Wow, Wow. I am just so thrilled that we were able to pull that one out.
First off, I gotta say that having experienced and battle tested guys like we do definitely makes a difference and it showed in the 2nd half. They really locked in on the defensive end and gave it right back to them. Tennessee went on a stretch where they didn't hit a field goal for about 8 minutes and were out of sorts.
You could see the poise of our guys late in the game, like they’ve been there before. Well they did look at last year against Arkansas and Gonzaga.
There was a play when an off the ball foul was called on Theo with less than 4 left and Theo got a little annoyed and flustered, but Joel just brought the guys together and calmed everyone down which it did. You can't teach stuff like that, its just in a guy to do that and have that affect on a team.
Roy gave it Joel in the first half, he only played 9 minutes and the kid came out ready to go in the second half playing 19 minutes and leading our guys with his toughness, poise and intensity. Tennessee may play very tough, but there is no one and I repeat no one tougher than Joel Berry. It showed tonight because he led our guys to a big and very satisfying road win.