It creates a little tempo for us. It allows you to be aggressive.

At least this buys us some time where people are not going to say it’s just a football conference.

My wife normally packs my suits, and the next time we go to Florida or a place that’s pretty hot and humid we’ll wear a darker suit for sure. It doesn’t bother me at all....

He is a big lad. He’s such an effective passer and is poised and is a real tough cover. You sort of scratch where it itches. If people show him a lot of attention, then...

Georgia is pretty darn athletic. Their guards are terrific. When both teams are fresh, you have to give the advantage to Georgia. … They were much quicker, much more athletic.

It was off the charts. Terrific. People that have been around Tennessee basketball said that it was one of the best environments they’ve ever seen, which is wonderful to hear in our first year.

We’ll be back. This Tennessee basketball team will go down as one of the all-time best, and this was the group that got it started.

I’m not upset with what happened at all. But we have to understand, we have to act like we’ve been there before. It’s not often you beat the No. 2 team in the country …...

If there was an award for Player of the Week in the country, I can’t imagine a player getting it over Chris.

It didn’t take me long to mention them. I hope I mentioned them the very first day I had a press conference. I’m not sure what I said. If I was on top of my...

We’re very excited about playing in that atmosphere.

Florida looks to me like they’re the team to beat.

I told him I wanted his permission and his blessing to bring out the orange jacket for the Vanderbilt and Kentucky games. He fully approved of it.

We’re going to be in close games all the time down the stretch. We’re not going to run anybody off the floor.

At the National Association of Basketball Coaches Meeting a few years ago, they explained how pods and seeding worked. One thing was clear. If a team is a three seed, it could easily be a...

Just like getting to the Final Four or getting in the NCAA tournament, you just don’t know when you’re going to get there again. Who knows when we’re going to get this close to an...

I told the team earlier this week that this could be an important game for us as far as the postseason – if we can get ourselves in position to be somewhere near that bubble...

Fatigue may be a factor, but I don’t want to make excuses. We’re capable of defending better.

We put a lot of pressure on our offense in the second half. [When] you shoot 55 percent [actually 54.8] and score 48 points, you’re doing a lot of things right. We couldn’t stop them...

He said he ran out of gas. I told him I’ve heard that one before, but he really did.

This is a real good night for Southeastern Conference basketball. … When a team like Tennessee can do something to create better balance in the league, we all benefit.

We desperately want to win. We’ve tasted enough failure at Tennessee.

I was worried about him – so much emotion and so much going into one shot. If they would have won the game, it would have gotten them a little more recognition and they’d be...

We’ve come from behind three times from 9 points or more, so we know we can come from behind. We’re not going to physically overwhelm people, we’re just not. We’ve got to wear them down.

I sweat sweet. It’s not a stinky sweat.

We got enough backdoor looks to deflate Texas’ defense.

The difference is that nobody else has that except us.

I think that we’ve got to focus on trying to come down the stretch here and start playing better basketball. Every night we’ve had some really, really intense, physical games the last three or four,...

I’ve worked my whole life to get to a place like Tennessee.

I can’t worry about what their tournament record was in the past. To me, that doesn’t have a lot to do with this team.

Rodney Carney is a great player, and we lost him a bunch of times, and that was the key.

It’s going to take three wins to win a championship. And I think we’re in a position to do so.

It’s incredible. To be seeded higher than any team in the history of Tennessee basketball, goes a long way. I’m happy with where we’re at. Now we have to take advantage of this opportunity.

These guys, all year long, played every game trying to prove that they were better than what they had been playing. … And we have to recapture that now.

We are committed to up-tempo basketball. We will press 94 feet. There’s a definite advantage because there is a different preparation (for opponents). I think the players do fit our style.

This was an important win because this one separates us now. The sweep separates us from (South Carolina).

We couldn’t stop them in the half court. They did a wonderful job of executing. They got great looks and made shots, which put too much pressure on our offense to score every time down...

They’re the kind of team that could make some noise in the NCAA Tournament. We were playing for a (league) championship today, but they were playing for the (NCAA) tournament. They didn’t play harder than...

It adds to the credibility of our season.

How big was Bradshaw? Dane makes a couple of 3s. And playing with foul trouble, and once again doesn’t have a turnover. That’s like four or five games in a row. He doesn’t turn the...

They present tremendous challenges. They’re a big, athletic team. Teams that have given us trouble are ones with big, physical front lines that take advantage of our lack of size and depth.

I’m not at all unhappy with our fans or upset with the students. I shared their enthusiasm. OK, but we did it this one time. Let’s not do it again.

I see a lot of similarities between the ones and twos and between the threes and fours.

Everything. Dribble penetration, post-up. When they’re 19-for-25, you know.

Regardless of the effectiveness of his play, he needs to play with passion the entire time. There were times where he wasn’t very effective that it also affected his intensity. That won’t happen to my...

We’re better than I thought. We’re 16-3 and in first place right now. Who could’ve anticipated the attendance being what it is and the support we’re receiving?

We have to focus on getting better down the stretch and playing better basketball. There’s no margin for error with this team. When we slip up a little bit, obviously a team like Kentucky is...