Kentucky-Texas Postgame Quotes
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE
January 21, 2026
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Coach Mark Pope
Press Conference
Kentucky – 85, Texas – 80
MARK POPE: It was a great game tonight. Intense. Texas is a really, really potent offensive team, they are the fourth best offensive teams, we played one of the top offensive teams in the country. They came to play tonight and I thought we had some great individual efforts on the defensive end and some team efforts and I’m proud of our guys for grinding out the win.
Q Mark, just what did you think of Collin’s poise, especially in the second half, making some big plays down the stretch. It sounds like maybe he wasn’t feeling great leading up to the game?
MARK POPE: Yeah, Collin has been sick, really sick for the last couple days. He gutted out practice and today we just sent him home. He didn’t come to shootaround today. He was pretty sick. But I thought he was great. You know, it’s hard. Kind of cold sweats in bed for three straight days and then come and compete in a game and for him to come and perform like he did tonight, I thought he was elite, I thought he was aggressive, I thought he was sure. It turned out that one three late, I wanted him to shoot that one two. But man, he put together a really incredible performance. Seven rebounds in a game where, this is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country. Unbelievable job on Pope when he was guarding him. I thought both DA and Collin really gave us great efforts trying to corral Pope and obviously scored the ball really well and shot it really well. I thought he was elite. I thought he was great.
Q Coach, first an update on Kam’s injury and also, how important was to have guys like Collin come in, in the second half after his injury and just to be able to change the game offensively?
MARK POPE: First of all, it’s really important to have guys step up. Even, it’s really hard, if you think about Trent, he’s had such a limited run in the last five or six games. He comes in and comes up with arguably the second most important rebound of the game. Kam’s foot is broken; he will be out. He is just a beautiful kid. I thought he actually made some special plays tonight. So we are going to get him back healthy as soon as we possibly can, but he will be out for a while. It’s certainly a blow to us.
Q Mark, seven footers are nice and three-point shooters are nice. But does every team need a Mo Dioubate? Is it a unique skillset on here?
MARK POPE: You guys have heard me say this and tired of me saying this. I love guys that love themselves and he’s trying to love himself right now and he’s trying to love what makes him special. He had the most important rebound in the entire game. To close it out, we are small on the floor and got BG out there and they’re running around. They get up a shot, it is kind of a free rebound, and he just goes and grabs it and that’s pretty much game. That was pretty much game. They could have been some other things that went wrong. He was great as a secondary guy in transition and had a couple of great plays to the rim. He was great defensively. You just feel like you are never at a deficit when he’s switching onto anybody. He brings energy. We need him to be more and more and better and better, but he’s important to us. I count on him to be just a physical, physical energy manchild out there and he’s done that for us the last couple of games.
Q Mark, Malachi Moreno tonight really stuffed the stat sheet again. Went +19. What is his game really doing for you all right now, especially with JQ out and other injuries happening. What kind of player is he molding into and how important is he when he is on the floor?
MARK POPE: He’s really smart. He’s a 6’2″ guy with a really tough matchup. This was a really tough match-up. This Vokietaitis, this man, he is the number one foul drawing player in the entire country. That’s a handful. And Malachi had a real complicated guard all over the court. Complicated in ball screens, complicated in protects. He had the ball in his hand so much, he led assists by far. Our next highest assist guy had one, Malachi had six. To give you a sense of how much the ball is in his hands. Half the time, I’m putting a play call into Malachi saying, no coach, we’ve already got it, we’ve already talked about it as a team and we already figured out what we want to do. He is a coach on the floor as a freshman, a 7 foot freshman. I’m proud of him. He continues to get better and better and better. You think about him as a 6 assist, 5 block, 2 turnover guy, that’s a ridiculous number. That’s really good.
Q Mark, Denzel stepping into that point guard position obviously with Lowe out for the season now. How have you seen him step into that role and what have you thought about his performances over the last couple of games?
