Tennessee 65 Cincinnati 56 Dec. 12, 2020 | Thompson-Boling Arena Tennessee Head Coach Rick Barnes

On both the team’s rebounding and Fulkerson’s performance:

“We have a different team in terms of we do think that we have multiple guys that can drive the ball, and we haven’t had a lot of that in the past couple of years. We’ve played two teams now, for foul trouble reasons, that have had to go to zone probably more so than they both want to play. We haven’t had a lot of time to work against a lot of different type zones, but today what we simply said was, ‘Hey, we’re going to attack. We’re going to get in there.’ We missed some shots that we feel we normally make. We felt like we turned down some shots from the perimeter. Yet, we talk about a lot. We want our team to have an identity of rebounding, and that means getting a good shot up on the glass and going to get it and trying to get multiple shots at it. Coming down the stretch, Fulky did do a good job. He wasn’t very good early. He wasn’t locked in defensively at the start of the game. I took him out early because he didn’t block out, and that’s something we said early. We’re going to hold everybody accountable. You’re going to block out. You’re going to rebound the ball. We subbed a couple of times for guys that were going the other way before we had the ball, but he did answer coming down the stretch. I think our guys understand what. We’re trying to do at the end of the game. In the last two games, we’re able to make the free throws. We did a good job taking care of the ball, but there’s a couple that we gave them that turned into pick-sixes. There’s nothing we can do with that. You take away three or four plays defensively where we gambled in the backcourt and let them go all the way. Overall, I would say we were pretty good defensively. We played hard defensively without fouling.”

On the team’s rebounding performance and what he’s seen from Josiah-Jordan James:

“He’s good at it. He’s made a conscious effort to do that. I thought E.J. Anosike came in the game and gave us some of that where he came back. He kept the ball alive. He really did a good job with it. We want to get Olivier (Nkhamhoua) doing that. Once we’re able to get each guy going—maybe we can add getting Uros (Plavsic)—where they understand the roles that they have to play. You think about our front line—we’ve got three guys coming off the bench. That’s their number one job is to take rebounding to a different level. I thought Yves (Pons) did a nice job of making some fix-it plays. I think he had a couple of blocks today. He cleaned up a few plays there. Overall, it was a good defensive effort. Again, the guards have to rebound. We are going to be most lethal in transition when our guards come down and rebound. That dribble outlet is really hard to guard and pass ahead. When we get things going, that’s when we’re really at our best—when our guards are rebounding.”

On what went into the decision to give Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer more playing time:

“Just us playing. Like I said, the other night was the first night we’ve had our bench together. We didn’t want to put them in a situation right off the bat where we could lose them confidence-wise. As a coaching staff, we’re still trying to fight through this ourselves without exhibition games. Up to this point, we’ve played two games. We just made up our mind that they’re going to go early. Last game, it was me. I’m in charge of those subs. We maybe waited a little bit too long. One thing about when you get a run like we had the other night against Colorado, the key is if you can sustain it when you get to the bench. I think we waited too long. Tonight, we did the multiple substitution where we put both of those guys in at one time. It’s going to help all of them. We can keep those minutes down around 25, 26 for everybody. When everybody can be productive in those minutes, it’s going to help everybody. It was just a matter of us trying to figure out ourselves as a coaching staff the best way to get some kind of rotation going. It might mean changing the lineup in the future of starting a different way and see if we get guys coming off the bench and playing a different role. I think one of the key positions is that sixth and seventh guy coming off the bench. That first line perimeter guy coming in and that first line on the front line—that first sub. Those sixth and seventh guys are really important in that they come in and take it to another level. Not maintain it but see if they can take it to another level. Again, I thought E.J. did that defensively. I thought his energy and his burst helped us. When the two young guys came in, they did a good job.”

On what the team improved upon from the first game to the second:

“Rebounding was certainly one of them, but the other was taking care of the ball. We only had 11 turnovers I think if I am looking at this right, but they were critical. Josiah had three of them, and he did a lot of really good things. He’s a guy that I think should never turn it over. We held the ball for too long a couple of times in their double teams, but we rebounded better. We got our turnovers down, but tonight they got more off those turnovers than Colorado did the other night. I haven’t looked at it yet, but I’m sure they had transition points and outscored us because of those turnovers. There’s no defense for it. I don’t know what they got transition-wise. Those are all really off turnovers. Those are ones we can’t give up.”

On how happy he was seeing the team lock down defensively late in the game:

“I told them that tonight it’s proven to you guys because we are better shooting team than we shot tonight, but there’s nights when we don’t shoot it well we still have a chance to win it and we will play that kind of defense without fouling. We will be aggressive and get to the free throw line, but two games in a row now coming down the stretch we have defended very well and on the other end offensively, for the most part, we’ve executed and played through the person we need to play through. We’ve made some good plays there, got the ball to the right people at the end of the game that are going to get fouled, but two games in a row our defense has been stellar in terms of getting the kind of stops we need. We want to get those consecutive stops at the end, but if you can do it without fouling it is obviously what you want to do. Knowing that you’re wanting to be aggressive, you’re trying to work hard to not give up those straight-line drives and you don’t want to give up one-pass threes. They do good stuff, the two teams that we have played run really good offensive sets and different things they do put a bind on your defense.”

