University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes
December 23, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 23, 2002
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POSTGAME QUOTES
Western Carolina vs. Tennessee
December 23, 2002
TENNESSEE HEAD COACH BUZZ PETERSON: "This game had the coaching staff a little nervous, because of the Christmas break. But after West Virginia, I think we all wanted to go out there and get a victory. Turnovers hurt us badly in the first half. We were trying to do too much, trying to go for the home run play. Eventually in the second half, we began to make simple passes. Derek Stribling, and Thaydeus Holden did a good job defending against Kevin Martin, who is one heck of a player.
"Western Carolina is a good team with people who can score, and tonight they made some 3-pointers. One thing I liked about the game is that we had five players scoring in double figures. It was good to get to that point. One of the most encouraging things was the way C.J. Watson played. He got the ball where it needed to be. We continue to play in spurts, and don't get the knockout punch that we need."
WESTERN CAROLINA HEAD COACH STEVE SHURINA: "We didn't execute very well. You preach intensity, and you work on getting effort. You get effort, but not execution. We made some bonehead plays, and didn't do what we should. The season is a marathon, not a sprint. It's hard to take a loss, but we have to keep getting better.
"They did a terrific job on Kevin Martin, very physical. They know he's finesse player. If he came off a screen, they jumped at him.
"Ron Slay is very tough. He made some shots, and got some confidence. He didn't force it. The game of basketball has a lot of ebbs and flows. We're not good enough to come here right now. Their confidence is shaky; last year we had seniors and confidence. It's a demanding schedule we have, and we've talked about it."
