University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes
February 26, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2003
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Tennessee at Kentucky
Rupp Arena
Lexington, Ky.
TENNESSEE HEAD COACH BUZZ PETERSON
On the difference in the game...
"Kentucky's defense is really good. They scored 22 points off our turnovers.
They are very good in transition and they just have so many weapons. We wanted
to put pressure on their wings and that caused us to back off the boards some
early. They really hurt us on the offensive glass early on."
On what he saw from his team
"I saw a lot of fire and intensity from our guys. We got in some foul trouble,
but we had good pressure on the ball. Ron Slay was great. I told them they have
nothing to hang their heads about, they got beat by a very good basketball team
tonight. Our guys played hard and I loved our effort."
On where Tennessee has to go from here...
"We have to win the next three games. We're going to go right back to work tomorrow.
It might be a short practice, but we're going to try to get the intensity back
up right away."
On the Rupp Arena crowd...
"The crowd was a factor tonight. I called that first timeout of the second half
just to try to shut the crowd up some. I told the guys that I just wanted to
get them settled down and stick with the game plan. We did a good job of working
through it, but the crowd certainly played a role."
On the play of his guards...
"We had to play (Jon) Higgins at the point more than we ever have before and
it wore him down some. C.J. (Watson) picked up some early fouls and made some
bad decisions, but he has to learn from this game and get better. I haven't
seen C.J. get in that much foul trouble and we haven't had to play without him
for that long, so that hurt us tonight."
On the Kentucky team...
"I want to congratulate Kentucky on a fine effort tonight. They have a great
coach and they play hard. They just play great defense. They are always in the
passing lanes and they make it hard to run offense. They scored 22 points off
our turnovers, and that really told the story in this game. We shot almost 59
percent from the floor for the game, but we gave up so many points in transition.
That makes it hard to come back."
TENNESSEE PLAYERS
# 35 Ron Slay, Forward
On playing in Rupp Arena...
"It's tough, especially coming in here with the No. 2 team in the country and
they've got the crowd going wild. I think a couple of our younger guys played
a little differently tonight."
On Kentucky's zone defense...
"I don't think they got to us at all. They went back to that man-to-man defense
and that's what got them here. When they come out in zone, to me that's just
not Kentucky ball."
KENTUCKY HEAD COACH TUBBY SMITH Opening statement... On defending Tennessee... On Tennessee point guard C.J. Watson... On UT's rebounding edge... On UT's high shooting percentage... On defending Ron Slay... On the pressure of UK's streak... ?
"This was a pretty hard-fought game. Tennessee came in with a good game plan.
We couldn't stop them in the first half, and didn't do much better in the second.
[UT's] presence on the boards helped them control parts of the game, but I thought
our guys just kept competing. We had quality play and very balanced scoring.
Keith (Bogans) raised his level of play at the end of the first half and made
some clutch shots. Of course, (UT Coach) Buzz (Peterson) did an excellent job
preparing his team. And Ron Slay is just a great player. I was impressed with
the play of Chuck (Hayes) and his energy and effort, just getting on the floor
for every ball. Our guards struggled a bit shooting, but the big key was being
able to make free throw's down the stretch."
"We couldn't stop them, and they were able to get shots off. All our guys did
a good job of limiting their touches inside, stopping entry passes, and that's
why we forced 18 turnovers."
"They have an outstanding point guard in Watson. He doesn't get very flustered
out there. We were running some great guards at him, with the likes of Keith
(Bogans), Gerald (Fitch) and Cliff (Hawkins). I thought [Watson] held his composure
for most of the night, except for a few turnovers."
"They didn't miss a whole lot of shots, so there weren't that many defensive
rebounds for us to get. If we can come out and force 18 turnovers, I'll take
it."
"We contested most of their shots, they just made a lot of big shots. They were
on fire tonight, but we took their best shot and came away with a win."
"Jules (Camara) is very long, he's an excellent shot-blocker and very tough
to see over. His quickness is the key to his defense. Then you send in Chuck
(Hayes) who can battle physically and Marquis (Estill). That's what you have
to do. I think giving a guy like that different looks can create problems."
"I don't think it puts any extra pressure on us. Every team in this league has
a bullseye on their back. You have to be ready to play every single night. If
you take a night off there is always someone there looking to knock you off.
