Postgame Quotes: Vols 74, Arkansas 69

Jan. 13, 2015

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Tennessee Head Coach Donnie Tyndall

(Opening statement)
"Let me start my saying like I normally do, it's not lip service that the Arkansas team is a fantastic team. I think that they are arguably the most talented team we have played all year, maybe slightly behind Kansas maybe. They played extremely hard. They have no quit in them. They battled for 40 minutes. I thought our guys really competed. They were aggressive at the offensive end. We didn't settle for jump shots tonight. We got to the foul line 26 times. I know some of that was late when they had to foul. I thought we were aggressive and had the right mentality. We bounced back. We weren't feeling sorry for ourselves. Win or lose that game I feel like our guys had the right approach which is nice progress for such a young team. The play at the end, that is on me. That is on me. I should have had them foul before the half court. We had a foul to give. We figured we had 8 seconds and we would foul at 4. They would take it out and maybe one or two dribbles to get something at the rim or on the rim from the three point range. We let them get across half court range we fouled. So that is on me. I made a mistake there unfortunately it didn't cost us the game. Our kids really competed. Our crowd was amazing. Once again we don't win that game if the crowd isn't into it and they were. I am proud of the way we bounced back."

(On when the guys started to show signs of not hanging their head after the Alabama game)
"You never know. You like to think you know but we are just half way through the season with such an inexperienced team. We had a three hour film session on Sunday and went to the floor for about 45 minutes. We came back Monday and only went about an hour and 20 minutes but it was intense. I was in the best of moods the past few days. I think with a young team that is probably the way I need to be everyday just keeping these guys on edge and on detail. Not where they are scared to fail but nervous if they don't play as hard as they can it's going to be a long night. I felt like we had good concentration on both days, but you just never know. But I could tell in the first five minutes of the game that we were ready to play."  (On the struggle to make some free throws and the final minutes)
"There is a distinct difference in playing not to lose and playing to win. I thought for about 35 minutes we played to win and the last five minutes we played not to lose. You could just tell. We tightened up a little bit and missed some free throws. We turned it over. We became a little apprehensive. You can blame that on whatever you want but I really believe that it is just a young team that is still trying to figure it out. We had a couple of critical turnovers and missed some free throws. Then you become reluctant at the other end to really defend because you don't want to foul them. They drive the ball and you just kind of stand back and watch them lay it in the goal. It avalanches on you, but just thank goodness we made enough plays to get out of there alive."

(On having Richardson out with two fouls)
"I think we took him out with about four minutes to go before the second half. He had two fouls. I usually let guys play until they have three, but he is so important in the flow of the game. In the first half, it wasn't necessarily going our way, but it wasn't not going our way either. We had to survive and get him to the locker room with just two fouls. Fortunately, our team had the lead going into the half. In the second half, he played smart and avoided foul trouble."

(On players stepping up)
"I think some of these guys are growing up. Derek Reese has played some in his first two years but has never been a major contributor. Robert was hurt most of last year, but before he was hurt, he played about 16 minutes a game. He has never played extended minutes. Armani has always played, but he has been a complimentary guy, so his role has changed. Guys are adapting and adjusting to different roles, and it takes a little time. I am proud of those four guys for contributing in a big way. They are the only guys that have played in SEC games other than the three this season for the newcomers."

(On playing gritty)
"Our team has good kids. We have quality charactered young guys, and they were just as disappointed as I was with the way we played during the last 12 minutes against Alabama. They were determined tonight whether we could win the game or not, who knew? But they were going to play the right way, and I thought they did that."

(On Kevin Punter wanting to take free throws)
"He might be in a little shooting slump. We don't grade guys on shots attempted or shots made, though. If you look at his stat line for tonight, he had six rebounds and a steal. He was safe and solid against the press. Guys have to do other things when the ball isn't going in the basket. I thought Kevin did that tonight. He is a tough kid. He is a New York guy with some swagger. I asked him if he wanted to shoot the free throws again in the huddle, and he said yeah, so we drew the little triangle action for him to be the catch guy. He is a confident kid, and even though he has missed a couple of shots the last games, he is not going to shy from wanting the basketball late."

(On Hubbs getting the start)
"He played fantastic. I am still always going to be greedy, and he knows that. I would love for him to have more rebounds in 28 minutes, but as I mentioned early, I don't think he settled one time. He drove the ball got to the rim. He went to the glass a few times, and he didn't get it, but he kept the ball alive for a teammate to get it. I am proud of his progress. He is a very coachable young guy and has a lot of room to grow and improve. He is receptive to that, and that is why he continues to get better."

