University of Tennessee Athletics
Memphis-Tennessee Postgame Quotes
January 24, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2009
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Tennessee Head Coach Bruce Pearl: "I told our team we did a really good job with our defensive rebounds, and that will win a lot of games for us this season.
"It is difficult to look at the box score and see Tyler Smith had 18 shots and know they were all closely contested. Our opponents will continue to collapse on us, and until we make some jump shots, it will continue to happen. People will realize one of these days Wayne Chism is a pretty good player, and he deserves some respect.
"Memphis is a very good team; we are 3-1 against Memphis in the four years I have been here. We could not get Wayne Chism a step because Memphis extended its defense. Scotty Hopkins and J.P. Prince did nice jobs defensively for us. Prince really did a good job on Tyreke Evans.
"This game is a resume-building opportunity lost for us. Memphis is a very good team, as was Gonzaga, and those were both resume-building opportunities. Nevertheless, I feel good about this team; it has come a long way. We need to make our guards comfortable in getting open for jump shots.
"I will not be watching this film. We have LSU and Florida coming in here this week for SEC contests."
Memphis Head Coach John Calipari: "What I told the guys was it was going to be a war. I watched the tape from last year, and it was a war. It was not basketball, it was hand-to-hand combat. So we worked all week and that is what it was. It was going to be an ambush, and it was going to be a war coming up here. The key, I thought, was offensive rebounding. In the first half, Tyler Smith gets five; in the second half, he gets one. If he gets five, we lose the game, and Robert Dozier did a better job of making sure he did not get them.
"We just wanted to win a tough game, and we came up with some 50-50 balls for the first time this year. It is what we need to build on now, because if we are truly going to be what we are trying to be - win the national title - we just have to get tougher. We have got to make those kind of plays.
"Every game we play is someone's Super Bowl. I am not one to build up one game over another. The idea is to get better all year until you win the national title. I do not make one game this end-all game. The team was happy we won, but they did not say much. We have been there; we have been a good road team.
"This is going to end up being a great win because Tennessee is a good team. They are young and they are trying to figure each other out, that is all. They are trying to figure out who is who. They will get this team going, and by the end of the year, they will be right there. They will probably win their division, and have a chance to do something crazy in the NCAA Tournament like they have done. Tyler Smith is an absolute warrior - will to win, competitive spirit - exactly what I love in a player, and I grabbed him after the game and told him I love players like him."
Postgame Notes
- Tyler Smith posted 13 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
- Tennessee's bench outscored the Memphis bench 9-5. Tennessee's bench has outscored its opponent's bench in 16 of 18 games this season.
- With the loss, Tennessee is now 12-2 against nonconference, in-state opponents under Bruce Pearl. The Vols are now 28-2 in non-conference home games under the fourth-year coach.
- Memphis' 54 points were the fewest allowed by the Vols in a game the season. It is also the fewest points allowed since UT's 47-45 win at LSU on Feb. 9, 2008.
