University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes
January 04, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2003
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New Mexico vs. Tennessee
Thompson-Boling Arena
Knoxville, Tenn.
TENNESSEE HEAD COACH BUZZ PETERSON: "We had to scratch and fight for everything we got. New Mexico is well coached and came in here with a tremendous game plan. They went deep into their possessions and got the ball to Ruben Douglas.
"Ron Slay had the best game he's ever played. He got a little bit tired, but we can't pull him out of there. His three at the end was huge. Slay got his second foul in the first half, but we had to keep him out there. He's smart enough not to get that third foul.
"It was a very physical game. Douglas got his points. He is very strong. They called it tight, which meant we had to adjust. We didn't do as good a job adjusting as we should have. It's up to the coaches and players to adjust to the game officiating.
"We were not hitting outside. If we had been, things probably would have opened up in the middle. They caught us off guard by scoring so much inside.
"Higgins is going to have to hit his outside shots. We need to get more transition buckets. C.J. Watson didn't put enough defensive pressure tonight.
"I think we will be ready to go against Kentucky on Wednesday."
NEW MEXICO HEAD COACH RITCHIE MCKAY: "(Ron) Slay is a beast, a great player and a pro. There's not a lot you can do to stop him unless he stops himself.
"I thought our guys did a good job of getting the ball to the players with the hot hand. We have to be able to finish. We have to be able to take the opportunity.
"We had two bad games against Pepperdine and Utah, but I thought our effort in practice has been consistent. I was proud of our effort.
"This game was different because we didn't play from behind. We stayed with them early. We are a better team when we don't play from behind. It's time for conference play and we better emulate this effort against the teams in our league. We go to Arizona next and need to take steps to turn it around.
"I'm not into moral victories. We expect success. I think our team matured. We went toe-to-toe with them as physical as anybody else.
"The big difference was that we applied what we did in practice in defending the post. The big guys made a contribution."
