MTSU basketball gave Tennessee everything it wanted for nearly 30 minutes Monday night in Knoxville. But the Vols used their elite defense to take a late lead and claim an 82-64 win in Knoxville.

Following the game, MTSU head coach Nate McDevitt discussed the difference in offense in the two halves, Tennessee’s Jahmai Mashack and more. Here’s everything McDevitt said.

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Opening speech

“Congratulations to Coach Barnes and his group. They are the No. 1 team in the country for a reason. They are hard and put a lot of pressure on you on both sides. I was really proud of our team. I thought we were just hit after hit for about 35 minutes. And I thought we would be a bit tired and drained at the end.

“Jlynn Counter went out with cramps, so Cam (Camryn Weston) had to play a long stretch and come out. And then all of a sudden you’re out there and you don’t have any of your point guards anymore. That put a lot of strain on us offensively. That’s hard to take when you’re playing against a defensive team like Tennessee.

“There were a few breaks that just had to go our way, but they didn’t work out. We didn’t use the free throw line. But they’re just so physical on both sides of the ball. They go hard and physical on offense. They hardly ever seem to get out of position on defense. So they challenge you. But here too, I am very proud of our team and what we did here tonight.”

He expected Tennessee to make adjustments in the second half

“That they would be physical and try to get to the rim on offense. One of the things that worked for them in the first half was that they were able to throw lobs to their big defenders. We assumed that with some of our substitutions they would become more aggressive in defense and try to exploit the size and strength of their forwards. We expected there to be a lot of pin-down curls to get the ball in the paint because as soon as you don’t help, you get two great points in (Chaz) Lanier and (Jordan) Gainey that are in the Play paint. If you help too much, they will throw praises to the great athletes. And we just thought they would put more pressure on the rim, and they did.”

About what MTSU did well in the first half

“The good thing is that we have an experienced club. I think we have nine guys who are 22 and older. So that’s what you need in an environment like this. They go for a run. They are really good. It’s noisy. They want an experienced ball club that can handle it. Yes. I don’t think you have to play perfectly, but a lot of things had to go the way you wanted them to and it just didn’t work out.”

Where they felt they could attack Tennessee

“We wanted to play fast to get out in transition because when they’re back and setting the tone with their half-court defense, it’s hard to get them out of position. That’s why we wanted to take advantage of our speed and speed in transition. In the first half we were eight for twelve on transit field goals as we set them. I don’t know what it meant for the game. We wanted to go on the offensive. We thought this would be an area we could exploit if there was a chink in the armor, which we thought there might be. We were in the top 20% and 25% of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country and we wanted to try to take advantage of that.”

An offensive success in the first half

“We talked about just not holding the ball and I think we did a good job of that. For him, it’s not about catching it and holding it.”

About how Jahmai Mashack had a huge impact on the game while only playing one show

“Energy man. Your glue guy. He’s a really, really good defensive player. He seems to know the pulse of the team. He and Zeigler are actually just too small for their positions at this level, but that’s not how hard they play. I mean, they don’t seem to get tired. You get a lot of distractions. They are able to switch and guard bigger players. There are two really tough young men there, but Mashack is squeezing everything out of himself to help this ball club.”

Next, when they’ve gotten enough out of the non-conference slate to be ready for CUSA

“Yes. We were able to play in an MTE where we are on a neutral ground. Played tough away games. Can win some home games. So, yeah, you got some good answers. I think we’re a tough group. I think we’re a resilient group and that’s what you want to see Both us and Tennessee have a long three months ahead of us And physically, we mentally weak, emotionally weak guys, you have no chance League is real at the moment well I think KenPom has us in ninth place. The American is 10. So obviously it’s going to be tough in the SEC told our guys, now you see what it’s going to look like playing against a top team in the country if you want to get to the NCAA Tournament, now we know what the adjustments are and how well we had to play um to win the first round game.”