The Tennessee Volunteers take on the Purdue Boilermakers in a quarterfinal game of the Battle 4 Atlantis holiday tournament from Imperial Arena on Paradise Island. It's the first meeting between the schools since Purdue's 73-72 thrilling victory for the 2009 Paradise Jam Tournament Championship in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The winner will face the Villanova/Western Kentucky winner in the semi-finals on Thanksgiving Day. Television coverage coming up on ESPN2.
Some interesting thoughts from two of Purdue's seniors and the two well-respected coaches.......
PJ Thompson:
"We've just got to carry momentum and come out and be ready. We know we're about to enter into one of the toughest schedules in college basketball, in my opinion. It's nothing we haven't been through. We've been preparing for this since we've been in college. We've had a lot of work to do getting ready for this trip. This can prepare you for the NCAA tournament."
Dakota Mathias:
"We're taking on some of the top-ranked teams. We're fortunate to have a great opportunity to play some top 10 competition ***. First, we've got to take care of Tennessee, but it's just a great opportunity ahead. We're really excited about the opportunity."
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes:
"Watching Purdue play, they have been together and they are good. [They] benefited greatly this summer going to Taiwan and playing in the World University Games. I am as curious and excited to see how we respond against what is thrown at us. We are going to get hit with some things going up against some stronger, more physical teams than we have played to this point."
Purdue coach Matt Painter:
"We run into a tough opponent right away. It's important, just like you're going into any tournament, you're ready to play whether you win or you lose. You try to lock into Tennessee. I know coach Barnes' team always is tough defensively, they always play hard. Very demanding coach, very successful coach. So we know from a competitive standpoint, we're going to have to be ready to go from day one.
"I think you've got to be able to get into a mindset. You love these tournaments. You go to nice weather, it's a great setup. It's one of the best tournaments that's out there. You have to be disciplined and you have to be ready to play."
It should be a great game and well contested. Tennessee will challenge the Boilers up and down the court. Can the Boilers limit the turnovers/mistakes and hold their own on the glass? If so, they'll have an excellent chance of moving on......the competition starts ramping up quickly.
Boiler up, my friends.......and a safe and Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Some interesting thoughts from two of Purdue's seniors and the two well-respected coaches.......
PJ Thompson:
"We've just got to carry momentum and come out and be ready. We know we're about to enter into one of the toughest schedules in college basketball, in my opinion. It's nothing we haven't been through. We've been preparing for this since we've been in college. We've had a lot of work to do getting ready for this trip. This can prepare you for the NCAA tournament."
Dakota Mathias:
"We're taking on some of the top-ranked teams. We're fortunate to have a great opportunity to play some top 10 competition ***. First, we've got to take care of Tennessee, but it's just a great opportunity ahead. We're really excited about the opportunity."
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes:
"Watching Purdue play, they have been together and they are good. [They] benefited greatly this summer going to Taiwan and playing in the World University Games. I am as curious and excited to see how we respond against what is thrown at us. We are going to get hit with some things going up against some stronger, more physical teams than we have played to this point."
Purdue coach Matt Painter:
"We run into a tough opponent right away. It's important, just like you're going into any tournament, you're ready to play whether you win or you lose. You try to lock into Tennessee. I know coach Barnes' team always is tough defensively, they always play hard. Very demanding coach, very successful coach. So we know from a competitive standpoint, we're going to have to be ready to go from day one.
"I think you've got to be able to get into a mindset. You love these tournaments. You go to nice weather, it's a great setup. It's one of the best tournaments that's out there. You have to be disciplined and you have to be ready to play."
It should be a great game and well contested. Tennessee will challenge the Boilers up and down the court. Can the Boilers limit the turnovers/mistakes and hold their own on the glass? If so, they'll have an excellent chance of moving on......the competition starts ramping up quickly.
Boiler up, my friends.......and a safe and Happy Thanksgiving to all!
