What Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said after 85-60 loss to No. 17 Tennessee in Players Era Festival

LAS VEGAS — What Rutgers head coach Rick Barnes said losing 85-60 to No. 17 Tennessee to start the Players Era Festival Monday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena:

Opening Statement

“Obviously great teams (in the Players Era Festival). Tennessee’s size is tremendously impressive. Obviously (Rick Barnes is) a great coach. Backboards, we got off to a tough start, especially midway through that first half. And the second half we came back and fought and we won the second half, 30-29. But obviously give them a ton of credit. That’s a really good basketball team. We didn’t have any answers for (Ja’Kobi) Gillespie, the point guard. And Nate (Ament) is the real deal. So congratulations.” 

Rutgers making some rotation changes with its forwards against Tennessee

“Beef. We needed some beef. I mean, this team is the No. 1 rebounding team in America. They’ve got plus-21 on the glass against everybody. Obviously they were plus-15 tonight. But we just wanted to play our guys that are 250 and above because they have like five of them that are at that size. And got to get those guys some minutes.” 

Nate Ament’s size and mobility, how difficult he is to defend

“Well we were kind of comparing him to Ace Bailey a little bit, but boy he’s bigger and really knows how to play. And just a tough matchup at 6-10. He looks all every bit 6-10, 6-11. And then you got the great point guard. I knew he moved from Maryland last year. He had an unbelievable year. And we were trying to do a great job on him and trying to limit his touches. He can set people up and he can score himself. He’s really a tough, tough matchup. And those are the two leading scorers you got to take one of them out. And the second half, I just thought we did a little bit better job all the way around, but they got off to such a big lead that they were able do. But he’s the real deal.”

Tennessee getting open looks against the Rutgers defense in the first half

“Yeah, I mean, whenever we had to switch on anything, open shots,  I think Nate made some tough ones. Obviously Gillespie, they run a lot of stuff for him. They’re a good post-up team, so I was really concerned with their post-up ability. I thought we did a pretty good job taking that away, and obviously giving up something on the perimeter and that’s what kind of happened. But we spent a few days, like they’re really an elite post-up team, and there’s not many post-up teams anymore, but every one of their guys can seal you in the post and finish. And obviously they’re No. 1 in offensive rebounding.  And so if you got to do a good job on that or post defense work, they got some shooters too, obviously.” 

Facing similar opposition like Tennessee in the Big Ten

“This is a top-10 basketball team. We have teams like that in the league. We got to get used to that. We had some moments tonight where we were fine, but we’re still figuring some stuff out. And their size is, they really have elite size and they just keep bringing guys off the bench. So tip of the hat, it’s a Hall of Fame coach. He’s got some size on that roster. So we have some teams in the league that kind of look like that, but not that big.” 

What Tennessee did defensively to limit Rutgers

“Yeah, I mean, they make it hard. I thought we got the ball moving inside. We showed some real signs of executing, too, in the second half. And I thought we had some open looks too that we didn’t make, and continue to miss one-and-one opportunities from the free-throw line. Games like you got to take advantage of all the times you get to the free-throw line too, because they do foul and that kind of thing. But their length is a problem. That’s a got good athleticism and they’re really deep. It’s a really good basketball tea. That causes more problems than anything.”