On if he would be more concerned if the team wasn’t getting as many good looks:

“I will tell you we turned down some shots. You ask anybody in that locker room, I’m upset with guys when they don’t take open shots because again we can rebound the ball. Like the other night, we got hesitant and turned down shots we should have had, so we have to shoot it and again with those shots. We missed some that you have to make, and at the start of the second half we missed some we should have made. Even Fulky’s shots at the start of the second half weren’t great balanced shots. They went down and made three straight layups coming out of halftime, and we missed three or four of them. But the fact is we cannot turn down open shots. These guys spend too much time in the gym working on shooting to be hesitant. Some of that you have to give credit to Colorado and Cincinnati because they have gone zone against us and like I said, we have spent a total of maybe 15 minutes working against a 1-3-1. We had spent more time prior to our stoppage against a 2-3. The other night we had looks at the basket, we just weren’t in the space we wanted. But we didn’t force one shot the other night against the 2-3 and we didn’t make any of them, but today I just liked the fact that these guys were driving the ball hard. We had some looks and didn’t make them, but we’re going to make shots and I told them it just proves we don’t have to shoot the ball well to win basketball games because we’ve won against two really good basketball teams and not had great shooting nights.”

On the timeline for Corey Walker and Drew Pember and if he have considered redshirting them if not for the NCAA rule:

“Both of those guys we would have probably put into that category, but we have never decided on who we are going to redshirt until the season gets going. With this year I don’t know if we will decide any of that because who knows what happens with COVID. We have to show up and play with seven guys, so we have to have everybody ready. Like you said it’s a free year, but I believe both of those guys are totally cleared with the protocol.”

On how pleased he was with the finish of the second half:

“I like to think that we can do that because we have enough experience and enough guys that have been in some high-level games in the last couple years. Certainly Yves and Fulky have been there a lot. Josiah has played a lot of minutes and Santi got a lot coming down the stretch. The real key is as we continue to figure this rotation out, every guy is going to benefit by playing 26, 27, 28 minutes or somewhere in there, and if you do that, now you expect to finish strong and you expect to have the energy at the end of the game. When you’re playing 34 to 36 minutes it’s hard at the end of the game, but the fact is if we can keep these minutes where we need to keep them, I would expect us to be a strong team on both ends physically to where we are able to defend, rebound, run and hope we can break it loose during those runs you mentioned because that was all created by defense and I think we brought the energy there. We’re going to have to be able to do it and we have a chance to be an outstanding defensive team if we can just manage our minutes the right way.”

On how much he feels like teams mixing defenses against them so far this season has kept them from getting into an offensive rhythm with the whole stop and start for the season:

“It has. I don’t think there is any question that the rhythm of the game where they may go man or zone or vice versa try to keep you off rhythm, but we’re going to learn from it. We have to learn it where it counts with the lights on, but I think a little bit of our rhythm has gotten broken. We have one set that we know can run against anything and it’s predicated on guys just simply making plays. At halftime the coaches were talking about what we need to do, and I said to them I just like the fact that I want those guys to be aggressive and get into those gaps and let them make plays because no one on our team is selfish. Guys are going to make the right plays and try to do the right thing. We missed some shots that I truly believe we are going to make at a high percentage over time, but the rhythm has been broken over the last couple games and it is something we can learn from.” Tennessee Senior Forward John Fulkerson

On difference between today and Tuesday night for him:

“For myself and my teammates, we just have to get some games under our belts. We just have to play everyone on the same bench and everyone on the same team, because you can’t really simulate that in practice. That’s something we’ve been talking about this season, because you don’t know who you’re going to play or where. So, you just have to get as many games under your belt as you can. That’s going to help a lot come SEC and postseason play. So, we just need game experience and experience playing with one another.”

On what the young guys learned on a day when the team wasn’t shooting well:

“It’s just what you said. If shots aren’t falling, that’s even more energy we need to put on the defensive end, especially at the end of games. At the end of games, we’re going to need to execute, take care of the ball and we need to take good shots, but it’s even more important that we do that on the defensive end. Getting stops and executing our defensive plan is just as and if not more important than the offensive end.”

On him and the team hitting free throws late:

“I know we shot a lot of free throws. They were talking about it and we always say that we want to make more free throws than the other team attempts. Getting fouled and being aggressive and attacking the basket are things we want to do. When you get to the free throw line—they’re called free for a reason, so you just want to be able to knock them down. I feel like it’s something that every player works on a lot. I know I have and I know our team does, so you just have to step up there and knock them down.” Tennessee Sophomore Guard Josiah-Jordan James

On how much the team has improved on the defensive side of the ball:

“As a team we can definitely be one of the best defensive teams in the nation. We have the depth. We have the athleticism. We have the mindset to do it. We go after it every day in practice and I see it every day in practice. Our mindset is guarding your yard and five guarding one. Whoever has the ball may have one guy on them, but there are five guys guarding them at one time. So, that I think is why we are able to defend the ball so well and play defense down the stretch so well.”

