NO. 20/22 KENTUCKY (0-0)
vs Central Arkansas (0-0)
Tuesday, Nov. 6 – 7:00 p.m. ET
Rupp Arena (23,000) – Lexington, Ky.
TV: ESPNU
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With the exhibition schedule complete, the Billy Gillispie Era officially begins Tuesday when 20th-ranked Kentucky takes on Central Arkansas in the first round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer.
Gillispie, who begins his first season as the head coach of the Wildcats, comes to UK with a 100-56 career record after stops at UTEP (30-32 in two years) and Texas A&M (70-26 in three years) prior to coming to Lexington.
The Wildcats ended their preseason schedule with a 2-0 record posting wins over Pikeville College (99-64) and Seattle (82-63). Jodie Meeks led the way offensively, averaging 22.5 points while Patrick Patterson averaged a team best 8.0 rebounds.
Alabama A&M and Gardner-Webb face off at 4 p.m., Tuesday in the Lexington Regional opening round The winner of the four-team Lexington Regional advances to the semifinals next week at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
CAT SCRATCHES
A limited number of tickets remain for 2K Sports College Hoops Classic games at Rupp Arena. Fans should contact the UK Ticket Office (859-257-1818) or . Wednesday?s Lexington Regional consolation is at 6 p.m., with the finals at 9 p.m. Kentucky is in its 105th season of basketball. Kentucky is the all-time NCAA leader in wins with 1,948. Kentucky is 86-18 all-time in season openers and has won five-straight season openers. The Wildcats are also 89-15 all-time in home openers and have won five straight home-opening games. Once again, every Wildcat basketball game will be televised live, including UK?s two exhibition games. UK is on CBC seven times, ESPN/ESPN2 a potential 11 times, ESPNU twice, FSN South five times and Lincoln Financial Sports six times.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – NOV. 5
Head Coach Billy Gillispie
On starting the season against Central Arkansas?
?It?s always a scary proposition anytime you?re starting the season, and you?re playing against a team when you don?t have very much experience and the other team has quite a bit more. I know on the outside everybody thinks, ?Well, you?re Kentucky and it?s Central Arkansas,? but that?s not the way it is anymore in college sports, because there are so many good players everywhere. Central Arkansas is a really well-coached team, and they have a bunch of guys back. They?re very athletic, and they really do a good job of exposing the opponent?s defense. They?ll try to back-door us and those kinds of things, and they?ve been good on the offensive boards, which has been a weakness for us. So they?re a real scary team. They only averaged a little less than 14 turnovers last season, and that?s what we?ve been kind of dependent upon so far, so they?re a really scary team. Because you?re starting to play the games for real, they count right now. I look forward to the game, but I?m very anxious about it.?
On the team?s conditioning?
?I think they?re in really good condition for this point in the season. I think they?re learning how to play through four and five minute periods in the games, and you only can do that through game experience. No matter how much you can run and how much you can practice, it?s a little bit more constant than it is in practice, unless you?re in a scrimmage situation in practice. It just takes some time. I think being in the arena, it?s different. I think being there with fans, it?s different. I think all those add to their anxiety, and I think it probably hinders your conditioning a bit. But it?s just something you have to get through, but you can?t get through it until you do it.?
On the effect conditioning has on playing games two nights in a row?
?It should help us. We pride ourselves on being in fantastic condition, and we?re trying to learn how to play tough. We definitely have a long way to go, just like everyone else does at this point, I would assume. It?s not something we?re really concerned about, having to play back-to-back nights.?
On the team?s improvement of its dribble penetration?
?We?re a little bit better, but Seattle really didn?t try to do that as much. They weren?t as athletic, and I know Pikeville?s guards are small and they?re really hard to guard off the dribble. They did a really good job of spreading you out. I thought Seattle didn?t try to do that quite as much the other night. We?ve got a bunch of guys still making mistakes in that area, but, the thing about it is, we?re probably trying to get them to pressure the ball a little more than they?ve done in the past. For the new guys and guys that haven?t played a whole lot, until you get the game experience, sometimes it?s very difficult to do. I thought we improved quite a bit, even though, I thought, offensively we didn?t really have too many good possessions the entire game. I thought defensively we did okay against a team that was experienced, and they were strong, physically strong, and they could protect the ball. We?re a work in progress, obviously.?
On the line between playing tough and physical and playing smart?
?If you?re going to be good, you have to do both, in my opinion. You have to be tough. Our guys have played fairly smart for exhibition games. We?ve done okay, and they?ve done what I?ve asked them to do. We understand the byproducts sometimes of playing physical are going to be early-season fouls. But if you don?t play tough right now, you?re definitely not going to play tough later. What you learn to do is you adjust to the officiating for that particular night, and you adjust as you continue to go throughout the season. Your fouls start diminishing and your toughness prevails, and that?s the way you have both successes.?