Tennessee Guard Armani Moore

(On bouncing back from Alabama loss)
"We know we can't lean on the last game. It's an ongoing process. Like I said at the last game, We just had to go into practice. I felt like we went into practice with a positive mindset, knowing we had another game to play. I felt like we had a great bounce back"

(On when you knew you were going to be able to bounce back)
"I felt like this whole week, guys were trying to be motivated. Everybody was encouraging each other. We pushed each. I feel like the second team came out and pushed the first team a whole lot this week in practice. It showed tonight on the court. Nobody was playing selfish. Everybody was making extra passes. I think we had three or four guys in double digits. That's always great to see."

(On being banged up)
"It's real tough right now, but have some great trainers. I feel like we have a lot of resources over here that I can use. So, I'm sure ill be alright."

(On battling through pain)
"I caught a couple of cramps in both calves. I had a little back issue. I got hit in the lip, but thats part of it. It's a physical ballgame and you just have to push through it."

Tennessee guard Josh Richardson

(On the foul on Anton Beard's three-point shot with 0:05 left)
"We actually wanted to do it on the possession before, too, but it didn't happen. They had the ball, and I was yelling at Kevin Punter to foul because coach told me that whoever was bringing the ball down, foul after they get past half court. We fouled him, and he made a heady play. He took a shot."

(On Tennessee's free throw struggles)
"I don't really know. I can't really put a finger on it. All we can do now is get in the gym and go shoot some extra free throws."

(On tensing up down the stretch)
"I wouldn't say tense up. I'd just say--we kind of switch our play and stop attacking as much. We have to change that in the future and keep our foot on team's necks instead of kind of slowing down and letting them back in it."

(On reasons why UT stretched the lead to 16 points)
"We were trapping a lot. Just attacking out of the trap because we had advantage basketball."

(On preference of playing a fast-pace team such as Arkansas)
"Oh yeah, definitely. Especially a team that gets up and down as fast as they do, that kind of plays into what we want to do."

(On level of comfort versus Arkansas' "Fastest 40")
"Yeah, I thought we were really, really poised against the press all night. I think we did a great job of not letting it affect us and attacking at it."

(On Robert Hubbs III)
"Robert is a great player. I've seen a lot of flashes, and I think he's putting it together. I'm not surprised."

(On team confidence after beating No. 19 Arkansas)
"We beat Butler when they were No. 15. We beat Arkansas when they were No. 19. Just knowing that we can play with anybody. We should have a lot of confidence going into every game."

Tennessee guard Robert Hubbs III

(On focus tonight despite Saturday's loss to Alabama)
"Like I said, we had to stay focused. We had really good days of practice. Everybody was just ready. Armani gave us a great motivational speech before the game, and that definitely helped us out. We were all ready."

(On preferring the fast-paced style like Arkansas plays)
"Oh yeah, I definitely do. I can get easy baskets and just drive to the rim."

(On keeping Arkansas on the perimeter)
"We knew if we could contain and not speed them up like we did, we could just ball."

Arkansas Head Coach Mike Anderson

(Opening Statement)
"First of all, congratulations to Tennessee. They played an outstanding game. They did some of the things we normally do to people and that's turn them over. That was a big statistic in the game, they turned us over and turned those turnovers into points. I'm very disappointed in our guys for not taking care of the ball, but I was proud we didn't just wilt. We had a chance, we were down 13 points and could have just folded the tent. But our guys fought and fought to have a chance to tie the game up with Anton Beard at the free throw line. I love his heart, so we'll build on that.

"I thought it was a good lesson for us, you have to show up every night to play. I thought our energy level was not where it needed to be against a scrappy Tennessee team."

(On the difficulty with Tennessee's zone defense)
"We didn't attack it until right there at the end. We talked about getting the ball to the baseline and I think once we started doing that, we were getting layups and dunks and knocking down shots. I thought we were tentative against it, most importantly, we were tentative against it. We go against the press every day in practice and that's why I was surprised with the turnovers we had early on and I thought that allowed them to get momentum. Give them credit, they did a good job."

(On Arkansas' offense)
"In one sense, they did a good job of being in position, but we didn't execute. We were weak with the basketball. It seemed like they were quicker to the ball. They did what you're supposed to do when you play at home. We had an off night with some of our guys, some of our guys that normally play well didn't play well tonight. When you play in any kind of environment on the road in SEC play, your top players have to play well for you."

(On Tennessee's offense)
"They spread us out and attacked us. That's why I said our defense was not where it needed to be, where it has been. They did a good job of just attacking us. They had some guys that had big games. [Robert] Hubbs, I don't think he missed a shot until the end. The Moore kid [Armani], they were like their go-to guys. Hubbs hit a big three when we were making a run at them."

University of Tennessee Athletics

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