What new Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said about facing No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday

What first-year Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said this week about Saturday afternoon’s game against No. 6 Tennessee at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville:

Opening Statement

“Watching the tape of the South Carolina (game) … it was a hectic ending. Some things didn’t go our way, but we just found a way to win. And you know, there’s going to be a lot of them like that. And you know, you got to have resiliency. You got to be able to figure something out. And it’s a learning experience from what we did right and what we did wrong in the game. You know, we’re a work in progress, trying to get better and we’re in situations many times this year where we hopefully we show growth if we’re picking up things the right way.

“And then now it’s on to Tennessee. Tremendous challenge. One of the best, if not the best team in the country. Unbelievable defensive team, and just have such a good culture and know the ways about them. You know, having a point guard like (Zakai) Zeigler around for years and just stability there. Added great transfers. Obviously a great coach (Rick Barnes). So, big challenge, something we’re excited about. Big challenge on Saturday.”

What he knows about the Vanderbilt-Tennessee rivalry, what he’s told his players

“We haven’t talked about it yet. You know, our first (practice) is going to be this afternoon (Thursday). And, you know, when you’re at different places you understand kind of the intensity with rivals and the rivalry games. I’ve been a part of some good ones. Excited about this one. Excited about the fans, the crowd, the energy and, you know, we can’t let that get caught up in us trying to perform our job the best we can there. But it’s gonna be a great atmosphere.”

If he has spoken to any former Vanderbilt players about the rivalry

“No, I haven’ t… I’m sure that any former player, alumni or fan, they want to make sure at 2:30 (Central Time) on Saturday, they’re able to be here to watch it. I’m sure it’s the guys who played here, but also many others too.”

If they approach the rivalry any differently since they’ve never experienced it:

“A lot of guys on my team have not experienced this rivalry, but I got older guys, and they’ve been in different variations of some good ones across the country. But now we’re into this one and we’re not going to approach it any other way. I mean, we give every single thing to every game, and we’re not gonna give any more to this one, than we will the one before this, or the one after it, but I know it’s intensified with the fans and the attention. So we do know that part of it, but we go into every single game doing the best we can to prepare the hardest we can.”

Beginning a three-game stretch of facing Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, how important it is to see how Vanderbilt stacks up in the SEC 

“It’s daunting if you look at what’s in front of us, but then at the same time, we can only play the next game, and so we’ll put everything into Tennessee and then after that, you know, learn from it, what we did right, what we did wrong, and regroup and go to the next one. I think sometimes, if you look too far down the line, it can be intimidating, or some times you can get frustrated, or get anxiety, and we’re just gonna put everything in the next one. When this one’s over, we’ll do the same thing again.”

What Vanderbilt’s offense needs to do against Tennessee’s defense

“Yeah, their defense is incredible. I coached against Tony Bennett at UVA, and you know, when you’re going against teams like this, like Tennessee and like Tony Bennett’s UVA teams, it’s a chore to score, and you’re trying to find different ways. And it’s not easy. Sometimes you get an open shot, you’re so surprised you get an open shot that you won’t make that because you’re like, ‘Hey, I can’t believe they made a mistake.’

“So just figuring out ways. Obviously, you know our defense is going to be good, and you know, you’re not going to go out and score 80, 90 points on them. It’s just not going to happen. So embrace the game, try to finish, try to make some shots, try to find some ways. And I don’t have that answer today. Got two more days to try to figure out a way.”

Tennessee senior point guard Zakai Zeigler

“You watch Zeigler, and as a coach, you just admire everything he does on the court. He’s a winner. His demeanor, running the team and making plays and he’s not a stat guy. I think the stat for him is winning. And so having somebody like that be the anchor of your program is really good. And having somebody has been, you know, year after year and be in there so when there’s new transfers that come in who are really talented, they got somebody to lean on. So tremendous respect for him. Defense, one of the best in the country. You know, offense, intangibles. I mean, he just does it all.”

