What Vanderbilt HC Mark Byington Said Following Loss Against Tennessee In Knoxville – Rocky Top Insider

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Tennessee basketball handed Vanderbilt its second straight loss, knocking off the Commodores 69-65 on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.
Following the game, Vanderbilt head coach Mark Byington discussed late game struggles, Tyler Nickel’s struggles and much more. Here’s everything Byington said.
Opening statement
“Yeah, I thought it was a heck of a game. There were some things that weren’t pretty, but both teams competed extremely hard. And the unfortunate, on the side we are right now where, they got us with the score. It was a close, hard-fought game. I thought we came into the game the right way, played the right way. The frustrating thing that sticks out right now, we just left too many things out there that I think we’re capable of. And (Tennessee is a) tremendous defensive team, a tremendous rebounding team. But some there’s mistakes here and there that we just got to be able to do to be able to beat a team like that. And it’s a missed free throw, missed shot, some open things there, some execution, some screening. There’s probably 25 of those. And if we only have 20 of them, we’re winning the game. So we got to learn from it. The unfortunate part is two teams wanted to win desperately, we’re on the wrong side of it. But give credit, Tennessee, I thought they did, especially in the last minute and a half, they did the things to win.”
On Vanderbilt not calling a timeout with 13 seconds left and having a chance to tie the game
“It was coming after a free throw, and so we already had the play called that we would do right there. There’s no reason to burn a timeout. The guys knew the play to run, so we had to save our time out.”
On if they were looking for a three to tie the game or just looking for the best shot
“Yeah, we were trying to go downhill. And then the problem was, we started on the wrong side of the court and then that took an extra two or three seconds. (Tyler Tanners’) look there I think is pretty good. You look at the shot and you know it’s easy to say he missed it. Bad move, bad play, everything else. He’s an all-conference player with his feet underneath them, and shot a three. So if I’m in that situation again, and that’s what we got, I’ll take it.” 
On if the game was decided in the final minutes or if earlier droughts cost Vanderbilt more 
“Yeah, I mean, I think both teams struggled to score in segments. And we had ours. The margin of error is very small in a game like this. It’s hard to score against them. They do a great job there. So us not being great on offense wasn’t completely unexpected, but we missed opportunities. There were some shots. There some three, some execution, some things, some missed looks that were there. And my guys will come right back and the coach will come right back, and we’ll learn from it. We’ll get better.”
On if Tyler Tanner played with the flu, the physicality of the game
“It’s the SEC is very physical. He tested positive for the flu yesterday, and then he was recovering. I thought he played hard. He was not going to miss this game. That’s just who he is. And so he gave every bit of effort he has and and like I said, I’ll go down with him anytime. He’s a warrior. I love him to death. I’ll go down with him anytime.”
On what a successful response to Vanderbilt’s two straight losses looks like
“I mean, you have to respond. You don’t have a choice. You know, it happens in life. It happens in basketball. We were an inch away from winning the game at Missouri, maybe a half inch away from winning the game at Missouri. And you come back and you’re playing Tennessee, and a great basketball environment, and we just had some things that just couldn’t quite finish the last minute and a half. I mean, Nate Ament made a shot that was— gets perfect defense. And there might have been some shuffling of feet or whatever else. And you see what happened there, but he still made the shot. And you did everything right. And sometimes you do things right and you don’t get the right result.”
On Tennessee taking Tyler Nickels out of the game
“I mean, obviously he was the key for him, and he had trouble getting loose. But I think he did have some opportunities that I think he wants back too. It was a couple things where, against a good defensive team, sometimes you don’t expect something to be open. And I think there was a couple windows where he was open and I know he’ll come right back and he’ll respond. He’s a big part of our team, and he did other things well. It’s a hard fought game against good guys, and sometimes it goes that way.”
On Vanderbilt guard Duke Miles returning from injury after missing six games:
“Yeah, I mean, for Duke to miss the time he did and be able to come out and play like that today was really impressive. You know, he made some timely shots. The biggest that he helped us out with was the assists. I think he had six assists. Having another playmaker on the court was really big. We’ll get to our team and get some things going that we’ll be able to fix, but going forward with Duke, we’re going to be way better. I thought for him coming back in this game, I thought he played well.”
On Vanderbilt senior Tyler Nickel shooting 1-of-8 and 1-of-6 from three
“Yeah. I mean, you know, sometimes it’s, you know, you always talk about what was happening with us, and you discredit the other team. And that’s not a situation right here, where they did a good job and we still could have won. And so they did a good job on Tyler Nickel. We still could have won. He could have (had) some open plays. It was a hard-fought game, and you know, I would love to be able to sit there and say we played hard, we competed, and it’s going to be a happy ending. But this is sports, and this is high-level sports, so didn’t go our way tonight. So we got to come right back. We got our last home game of the year on Wednesday, then we got to finish the last three on the road, and it’s a big game on Wednesday, so we got to come back ready to play.”
On how he felt Vanderbilt played against Tennessee’s frontcourt
“Yeah, I mean, it kind of helped us. Felix (Okpara) was in foul trouble. I think he’s a terrific player. And you know, they played without J.P. today, and another really good player. But you know, it’s the strength of their team. You know, they have that two guys that are shooting majority of the shots, that are high-level players in (Ja’Kobi) Gillespie and Ament, and the other guy’s job is to be physical and rebound. And I think the guys are buying into the roles of kind of doing that. I thought our response was pretty good. You know, going into the game was a fear of mind, a big focus on the rebound and the physicality, and I thought we held our own. But they’re one of the best that we’ll ever go against and one of the best in the country at it.”
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