [in a decisive run] or something like that, just taking it to ’em basically.
Was there a turning point for you at some point in the season?
Kyle Guy: I don’t know. I played well early in the season. I didn’t shoot particularly well, but it’s part of the process, and I don’t really get down when I’m not hitting shots, because I want to be able to do other things on the court. But I’m just getting better every single day in practice, and just little steps at a time, baby steps.
