Chattanooga at ETSU
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Johnson City, Tenn. - Freedom Hall
Postgame Quotes

Lamont Paris, Head Coach
On missed opportunities and limiting ETSU's offense.
"There weren't Chattanooga easy baskets, but there were opportunities, especially in the first half. We missed some uncontested layups. You have to make those against teams like this in this type of environment. They made a run, and we would have liked to make that a smaller run, I'm not foolish enough to say teams don't go on runs. They played well, they shot well. Field goal attempts were there, and they made them. We had some open looks that, if we made, could have made an impact on the final image of the game. They made some plays and/or shots that we couldn't answer."

On the play of Desonta Bradford and Peter Jurkin.
"He [Bradford] made shots. He made floaters, runners. If those shots were easy, we'd do them and make them all the time. He's a really, really good player. He's tough to stop. Then when you go inside, there's no doubt that he [Jurkin] impacts the game around the rim. But even when we didn't finish, I thought we had rebound opportunities, we just came up empty in those chances. He only had one block shot. He affected the game, but of all the things that impacted the outcome of the game, I'd minimize that one more than others."

On road environment and growing as competitors.
"The made some easy baskets and made some in transition. We allowed a lot of that to happen. That stuff, you can't have it. But it was great environment, it's a great rivalry. I enjoy that the fans love this rivalry. This is what college basketball is all about. There's nothing like playing in a hostile environment. We have to talk about that. Our guys need to relish that and thrive as competitors, and then as actual basketball players in these environments. At first, I thought we did an overall good of job as competitors. As basketball players, not so much. That's what we're trying to work on and progress into."

On moving forward.
"These guys are young and they'll respond. We just have to get back to work and finish the season strong. Finish it better than when we started. Some of the things we did today, if we did that in other games, we would have won those games. That's something you have reproduce every single night. As you get older and better, then you can overcome some of things you don't do well. We're growing."

Rodney Chatman, So.-G
On matchup against ETSU.
"They are a physical team. Senior dominant. They have a seven-footer in the paint and it's tough to finish through him and especially over him. I'm happy with what I was able to do against that tough matchup."

On what it takes to drive to the basket with toughness.
"You have to have confidence in yourself. You have to have the heart to play physical. You need to work around and use the glass a little bit more. I always try to beat the first defender. I just had to work on getting stronger and finish around the basket and that's something I still need to work on. Working on my shot makes the other team respect your inside and outside game."

On what the team can take away from this & rivalry with ETSU.
"We had a lot of close games that we should have won. We'll keep that in our back pocket for the tournament. We just have to have that mindset of 'we can do this' and take it into March. It was a great atmosphere today. They have a great team and are so well coached. I like these challenges. I always admired these type of college basketball games when I would watch in high school. This is all still a dream come true for me."

Joshua Phillips, Sr.-C
On ETSU quick 9-0 run in first half.
"They had a couple possession where they hit back-to-back threes and we were just a little late on closing out on them. We were close to playing good defense, but we weren't correct on offense, so we didn't counter them during that run."

On ETSU's chemistry with an experienced group.
"All the lobs they threw, it's all chemistry. They knew where everyone was in transition too. That group, being together for that long, makes them click like the good team that they are. The UNCG game we won on Monday, that gave us a lot of confidence coming in here. We sent a message to teams for the SoCon Tournament. They have a great deal of respect for us now so we need to capitalize on that."

On working on post moves inside and defending the rim.
"You have to keep your hands up. I think I missed a couple bunnies that I should have made. We're always working on the post moves. Whether its practice or before the game, I feel like I could have made a little more shots around the rim."