Kentucky-UCF Postgame Quotes
KENTUCKY BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. UCF
RUPP ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY.
OCTOBER 28, 2026
Malachi Moreno #24
On being two assists shy of a triple-double …
“I think I’m just happy I got to win. I mean, obviously I had two turnovers, so if I turn those into assists, I have a triple-double. But I was four to one today, and that’s a big preach that Coach Pope has is just you got to always be in the positives for assist-turnover ratio. So I was proud of the work I did today, and grateful we got to win.”
On being more physical …
“I was very excited. You know, I faced a lot of tough frontcourts in the SEC, a lot of tough front courts in non-conference. So this was kind of just a preparation for that, and you know, I played my best today.”
On the offseason …
“This offseason was just really key factor on my conditioning and my physicality. I felt like last year I was getting tired in short spurts and kind of getting thrown around. So all of camp, all of spring, all of summer was just conditioning, conditioning, conditioning, and then obviously working on my physicality and just becoming the big man that I need to be.”
#22 Milan Momcilovic, F
On what switched for him in overtime period…
“I think just seeing the ball get to the hoop once. Once I saw it go through the hoop, I think that kind of just gave me confidence, and then came back down the floor and got to my spots the next two times.”
On chemistry with Malachi…
“I think it’s very beneficial. My first bucket of the game actually, he hit me on a back door cut, and I got an easy layup. We have really good chemistry, Obviously when I got here, summer and fall, we put a lot of reps into this.”
On team’s in game decision making growth…
“I think we got a lot of room to grow. Obviously, first game I think we had 19 turnovers. We’ve cut it down a pretty good amount, but we still have more room to grow. I think the first half we were a little lackadaisical in that area, but cleaned it up in the second half. We would like to keep it in the single digits for turnovers.”
UCF HEAD COACH QUOTES
Johnny Dawkins
On how difficult it is to play against Kentucky…
“Look at the plays they made, the chemistry and continuity already here. They had 23 assists in this game. That’s a lot of guys connecting and playing together. And all the things that I looked at, and that combined with the talent, you can only see them improving from this point.”
On coming back from being down 57-47…
“I thought our guys did a really good job continuing to compete. Something we always talk about is the ability to continue to compete. When you’re on the road or at home, it doesn’t matter anymore. I mean, you’re gonna have runs, and they made a good run. We can’t let that have us to lose our composure.”
On Kentucky’s strengths…
“One, their length, they’re very long. Two, I like their pieces. Your pieces got to fit to be successful, and their pieces fit, they’re shooting. They have guards that can maneuver the basketball and get where they want to go. When you have that, you have everything at that point.”
On playing against Malachi Moreno…
“He is a nightmare for the opposing coaches because he’s not one dimensional. He’s so versatile at what he does.”
