Feb. 13, 2002
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Head Coach Tubby Smith
On the game…
“It took us playing good defense to win this. Vanderbilt did a good job controlling the tempo. What’s disappointing is our rebounding. Vandy had a good game plan when they would run the backdoor because they created some problems.”
On Kentucky’s pressure defense…
“We tried to press from the beginning. They are a very good team at handling the pressure. We weren’t getting many transition baskets. When we were in the press, we got them to turnover the ball a few times and call timeouts. But when we got into transition, we didn’t capitalize.”
“Our defense won the game for us: six steals, eight blocks and we forced 17 turnovers. Keith (Bogans) played well tonight. If we can play sound defense, we’ll be in the games. We just aren’t scoring points. We did early in the season, but we haven’t been lately.”
On whether Cliff Hawkins passing up open shots was part of his game plan…
“There’s a reason why you are wide open in basketball, so we do want him to do other things. We just tell him to get us in our offense.”
On Gerald Fitch’s steal toward the end of the game…
“That was huge. Vandy had cut our lead to four. He has played really well on both ends of the floor. He stepped up and hit free throws down the stretch.”
On the Cats’ play down the stretch of the season…
“I like the way we are coming together more. We just need to make shots. Tonight was one of the best games of us coming together and playing as a team.”
UK PLAYERS
Tayshaun Prince, F
“Defense was the key for us tonight. Overall we weren’t hitting from the outside. Vanderbilt ran a lot of different offenses at us. They moved the ball and screened well. We had to be ready for everything.”
On what seems to be holding Kentucky back…
“We seem to make a lot of turnovers at the wrong time, when teams are trying to come back. We’ve got to start establishing a better inside game with our post players. When we do get the ball inside, positive things happen.”
Jules Camara, F
“We obviously didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight, but I thought our defense was strong. We were looking out for each other.”
On upcoming games…
“Going into these last games we’ve got to become a circle, a tight circle. It’s like we’re going into a war.”
Keith Bogans, G
“I was just trying to give an all-out effort. After sitting out that long during the last game I wanted to let Coach know I was ready to play.”
“I just let the game come to me. I didn’t try to force anything.”
“The next two weeks we have to play defense like we played tonight. We also have to make shots, but the main thing is defense. Coach always says defense wins championships.”
Gerald Fitch, G
“We have been struggling a little at home. I’m not sure what the problem is, but I think it’s a good thing to play well away from home because the tournament games are on the road.”
On his steal at the end of the game…
“I just anticipated the pass. I was disappointed with my defense throughout the game and I just wanted to come back strong.”
“I think our defense as a team was good tonight, but I was very unsatisfied with my personal effort. I got hit with some screens that I could have avoided.”
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings
On how UK won…
“It was a case in the second half of us putting them on the foul line too much. They are really good defensively and then we missed a number of shots from close in. I thought our missed lay-ups and the fact that they got to the foul line so much was our downfall.”
On the Vanderbilt effort…
“I think our guys played a good game but not a great game. We did some things better than we have been doing. I think we made some progress, but we’re looking for wins, not progress.”
On the Kentucky defense…
“They have the ability to turn it up when they need to. Few teams have that ability. Kentucky has another gear that they can go to when they need to. They turned it up and got stops. They altered so many of our shots in toward the basket.”
On what Vanderbilt needed to do better…
“We didn’t always get the ball to the right spots. But when we did, they were very effective in getting there and blocking or altering our shots. I didn’t feel like we executed as well as we could have. A lot of it was them, but some of it was us.”
On Chuck Moore…
“He is a solid, consistent player. He plays both ends of the floor. He’s just been a very solid guy for us. He shoots it well, he’s good off the dribble and he’s our best perimeter defender. He’s a real key part of what we do.”
On Kentucky as a whole…
“I think they are very good. Tubby’s teams are always very good defensively. They get offense from their defense which is what good teams do. They share the ball.”
VANDERBILT PLAYERS
#35 Matt Freije
“We did better on defense than we have the last three games. Kentucky may not have shot 50%, I’m not sure what they shot, but it was good enough to beat us. We missed a lot of shots and free throws especially that could have helped us in the end.”
“They were definitely good tonight. They may not have shot or played tonight like they wanted to or are used to, but they were good, that’s for sure. Kentucky won so I guess that’s really what matters in the end.”
#25 Chuck Moore
“I think we struggled on defense and that really could have made the difference. But, we kept our heads up and played on.”
“I was surprised they were not more aggressive, but we just came out and did the best we could. We tried to stay in there with them and be even more aggressive.”
