Jeff Capel talked about sweeping UNC, doing the little things and what makes greatness great on Saturday afternoon. Here’s the full rundown of what he said.

Capel: First of all, I’m proud of our team. We needed a win, and I thought we played really, really well in the first half, got off to a great start. I thought the energy in the building was outstanding and really grateful to the fans, especially the students, the Oakland Zoo, for their energy, their passion. I thought we fed off of each other. I thought we fed off of their energy, they fed off of ours, and we had a really, really good first half. So I’m proud of that, proud of how we got started. We were selfless, we shared the basketball, I thought our defense was good. I thought our defense helped energize our offense.

Then we get to the second half and I thought we played a little bit safe. We wanted to continue to attack. They went zone and slowed us down a little bit, made us think and we couldn’t get into the same rhythm that we had. And then we just got to where we couldn’t rebound. I thought, defensively, we were okay for most of the play. They shot 31%; I think that number’s a lot lower if our first-shot defense is better in the second half. It was good in the first, so we had a little bit of a letdown.

But again, proud of my team, proud of the way we were able to step up and get a win, our third in the conference, and look to build off of this.

Does that speak to your group’s maturity coming off a tough loss the other night to come out and play as sharply as you did the opening 20?
Capel: It’s a step. I don’t know what it speaks to, but it’s a step in the right direction for us. We have to continue to try to put days together where we’re getting better. We’re understanding what it takes to become a really good program and a really good team, and it takes showing up every day, doing what you’re supposed to do, listening, understanding and going out and playing together. I thought the first - I thought the whole game, we did that; I thought the first half was outstanding.

Xavier had six assists and only two turnovers; how important is it to have him not just score but facilitate?
Capel: I thought he was terrific. I thought he created shots for others, which led to shots for himself, plays for himself, especially in the first half, he was able to get in the paint, he was able to get downhill, I thought he made terrific decisions. I thought the ball was just moving in the first half and it was crisp and we really shared and I thought a big reason was because of him. The pace that he played with, I thought was really good.

Over the years, I don’t think too many teams have beaten North Carolina twice in one season. What’s it mean to have your guys do that?
Capel: It means a lot, really for our program, not just for these guys. For our program. North Carolina is one of the great programs in the history of college basketball, and any time you get a chance to sweep them, it’s a pretty special thing and it’s something we don’t take for granted. We knew we had to work for it and it’s something that we’re excited about. For us, I don’t know the last time this program has swept someone in conference. So that’s another thing for us that - I know, since I’ve been here and I know the year before I got here, they didn’t do it. I don’t know about the year before that. I don’t know the history like that, but I know it’s been awhile. So that’s something we did talk about this morning when we got together for shoot-around and I’m glad we were able to come out and do it.

You guys had seven steals in the first half. Murph was talking about cutting off passing lanes, especially in the first half. That aggression you guys came out with, were you surprised by that? Were you pleased by that?
Capel: Surprised by what? Our aggression? No. I wasn’t surprised by it. I mean, we’ve been a pretty good defensive team. We haven’t defended at the level we were earlier since we came back from Christmas; that’s something we talked about after the Louisville game, so it was good to see us get back to that. We wanted to pressure them. I think part of post defense is pressuring the basketball. We’re not as big as they are up front, especially when they play those two bigs together, with the way that we play. But I thought our pressure can help combat that, and I thought we did a good job of that.

Look, it also helps that they’re playing without their best player. I mean, that helps, too. And it just so happens to be a point guard. I think if you take the point guard, starting point guard, away from any team in college basketball, there’s going to be a big adjustment. So that’s something we were cognizant of, and we wanted to attack it.

Since the Wake Forest game, it seems like you guys are playing a lot better. How much of that is because of your point guard, how much is because of your defense?
Capel: I think we’ve played better in spurts; I don’t think we’ve played better all the way. I think we’ve played better in spurts and what we want to do is become a team that’s just better consistently. And it’s not just our point - it’s everyone. We need everyone playing at the level - everyone on this team, at some point this year, has shown what they’re capable of doing at a high level. And in order for us to become the best team we can be, we need everyone to be the best versions of themselves and then for them to hold each other accountable to that standard. Not necessarily that you’re going to play and it’s going to equate to numbers, but all the little things, we need to do them at a high level and do what you do. Each kid in this program has a talent. Some have a little bit more than others. But we need whatever it is they do at the highest level, and when we can get consistent with that, then we’ll take another big step to becoming the program that we want to be.

We were talking a couple weeks ago in here about your defense and how good it had been, but you said the next step was getting out in transition a little bit faster and building on that. Was the first half today an example of how you can jump-start your offense with defense?
Capel: Yeah, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence in the first half we rebounded. That was the big thing. We were out-rebounding them at halftime. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but I know we were up, and I thought, if we can do that - you know, we have to understand that defense doesn’t end until we get the ball. So we can play good defense, but then when the shot goes up, we can’t relax. We have a habit of doing that because we expect someone else maybe to get the rebound.

I tell these guys all the time, ‘Look, we don’t have a guy that’s a double-figure-rebound-a-game guy.’ I wish we did. I’ve coached a kid that led the country in rebounding, so I know - like, I knew every game you could put in 12 or 13, whatever it was that he averaged, I think it was 13 - we don’t have anyone like that. We have to do it as a group. We did a good job of that in the first half and I thought that’s why we were able to get out in transition and get easy baskets.

