The No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers improved to 2-0 Monday night with a 70-47 victory over Radford at Food City Center. Despite the final score, Radford head coach Zach Chu praised his team’s effort while acknowledging the challenges of facing Rick Barnes’ physical Tennessee squad.
Following the game, Chu discussed his team’s shooting struggles, defensive effort and the difficulties Tennessee presented throughout the contest.
What did you like about your guys’ first 10, 15 minutes, and then what changed after that?
“Honestly, through the game, I thought overall the emphasis was that we knew the game was going to be physical. We knew scoring was going to be difficult. I don’t know if we necessarily knew we’d go 5-for-24 from three, but I just thought there was some resilience and just an overall emphasis to continue to fight on the defensive end. And I thought we did that for most of the game. I think we actually were winning the rebounding battle. Very proud of our fight overall.”
On defending Terrence Hill Jr.
“He is so shifty and so fast. The thing we focused on the most was just continuing to mix up his matchup. We didn’t want him to see one person the whole night. We wanted him to see some size and then some speed, and then just do everything we could to contain him, especially in transition.”
You mentioned the shooting numbers. Do you feel like that was more you guys or their defense?
“Absolutely goes both ways. I think, look, we felt them all night. Every drive was physical. It’s the one thing that’s really hard to simulate in a September or October practice. And so, the drives were physical, the closeouts were physical, the post-ups were very difficult.
“It was a great thing for our team just to feel how important it is to be able to play with the pass and play together. And the possessions where we did that, the possessions where we got out and we played with a little bit of pace, the possessions where we moved the ball were definitely our best ones and probably resulted in most of those makes.”
Do you feel like you defended the three well, or was Tennessee just not making shots?
“I thought we did a pretty good job. Coming into the game, they obviously made quite a few shots against Wofford. Especially the wings, there was an emphasis to really try to stay on those guys.
“The thing that Tennessee teams, and this team, do so well is screen. Their ability to just screen. Brown might be the most physical screener I’ve ever coached against. I mean, just to have to fight through his screens.”
Tennessee’s Physicality Stands Out
Chu’s comments highlighted Tennessee’s physical approach on both ends of the floor. Even with shooting struggles, the Volunteers relied on defensive pressure and physical play to secure their second consecutive victory.
No. 11 Tennessee will return to action Friday against Tennessee State before preparing for a major early-season matchup with No. 5 Michigan State.
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