University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee vs. Middle Tennessee State Postgame Quotes
January 21, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2002
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Tennessee Head Coach Buzz Peterson
"That's the end of our non-conference play. I was a little nervous going in as to how we would react mentally after playing a top 10 team Saturday and losing our emotional leader.
"The young kids inside did a good job. We may want to look at some things differently on offense. Defensively we won't change much.
"South Carolina will come in here hungry after losing at home to Vanderbilt.
"This was good timing having a non-conference game with Middle Tennessee leading into our return into league action.
"Vincent had too many turnovers tonight. I think it is because he is trying to do too much. He may have been trying to make a home run play. What I tell Vincent is that he has to get us over the hump. Like the rest of the team he needs to do a better job on his free throw shooting. That last move he made tonight was a nice look.
"Marcus Haislip is a good man to get the ball inside to. We need him to step up and have a big night frequently this season.
"Replacing Slay and going on without him is a challenge for everyone. The MRI showed a torn ACL, but he should be back for next fall."
Middle Tennessee Head Coach Randy Wiel
"I thought that Buzz would go at us inside and it worked. They were stronger inside and it showed. We battled and tried to get it inside, but it wasn't successful.
"We did a good job on Vincent Yarbrough and the rest of them. Most of their scoring came from Haislip and Crump. There is no excuse for them getting 19 offensive rebounds. We were getting pushed around inside and they were pinning us under the basket. We have to get stronger inside. "I thought our perimeter play was better. There was point in the game where it was tied 26-26 and all of a sudden it was 33-26 and we had to play catch up.
"I thought we came out in the second half and battled, but we were really trading baskets. I thought Holden had two big threes when we were making a run. We didn't have an answer for Haislip. I thought we played better than Saturday. For the first 14 minutes we played as well as we can play. Their big advantage was under the boards.
"They were man-handling us inside. They played well and they were playing at home. We didn't get a call. It was physical on both sides and that came from the post play."