On his anxiety to get the season started?
?It doesn?t matter about me. We?re going to be prepared against a team that will be dangerous, and then we?ll do the same thing the next night. I think all coaches have a lot of sleepless nights, but that really doesn?t have anything to do with the outcome of the game. The players have to be mentally prepared, physically prepared and focused, and do all the things that give you the best chance to win. That?s a problem that I have, but it has no bearing on the outcome of the game. It?s a matter of how well we teach, and how those guys accept what you?re teaching and perform what you?re teaching. It comes down to how good of a player you have, how well they?re taught and how well they?re competing against their opponent.?
On tempering expectations on areas that are a work-in-progress?
?I think if you start tempering expectations, you start accepting less than you want. I couldn?t care less about what day of the week it is. I think I have to be understanding, and know what day of the month it is, but we?re not going to expect anything less. If you start expecting less, then you?re going to get what you expect. If you expect less, in my opinion, you?re setting your sights too low. We?re going to shoot for the moon every single day of practice, and we?re going to shoot for the moon every time we play. We might not always get to the moon, but that?s what we?re going to be shooting for.?
Kentucky Players
#42 Mark Coury, Sophomore
On what Coach Gillispie expects from him?.
?He wants me to be the toughest player in the SEC. I certainly want to be tough and Coach Gillispie is doing everything he can to make us tough. We play as hard as we can every day whether it’s practice or a game. I want to out hustle everyone and be a leader by example.?
On the season starting?
?We are all very excited for the real season starting up tomorrow night. We are working to try and win every game and make Coach Gillispie proud. I am putting 100% effort into everything and hopefully we will get what we deserve. We are working as hard as we can in practice. We want to play good defense and play smart. Coach really wants all of us talking more on defense.?
On getting more playing time?
?I feel more comfortable with myself. We are practicing game-like situations and I feel like that is helping me a lot so far. I don?t really feel any difference in my desire this year from last (which is) to go out and play hard and to help make our team better. We have been practicing our high/low passes for months now. I am confident that Patrick (Patterson) or Perry (Stevenson) will be there when I am making that pass. Our guards are great passers also. You just get a feel for where everyone is going to be on the court and it is making everyone better.?
#54 Patrick Patterson, Freshman
on the difference between an exhibition game and regular season game?
?It?s pretty much the same thing. We all play with the same intensity and want to win. It doesn?t matter who or what game it is, we all play hard.?
On his play during the exhibition games?
?I played well. I need to step it up on my rebounding. I didn?t get many rebounds in the last game, so my assessment for my part in the games will be to step up my rebounding.?
On if he was surprised about how well he played?
?I was surprised from the offensive side – stepping up and putting up numbers. Luckily Ramel (Bradley) and all the others found me inside. We had good ball movement, and everyone was looking for each other. I?m just glad I could contribute.?
On if the attention he’s receiving is going to his head?
?No, my parents have raised me well – always to stay levelheaded and confident and never cocky. We have great leaders on the team with Ramel (Bradley) and Joe (Crawford). They are always telling us to stay levelheaded and to not get cocky.?
On the official season starting?
?Everything is getting real now, everything is counting. The team has to come out like we have been, with the same intensity, lock up on defense, and give 110%.?
On the recent practices…
?It?s been intense. Everyone has been contributing, going hard, and stepping up. Coach (Gillispie) has been getting on to us, which we need that right now. Ramel and Joe have been stepping up and have been great leaders. We?ve all been working hard, and concentrating on the game.?
#21 Perry Stevenson, Sophomore
On how important it is for Ramel Bradley to step and be a leader?
?It is very important because there are only two seniors on the team but I have no doubt he will.?
On playing back-to-back nights?
?Our boot camp will definitely help us out these next couple of nights.?
On how far the team has come since starting practice?
?A long way. We are better conditioned and have better team chemistry. It’s also helpful knowing we have good freshmen and we can depend on them.?
On practices being tough?
?Practices are tough but it?s nothing we didn?t expect. All the enthusiasm helps out – from all the players cheering you on when you are running down the court or going for loose balls.?
On Coach Gillispie?
?Everyone likes him a lot. We had a chance to leave when he came but no one did. Coach always tells you the truth even if you don?t like it and he never sugarcoats anything.?
On his impressions of Patrick Patterson?
?He?s a man. It?s good to know when you throw the ball to him he?s going to take care of it and make something happen. He gives 110% all the time.?