On what went well for him in the second half:

“It’s just playing with more energy. We knew today would be a dog fight. We remembered the game from last year was just a pound-for-pound dog fight type of game. We knew that our strength in numbers would break them at some point and that’s when it happened. We knew we just had to play fast, play physical and play hard. As we did that as the game went on, we knew we would break through and it just so happened to be at that point in the second half.” On how valuable it is to get two wins over two good teams:

“It says a lot. It says a lot about our preparation. Going in and playing against a really good Colorado team and playing against a really good Cincinnati team today means a lot. It means that we prepared well and it means that we’re on the right track. We made a lot of mistakes. Personally, I made a lot of mistakes. We have a lot of room to grow, but we’re in a good position after pulling these two games out and we’re just ready for the next one.” Tennessee Freshman Guard Jaden Springer

On how he felt after getting more minutes today:

“It feels good to get more minutes on the court, but the first game was really a learning experience. We went out there and we got to touch the court and we still got the win. To come out here the next game, play more minutes and be part of the win later on in the game is big for me. It’s definitely a confidence booster, while showing us that we still have a long way to go as both a team and as individuals.”

On how he feels about how the team closed out the game:

“I feel like the way we closed out the game was strong. We got a lot of stops on defense. I think I heard someone say that we only allowed three points in the last six minutes, which was definitely big for us. Getting those stops and being able to execute on offense even though our shots weren’t falling was big for us.”

On lessons he learned through the first two games:

“It’s not really a big difference from coming straight out of high school and coming to college. I knew from the jump that the intensity was different. The way we practice and prepare really got us ready for these games.” Cincinnati Head Coach John Brannen

Opening statement:

“I thought our guys really competed today. I was really proud of the way they competed, especially after playing with a lot of different lineups. Tennessee is a Final Four caliber team — Hall of Fame coach, five- star players, play extremely hard. I’ve seen what I could call two great defensive teams in my career. The Texas Tech team that made national championship game two years ago and potentially this team. Coach Barnes really gets that out of them. I think coming in here and competing against these guys was really good. We don’t take moral victories, but at the same time the fact that we had some foul trouble and had to play some different lineups and really had to open some things up and play different offensively. I thought our guys put themselves into position to win, we’re just not a very good executing team yet. We’re not good out of timeouts, we’re not good in specials, we’re just not there yet. We have to spend the time to get better there in those areas in the next few days in hopes that we’ll quickly get better at it. The defensive tenacity and toughness that our young men showed is becoming our identity, which will allow us to get better offensively.”

On the free throws and foul discrepancy: “I think there was too much fouling on our part first and foremost and I thought we got really tough calls late. I’ve been in this building and won twice in this building and coached in the SEC for six years. Love the crew tonight, but we all have tough days.”

On Cincinnati’s execution late in the game:

“Well you’re playing a really talented team, so I thought we capitalized in several moments, we’re just not there yet. Tari Eason was playing the five at the end of the game. There’s no way he’s going to know the five spot plays, no way. So we had to change everything. I thought our coaches did a phenomenal job, our assistants were great. We opened up our offense, we put guys into different spots and playing off of what Tennessee was playing us. We kind of scrapped the playbook a little bit and took what they gave us. I thought our guys accepted that and did a good job with it. We will get better from an executing standpoint. We can look at the last six minutes and see that we have to get better. We will get better. But at the same time, you get three points taken off the board on a stepback three that I guess I’ll have to take a look at on the tape — I thought everyone stepped back like that. And with one second on the shot clock, you’re blocking out and you get called for a foul. So just opportune mistakes on our part."

Cincinnati Junior Guard David DeJulius

On Cincinnati struggling to score late in the game:

“We were trying to get to the basket. We felt like we had the advantage off the dribble, getting into the paint and kicking it out. I felt like I had some good looks that didn’t go down. I was just trying to put the pressure on the ref to give us a call. It didn’t go that way, so we just have to execute better down the stretch as well.”

On not having Keith Williams available as much due to foul trouble:

“That was tough, not having him out there with for a major part of the game. He’s one of our valuable players. He’ll get that rhythm as you said, but it’s a next man up mentality. We’re going to have games like that where guys get in foul trouble. It’s going to happen, we just have to be ready for it.”

On what Cincinnati did defensively to stay in the game throughout:

“We felt like we were great defensively. We really took pride on that end. I think we held them to 32 percent shooting if I’m not mistaken. That’s great, and as coach said, that’s a Final Four team right there. I feel like we were able to execute better, we would have a better result at the end of the game." Cincinnati Sophomore Forward Jeremiah Davenport

On the amount of work he put in on his three-point shooting during the offseason:

“I put in a lot of work. All of my life, going up to this level, I was always told that I could not shoot. So I’ve been working on my shot and you saw it today.”

On how things change on both ends of the court with Keith Williams on the sidelines: “It doesn’t really change anything, just that we play the same position and that when he’s out, I come in and bring the energy that I bring. When he comes in, he does the same thing. That’s the only thing that’s really different.”

On losing two close games late in the game:

“When it comes down to the last five minutes, our focus and our intensity is something we need to work on. We’ll definitely work on that. We got better a little bit tonight, but we’re going to keep pushing."