5 things Josh Pastner said after Tech’s NIT win over Indiana

Comments made by Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner following the Yellow Jackets’ NIT win over Indiana Tuesday night at McCamish Pavilion

“I thought our defense was really good. Obviously, it hasn’t been like that all year in terms of our offense, but we shot the ball well. That makes a big difference. For us to get to 75 (points) makes a big difference for us. As everyone knows who’s watched us, we’ve been very limited and deficient offensively, but today, we made some big shots, and that was a big thing.”

“I want to give a shout-out to the student section – money well spent. They were awesome, gave us a great lift – the energy in the building. And it was the least I could do for them. As I’ve said before, one of my favorite movies is ‘Pay It Forward.’ I try to pay it forward to them because they, the student section, plus the fans this year have willed us to many, many wins and they did it again today.”

“(Quinton Stephens) was really good today in many areas. Was one rebound short of a double-double, had three assists, only one turnover, made big shots. He was terrific. Tadric Jackson, who I’m hard on, was really good the second half, and he was good the second half defensively. That’s what made him score offensively. His defense, because he got those steals and 50/50 balls, allowed him to get to offense.”

“If we do have a home game, student tickets are on me again and, hey, it’s great. Just no furniture for my wife moving forward. I would love to have a home game because I want the students to come back, and obviously playing at home is awesome. And if we don’t play at home, we play at Georgia. Then we know we’ll have to give a great effort. We know they’ll have a great crowd against our (team) and we know that Georgia is very, very good. I think we’re a better team than when we played them initially, and they’re a better team than when they played us.”