MARK POPE: We put a lot on his shoulders and a lot on Otega’s shoulders. Those guys are logging big minutes for us right now. He just had great poise. I was so proud of Denzel. One of the things, Texas is one of the best teams at not giving up assists. They are also one of the best teams at forcing your twos to be longer. I think they are the top 20 in the country in forcing you to take long twos. What that means is you are taking shots from nine, eight, seven feet instead of shots at six, and five, and four feet. Their whole defenses is built around that. When you come up ball screens, especially our guys really screened today. You come off ball screens and you are free and they are just teasing you into that play. They are bringing a lot of pressure on the retreating guard. They are teasing you into taking that ten foot shot. He took a couple early, you could make that shot, but later in the game he got really, really stubborn, kept his dribble alive and actually kept driving long enough for the – to come into play and then actually got shots off the rim and got fouls. That’s mature, mature, elite level, high IQ basketball to combat guys that are showing you a drop defense. I thought he was spectacular, man. I’m really proud of him. This is the third straight game where he has just been unbelievable. He was great again tonight. And defensively, he was really special tonight. Coach McLean was trying to slow me down. Because I was so excited about his defense, he was like coach, let’s watch the film. But from my vantage point during the game I thought he was really defensively.
Q Coach, I hope is not wasted on media and the Big Blue nation how important it is that you are not just coaching games to win but you are developing young men on and off the court. I certainly think the conference is pointed in the right direction. With that said, you talk a lot about connectivity. Where did that show up most for this team tonight? And through the last several games?
MARK POPE: That’s a terrific question. I will tell you a couple of places it showed up. We all watched Kam walk off the floor. And that’s a gut punch, that’s just a brutal, you know, J Lowe is out and JQ is out and Kam is limping off of the floor. And so that was a moment where connectivity came in. Our guys is like, okay listen, the only thing we can do for Kam right now is go play. And then we can cry with Kam in the locker room after but the only thing we can do right now is play, that brings guys together. Our first four minutes of the second half, I thought we came out well. We kinda made some mistakes and closed the gap and us reminded each other in the huddle, hey man, we are at the first media timeout, we’ve actually had a successful first four minutes even through the frustration. You see that where we come out when we are battling frustration, which we battle a lot of frustration the last couple of weeks. And battled it successfully. I think it comes down to big moments too. I think it comes down to late games, stressful situations where these guys have been unbelievable in their management of late game situations. I’m sitting there, the last play where DA draws the foul with 1.5 seconds left on the shot clock and you are sitting there thinking, man, I’ve got to throw out this time-out and I’ve got to use it, I’ve got to use it, I’ve got to yse it. But I’m kind of like, these guys have earned my trust and they are together enough. A lot of times as the play develops, they are going to get something better then we are going to get if we try to take a timeout on the side and again, they did it at the right time. I think you are seeing connectivity in a lot of ways with these guys. Which is special, it’s important, it’s something that they will take with them their whole life. We had a great pregame speech by one of our GA’s, Gabriel McKay who was just terrific. And he talked about how much our guys love each other and how that manifests itself on the court. So that’s the theme we talk about every single day. Clearly, I care about it.
Q Mark, you guys able to do from the foul line tonight. You get 30 from 35 and that’s honestly not a space you guys have lived in too often this season. What growth have you seen from this team in terms of earning those free throws and actually converting them from foul line?
MARK POPE: I said that was a really important part of this game. It was patience. Sometimes you get to the free-throw line because you are belligerent, driving and putting your head down. You end up with a really poor two point field goal percentage. It didn’t feel like, the game didn’t feel like that today. It felt like we were earning fouls because of our patience in our attack. We probably have more second and third side positions then we did all season long in any game so far this this season. Part of it was because of the drop. The drop tricks you into going fast and giving up what you don’t, you know, taking shots you don’t necessarily want to take. Taking low percentage points. The foul line deal is a big deal. We knew coming in this game the top free-throw drawing foul drawing teams in the country. One of the top. And top offensive rebounding team in the country. For us to tie them on the glass, was really important for us to outshoot them from the free-throw line is really important. Two massive keys to the game.
Q On the same note with the free throws. A few weeks ago, you guys were up on Missouri and they ended up coming back, the team can’t really score and falls apart and since then you guys have one 4 straight. Tonight, again, no field goals late, but what can you say about your team’s decision-making connectivity and staying together and making the right decisions to prevent that from happening?
MARK POPE: That was good. I thought DA was great. I thought Collin, was sure, winning catches, protecting the ball. I thought we came up with some huge rebounds down the stretch. I thought our guys communicated defensively pretty well. I thought it was good. You know, it’s hard to question these guys ability to function late in games. For all the things that we are working on, if you track our last four games, it’s hard to say that this team doesn’t function really well in late game situation. They are amazing. We have been really fortunate also, but we will take it.
