Postgame Quotes

Jan 02, 2011 | Men's Basketball

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#22/21 Memphis (11-2) 91, Tennessee State (6-8) 86
January 2, 2011
FedExForum (Memphis, Tenn.)
Memphis Postgame Quotes

Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner

That game was unreal. These types of games make me want to retire at the end of the year. I like 50 point wins or 30 point wins. But in all seriousness, we found a way to win the game again. We have to give Tennessee State a lot of credit because they shot the daylights out of the ball. They hit their first five threes, and we were down 11-2. We spotted them 10 points, not spotted, but they earned those 10 points. They made shots, big shots, and they made free throws. We grinded it out and found a way to win.

We are 11-2, and our freshmen saved us today. Our young guys, Joe Jackson, Chris Crawford, Will Barton, Antonio Barton and Tarik Black stepped up and saved us. D.J. Stephens came in and gave us some good minutes too. We have to get more production out of Will Coleman and Wesley Witherspoon. They need to be better because they are our upperclassman, but our freshmen came in and did a good job.

On Tarik Black and technical foul
Let me talk about two areas: Tarik Black and my technical foul. If you leave the bench, it is an automatic ejection. If you get involved in the scuffle and the action going, you are not only ejected, but you can't play in the next game. Tarik went off the bench and did not get involved in the scuffle, so he is able to play in the next game. Coach (Willis) Wilson pulled him back, and when we stopped him, and that is a great lesson to learn from. (Coach Wilson) grabbed him, and we will learn from that. Tarik will be able to play on Wednesday.

Regarding my technical foul, I did not curse. After my technical, I went up to official Mark Whitehead and asked why I got the technical. I told him I didn't curse or use bad language. The explanation I got was that I was out of the coaching box, which I was. The rules are you get more than a couple of times, and I was probably out of the box more than a couple of times. I have to accept the responsibility for that, but the bottom line is we got going a little bit after that. We got some action going our way after that.

On finding a way to win
We found a way to win. You have to give Tennessee State a lot of credit because they made shots. I am so proud that we had 25 assists on 33 made field goals, which is a terrific number. I think this is our fourth game in a row that we out-rebounded the opponents. Our average is plus three or plus five, and we were plus five today. We only had 11 turnovers, and we did a good job of sharing the basketball.

We didn't make our free throws, and we have to do better on that. Our other thing is half-court defense. We have to lock down on defense. Our number one thing on the scouting report is taking the three out of the game. We didn't execute some things on the game plan and we didn't switch when we were supposed to switch. They hit a couple of threes and got their confidence going and next thing you know it's a ball game.

Tennessee State Head Coach John Cooper

Opening Remarks
We couldn't quite take care of them on the inside, from a defensive perspective. Tarik Black just gave us problems the whole game. Every time they needed a bucket, they were able to get something from him. It (the game) was close and they (Memphis) were able to get fouled, get a tip or get a dunk. Their size wore on us as the game went on.

Their size really affected us, especially down low. I think Mike (Green) may have gotten a little bit tired because he had to play the whole first half due to foul trouble.

We didn't really stretch our bench this game because of the flow of the game. I thought we gave the type of effort that was necessary to come down and win. We didn't close it out. I think back and we have a tough box out that we didn't get and that really came back to hurt us. We were right there though. We got a great look by (Jacquan) Nobles. We ran a little set there and he front rimmed it, but that is all you can ask. They rebounded and threw it down court for a lay-up. But this team is starting to come together, and I'll take this team against anyone.

About your team coming together and developing team chemistry
Well, I think these guys play the game, and they stick together. I don't ever advocate what happened down here on the end with the tussle. There should be no fighting. But I do like the fact that our guys stuck together, and we were right there.

One of the things I'm trying to get them to understand is playing together, being together and taking care of each other. Now we have to do a better job of handling that situation because in that situation cooler tempers prevail. From a perspective of being there together, sticking together and just having each other's backs, this group is staring to figure it out. Now the question becomes are we mature enough to take an effort from this game and learn from it.

About continuing your road trip and taking on the defending OVC champions, Murray State
Well, we have our hands full. They (Murray State) are a very good team, and we went up there last year. They handled us pretty well on a couple of different occasions. They really, really defend you, and they have guys in their program that have won. They are a little different from this Memphis team from the perspective that Memphis has a bunch of young kids that are super, super talented. They (Murray State) come at you with some guys that have NCAA experience, so they kind of have a sense of calm as they go about their business. Obviously, that game will not be as high scoring as this game, hopefully. But we have got to play extremely well, we have to take care of the ball and we have to handle their defensive pressure, just to even be in the game.