Head coach Matt McCall
What did you hope to get out of this game?
"I think this week is always difficult. It's difficult for the coach. It's difficult for your players. It's difficult for your team in terms of it being finals week. We've been traveling so much. They're trying to cram a lot of work into a small period of time.

"Tonight I was really looking for us to play our style of play, play with great energy and great passion, and try to put all of that stuff behind you. You have an opportunity to play. And then try to get some of that lack of energy, or I don't know what the right term is, but get some of that out. And now we can really focus on practice and getting better as we go forward with the season.

"Another game without Justin Tuoyo, which is never an easy thing to do. A lot of times our bad habits show up when he's not playing. We have to get better there. When he's back there, he erases a lot of our bad habits with his ability to block shots. Hopefully, we're optimistic we'll have him on Saturday, which will obviously help our team."

On defense.
"I thought we were a little sloppy. That team at the three-point line, that's how they've been able to win some games watching them on film. They have Trey Suttles, a Chattanooga-native. If you watch these guys on film, you'd see some of the shots he's made up to this point. There were a point there in the second half where I was getting a little frustrated with them.

"I thought Tennessee Wesleyan was playing harder than us. I told them, 'You can't play the score right now. It's about the process of us getting better, and we need to focus on that and now worry about the score.' When I see another team playing harder than us, that is a red flag for me. I burned a timeout there to jump them a little bit. I felt like we finished the game out the right way."

On first half.
"I think they had seven points there going into the first media and then going into the last media timeout, I think they may have had 11. We played a little bit of a different lineup late in the first half there, trying to get some guys experience. I want to do that.

"I told those guys at the half, they didn't close the half out the right way. We gave up two three's, which put them over 20 points, and they got a little momentum. When you make a half-court shot, you see it all the time. That gives you momentum going into the locker room. Overall in the first half, I was really, really pleased with our defense."

Were you encouraged by the defensive performance without Justin Tuoyo?
"I was. I still felt like we gave up too many easy baskets late in the game. Leland Robinson, he's a Division I player. There's no doubt about that. The guy is averaging 20 points a game. I don't care what level you play at in college. That's not easy to do. I still felt like we didn't have a lot of resistance on him late in the game. He was able to get some easy ones there. For the most part, without Tuoyo being out there, I was pleased with our defensive effort."

On Duke Ethridge.
"There's not a lot of athletes out there like Duke Ethridge. I really felt like he played the right way tonight and gave us a great lift. He's had unbelievable practices leading up to this game. If you go back and watch the Illinois game, he was a huge reason why we won the game. He did an unbelievable job on their big kid inside.

"There's not too many athletes or people as athletic out there in the country much less the Southern Conference. I think Duke was borderline an All-American football player in high school, not All-Georgia, All-American. He gives our team a different dimension out there, and he did that tonight with getting some easy baskets around the rim. He did a great job defensively too."

Casey Jones, forward, senior
Do you think you guys got what you wanted to get out of this game?
"I feel like we addressed some things, not 100%, but we addressed some things pretty well. We still have a lot of work to do, but from the topics we have been discussing in practice, we did get some things that we felt very good about out of this game."

How hard was it to start this game with it being finals week?
"Finals and all that is in your head at practice. When you get on the floor against a different jersey, you have to be ready to play regardless of what the situation is off the court. Even though we didn't jump out to the best start, I wouldn't say it was anything but us not being 100% to go out there and play."

How do you look at the game against Dayton coming up?
"They're one of the top teams in the country. We know that, but we have to go into it just like any other opponent. We've played some big teams, and we just have to go out there and play hard, play with edge and be humble. Coach said they haven't lost there in two years, so we know it's going to be tough to go into that type of environment and come out with a win."

Tre' McLean, forward, junior
How different is it playing without Tuoyo?
"It is different without your shot blocker down there. We have to protect the paint a little bit harder, because he does bail us out a lot of times. It's hard adjusting to things but Duke Ethridge and Chuck Ester are pretty good shot blockers too."

How do you look at the game against Dayton?
"We look at it just like any other opponent. I don't really know too much about them. I just know their name is Dayton and it's in Ohio. I pay attention to Chattanooga. Like any other opponent, we treat them the same."

Do expectations change from year to year on wanting to play big teams like Kentucky?
"Yes. Your freshman year you see a big team on your schedule, and you're like wow last year, I was watching them on ESPN. It's kind of like the experience. Now I feel like we can compete. Our perspective and our mentality going into games has changed. I feel like we've been through a lot together, and we feel what we have is able to compete with what the other team has."