Furman at Chattanooga
Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020
Chattanooga, Tenn. - McKenzie Arena
Postgame Quotes

Lamont Paris, Head Coach
On the difference down the stretch.
"Play making versus not. We didn't make plays. We had a wide-open look for three, up one, and it didn't go. They made some plays and we didn't at the end of the day. It didn't really have to do with decisions that much at that point. We didn't make plays. Maybe we should have went inside a little bit more, their guys are physical. We just didn't make plays to win the game at that time. I thought they were the more physical team."
 
On falling behind early, and past performances helping aid the situation.
"We've dug ourselves out of a couple holes before. It's a gut thing. Sometimes I like to call timeout but a lot of the times I like to make the guys work their way out of it because the benefits of it later, long term, are good. And that's what we've done, and I think it helped us in this scenario. We have enough guys that can make a play and want to do the right thing, and if you fire them up quickly, they often change their behavior in the short term in order to make a comeback happen. I think those games prepared us. We were in another tight game at the end, sometimes they go your way."
 
On Furman's abilities and high point total in the paint. 
"They can hurt you in a lot of different ways. If you watch their Alabama game, points in the paint wasn't their big thing. You have to pick your poison. I'm not too concerned where the points came from, from a proximity standpoint. It was more of how we handled it. Out of all those points in the paint, there was probably eight we could just erase. It's only a sticking point when one, you lose, and two, if the number is really high. It was fine, they can hurt you in a lot of different ways and that's how they did it today. It's fine."
 
On the return of senior David Jean-Baptiste.
"He wanted to be a part of what we are doing and obviously, it was an agreement from both sides. It made sense for him and was a good situation for him and for us to have him back on the team. I was surprised when it happened the first time and some things change obviously, but Dave has enjoyed his time here and he has told me that immensely. He and the team sat down and met, and we were willing to have him back."
 
On learning from today and moving forward.
"It's a different ball game, but I told the guys in the locker room that I already decided that no matter how we performed in this game today, I wasn't going to be upset. Our whole thing has been about how much better can we get. We do that via practice and then you get tested on game days because that's the only way you know if you're getting better. This was information and data that we collected today and we'll have to analyze that data as a group in order to improve. We would have done that if we would have won or lost. I thought we played well enough overall to be able to have a chance to win and that's what you want. We'll just get back to the lab, take this information in, and move forward. It's the same way with the wins. We'll start preparing for the next one."

A.J. Caldwell, RS-Jr.-G
On the difference down the stretch.
"We have talked about it all year making winning plays and today Furman just made a couple more winning plays down the stretch. It doesn't always come down to that, but leading up to that they got some offensive rebounds, put backs, and stuff in the paint we shouldn't have allowed."
 
On bouncing back quickly.
"KC [Hankton] said as we were coming off the court that it's just a bump in the road and to bounce back since we have one Saturday. College basketball is fast with the turnarounds so if we can just put this one behind us and learn from it, I think we'll have a good chance of getting back on a run and winning some games."
 
On the return of David Jean-Baptiste.
"I've known David for a long time so having him back and the way he plays, it was nice to see him back. It took some weight off of my shoulders and some of the other guys because you can just give Dave the ball and let him go to work. Every time you see him, he is going to be smiling and I think we lack that a little bit so it's always nice to have him."
 
On proving the team's worth against SoCon favorite Furman.
"We always believe in ourselves and know we're a great team, and we don't always listen to that outside noise, but sometimes it can put a chip on your shoulder. I know a lot of people had this game circled on the calendar to see what we're really about, so it was good to see us go toe-to-toe with them at the end and have a chance to win."
 
On the constant lineup and roster changes.
"As a team, it effects the preparation a little bit, but for myself I try to go into the game the same way and stay focused and know the game plan. Having a couple different lineups and guys out there, practice helps a lot with that. If we can get a couple days of practice in together, it helps knowing what guys like to do and what works on the court together. It's different for sure, but we're still learning."
 
KC Hankton, Jr.-F
On moving forward after tough loss.
"We're obviously disappointed in this loss. In conference, you have to learn from it, watch film, and see how you can get better. You have to be ready for the next game because it's constant."
 
On getting an opponents best effort.
"I feel like at any level in college basketball, guys are going to play hard and give you everything they have no matter who it is. We just tried to reciprocate that against Furman today."
 
On the team's constant fight.
"That's just the attitude of each player on this team. We're all really resilient and will always continue to fight no matter what the score is or what is happening in the game. We try to stay positive and lift each other up to get back."
 
On the future of this team moving forward.
"Once everyone is back, I think this team can be really special. We're doing this with only eight, nine guys right now. I feel like once we get those other pieces, we can take this to a whole different level."