Feb. 25, 2012

Recap | Final Stats

South Carolina Head Coach Darin Horn
Opening statement…
We did not get off to a good start tonight in terms of turning the ball over, and giving them some easy baskets. I thought we did a really good job of picking up our defensive pressure and intensity and extending it and being aggressive offensively and getting back in it at the half. The run they had at the start of the second half I think really hurt us. We never really got over the hump with that. Every time we seemed like we were chipping away and getting close, it seemed like they hit a timely shot or got something at the end of the break. It didn’t help us any that Damontre Harris plays 11 minutes and fouling out and then really produces nothing, except for one rebound. Some positives in terms of the game, I thought Anthony Gill’s play was good and Malik (Cooke) continued to battle and Bruce (Ellington) was very aggressive again at distributing the ball as well as scoring it. Brenton Williams was a spark and efficient off of the bench. We have talked about before we need a collective performance and we didn’t get that tonight. I thought that Carlton Geathers came in and did some really good things given the circumstances.

On shots not dropping…
Keep attacking and make a layup. We got 22 more shots than they did, I don’t know what the number is I will have to go back and look at the film but it was well into double digits, of not really tough finishes, just shots that when you get to the rim you have got to make them. We kind of felt like Wednesday we tried to do that, but maybe not aggressively enough. Only getting four free throws, we really wanted to concentrate on attacking the offensive glass and attacking the basket off of the dribble and I do think that we did a good job of that. We got to the foul line, shot a good percentage. The ones we missed were crucial at a time when it would help trim the lead away. We shot 74 percent as a team, but we have just got to finish it is really that simple.

On the team’s struggles to get stops…
I don’t know from a comparison standpoint there have been games where, we were outstanding Wednesday against a terrific offensive team, who put up 70 something today. There were stretches tonight where we should have been going to the foul line or just let some body get loose that leads to it. We didn’t guard the dribble a couple of times well also. Again at the end of the day, especially when you are pressing more like we did, teams may shoot a higher percentage. We got 22 more shots than they did, we have got to do a better job of finishing the ones we get.

Tennessee Head coach Cuonzo Martin
Opening statement…
First, I would like to thank our fans that showed up. I thought they did a tremendous job supporting. It was great to see, it gave us great energy, it gave our guys enthusiasm, it was good to feed off of. That was great for us and our program. I thought we did a good job, we got out of the gate shooting the ball well, did a good job handling the press and there was maybe five or six minutes there where we struggled with the press. We got complacent with our passes, very hesitant, took some quick shots, didn’t get the ball inside like we needed to. Then we made the adjustments in the second half. I looked at our 21 turnovers, that’s one of the few games I have ever been around with 20-plus turnovers. I thought we played well, outside of being fatigued on some of those passes, but for the most part I thought we did a really good job in the second half of defending against shots when we needed to.

On playing inside…
It was a big key for us, but with our motion offense, dribble penetration, passing and cutting we are very effective in that. I don’t think we went inside enough, but I thought, when we needed to we could dribble penetration the ball sweep, getting the ball inside and I thought Cameron Tatum did a tremendous job of getting in the lane, Trae Golden as well, getting in the lane, finding guys and it just opened things up for us.

On the emphasis on defense…
I think so, that is the thing we talk about. Once again we want to be a complete team, but I just think that when it is all said and done, to be successful all the time, whether we are scoring the ball or not we have to hang our hat on the defensive side of the ball. I felt like guys did a good job defending, getting stops when we needed to and just make plays when we needed to.