University of Tennessee Athletics
UT-Temple Post Game Quotes
November 09, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Tennessee Head Coach Bruce Pearl: "This is a tremendous weekend here at the University of Tennessee, including the football game tomorrow. I hope the fans will get out to Neyland Stadium early and support the team all-out.
"We beat a good Temple team tonight. They have some fine players. I was concerned we had not been challenged in the two exhibitions prior to tonight. We took a shot early, but then we responded.
"We have a long ways to go defensively, but I saw good effort, and I hope we can build on it. Our starters played poorly at the beginning. The first few possessions we did not get anything done that we had talked about before the game. We made some adjustments in matchups and so forth.
"We are not tough enough, but I think we are getting there. It is up to Ramar Smith and the others to lead us in that direction. Part of our identity is that we are not tough enough.
"Chris Lofton worked hard. His shot is not looking good right now, but I am sure that will not last. Mark Tyndale was 4-for-13 tonight, and Dionte Christmas was 3-for-13. They are the leading scorers returning in the Atlantic-10 conference. We said before the game we could not let them beat us.
"JaJuan Smith has emerged as our leader?? he carried us when we needed him. This is a good win for our league. Temple will win a lot of games, and our team will grow a lot. It was a great atmosphere tonight. Coach Dunphy is one of the best coaches in the country, and he will go back and talk about how great our arena looked. And of course, it was on television.
"The new men are still trying to find their ways?? they have some good teammates they can learn from."
Temple Head Coach Fran Dunphy: "I am sure we will play some really good basketball teams as the season goes on, but Tennessee is a really good team. They make you do some things on your offense that you are not ready for.
"We cannot simulate how hard Tennessee plays on the defensive end, and some of the turnovers they cause. We have to be a lot more patient, and a lot more careful. I really thought a lot of their scoring happened off of their defense. We have to do a lot better handling that type of pressure."
POSTGAME NOTES
* The Vols have won nine straight season-openers, and are 20-2 in their last 22 season-openers.
* UT is 40-2 in the last 42 home lidlifters, and has a 16-game winning streak in home-openers.
* UT has a 17-game homecourt winning streak, dating to last season.
* JaJuan Smith led Tennessee with 15 points, the 13th time in his career he has lead the Vols in scoring. Smith also had five steals?? one short of his career high (last: six vs. Alabama 2/21/2007).
* Josh Tabb set a career-high with five assists, tying Tyler Smith for the team high in the game.
* Tennessee had seven players shoot 50 percent or better from the field in tonight's game, as 10 different Vols scored.
