What Tennessee players said after 72-66 Elite 8 loss to Purdue in the Midwest Regional final

DETROIT — What Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht, Josiah-Jordan James and Zakai Zeigler said after No. 2 Tennessee’s 72-66 Elite Eight loss to No. 1 Purude Sunday afternoon in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional final at Little Caesars Arena:

Q.  Josiah, can you just, and I know it’s probably too quick, but emotionally can you just kind of sum up where you are after everything you guys have been through this year.

JOSIAH-JORDAN JAMES: It’s hard to put into words, like the pain that I feel right now, but it’s even harder to put into words like the joy and the happiness I’ve gotten from being around this team, this university for the past five years. These guys mean so much to me.

I can’t really describe it, but I love them. I love them so much.

Q.  Dalton, you had back-to-back threes to make them take a timeout, and after then they started guarding you a little tighter off the screen. What adjustments do you have to make to your game in order to get yourself open when that happens?

DALTON KNECHT: Just watch the film with Coach and see where I can improve my game for the future and stuff like that. They made their adjustments. I got to make my adjustments and just learn off of it.

Q.  Question for Dalton. When you look back at this, and I know it’s tough to do in the moment after, but can you feel good knowing that you went down swinging and you gave it your all and put your team on your back and got you as close as you did to where you got?

DALTON KNECHT: I don’t think I put the team on my back. I think all of us carried each other. I think every single one of us did what we needed to do.

At the end of the day, they were just the better team, and we didn’t — we always were coming out swinging.

Yeah, I just love these guys, and I wish we could have one more game. I’m thankful for all these guys for accepting me for my one year here, as well as the coaching staff.

Q.  Zakai, can you share your thoughts on the game Dalton had and maybe on surrounding cast not playing as well as it has in many games this season.

ZAKAI ZEIGLER: DK, he’s a fighter. Every night he’s going to do what he did tonight. We think he’s the best player in the country. That will always be how I see him in my eyes, best player in the country.

Purdue, they did their thing. They won the game. Hopefully they’ll go out and win the next game also. We just didn’t execute some stuff, and Coach always told us it comes down to little things.

We fought. Every guy in that locker room, we wanted to win. I don’t feel like anybody in there had any doubt in their mind that we could still win the game or had any doubt in their mind that going into the game that we wouldn’t win.

I know everybody in there fought and did whatever they had to do and left it all out there on the floor. Just got to give it to Purdue. They did what they had to do, and they won the game.

Q.  Dalton, obviously not the result you would want, but the game that yourself and Zach Edey had, just the back and forth battle, it seemed like every time Zach hit a basket, you kind of answered. What’s it like to be in a game featuring two great players such as yourself and Zach?

DALTON KNECHT: Yeah, we were going back and forth, but I think it’s — for me, it’s my teammates for having the belief in me to go out there and keep shooting it and keep running plays for me and stuff like that and just having the trust to have the ball in my hands.

I think it’s just credit to my teammates for making it super easy just for me to go out there and be myself.

Q.  Josiah, it’s always difficult when you get to this point in the season, but has this season felt different to you, and does this feel different now? As Coach said, you left it all out there, no regrets?

JOSIAH-JORDAN JAMES: Yeah, I’m obviously proud of everything we were able to accomplish. This group in my five years of being here was the most fun to be around. We genuinely loved each other so much, and that’s the hardest part sitting here right now. Just not being able to go to practice tomorrow and knowing that the season is really over.

But the relationships that we have are lifelong relationships. I just hated that our season had to end so early.

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