2015-16 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball

Post-game Quotes - March 17, 2016—Wells Fargo Arena

Des Moines, Iowa, NCAA Tournament, First Round

Head coach Matt McCall

Opening Statement.

"I want to make sure our players understand that this one game doesn't define our season. What they have accomplished this year because they had a terrific year. We just ran into, by far, hands down, the best team that we've played all year. No question the most talented team we've played all year and credit goes to Coach Crean and Indiana on how well they played tonight.

"We had no answer for anything they were doing offensively, we had some chances I thought we could cut into the lead. We got it down to 13 and 12 and they always seemed to have an answer and that's by far the best team that we've faced all year and we've played some really, really good ones. So give Coach Crean and Indiana credit as far as how they played and prepared and came into this game.

"There is no question that I think they're going to make a really deep run into this thing with how talented with the ball, and Yogi Ferrell did an unbelievable job controlling the game. And that's why he is one of the best point guards in the country. So give Indiana credit the year they had. It's no question they won the Big Ten for a reason because of how good they are and I could see those guys making a deep run into this thing so give them credit."

On Greg Pryor going out of the game with two fouls.

"I thought foul trouble hurt us in the first half. I don't think by any means that cost us the game. They were just too good at the end of the day but obviously we weathered -- I felt like we weathered the storm in the first half and we could not get stops especially to start the second half we gave up 46 points in the first half and 53 in the second.

"I mean, you've got to give them a tremendous amount of credit, and they just beat us top to bottom the entire game. The foul trouble I felt like hurt, but we weathered some storms there and we turned the ball over too much, 15 times, and, again, I thought they were the longer teams that we played and we kept trying to drive down there and their length was causing us problems and they forced us into 15 turnovers, which I thought was big.

"On those turnovers, they converted. It seemed like every time we turned the ball over they converted on the other end ask it's hard to win that way. It kind of got the game a little bit out of hand at the end of the day, too."

On Indiana's OG Anunoby.

Watching him on film I have the utmost respect for him as a player. I feel like he impacts winning in some of the things he does that doesn't always show up in the stat sheet. But he can affect the game in so many ways. When they put I am at that power forward spot he can put it down with his length and his athleticism. I feel like all the teams we played, they're by far the longest team and most athletic and moving and when we tried to get into our offense they're in passing lanes and help off and he impacts the game in so many ways.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a player, because, I think, again, sometimes the things that he does doesn't show up in the stat sheet. But as a coach you can see how much he has an impact on Indiana's team and really impacts winning."

Tre' McLean, junior, forward

On stopping Indiana's shooting.

"It's just tough overall, and great offense beats a good defense any day so when a team is shooting the ball that well, you just have to close out the shooters better than you have been."

On UTC's bench performance.

"Our bench, that's been the heart and soul of our team all year, when we've been down, the starters have been down, in foul trouble, Duke, Dee and Burroughs-Cook stepped up in a lot of games and they did again today. Those guys played excellent and they kept us in it in the first half."
 

Justin Tuoyo, junior, forward

On Indiana being the best team UTC's played all season.

"Yes,t hat's the best team we've played."

On having experience with six seniors on next season's roster.

"We know how it feels. We know what it takes to get here, and with everybody returning, we have the same feeling we had leading up to this season. We're not satisfied with what we did this year. We had a great run, but we're not done next year. We're going to be in the same grind, but when the game is over, we're not playing with E. Rob or Duke or AB, and that really hurts.

"So next year, when we get here, we're not going to want it to end because it will be our last game in our college career so we just know when we get back, we're not going to want it to end."

Dee Oldham, senior, guard
On Indiana's second-half run.
"In the second half we had some one-shot possessions and they got on a run, got out and got some early,quick baskets and we committed turnovers that turned into points. When they got it going it was hard for us to get out of that hole. We would trade baskets and when you already have a deficit you can't trade baskets, you have to get stops."

On team's overall performance.

"We didn't play bad ball, we just dug ourselves a hole off of some breakdowns in our defense and we started trading baskets and when you have a deficit you have to get stops and we couldn't string together enough to get over the hump."

"Throughout the course of the game, no matter the score, we stayed together and that was important. I think we played confident. It's easy to come in here and be on eggshells, especially when you haven't been here before. We came in with the right mentality. We dug ourselves a hole and we knew it was going to be a fight."

On Yogi Ferrell's play.

"He makes them go, he's a solid player. Hats off to Indiana, they played a good game today."

On NCAA Tournament experience.

"It's been one to enjoy, I wouldn't trade it for the world. March Madness is everything they say it is. All the work you put in to get to this point, it's definitely worth doing."

On his individual play.

"I had my mind set that when I got in there, I was going to play free and have fun. It's the tournament and anything can happen. Don't play uptight, just be confident and I tried to do that to the best of my ability. Indiana is a good team, they'll make a run (in the tournament)."

Greg Pryor, junior, guard

On the story of the game.

"We gave them a lot of easy buckets. They are a great basketball team and have a lot of great players and a great coaching staff but we gave them easy buckets and layups, especially early in the game off of pick-and-rolls and backdoors. As far as learning from this game, we have to be smarter and not take any possessions for granted."

On Indiana's second half run.

"We missed a couple of bunnies and turned the ball over and when they came down they either shot a three or got a big dunk and got the crowd into the game. They took the momentum of the game from there."

On team's play today.

"We didn't really play our game. We didn't get enough stops on defense early. As the game went on we got more into the flow of our game but by that time they already had momentum and had the crowd going."

On the season overall.

"This has been a historic season for the program. We brought the school back to this point in the season and won 29 games. That's a lot of games and a great year for any basketball team. We now have to come back next year and not be satisfied with what we did this year and do what we did to get here, plus more."

Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean

Opening statement.

Well, we are extremely excited to be moving on and I thought our guys have done a tremendous job focusing all week on the task at hand which was a very good Chattanooga team. They are exactly what we thought they would be. They're aggressive. They can shoot it. They can play inside out. They have great pressure and our guys played with tremendous urgency. We weren't always as effective in the first half as we needed to be with our ball screen coverages and a couple of our passes, but we settled in and I don't have the stat sheet memorized yet, taking a look at it for the first time now.

"I thought our guys did a fantastic job in the second half especially on the three-point line. We did a great job on the three-point line all game, and that's big for us. We handled the pressure and these gentlemen right here to my left did a fantastic job along with their teammates in the locker room. It was a great team victory because it was played offensively and defensively and in situation basketball and that's exactly what you've got to have and we're, you know, anxiously looking forward to seeing who we're going to play on Saturday."

On the team's offensive performance.

"We really moved the ball well. It was exciting. We played well. We played sharp, got better as the game went on and we created a lot from our defense which we were in a trade basket mode for a little bit in the first half and we got better at that in the second."

On facing Chattanooga's press.

I think that's it is connotation that you want to get across to your team. We were prepared for the press. We were prepared and we have a lot of respect for them. That's why we spent all of our time getting ready for them because that's what it all comes down to. We were very concerned about the press that turned back into the zone because of the length of the zone."