NO. 25 KENTUCKY (15-4, 4-1 SEC)
at Georgia (11-6, 3-2 SEC)
Wednesday, January 24 – 7:00 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) ? Athens, Ga.
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The Wildcats travel to Athens where they will put their unbeaten SEC road record on the line against the Georgia Bulldogs. UK is 2-0 on the road in the conference, collecting wins at Ole Miss (68-58) and South Carolina (87-49).
Kentucky had its 11-game winning streak and its 10-game Rupp Arena winning streak snapped against Vanderbilt on Saturday. The hot-shooting Commodores hit 50 percent from the field, the first time in two months a UK foe had made at least half of its shots.
UK owns a 106-21 all-time mark against Georgia, including a current five game winning streak against the Bulldogs and a 36-14 mark in Athens. The Wildcats are 29-11 all-time against the Bulldogs in Stegeman Coliseum including two straight wins on the Bulldogs? home floor. However, UK has a mark of 29-13 in the Coliseum all-time, losing two NCAA Tournament games on the floor during the 1971 tournament.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – JAN. 23
Head Coach Tubby Smith
?The last day or so we have been working on trying to get ourselves back on track. We didn?t defend very well in our loss to Vanderbilt, didn?t execute that well on both ends of the court, neither offensively or defensively. It was a real disappoint, but we?ve tried to correct it and work on the mistakes we made yesterday in practice. I think we improved in some areas. We need to be improving, because a team like Georgia is very capable of beating us. They?re probably the most improved team, not just in this conference but, maybe even in the country. They?ve always been a very well coached team. They always play extremely hard. They?re always very organized. They?re very aggressive at both ends of the court. They?re really attacking on offense this year; they are scoring about 10 more points a game than they did last year. We?re going to have to learn. Vanderbilt had a really good formula for stopping us. They were very aggressive and very physical. They?re wing people really challenged Joe Crawford?s and Ramel Bradley?s shots. We?re going to expect the same from Georgia. There are things we?re trying to improve on, especially our execution in crucial situations, like when we need to score in late game situations. The turnovers at the end of the game the other night, we felt that if we could have just taken care of the basketball we would have been able to get up some good shots and possibly win the game. Then we also need to get defensive stops. A lot of our lack of execution I felt was due to Vanderbilt?s good defense. We really need to get back to playing our style of basketball. I?d like to see us get the ball up and down the court faster. Looking back on the Vanderbilt game, I felt like that was an area we could improve on. I thought too many of our guys played too many minutes. I thought fatigue was a factor at the end of that game. We need to find a way to get some more balance, and get some more people in the lineup. The people coming into the game have to be more productive. The problem we had on Saturday was that our bench wasn?t productive other than Sheray (Thomas). So, we need to get a little more production from the guys coming in off of the bench. I feel like Sundiata Gaines is having a really good year shooting the ball. He?s shooting the ball over 48 percent from threes. He?s really upped his game from last year when he didn?t shoot the ball that well. He?s always been one of the best assist-to-turnover guys in the league. He?s a guy that can really push the ball up the court all of the time. He?s always looking to attack the basket. I like (Mike) Mercer who is a sophomore; he?s really playing great. He?s a scorer and he?s a guy that can really get his own shot. He?s very active and very aggressive. They are all very talented. As well as their big guys inside like (Steve) Newman and (Dave) Bliss. They?ve been really improving every game. Then Takais Brown, the junior college player, is playing really well also.?
On practice this week?
?I thought for the better part of practice is was better than last week. We went a little longer than normal. But, we had so many things that we needed to correct to be honest with you. So, we had to go a little longer than we expected at practice yesterday. We?ve got to get things done. Now is the time for those mistakes to be minimized though. That?s the worse part about it, we?re making the same mistakes.?
On his team?s lack of execution?
?Effort. It?s a lack of effort. We?ve got to get better effort. If you don?t get that, that?s a problem. But, I think a lot of it is a team like Vanderbilt. Georgia is a lot like them, they?re very good in transition. They?re (Vanderbilt) a very heady team. They did a good job of keeping the ball out of Randolph?s (Morris) hands. They doubled him. He really never got the chance to really get his body on anybody. I really didn?t think we looked to throw the ball inside as well as we should. It?s a combination of both there.?
On keeping his veteran guys fresh for late-game situations?
?You have to do that (rotate the lineup), but we haven?t been able to execute with the veteran guys in the lineup so you have to turn to the younger guys. So, I have to take that as I need to get them more rest earlier so that they (the veterans) can be stronger and be fresher in the end. That?s where I think I would go. I need to do a better job as far as substituting.?
On getting Randolph Morris more involved in the offense?
