2016-17 Chattanooga Mocs Basketball
Post-Game Quotes vs Jacksonville State
Chattanooga, Tenn. – Dec. 21 – McKenzie Arena

Matt McCall, Head Coach
Opening statement after win over Jacksonville State.
"It was unbelievable. What I was most proud of, when Chuck Ester went down early in the year, we didn't handle it very well, from an emotional standpoint. When Casey (Jones) went down, your mind kind of shifts. Our guys did a great job of keeping their composure and playing through a lot of adversity because there was a lot of it. Jacksonville State is a great team. I thought our focus level, especially coming out in the second half, was through the roof and I'm proud of our guys for that."

On jumping out of the gate in the second half.
"You know you have a mature, veteran group when neither of your fifth year seniors (McLean and Tuoyo) score a field goal until the last ten seconds of the first half, and it didn't effect either one of them. They came out in the second half with a great level of focus and not wrapped up in their numbers. You know you have a veteran group and a team that is committed to one another when that happens."

On Nat Dixon's play.
"Nat Dixon was terrific tonight. From an energy standpoint and talking on defense, getting into the game. I thought he was outstanding tonight and gave us a boost when he started the second half."

On Trayvond Massenburg's play.
"Travyond comes to practice every single day with an unbelievable amount of energy and effort. His number was called tonight and he was completely prepared for the opportunity because of his approach in practice. The growth and development he has had, especially as a teammate, is night and day. I couldn't be more proud of him."

On allowing JSU to close game on 12-3 run and preparing for SoCon play.
"I was disappointed the way we closed out the game, but at that point you put some guys in difficult positions. It's something we can learn and grow from and get better. I couldn't be prouder of this group. We have had a really tough schedule and played some high level teams that will win a lot of games in their league. There's been a lot of adversity we've faced in these first 12 games, and I felt like we have handled it the right way. We have to continue to get better and we'll get back to work right after Christmas because this is a really important time for our team."

Johnathan Burroughs-Cook, Sr.-G
On first half play.
"We knew we were going to have to come out and come out strong in the first half. We knew we were going to have an edge on them when if did that so we tried to come out and play harder than them."

On position of the team headed into break.
"I feel like we're in a pretty good spot. We lost to some pretty good teams; North Carolina, Arkansas State and Vanderbilt. I feel like we're in a really good position to jump straight into conference play with a good record and level head."

Tre' McLean, Sr.-G
On Casey Jones going down with an injury in the first half.
"We're all family; we're all brothers. We have a very good relationship with each other. It's tough to see him go down because of what we've been through. His fire and desire we know he has for the game. It's tough to see him go down but we just tried to lighten the mood a little bit as a team."

On defensive effort.
"Coming into the game they shot the ball pretty well from three. It's kept them in games. We knew defensively that was going to be a big emphasis guarding the three point line. Coming out we had to play with a sense of urgency, defensively it was going to have to be a team effort. We came out, did our job and came up with the win. It was a great team effort."

On bouncing back after tough loss to Vanderbilt.
"It was big; it was a big bounce back. We knew it had the chance to be a big bounce back game for our confidence. Every game is important. This home game was important especially going into the break. We wanted to go into break with some confidence headed to Western Carolina on the road."