What would you say to your players to try to motivate them if they’re not crashing the glass like they were in the first half?
Capel: Try to take them out. Put somebody else in that will do it.

How much impact did Au’Diese have on the game today?
Capel: With him, it just gives us more depth and with him, he can defend multiple positions. He can defend a bigger guy. So it gives us more depth to play how we like to play. When we played at North Carolina, we were in foul trouble, so we went two bigs for a little bit. With what we have, that’s not something that I like to do, with the makeup of the bigs that we have. I want to try to, you know, in whatever way I think, what I think is to get our best players on the court, regardless of position and with the way that we want to play. So he gives us a chance where, Justin gets in foul trouble, we can still do that, we can slide him down and we can move someone else in. We can put him on a Robinson, feel like he can do a good job. We can put him on a Bacot or Brooks and feel like that he can do a good job. He has experience so he does nice things for us, and it’s great to have him back.

It seemed like Ryan made good decisions at both ends of the floor -
Capel: Until the last one. Until he took that god-awful three. Go ahead, I’m sorry.

What did you make overall of the decision-making?
Capel: I thought it was good. I thought he got some really good looks in the first half, some clean looks off of penetration from guys. I thought he had a great drive where he played off of two feet and kicked to Trey in the corner. He ran to his spots in transition and we were able to find him there. Really, I thought he did some good things, except for that one play at the end. I thought everything else was pretty solid. He’s got to rebound, though. He’s got to block out. There was a play where it’s a loose ball and…it was him in that moment, but he’s got to sell out and get that basketball. We ended up not getting a possession and they scored off of it, as they were making their run. So that’s what I mean: those little things like that - I mean, I thought a small thing, it’s a big thing but the 50/50 ball against Louisville, we’re up seven under two and a half minutes, it’s a three-point play, if we get that rebound right there and we had three guys around it. If we get it, we maybe win that game and don’t get to overtime.

So those are the things that we have to understand collectively as a group.

Going back to your opening comments about the energy. Based on your history as a player and a coach, are you cognizant of that? Is that part of your thought process here? Or do you just let it happen?
Capel: I notice it. I see it. I’m appreciative of it. On my radio show, I talked about it the other day, about the need for it. They were awesome against Louisville. I mean, so it’s something that we appreciate, and the thing that I’ve always felt like at every place that I’ve been, is that when you have a really good crowd - especially the students, the students are part of us because our kids are students here - so it’s a partnership, and when you have that, I think it really helps, it really helps our guys. So I am cognizant of it.

You talk about the little things. You guys had a stretch of a couple sequences where Murphy hit back-to-back threes and you were on a 10-0 run and you got a bunch of steals, missed shots but got the offensive rebounds - how much does that lift your team, even if you don’t score, and maybe break the spirit of the opponent when you can just kind of control the game, whether it’s with defense or ball-control offense?
Capel: I think the really good teams are able to impose their will on the game, whether it’s defensively, whether it’s they’re dominant on the offensive glass, some teams have potent offenses, just whatever it is. So when you can do that and you can play with that spirit and that energy, it certainly does, especially when you’re at home because you feed off of that.

You talked about the offense playing safe in the second half. 1 of the last 15, no field goals in close to seven minutes to end the game, when you look at Louisville and now this game, is there cause for concern in just how safe that offense is playing?
Capel: No, that’s who we’ve been all year. I don’t think you’ve followed us all year - unfortunately, that’s who we’ve been. So we have to get better at that. We have to make better decisions, we have to not take our foot off the break in those situations and again, we’re getting better at it and I’m looking forward to working with our guys to help them continue to get better.

As a former great player yourself -
Capel: I was good, I wasn’t great.

As a former good player yourself and the program that you were in, do you expect that good or great players instinctively know to make those decisions, that they don’t have to be told that from the sideline? What is it that -
Capel: Very few guys don’t have to be told. There are some where they just have instincts, but even the great - the thing that I’ve learned, and I’ve been very fortunate, I’ve been around a lot of greatness. I think ‘great’ is the most overused word in sports. You hear people talk, you know, ‘They’re a great team,’ or after a game, somebody will say, ‘They’re a great team.’ There are very few great teams and there are very, very few great players. Great is different. I’ve been around great. The guy that I played for and I worked with is one of the greatest. I’ve been around great players in college. I did stuff with USA Basketball, so I’ve seen it, and it’s different. The way they think is different, the way they approach stuff is different, and I think it’s learned. I think the guys that are really great, they’re constantly trying to learn and get better. They’re constantly trying to figure out different ways to beat you, different ways to improve in their craft. That’s why I think it’s few great. So I do think it’s different.

The great ones also want to be told. They want to be coached hard. I remember with USA Basketball, working with those guys, I was a special assistant; I did scouting. I did the scouting and I did the workouts, and it was amazing, whether it was Argentina, Spain, whoever we were playing, these guys were coming to me. They want to know absolutely everything about their opponent, about their matchup, because the thing is that great doesn’t want to look bad either. So they were always trying to figure out a way to get an edge.

Again, I think there are really good programs. I think there are few great programs. I fortunately played at one and I got to learn from that. We’re trying to grow this program that hopefully one day people will consider it a great program.

Is beating Carolina good or great?
Capel: Beating Carolina is great. It’s always great. Especially if you get a chance to beat them twice.