Tennessee 78, Florida 66
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. Tre, can you kind of describe what it's like to go against their defense? Obviously you had a tough first half. You had a pretty damn good second half. In terms of how they guard, what do they do that makes them so difficult to score against?
TRE MANN: I'd probably have to say their versatility. They got fours and the fives who have pretty good feet. Coming off ball screens, it was either a long catch, a blitz or a switch. I mean, it's been different all season. I think they have one of the better coverages I've seen. It was different from the first game, I feel like.
They did a good job with that part.
Q. Is Pons a guy who just comes out of nowhere sometimes? Is he sneaky on the defense? Do you anticipate he's coming?
TRE MANN: Yeah, a couple of times he came from the opposite side, it was out of nowhere. I mean, there was one where I think he was guarding me, I went to the hole, I went inside right hand. He still blocked it. I thought he was behind me.
Just a freak athlete. Should have played off two, maybe shot faked him a little bit. He's just a freak athlete, so...
Q. Can you speak to the physical nature of the game. The announcers kept using the word 'chippy'. They said there was a lot of back and forth between you guys.
TRE MANN: Yeah, it was definitely chippy. They came out the second game, I think their goal was to, like, I don't want to say the word, but wanted to come out tougher and push us around and things like that. That's what I heard the second game plan was because I wasn't there.
My teammates were telling me how bad they were talking trash, pushing in the back. I could see on film where they were doing some dirty stuff.
It was the same thing. We told each other, told ourselves if we lose, we're not going to lose from them, like, bullying us again. They came out aggressive. We were aggressive right back at 'em. But it was definitely a physical and chippy game.
Q. 28 in the second half. Did that feel like high school, the way you were scoring?
TRE MANN: Yeah, a little bit. AAU. Just hitting shots off the bounce stepbacks that I was used to hitting in high school. I guess it did feel a little bit like that.
I just felt like it was more desperation shots. In high school I was having fun shooting them. Now the couple shots I made in the second half, they were desperation, like I needed it to go in.
Q. It looked like maybe early on, maybe the early part of the second half, they were doubling every time you got the ball. I guess for some reason they quit doing that when you started shooting, getting open shots. What was the difference in the first half and second half for you?
TRE MANN: For me, honestly, I just felt like shots weren't falling. I had a lot of great, great looks in the first half. Just missed wide-open shots. They had a good defense, but still missed wide-open shots in. The second half it was like my teammates and coach telling me next shot, giving me confidence for the next shot.
The defense was the same, I think. I was trying to reject ball screens more in the first half because I saw that they were hedging hard. I thought I was going to be able to create something off the rejects.
Coach White was telling me, use the ball screen, use the ball screen. So that's what I did. A couple plays they went under. Coach told me, Anytime a team go under, shoot it. He had confidence in me so I had confidence in myself. That is what I did.
Big man was setting good screens for me, causing confusion. I was making shots in the second half.
Q. They had a big advantage in assists, 21 to seven. What is your thought on why that was the case?
TRE MANN: They made more shots than us. They came out the first half and they were making shots. We were missing shots. They had better ball movement, I would say. We were a little more stagnant.
It just all come down to making shots. We had great looks in the first half. Just dug a hole we couldn't get out of.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports