2016-17 Chattanooga Mocs Basketball
Post-Game Quotes at Mercer
Macon, Ga. – Jan. 14 – Hawkins Arena

Matt McCall, Head Coach
On trying to slow Mercer after first half.
"We're getting everyone's best shot night-in and night-out. They scored 38 points and shot 56% from the field. I thought defensively we could have been better, but you have to give them a lot of credit by making a lot of tough shots. They did that because they have great players. I thought some of it was if we stayed the course, we would end up getting stops. They scored 30 points in the second half so I thought our defense was great."

On final defensive stop.
"We wanted to switch and not give up a three. It was too early to foul with being up three. [Justin Tuoyo] is so good at timing and moving with his feet, we can really trust him. Rodney (Chatman) came up with a big loose ball. To put a freshman guard in that situation with the game on the line, to have him in there and come up with the loose ball and then go down and make a free throw to win the game. You have to give that kid a ton of credit."

On play from the reserves.
"I thought those two guys were terrific (Chatman and Makale Foreman). They gave us great minutes. I thought our bench was huge, especially those two freshman. They played smart and hard and that's what we need to have out of those guys."

Johnathan Burroughs-Cook, Sr.-G
On coming up with a game plan late in the game.
"We just tried to slow it down a bit toward the end and run a lot of our sets. They weren't really defending us well up top staying front of us. They threw in some zones and man-to-man on defense, so we just tried to see what they were running and pick a set."

On second half adjustments.
"We knew they gave us their best punch and we wanted to do what we do best, run up and down the court. When it came down to the end of the game, we wanted to really focus on execution. We gave it our all and knew it would be enough if we played how we know how to play."

On executing down the stretch.
"It feels great. It starts from practice with working on timing situations. We know we will be in these type scenarios down the stretch in the season. Late in the stretch, we try to focus, execute and play our best."

On grabbing crucial offensive rebound late in second half.
"I saw it coming off the rim, so I just tried to get in there and get the rebound. I knew we had to get that rebound and get that extra possession in."

Tre' McLean, Sr.-F
On Justin Tuoyo's key block late in the game.
"He did it again for us. He is our defensive anchor on this team. He came up with the huge block. He told us all game that he has us and keep pressuring them and making it tough on them to score points."

On knocking down two important free throws.
"Our coaches and teammates made those for me. They kept telling me to hold my head up and stay confident. Coach McCall always tells me there's no reason to be nervous because that I shoot a ton of shots every day. He always says just step up and knock them down and that's what I did today."