Postgame Quotes: Vandy 73, Vols 65

Feb. 26, 2015

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(Opening Statement)
"I will start by saying Vanderbilt deserves a ton of credit, I thought they played, probably, as good as a team has every played against us this season, for sure, in the second half offensively. They were 9-for-11 from three the second half and one of the two rimmed in and out about three times. They just shot it incredibly well. We tried every defense, we changed our zones, we went man-to-man, we tried to trap the corner to get them out of rhythm, we just couldn't get the shooters, a lot of it stemmed from not guarding the dribble as we had to help over and take away layups or dribble penetration in the paint. They kicked it out and made some tough threes. Then on the offensive end, I think we went up 13 with about 13 minutes to go and had a couple opportunities in the back of their press when they were aggressive and didn't finish. I think we got a little bit on our heels offensively for three or four minutes before we really started attacking again. You look at the stats, you out rebound that team by 18, we guarded them the right way in the first half. I thought our effort was good. We had two great days of practice prior to this game and I thought our team competed, we just didn't guard the right way the second half and I give Vanderbilt credit."

(On the difference between the first and second half)
"What they did the first half, they were basically going three around two, trying to play the two bigs together and pound it inside and we did a pretty good job of working the front and taking away post touches for the most part. Then the second half when they went four around one and basically it is just a motion type four around one and we are matched up pretty much man to man, that is what you do when they go four around one. What makes it so hard is Jones is isolated against our five man inside so we are constantly pulling to the ball and they are skip passing it and we help over. I just think the biggest thing was they changed their offense the second half and we couldn't guard the dribble which led to drawing kick threes."

(On having 24 second chance points)
"We gave up one offensive rebound and lose, I don't know if that has ever happened. I just think the biggest thing was their shooting percentage the second half, 84 percent is incredible. I don't think it was for lack of effort. Our guys competed, we just didn't do a good job of keeping the ball in front and again as we had to help over, they kept drawing kick threes and in the first half they didn't make many and the second half they did."

(On offensive productivity)
"With Derek, he doesn't get his baskets around the goal, he is a pick and pop kind of guy, made a few jump shots or he drives it from the perimeter behind the arc to draw a foul or get to the rim. I have said this all year, when teams can just lock in and isolate on your offensive guys at 22 feet and they don't have to worry about helping over on a big guy like, for example, we had to do on Jones the entire night, you don't get enough spacing on the floor to get good shots. I don't think we took bad shots we just didn't drive the ball enough. We out rebound that team by 18, 24 second chance points that is just about guarding them at the other end."

(On Vandy having the big turnaround when usually this season that has been Tennessee)
"That is basketball. They started the game right and took the big league. We finished the half the right way and started the second half the right way for the most part taking our lead. They made their run to seal the game the last 10 minutes. That is basketball. They are a really good team. I said that when we won over there. It's a good team who continues to improve. I thought a couple of our young guys, Willie (Carmichael III), played maybe his best first half of the year. So we have some guys improving too. We just didn't do a good job guarding the dribble."

(On how to get the guys focused with the quick turnaround to the Florida game)
"We have no choice. We will go in there tomorrow and watch the tape to try to learn from it. We will go to the floor to cover Florida stuff, a really light workout. Then we will get on the plane and head to Florida to play against another team that when they are clicking they are a very dangerous offense. We will certainly have to be better defensively against them then we were in the second half."

(On consideration of playing man-to-man)
"We actually went man-to-man earlier in the game some. It is just one of those deals that even when they are four on one and you are in man-to-man, you have to be zoned over to the ball. A couple times they were isolating (Damian) Jones on the post. The weak side defender was hugged up to his man and they would throw over top and got the dunk once or twice. We just didn't guard no matter what we were in the second half."

(On guys backing off shots early in the second half due to the lead)
"I thought the last eight or nine minutes Vandy changed their defense. They went to a lot of zone, so that is going to slow down your aggressiveness. They went back and forth a little bit, but they played quite a bit of zone the last eight or ten minutes of the game. If you are in zone you are going to be a little bit more slow to the offensive end."

(On the four home losses in a row if there is anything to it)
"I just think it is our team trying to continue grow against teams that are good and playing well. Again, other than the LSU first half I think we have really competed. I thought we competed tonight. We didn't finish the game like I wish we would, but I don't think being at home has anything to do with it. We have been beat by quality teams."

(On Detrick Mostella)
"He tweaked his ankle a couple days ago in practice. He was real limited and he didn't practice on Tuesday. He was really limited yesterday. hopefully he will be back ready to go on Saturday."

(On the quick turnaround to Florida being an advantage so the team won't be discouraged)
"The thing about it is, we had two great practices. We had a great practice Tuesday and a really really good practice yesterday. I am not discouraged with my team. I certainly didn't like the way we defended in the second half, but we have had good practices. Guys spirits are up. Nobody is feeling sorry for themselves. We just have to bounce back kind on kind of a quick turnaround and be ready to play.

(On whether or not this team is overachieving)
"Nobody is happy when you lose. I don't want to stand up here and start politicking about hey this team overachieved. i think everyone knows where our team was picked and what we have done to this point. We feel like we could have won some of these games, but I'm not going to stand up here and start saying well we have done A, B and C just because we lost. We want to win every game we play. Everyone knows where they picked us and we certainly don't plan to finished where they picked us."

TENNESSEE FORWARD Derek Reese

(On the momentum swings)
"It's tough. It's tough to lose like that. That's basketball. It's competition. Any sport can go like that. So you have to play a full 40 minutes. It's a tough one to lose."

(On losing several tough home games this year)
"It's kind of odd, but we still come out the same way to play. So a game, whether its home or away, we're gonna put our heart into it."

(On keeping your heads)
"If we feel sorry for ourselves, next game or whatever game, they'll bury us. It's a business. You gotta pick yourself up, stay motivated, and keep going."

TENNESSEE GUARD JOSH RICHARDSON

(On the what Vandy did in the second half)
"I think they did a good job of spreading the court against us and putting a lot of movement in their offense. I don't think we guarded the dribble like we could have."

(On Vandy's defense)
"It was tough. They did a good job of playing hard the whole game and made everything difficult."

(On Luke Kornet's play)
"Luke Kornet is one of the better shooters in the league. Once you let a shooter get going, it's tough to cool them off."

University of Tennessee Athletics

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