CHICAGO — Tennessee basketball ended Iowa State’s season Friday night, using a big second half to knock off the two-seed Cyclones 76-62.
Following the game, Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger discussed Tennessee’s physicality, Milan Momcilovic’s quiet night and much more. Here’s everything Otzelbeger said.
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Opening statement
“First, congratulations to Tennessee. Coach Barnes, their program is first class. Just a lot of respect for them. They’re a very good team. Very good team. Certainly the better team tonight.
On the other side, really proud of our group. Again, for us, you know, we aim every night to lay it on the line. I feel like our guys do that every night. Proud of our team. Our performance tonight doesn’t diminish anything we accomplished this season, and really proud of this group. Been as enjoyable group to be around as I’ve ever had. Tough to have it come to an end.”
On the challenges of rebounding against Tennessee
“I think obviously their size and physicality is imposing. We knew that it would be a tremendous challenge. I think the most important thing when it comes to rebounding is that you stay in front of the play defensively, guard the dribble, stay out of rotation.
They did a great job playing the short roll to their big, moving the basketball out of there. We were able to turn them over some, but not enough. Then that put us in some tough spots rebounding-wise where, again, they’ve got tremendous size, athleticism, and commitment to the glass. They’re the best offensive rebounding team in the country, and it certainly proved true tonight.”
On what Tennessee did to slow down Milan Momcilovic
“Yeah, I mean, they really didn’t give him any space anywhere. Every time he would come off a pindown, screening action, or be on the move, they were into his body. They were physical. They were aggressive. They were very intentional. They kept length and physicality in his space at all times, so he couldn’t move as freely as we like.
Milan has done such a great job as a problem solver and finding opportunities and creating space for himself, but that was just one of those games where they were better. They had better solutions defensively than what we were able to have offensively.”
On life without Tamin Lipsey
“Yeah, Tamin is not only one of the greatest winners I’ve ever been around or seen, he’s one of the greatest people. He’s had such a profound impact on our program, our community, our university, our campus. The man that he is, the leader that he is.
Look, we’ve built this entire program around who he is as a person, who he is as a player, because the trust, belief, confidence, appreciation we have for him. He’s one of those guys, he’s a generational player. You know as a coach when you have one of them, and you know you’re not blessed or fortunate enough to have them very often, so you cherish every day.
It’s one thing I told myself going into this season with him is that we’re going to appreciate and cherish every single day with Tamin, and just as a coach, couldn’t be more proud of any young person than what we are of him and all that he’s done to impact the campus, community, and program.”
On the difference in getting to the next step
“Yeah, I mean, I think each year is different, independent variables that come into play. It’s difficult when you have a guy like Joshua that is as impactful for your team as he is for us, because that changes a lot.
I think being healthy is probably important, for sure. Look, each year presents different challenges. I think certainly without him, the physicality on the interior was a tough obstacle for us to overcome here tonight.
We’ll be back. We’ll find solutions, and we’ll have our breakthrough.”
On Tennessee forcing them to make adjustments
“They did a great job out of halftime for sure of putting us in rotation, playing through the short roll. They consistently finished plays and made shots. You know, we take pride coming out of that locker room and throwing the first punch. They were just a lot more aggressive than we were.
They made great decisions. I think, you know, the margin and physicality on the glass certainly impacted the game, but I just think overall credit to their guys for how they took care of the basketball, how they played for one another. You can tell they’re a very connected team.”
On how close Joshua Jefferson was to being able to play
“Yeah, I mean, more than anything just the message is appreciation for everything he’s done for our program. I mean, what a tough blow to be dealt. You know, you’re in the NCAA Tournament. You dream of being there your whole life, and you get there, and you have the team that you think can really make a run, and then to have kind of a fluke thing happen where he goes down and then his ankle.
Just a really tough circumstance to deal with. So we just wanted to make sure that Joshua felt supported, and we did everything in our power to get him ready to be out there and play. It just wasn’t enough.
He did all he could. He’s a fierce competitor. He couldn’t have done more treatments and had more preparation to put himself in position, but just didn’t work out that way.”