Q Mark, I wanted to ask you when Otega picked up that fourth foul and you brought in Trent and I know he only gave you three minutes but he came in there and give you that time and grabbed a couple of rebounds. I know it’s easy to overlook just the raw numbers. But what did he give you in that short spurt?
MARK POPE: Well, he played a couple of minutes last game and a couple of minutes this game and he hasn’t played much before then. He’s gonna have to play now. He can, he’s a good player and he’s actually is going to help us win. He started games for us. He’s a really good player. And so, he will get more minutes and he will be really great, he’s going to help us. I’m going to take a minute to talk about this. Just so you get our word here on what’s happening in the NCAA right now with eligibility. This is, we are all shaking our hands saying this is so incredibly creative. I will give you my two cents just so you have it. At some point, I don’t have hard feelings towards anybody making any decision because every single college program and college coach are the most competitive people in the world. They are going to try to find any avenue they can to find an advantage. It’s what we are paid to do. It’s what we do. The one stopgap that is kind of spreading right now that maybe has some legs is kind of a last stand. The NCAA does get to decide who gets to go to the NCAA tournament. They get to decide that. They have that power. At some point when they have been very, very clear about what the rules that they are going to try to enforce, they might lose in court, but they still get to decide what games count towards the NCAA tournament. I’m not saying that to penalize any team. I’m just saying that because at some point it is important that we take a stand and regain some tiny ounce of sanity and until someone tells me different, I still believe the NCAA has full power over who gets in the NCAA tournament and what games they count towards your NCAA tournament bid. At the end of the day, that is what drives all of us. Hopefully, we will take a stand there and clean this up for everybody. For everybody. Because right now everybody is chasing their tails and I think it’s a place where we take a stand. I hope we will. This game matters too much. The NCAA tournament is too extraordinary a deal. These high school players and these young players and all these players matter too much. College basketball matters too much. It’s just time to just bring, just take a stand, bring a little bit of stand in this deal and say it publicly and let’s move forward. So, let’s go.
KENTUCKY BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. TEXAS
RUPP ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY.
JANUARY 21, 2026
UK Student Athletes
#23 Mouhamed Dioubate, F
On how the team is rallying around Kam Williams during his injury…
“It’s a sad moment for the team but we know the kind of guy Kam is and he would want us to keep playing, keep going hard, pick up the pace. In moments like this, we can’t do anything but be there for him, enlighten him, and bring this energy around him.”
On how he expects the team to perform after another season ending injury…
“We just have to keep going. This is another example of adversity and we’ve been through that this year so far. We just have to have other guys step up. There have been other guys playing so they will have to step up and keep doing what they are doing. I think we’re going to be fine.”
On what it feels like to be regarded as the toughest guy on the team…
“It should mean something to me. I just go out there and try and play my game. It’s not something I’m necessarily looking for as a name but it’s just who I am.”
#5, Collin Chandler, G
On what the last couple days have been like dealing with an illness …
“Not the greatest. The biggest thing with sickness is energy levels and trying to get sleep and so I’ve just been working on that and trying to get as much rest as possible, and today, my trainers and everybody were great and helped me get ready. I got an IV before the game, which helped a lot with my energy and hydration.”
On whether there was any point he thought the illness would keep him from playing and whether the illness was diagnosed…
“No, I’ve practiced the last few days. I missed shootaround today mostly to just catch up on sleep and rest and being sure I had all my energy for tonight, but there was never doubt on whether I was going to play or not. I haven’t been feverish which has been the nicest thing about it, but there’s been stuff going around. That’s just how the winter is so it’s something I get every year.”
On the connectivity of the team when Kam Williams got injured …
“The worst part about the game of basketball are the injuries. That’s something I think every athlete is prepared for and every team needs to prepare for. We’re all with Kam right now. It sucks, being injured, being taken away from the thing that you love to do, but we’re all with him. We’re all going to keep rallying. Injuries are nothing new to our team so far this season, so we’re just going to keep rallying and keep figuring it out.”
#00, Otega Oweh, G
On the team’s confidence getting back into a winning streak …
“I think it’s built our confidence a lot. I think the biggest thing for us is our attention to detail and our intensity every single game, just bringing it. Every game is a new game and I think we’re doing a good job focusing on what’s in front of us.”
On Malachi Moreno’s statistics…
“He’s doing great. He’s really filling up the stat sheet with blocks, assists, and rebounds.
