University of Tennessee Athletics
POSTGAME QUOTES
November 16, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2001
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TENNESSEE HEAD COACH BUZZ PETERSON:
"Coming into the game, I'd watched Tennessee Tech tapes from last year and was impressed with their intensity. They were a tough match, and I knew we had to match their intensity level. In the second half we went straight up man-to-man and did a great job.
"A key was Grindstaff coming into the game and giving us some great minutes. Tennessee Tech is a great team that will go places this year, and we are glad to get them behind us and go on to Alaska.
"After a slow start, we regained our composure. Crump did not have a good practice week, but he got us some good inside buckets. If he can do that, score inside the paint, it will be a big help to us.
"I told Vincent Yarbrough, I want him to get his nose dirty on defense. He did get it dirty in the second half.
"Thaydeus Holden hit some big shots and appears more relaxed at shooting guard than at the point.
"Our team worked hard getting ready for this game. I was please with the defensive intensity they showed in the second half.
TENNESSEE TECH HEAD COACH JEFF LEBO:
"We battled hard. We beat ourselves in the first half after a nice start. We needed a couple of guys to step up and we didn't get it. It's disappointing. We had a chance to cut it to three with three minutes to go to make it interesting. There were a couple of five point swings that really hurt us.
"We didn't get a lot of good looks in the second half. They forced us away from the basket.
"Vincent Yarbrough is so talented. Tennessee is really tough. I though Holden had a great start. We played good defense, but couldn't make the plays.
"I thought Kinloch battled for 31 minutes. He still doesn't have his legs under him. We didn't get a lot from Harrell, no points in 24 minutes.
"I don't know if Buzz would want to play again. The Carolina family doesn't like to play each other.
"It was a good game for us. We just didn't play well enough to win in an SEC environment. We need to put this game behind and go back to work Sunday.
