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DICK'S SPORTING GOODS NIT SEASON TIP-OFF

November 26, 2010

Bruce Pearl

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

VILLANOVA Â– 68
TENNESSEE - 78

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with questions for the players first, please.

Q. Tobias, you've talked always in terms of team. What does it mean to you personally to come in here as a freshman and be part of a team that -- be part of a team that knocks off number six at the Garden?
TOBIAS HARRIS: It means a lot. Especially coming out here playing really well versus, like you said, a top-ranked team, gives us a lot of confidence. We have to continue to stay focused going into our next games.

Q. You talked about how this whole situation has brought your team closer. Can you talk about just kind of winning this for the coach and what it means for what's going on in Tennessee right now?
TOBIAS HARRIS: It's just showing how hard work is paying off. We don't really focus on a lot of the media stuff. We just like to go out there and play basketball each night. And coming off a night like tonight, it showed us what hard work has done. We have another game on Tuesday, so we have to refocus and get ready for that one.

Q. Scotty, talk about the back-to-back nights, big games, talk about getting it done on this stage especially against a team like that.
SCOTTY HOPSON: We worked all year to get to this point. We're still learning. Still battling. Still just want to win championships, come out and compete every day. It's a whole process to get to where we want to be. I think this team can still get better. It's a long way to go. We have to keep working.

Q. Can you talk about the championship, you guys have been to a lot of finals and haven't won. How good was it to give Coach Pearl his first tournament title?
SCOTTY HOPSON: It's great for him and this basketball club. We wanted to come out and be aggressive. We hadn't won a championship game. This is our first one with this basketball club. We hope it isn't going to be the last.

Q. The fans were out there yelling a lot of stuff at you all game? Do you hear that and does that motivate you to shut them up?
SCOTTY HOPSON: We're going out there competing. We know the fans are going to be a part of the game. At the same time we're going out there and competing. We have to keep our poise and our purpose and execute our game plan.

Q. Scotty, do you feel you guys do a good job of extending your defense and pressuring them out high around the perimeter?
SCOTTY HOPSON: I think so. We're an athletic team. We can make deflections and get in the passing lanes and disrupt people's offense. I think that's what we did tonight. We just tried to smother the guards and make it tough on them on the defensive end and then rebound well.

Q. Scotty, your first couple of years it seemed like you were deferring to either Wayns or Tyler. What does it feel like to be the go-to guy?
SCOTTY HOPSON: That is what they expect from me. Coach wants me to attack. I can't be nonchalant. Stay in attack mode all the time. I had a couple of opportunities and I wanted to take advantage and be aggressive.

Q. Can you talk about the pressure role of breaking the pressure and getting to the middle of the court against Villanova is the key?
TOBIAS HARRIS: One of the things Coach Pearl told me as I was getting recruited was to be a point forward. At that position, I think, Mel did a great job getting to the gaps. Trying to make it and make plays for other guys.

Q. Just nine rebounds tonight and matched up with Yarou inside, physical play. Talk about that aspect.
TOBIAS HARRIS: It was real physical down there. Brian was matched up with Yarou and I was matched up with Pena. One of the things was to get more rebounds. So tonight getting nine was pretty good. After the rebound I have to break.
THE MODERATOR: Coach will make an opening statement and then he'll take some questions.
BRUCE PEARL: I think building on what was said there, the fact that Tobias is so versatile, and Trae Golden doesn't play tonight because of having that fever for three games, he had seven assists and two turnovers against Virginia Commonwealth.
And so we really needed Tobias to handle the ball a lot and break the press. And he was just solid. He didn't turn it over. That was the big key. You can tell at times he has the ability to take some things over.
I thought Scotty stayed patient in a sense that he is our leading scorer and kind of our go-to guy, but he didn't force things. He only got 11 shots. But I like to see him get to the rim. He had some beautiful passes out there as well. You can see he's not hesitant. He's comfortable and he's bought in.

Q. Can you talk about what it's like to have a senior point guard in the last few minutes two big steals?
BRUCE PEARL: He makes those free-throws down the stretch. It's terrific. We're not a young team, we're a new team. I talked about that a lot in the pre-season. Really I've learned as much about this team in the last five games as any. Four starters. I had some senior guys that were backups. Melvin was a backup. Brian was a backup last year. Cameron was a fourth-year junior, backup. Those guys are all starters now.
I thought Goins' defense, I thought the physicality of his defense and the ball pressure he put on Wayns, I thought was very, very significant.
And I thought that Scotty did a great job on Corey Fisher. Scotty's length bothered Corey. And Scotty stayed down and Corey was getting some of the shots he was getting, but he wasn't getting to the rim, and he wasn't -- he was having to shoot over that 6'6" frame. Last night he had 11 rebounds. Tonight he didn't rebound but he had three assists and one turnover and he played great defense against one of the best guards in the country in Corey Fisher.

