University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: LSU 92, Vols 82
March 01, 2017 | Men's Basketball
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Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes
(Opening statement)
"Certainly have to give total credit to Johnny [Jones] and his team. Offensively, they did whatever they wanted to do. From our end, just very disappointing in the way that we defended tonight. We knew that they had the ability to score a lot of points and we didn't defend. Even in the first half, we had the lead and we didn't feel like we had guarded the way we wanted to guard. And then, we just didn't finish plays. I can't count how many times we had our hands on the ball rebound-wise and they broke it loose and came up with all the 50/50 balls. In the second half, offensively, Robert [Hubbs III] had a tough night. And then when he wasn't making his shots, I felt like a couple of the guys thought that they had to go make something happen. It got away from us and from there we were just fighting uphill. But just really disappointed in our defensive effort more than anything."
Tennessee forward Grant Williams
(On the defensive struggles throughout the game)
"It's frustrating when the other team shoots 50 percent, both halves. LSU shot 47 percent from three, we just didn't guard them tonight. They killed us. They're a talented offensive team. That's the one thing we knew we had to do, guard them, and we didn't."
(On the team's performance, tonight in the second half)
"Our defense let us down both halves. We let them create transition points on offense. On defense, we just didn't guard them what so ever. The blew by us, shot over us, and we had our hands down. They're really good shooters and we just didn't guard them. It was frustrating."
(On the physicality in the paint)
"It was (physical inside). That's just how their bigs play. They will body you up. They're just like us (in that respect). They matched us well tonight and they just out toughed us offensively, on the other end. (Brandon) Sampson had a career night. Jalyn Patterson had 22 points."
LSU head coach Johnny Jones
(Opening statement)
"First of all, it was a great effort by our guys tonight. I thought the tone was set for us in the beginning of the game with our two seniors. I thought Brian (Bridgewater) and (Brandon) Eddlestone did a tremendous job of starting the game for us. There was no slippage. Both of those guys did a tremendous job in the first few minutes of the game. They did a really good job of setting the tone, and as the game played out, I thought both impacted the game in a positive way. They allowed the rotation of our post guys to stay in rhythm and allowed our guys to stay fresh, as well. I'm really happy for our team. Those guys continue to fight. They played extremely hard. They never put themselves in a situation where they gave up. They continued to fight and battle, and it's really good to see them get a victory under their belt. I'm really happy for our fans who have been behind us and really supporting us. To give them the opportunity to have something to be proud of tonight and be proud of these guys, I thank them for never giving up on these guys. These guys continue to support us. I think these guys have done a good job the last few games, playing hard and well, making positive plays. I thought they took what they did in the game at Georgia, came back and had a good two days of practice and applied it in the game tonight against a very good, talented, tough Tennessee team."
(On the energy in the locker room postgame)
"It was great to have a chance to walk in there and see the look on these guys' faces, even on the sideline before getting into the locker room and how engaged they were throughout the game. They were down at halftime, and coming out in the second half, the bench really energized the guys out on the floor. The energy certainly was in the locker room afterward. A lot of guys looked like they were trying to get well, and I thought they showed that in the locker room tonight with the energy and the excitement that was displayed in that locker room."
LSU guard Brandon Sampson
(On his scoring in the second half)
"It was just keeping my foot on the gas. Sometimes I can get complacent in the second half so I just wanted to keep driving and keep being aggressive. We played good defense and at points we got stops and we ran in transition."
(On what was different for them on defense this game as opposed to other games)
"I think we take steps each game and we showed that we were taking steps in the game before this. We played better defensively this game. We put two and two together and it just turned out good. I think everything came together."
LSU forward Aaron Epps
(On what changed for him on offense in the second half)
"I was just poised and just wanted to take smart shots. I just kept playing hard."
(On what worked for them in the paint on offense)
"Patience and just making sure that we didn't force anything and just playing our game."
