University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes
February 15, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2003
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TENNESSEE HEAD COACH BUZZ PETERSON
"I can't tell you how proud I am of these young men for the effort they gave tonight. Florida's a very good club, but some of their shots just wouldn't go through today. Early in the game, Justin Hamilton took it to us, but we just hung in there. He had three 3-pointers early in the game; I love him as a player, and we had to make some adjustments to stop him.
"I'm proud of the job Brandon Crump did. We had some trouble with Florida's zones, but the patience we showed paid off. With Justin Hamilton and Matt Bonner hurting us early in the game, we then went with a man-for-man. I've never seen the crowd like this in the season and a half that I've been here. It was because we were playing a very good Florida team, and also because of the effort these young men have been giving this season. One of the guys told me it gives him chills to see the fans carrying on the way they did today. It was loud for a while. The homecourt advantage our fans gave us really helped today.
"Jon Higgins comes through every night with his defense and his leadership. Sometimes the shots won't go through, but Jon Higgins is always there.
"Florida will always have four shooters on the floor. I told the team we're going to have to win the game with defense, not offense. Jon Higgins, Thaydeus Holden, and Brandon Crump all played exceptional defense, and I was especially pleased with the job Brandon Crump did on Matt Bonner. Our defense was pretty good. We had our hands in there because we knew we had to make stops on defense. It was what we call our `Smokey' defense.
"The team really listened to Ron Slay before the game, and when it comes to keeping our focus as we go forth. He will control them."
FLORIDA HEAD COACH BILLY DONOVAN
"I thought the first five minutes of the game sent a bad message to our team. It was a great start and the lead was 18-9. After that, we were letting them go early. It's tough to overcome when our three shooters, Brett Nelson, Anthony Roberson, and Matt Walsh go a combined 3-for-22. It's tough to win that way. We have too much firepower to have scored just 59 points. Our defense really wasn't that bad today.
"I thought that Brandon Crump was better than he was the last time we played. He hurt us on transition, and on the offensive boards with his putbacks. Our lack of intelligence hurt us. We needed to make the extra pass and didn't today. Every one of our guys has confidence, and they get a crack (at the basket) and let it go. Our kids aren't bad shooters.
"There were some key plays, as when Justin Hamilton bobbled the ball in the lane, and fouled their 3-point shooter. Tennessee made the plays, their kids played hard, and they hung in there. Buzz Peterson has done a great job with Brandon Crump and Thaydeus Holden; they have really improved.
"I thought David Lee and Matt Bonner played well, but almost half of our shot attempts were 3-pointers (24-of-50). We played an unintelligent game offensively and didn't execute when it mattered. We played the first half with four fouls, but in the second half it was foul, foul, foul, foul. The game did not have a consistent flow, but Tennessee's kids determined the outcome."