His relationship with Rick Barnes prior to getting the Vanderbilt job:

“Yeah, I think I’m supposed to hate Coach Barnes, but I can tell you my second day on the job, he called me and we had a long talk. He could not have been more genuine. Welcomed me to the league and asked if I needed help. And, you know, I guess we’re supposed to hate him, but he’s a good guy, he’s genuine, and he is who he is. Great respect for him, and everything he’s done.”

The crowd he’s expecting to see inside of Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday against Tennessee

“Yeah, I love having our students back. We had a great crowd against Mississippi State, and we actually felt disappointed we didn’t win the game for our fans. They came out and gave us a great environment. Then it was similar yesterday against South Carolina. It was a good crowd and we know it’s going to be amped even more against Tennessee. We need a positive, loud, intimidating environment. (Need) to try to keep the orange out of the building the best we can. And it’s what college basketball is about. You work a lot of days to be able to play in a fun environment and a game like this.”

How he would evaluate Vanderbilt’s offense right now

“Yeah, the offense hasn’t been clicking. And it’s a couple things. If we finish two or three more times around the basket, which we should. We’re not finishing around the basket. We make two or three more threes a game. Those things kind of alleviate and we’re getting good shots, open shots. Not all of them, but more than we’re actually converting on. So we do got to do some tweaking, some things to fix and the way this league is right now, it’s great defensive teams. The athleticism, kind of the physicality, you know, has affected our offense. I think we’ve done a good job responding on our defensive side to be good that way, but our offense needs to come up some.”

Vanderbilt freshman guard Tyler Tanner sparking a lot of runs

“Yeah, I mean, we’re trying to expand his minutes. He was doubtful for yesterday’s game (because of an) injury in practice, and we didn’t know if he was going to be able to play yesterday, but he’s tough. He doesn’t look that way in his face, but he’s actually really tough, and we do need him to expand and be more aggressive. He is a playmaker, can do more things on offense. His defense is incredible. A lot of times, you talked about that run, it’s usually with his defense making the great play for us.”

Wanting to trap Tennessee’s post players after frustrating South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles

“Yeah, I mean, you try to use your strengths and weaknesses. We’re not the biggest team in the world, but at the same time, we do have some things we can do well. And we go into each game trying to give ourselves the best chance to win. And you know, whether it’s how we play a certain play, or a scheme, or whatever else, we’ll make adjustments. But I think our guys are really bought in to understanding gameplan, understanding (to) give ourselves the best chance to win. And you know, we’ll need same thing, not just, you know, the next game, but every single game in the SEC.”

Michigan State transfer guard AJ Hoggard getting the ball in crunch time with the game on the line

“He’s experienced and, you know, right now, in these games, we’re trying to create offense, and we’ll do it different ways. We got multiple guys that can score. We have been leaning on AJ in some SEC games. And, you know, I thought we did a great job closing the half out yesterday. Jason Edwards made a big three there to send us into halftime, and then AJ’s shot at the end of the game was a good quality shot. I think his ability to score, but also pass the ball … I got trust in multiple guys, but we’ve used AJ here, you know, in the SEC games, because his experience and he’s been coming through for us and playing well.”

Turning over opponents this year, if there are any adjustments to make to continue to have success when facing guys like Zakai Zeigler and Alabama’s Mark Sears

“When you see matchups and good players like that, it will be just one on one. We’re a team defense and then other guys got to be in their right position. A lot of our turnovers yesterday came from off the ball, of guys being in the right spot with the gameplan. We just want to be aggressive. We want to be in the right spot and be aggressive. And the really good guards, they’re not going to turn it over, but at the same time, team defense can maybe just help out a little bit.”

Point guard Grant Huffman’s (illness) availability, how Vanderbilt may have to continue to play without him after he missed the South Carolina game

“We were definitely different last night. A good ball-handler, great on the ball defense, and you know, he actually had a good scoring output against Mississippi State. We’ll learn more about his status today. He’s trying to get himself back right, and he wanted to play yesterday, but I mean, you could look at his face, and he just wasn’t there.”