Chattanooga at Western Carolina
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021
Cullowhee, N.C. – Ramsey Center
Postgame Quotes

Lamont Paris, Head Coach
Opening statement after win at WCU.
"It's a hard place to win, a lot of teams struggle to win here. We had about 10 minutes of bad basketball and about 30 minutes of pretty good basketball so that was enough to make me and the rest of our group happy."
 
On streaky basketball and putting together 40 minutes.
"It's hard to have a good feeling, whether it's a win or loss, if your last 10 minutes are garbage. It's just the way it is. If you play 10 minutes of bad basketball at the end, you either lose or you lose a really big lead and it's frustrating. I thought the first six minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half, I was really happy where we were touching it and getting shots from. It was physical but they were shots we're typically accustom to making. The guys fought and re-gained control of the game and that's not easy to do."
 
On the team's added depth and experience.
"You tend to take it for granted but I try my hardest not to. In my first year, we had the youngest team in the country, and the second year we had the seventh-least experienced team in the country, so I'm not going to take experience for granted. It's nice from a decision-making standpoint. That's been a good thing for us. It's nice to have two or three guys to make plays at the end of the game."
 
Malachi Smith, RS-So.-G
On past experience.
"Even though I only have played a year, I've seen a lot of it. My freshman year, I was in a lot of big moments where I had to guard really good players in crunch time situations. I think that helps me a lot."
 
On the long layoff in between games.
"It was a physical and mental break. We were losing our way and not being ourselves, so I think that week off gave us a chance to focus on us. With games on Wednesday and Saturday, when one game is over you have to focus on the next. It let us look in the mirror for a longer period of time and made us know where our flaws were."
 
On what the key is moving forward.
"Focusing on us, locking in on defense. If we just don't try to do too much, and do what we are supposed to do and follow the rules and follow our game plan, we'll be fine."
 
David Jean-Baptiste, Sr.-G
On confidence in shot selection.
"Belief in myself and the coaches and my teammates having confidence in me. It starts with them and it brings in that confidence within myself. And when that grows it leaves no doubt. It's believing in myself and knowing I can make these shots. It starts with believing in myself."
 
On having experience on the floor late in the game.
"It's huge having guys that have played the college game and have been in these situations. It shows coming down the stretch. Western Carolina is a very well-coached team and they came out first five minutes in the second half playing hard and strong. Having those experienced guys, we knew what we had to do and it really helped us."
 
On what it will take to play a full 40 minutes.
"It's just going to take us to compete. No matter the score, who's making momentum, who is making the runs. It's 40 minutes on both sides of the floor."