He’s doing really well, which helps us a lot when he’s being that efficient and that aggressive”
On the biggest difference from five games ago to this point …
“I think we’re really playing connected. We’re focusing on the defensive end and trying to get out in transition. I feel like when we do that it sets us up for our offense, even in the half court.”
Texas Head Coach Sean Miller
Opening Statement
“I thought tonight was a really good basketball game on both ends. I thought two teams fought really hard. I’m proud of my guys’ effort. I thought we really came here with a lot of purpose, played to win, made a lot of quality plays. I tip my hat to Kentucky. I know it was a big game, home game—coming off of couple comeback wins. A good basketball team that I think is only going to get better, and we respect them a great deal. They beat us tonight. It wasn’t that they didn’t get a real test from us. We came here with great purpose to try and win the game, and they beat us couple things on our end. I think when you play with eight turnovers in a game, which we did, you know that’s something to really be proud of. I think that’s winning basketball.
“I look at the rebounding, and certainly we gave up our fair share of second shots, but we also got the same amount. Both teams had 13 second shots. As a matter of fact, second chance points actually favored us 16 to 11. So, I’ll start with that right there, that if you can come to Rupp Arena play against Kentucky, take care of the ball eight turnovers, and keep it even on the glass, and actually get a few more second chance points. Heck, I would have signed up for that. What our team—this is a Texas problem—has, is we have a virus called fouling, and it has plagued us from the opening tip of the first game until tonight. It’s not the officials, it’s not Kentucky. We will foul a three-point shooter. We’ll foul at the end of the clock. We’ll leave our feet on drives. Kentucky was 30 for 35 from the line. It’s hard to win an SEC road game when the home team is 30 for 35 from the line. I’m not messing around on the officiating. The officiating was fine. It was called the right way. We fouled two of the last fouls in the last minute and a half, two minutes, one at half court, and one like under five seconds, where you just stay down, and if he makes the shot, he makes it. We have to be able to play defense without fouling. Our team isn’t really put together to turn you over. So, if you’re not turning them over and you’re fouling, it really makes it difficult on the defensive end. I mean, if we did a better job of playing not just in this game, but in some others, of not fouling, we would have a couple more wins under our belt, because we’re not that far off. So, my charge is to continue to work, to develop it, to teach it, to stay on it, and to demand it, and to be more disciplined as we move forward. Because I think if we could eliminate some of our fouls, we could break through, for example, in a big game like tonight, because we did some other things really well.
“Also, on our end, I thought this was—Dalen Swain—one of his best games. He was outstanding, 10 for 16 from the floor, two for six from three, seven for seven from the line. He had three assists and only one turnover, two steals, 29 points. He got fouled eight times. So, in his performance, I thought a big reason we were in the game is he was terrific.
“So that’s really my strong thoughts on what I know best, which is certainly our team.”
On Collin Chandler’s playing ability…
“He’s an important player for Kentucky because he comes in off the bench, and he can really change the game. The closer and the more you watch him—he can steal a basketball, he’s physical, he runs and jumps way better than you maybe give him credit for. I just think he’s a really good player. We went zone on him one possession late in the game. That’s on me. We aren’t a zone team. We are trying to mix it in and trying to give them a different look when you feel like they are in a great rhythm, and we left them alone in the right corner. I thought that was a big play in the game, just to give them a bigger cushion.
On fixing the amount of fouling going on in a game…
“I think coaching in the SEC reminds me of the NFL. What you love about the NFL is the amazing parity and how a team can go from one week to the next. They’re unrecognizable. Every night in the SEC seems like a test. You cannot allow the final score to break you. If we’re playing good basketball and doing a lot of good things in these 40 minutes, we have to learn, grow, and carry some of those good things to the next game. No doubt about it, I think being able to play better defense without fouling is worth two, four, or six points. Because of some of our fouls, the offense doesn’t have an advantage, and we are just giving them points.”
On his impressions of Malachi Moreno…
“Malachi is a terrific young player, I think he’s one of the best freshmen in the country and certainly has a big role in Kentucky’s team. I think he’s improving, most importantly. Everyone likes to judge these guys on one snapshot, but you forget he’s nineteen years old and from Northern Kentucky. He’s playing in games that he’s never played before. I think he’s only going to continue to get better. He’s a wonderful kid and comes from a great family as well. I thought he did a great job tonight. He gets fouled as much as any player in the country and does a good job. He [Matas Vokietaitis] was five for fourteen tonight, and back to your point on Malachi, I think Malachi influenced some of those misses.”
