UT Hoops blog: Vols reeling after “embarassing” loss to Kentucky

KNOXVILLE — So much for Friday’s blog, huh?

I wrote that “hope springs eternal” blog for many reasons — not just my love of baseball.

To condense the thought, I think we in the media, like many others, have a tendency to become overly critical of people we see on a daily basis. Maybe it’s modern culture, but many of us tend to dwell on shortcomings and downplay accomplishments. That’s why it’s been so interesting to cover Bruce Pearl’s University of Tennessee men’s basketball program the past couple of seasons. The man is so obnoxiously optimistic that it occasionally borders on surreal, but it’s hard to argue with most of his career results before and after arriving here in East Tennessee.

Quite simply, Pearl wins, fills up arenas and draws national attention. Those factors and off-the-field success are the four cornerstones of a successful program.

There was little hope Saturday, though. The Volunteers fell behind 13-0 at Kentucky, and they rallied within 33-29 before getting blown out late in a 77-58 loss in Rupp Arena.

Worse yet, Pearl was upset and embarrassed after the game, saying he’d never seen so many of his players “quit” in one game.

Here are some quick transcripts from postgame interviews with Pearl and UT junior forward Wayne Chism. A full story will be online around midnight, I guess, and of course in Monday’s print edition.

Chism, one of three Vols to meet with the media Saturday afternoon, was the only one who admitted to a little loafing down the stretch.

UT (16-10, 7-5 Southeastern Conference), now a game back of co-leaders Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina in the SEC Eastern Division, will host Mississippi State (17-10, 7-5) Wednesday night in Thompson-Boling Arena.

BRUCE PEARL

Opening Statement:

PEARL: “I would like to congratulate Kentucky on a great effort. They had tremendous execution and completely dominated us and our players. As a head coach, I have never been so embarrassed by how I coached, or how my team played. I apologize to our fans and the University of Tennessee. We didn’t play with poise, passion, or with a purpose, and I thought that there were times where we quit. I have never had this issue. I have been a head coach for a lot of years and my team has finished first or second in every conference that we have played in. Those teams have played hard and unselfishly, this team doesn’t do either.”

Q: You have spoken for years about “honoring the game” by playing well in famed Rupp Arena. Does that add to the disappointment?

PEARL: “I have always taken great pride in bringing basketball to Rupp Arena. Our first year, we came in here and won. In our second year, we came in here and won the first half without Chris Lofton and I was so proud of that team. I don’t know how many points we lost by, but boy did our kids battle. They had no business being in the game but stepped up and made plays and we were right there at halftime. Last year, it was a close game. I can take losing — I don’t take it well but I can take it, but I can’t take losing like we did today.”

Q: How did your team limit Jodie Meeks to 14 points, after the 54 he scored in Knoxville in January?

PEARL: “We triangle and one him and put one guy on him. If you look at the stat sheet, give Ramon Harris, (Michael) Porter, (Perry) Stevenson, and (Darius) Miller the credit. (Patrick) Patterson, I would hold off for a second. I think those guys were 13-17 and that is what Coach Gillisipie has been looking for, and we gave those other guys some opportunities to make some shots and they did.

“We did a good job on Meeks. It wasn’t like Loyola (Maryland) against Davidson, where they put two guys on (Stephen) Curry. We put one guy on Jodie, and I thought that Bobby Maze and Josh Tabb did a good job. Interestingly, Maze and Tabb don’t have very good offensive numbers because they were worn out from guarding him. I still think, defensively, you have to make the other guys beat you. We did, and they did. They weren’t able to do that against some other teams.

“At the same time, our inability to score at the offensive end, in that area, gave those guys confidence. We didn’t put them under any pressure. It is one thing for those guys to take and make those shots in a close game ... but it went their way from the beginning.”

Q: Kentucky native Scotty Hopson led your team with 14 points. How would you assess his performance?

PEARL: “I thought that Scotty competed. He has made a lot of improvement and a lot of progress. I thought that Scotty was one of those guys that did keep his poise and certainly belonged out there. He is really growing as a player and is a terrific person. He works really hard and, as he gets more physically strong, he is going to be special.”

Q: What happened with Tyler Smith? His statistics were well below average, across the board.

PEARL: “Tyler was really ready to play, and Tyler did not quit, (but) obviously he did not play effectively. I felt like Tyler and Wayne each needed to make two or three 3s in this game for us to have a chance to win. Tyler shot it so well in practice this week and just was reluctant to pull the trigger today. I know he (attempted) four (3s), but I just felt like we needed to get Kentucky’s big guys away from the basket. Those guys can make those shots, we just obviously did not today.”

WAYNE CHISM

Q: Coach Pearl said some of you guys “quit” today, and he was “embarrassed.” Do you agree?

CHISM: “You see how many points we lost by. We’re embarrassed. Tennessee fans are embarrassed. Knoxville’s embarrassed. Everybody’s embarrassed.”

Q: It seemed like you guys guarded Meeks well, but no one else. Do you agree?

CHISM: “It’s not just tough defense if it’s just one person. We should have played good defense on all of them.”

Q: Are you surprised that so many of UK’s role players had a good day?

CHISM: “They hit (shots). We can’t say nothing else about it. We tried to take away one of their prime players, and the rest of the team went crazy.

“We stopped the one guy we had to stop, and the other guys just went off. What can you do? Just go to the next game and try to win it.”

Q: Have you ever seen this team quit before today?

CHISM: “Check all the road games when we lost by 20. Some games we’ve lost by one, and some we’ve lost by 20. You can figure that when you seen five minutes left on the clock and you see everybody walking down the court. I know I did several times, but I tried to battle back through it.

“I’m not going to blame this on nobody else. Put some of it on me.”

Q: What’s missing in the team’s halfcourt offense?

CHISM: “Focus. That’s it. Focus.”

Q: Is everyone of the same page in the halfcourt offense? Does everyone know the plays?

CHISM: “It’s lack of focus. That’s it. They know what’s going on, but they weren’t focused. That’s it.”

Q: Can this team bounce back from such a disappointing week?

CHISM: “It’s going to be hard, but we’re going to have to do it. We’ve got to bounce back, big-time.”

Read Monday’s Times Free Press for more UT coverage,