?He didn?t work hard enough to get the ball, and our perimeter guys didn?t work hard enough to get him the ball. It?s always two people. That?s what happens when you?re being pressured. You have to give him (Morris) an opportunity to get in a stance and call for the ball. The perimeter guy has to get in a good triple threat stance to look for him. You have to be able to read the defense. You can?t let them push you out of what you want to do. You also need to be in a position to feed the post. I thought Vanderbilt?s defense really bothered us at the wing. Ramel (Bradley) is probably our best post-feeder. Sheray (Thomas) is probably second-best. We need to get Bobby (Perry) and Joe (Crawford) to look down there more and Derrick (Jasper). Derrick is better in transition, like when he?s beating you off of the dribble. We have to get him better in a half-court offensive execution set. That?s what he struggles with.?
On Jodie Meeks?
?I think people have really scouted him to see what he does. People have been right in his face and taken his shot away from him or they?ve been right there to contest it. He has to figure out other ways to get his shots. He needs to learn to go both ways off of the dribble. You can try to develop him in practice, with shooting drills. We?ve been having him shot fake go left, and shot fake go right. We try to get him to put the ball on the floor an equal number of times going both ways. You have a tendency to revert back to what you do best. You?re right though, I don?t think he?s really played with the same type of focus that he had early on. The competition has gotten better, and the adjustments teams make have affected him as well.?
On the physicality of Georgia?s play?
?I want to say they are twice as physical (as Vanderbilt). It has to do with the way they play and their personnel. They have quicker people on the perimeter so they can really deny the ball. (Levi) Stukes, (Sundiata) Gaines and (Mike) Mercer are quicker. Vanderbilt?s guys did a good job also. Their length is not the same as Vanderbilt?s, but I think they are able to pressure better with their wingspan.?
Kentucky Players
#23 Sheray Thomas
On the freshmen?s play in conference action?
?At this point in the season it definitely takes a toll on you. They?re finding out that it?s different than high school. You have to play all of the time and go to class. You kind of get down a little after a loss more so when you?re young. They?ve been used to the praise and the uplifting comments when we were on our win streak, now they?re feeling and learning from the backlash of a loss.?
On practice this week?
?We had a really long practice yesterday. It was tough. I felt like we practiced the whole day. Coach has been harping on us; all of the coaches have been harping on us to fix the little things. They are yelling at us over and over. I feel like we?re getting better. Yes, the practices are longer but we?re correcting our mistakes. Hopefully it will pay off and we?ll get a win tomorrow night.?
On whether or not the team plays better on the road?
?We kind of feel like it?s us against everybody when we?re on the road. We?ll have to see whether or not that?s accurate. Certainly playing on the road takes a little pressure off of you. People at Rupp expect a lot out of us at home. They expect us to win every game. When we are on the road it is just us and we can focus a little better.?
#3 Ramel Bradley
On whether or not the Vanderbilt loss can be considered a good loss?
?I think sometimes you can have a good loss. But, the Vanderbilt game isn?t one for me. We feel like we could have done some things better which would have changed the outcome of the game.?
On the importance of establishing Randolph Morris early against Georgia?
?We have to get Randolph going early in the game. We have to look into him and go to him. He?s our catalyst. When they double down on him, the rest of us have to be making cuts and trying to get open because he?ll pass it when we?re open. He does need to be a little more demanding, but we need to get him the ball.?
On the players? calling a private meeting?
?The leaders of this team called a meeting for just the players. Bobby (Perry) and I called the meeting, and what was said was between us. Basically, we just let everybody know that we have to put this game (the Vanderbilt game) behind us. We can?t worry about Vanderbilt anymore. We need to fix our mistakes and get ready for Georgia. We?ve got to play defense better and rebound better. Everyone needs to bring to the table what he can do for the team.?
#33 Randolph Morris
On Coach Smith telling him he needs to demand the ball more?
?Everyone has been beating into my brain that I need to do it. I guess I?ve been too passive lately. I just need to demand the ball more. I need to accept reality. It is fair to ask that of me. I need to help this team do what it needs for us to win. Demanding the ball is different than taking a whole lot of shots. I need to establish myself early and that will help us continue to stay intense offensively.?
On conference teams adjusting to his style of play?
?Teams are finding ways to be effective. But, it all comes down to me. I have to keep playing well. We?re trying to do some different things that will help me. Even if I?m not scoring, there are other things I can do to help this team like rebounding and playing good defense.?
On Georgia being physical in the paint and playing in front of his home town?
?They love to play physical in the post. It?s going to be a tough game down there. They like to overplay on defense though. We just need to keep our intensity. I only really like playing down there because it?s an easier travel schedule for my family to come and watch. It?s just another game to me. We need to go down there and take care of business.?