Q. Even though you guys were two points away from the Final Four last year, a lot of people were overlooking you guys this year, talking about other SEC teams. You guys are ranked 24th. Do you think winning a game like this shows you are legitimate and did you have any many doubt how good this team was?
BRUCE PEARL: I had plenty of doubts how good this team could be because of how new it was. But we worked very hard in the pre-season. One of the hardest working teams I have had. Because there were a lot of opportunities and there was a lot of competition for positions. And this team is beginning to trust each other and beginning to care about each other and rely on each other. Because there's a lot of guys who played out there, played some roles.
All it means right now is that we beat a very good basketball team tonight. That's all it really means. And at this point in the season, we're good enough to beat Villanova here. We have so much in front of us. We have so many tough games ahead. We're picked fourth in the SEC East. So there's some really good teams picked in front of us. And we know that we have to keep on working and see if we can get better.

Q. Do you think that loss to Indianapolis could have been just relying on that getting the guys' attention and buying in?
BRUCE PEARL: We certainly weren't playing as well. The competition, Villanova brought something out in us. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed preparing for Villanova. To watch the way Jay Wright coaches and to watch his system and to watch how he puts the pieces in place, they're a hard cover. I thought he did -- he's got a good basketball team. I really enjoyed what he does.

Q. You mentioned playing without Trae, you're without Josh Bone and another point guard, without Trae, what was the plan down to your third point guard?
BRUCE PEARL: I think, again, Skylar McBee played point guard this summer in anticipation, we only had two. He handled it.
Having Tobias Harris and Steven Pearl in that back court with him takes a little ball handling pressure off. I thought Steven Pearl played very effectively tonight. He gave us great energy. He got a lot of loose balls and made a lot of tough big-boy plays. I thought just again complemented this group. John Fields had five rebounds and 14 minutes with two blocked shots. Didn't score but played a role out there. And played effectively.

Q. Coach, defensively I think that's the fifth game you've held the opponent to 36%. Not just tonight but overall. Talk about the distinct defense.
BRUCE PEARL: My teams have historically been 94 feet fast-breaking which we still have a fast-breaking team. Full court pressure defense, because we're so long. I only have one player under six foot tall. That's Melvin.
The closer we get to the basket, the better we look. The farther we get away from the basket, the more quickness becomes an advantage. And so we can't extend too terribly much defensively. We have to use our length and make people score over us. I thought when you guard Villanova, you have to do a great job in ball-screen defense.
Ball-screen defense is everything. We spent a lot of time on it. I thought we were prepared well.

Q. Brian Williams got off to a slow start. Can you talk about his performance?
BRUCE PEARL: Brian has to be as excited about playing the next game as he was about playing in Madison Square Garden. Brian can rebound and defend and handle the ball at a high level. He obviously can score around the basket.
This weekend -- I thought maybe his last game -- didn't he play fairly well in the last game before he came here? So he has picked it up. I know his teammates were awfully proud of him.

Q. What does it do for you that Hopson was able to step up in the second half of both games here and really show leadership?
BRUCE PEARL: Well, it's exciting for him that he was able to do that. And he's not deferring. But I'll tell you what, in addition to getting to the rim and making some exciting penetrations, he also had a couple of nice passes and just played aggressively, but he was still unselfish.
So it's a nice step for Scotty. I think, yes, you have a bunch of guys to write about at Tennessee right now. You can write about Melvin Goins and his defense. You can write about Scotty Hopson stepping up and you can write about Brian coming back home. You can write about Tobias Harris one of the better freshman in the country that's not getting the same kind of hype that a lot of freshman are. That's okay. That's not the kind of kid he is. He's just all about trying to win.
So there's a lot of good stories. And then Cameron Tatum really, really, really quietly -- when you have four guys in double figures and Melvin has nine, it was a great team effort.

Q. I know you said all this means is you beat Villanova at Madison Square Garden. But with all the distractions, how much did this team need this tournament for the guys? Because not a lot has been written about them this year. It's mostly been about the --
BRUCE PEARL: That's positive. It would be good for people to write about these kids and how we play. We're in the season right now. And I think the focus should be shifted to our season and where we're at. Obviously, happy for the guys. We've handled some adversity. Now we have to handle some success. That will be the next step for this basketball team.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach.

End of FastScripts

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