Chattanooga vs. UNC Greensboro
Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020
Chattanooga, Tenn.; McKenzie Arena
Postgame Quotes
 
Coach Lamont Paris
On the atmosphere:
"That was fun wasn't it. Everyone had fun in there. I never hear the fans too much. I'm just so focused and locked in during a game, it has to be special for me to notice. It was alive and electric in there in a game that was basically meaningless as it pertains for seedings next week when we get them again [in Asheville]."
 
On beating Greensboro after a disappointing loss earlier in the season there:
"I think it was important that our guys were able to get over the hump and see we can beat them as we get ready to play them again. We were really aggressive which is something we talked a lot about over the last couple of days...dictating play and at our pace. I thought we competed really well."
 
On the difference in this game:
"I've never seen us that active. We've played better games shooting the ball, but it's not even close to how active and competitive we were today. Just a mano y mano situation. It was just good ole elbow grease and effort."
 
On the play of the bench:
"Jonathan [Scott] was a really big spark in the first half. He was aggressive...Trey Doomes was aggressive. Just that mentality of getting after it and making multiple plays. We're pretty good at making one play, but when they counter it and do something different we haven't doing well with. Today we did a great job [in that area]."
 
Ramon Vila, Jr.-F
On defensive play with career highs of five steals and three blocks:
"Coach emphasized to us to be extra active. Be ready to rotate and be aggressive on the ball. I just ended up with five steals...don't even know how that happened."
 
On the emotional aspect of the game:
"Losing there by 20 wasn't a realistic result after we took a lead [mid-way thru the 2nd half]. They just destroyed us at the end. We didn't score in the last six minutes and they had put backs, and1's, threes...it was probably the worst 6-minute stretch in my entire college career. We came today to show what we're capable of and show that team that played Greensboro isn't who we are."
 
On the high-octane activity:
"Coach emphasized playing hard defense and communicate...very talkative. Reese [Maurice Commander] did an extraordinary job. I've never seen him be as active and talkative on the court as he was today. He was like a captain navigating us extremely well."
 
Matt Ryan, Gr.-G/F
On getting a win against a formidable opponent:
"We can beat anybody in the league on any given night. We just have to play as hard and as competitive as we did tonight. We need to cut our turnovers down a bit; actually I have to with four of our 11. We just wanted to play as hard as we could and get this win. It feels good to get it."
 
On getting a win against a strong opponent after struggling to close out such opposition this season:
"Both time we played Furman, we were neck-and-neck. ETSU was close here until we faded. Western Carolina and Mercer here...to beat one of the top 3 teams at this point feels really good."