South Carolina vs. Tennessee Post Game Quotes
March 3, 2011
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SOUTH CAROLINA VS TENNESSEE QUOTES (3/3/11)
Head Coach Darrin Horn
Opening Statement
I can't say enough about Sam Muldrow and how he played tonight. He played with a tremendous desire to win and really fueled everything we did. We're just really glad to be able to see him do that in his last home game here in the Colonial Life Arena in front of the Gamecock fans. I think it speaks volumes to the kind of kid he is. He's been terrific to coach and I hope I get to coach him a bunch more games. He was just outstanding tonight, but unfortunately for our team we dug ourselves a hole because we didn't defend early on and we're not as aggressive offensively as we need to be. Terrific effort to come back in the second half, again fueled by Sam. I thought our guys showed tremendous fight and aggressiveness.
On changes in the second half
Tennessee is a good defensive team. We told our guys they need to look to drive the ball and its going to look like there is a guy there but you need to attack the gap and move the basketball. For whatever reason we froze up in the first half so we made some changes in the second half. It's a challenge when you have to coach every little thing like that. But, they adjusted well to the changes we made in the second half.
On how to get second half aggressiveness in the first half
I think probably make them juniors and seniors. We've tried 100 different things and it seems like when the other team has the lead now all the pressure to have to perform and try to play is off. Let's just go play is what we've really been trying to focus on for the last two to three weeks. Eric Smith did a good job of that tonight coming off the bench.
On the fight in the second half
I think it's something to build on. We hope that's there and that it will be a big difference for us as we move forward. I think what's happening around our league right now, there is really no way around the growing pains. In some ways as much as we'd like to win them all it's just something you have to go through
Tennessee Head Coach Bruce Pearl
On South Carolina's second half rally
This South Carolina team is capable of rallying but I thought our guys hung in there. I think a lot more of it was South Carolina's elevated play when they got the ball to the rim. We missed Brian Williams in there rebounding wise. The closer they got to the basket, the better they looked. Rebounding has been a real problem for us because Tobias [Harris] was the only guy in there that was able to rebound the defensive glass.
On tonight's win
I thought the team was resilient I really did. I think we've shown some toughness on the road; we've shown some character in some difficult places. We came in here feeling like we had to get this win, and we're still alive. We have been written off a bunch of times and we just continue to manage. Scotty [Hopson] and Tobias [Harris] were terrific offensively, really finishing plays.
If we could have rebounded the ball and taken away second chance points, it's a pretty solid win, it's pretty convincing. I've got Steven Pearl out there at 6-5 at power forward and Scotty [Hopson] and Cameron [Tatum] out there and they gave away a lot of stops.
