Tubby Smith Quotes
“Keith Bogans, Tayshaun Prince and Desmond Allison didn’t start today because of some academic deficiencies. They needed to be disciplined. There were different levels of discipline for each player. But you’re not going to play basketball at Kentucky if you don’t go to class and take care of your academics. That problem needed to be addressed.
“It’s a shame that we had to deal with this problem. We had started to play better. They were pretty tough today. They were mentally and physically tough. They showed a lot of grit because we were playing short. People had to play longer minutes.”
“The players who did start played extremely hard. Other people had to step up and they did. Blevins played great. We made our shots from three-point range today. Double-doubles from Jules (Camara) and Jamaal (Magloire) were outstanding. I liked the effort on the boards and our assists. We took better care of the ball.”
On Kentucky’s second-half run:
“J.P. stepped up and Keith hit one. It’s contagious when someone hits one. The others think they can.”
On Kentucky’s season-high three-point field goal attempts:
“That’s fine with me as long as we can make 37.9 percent. That’s fine with me.”
On Georgia’s zone defense:
“The zone defense is designed to make you play slow. You have to pick and probe to find an opening. Jamaal and Marvin played hard and Jules gave it his all.”
On J.P. Blevins‘ performance:
“J.P. Blevins was a big key. He’s been playing great. He’s really growing. That’s why we’ve said all along, we’ve had a very solid point guard combination.”
Kentucky Players
#42 Jamaal Magloire
On the second half:
“I think our intensity level went up. We played hard. We knew we had to lift the intensity level up, and that’s what happened.”
On Jules Camara:
“He helped inside. He played well. He scored when we needed him to, he rebounded when he needed it. He did a good job on both.”
On his role in the second half:
“I think the difference in the second half was that I was more active. I think they were focusing on Jules because he played so well. I think I responded well.”
#40 Jules Camara
“I was just trying to be active. I wanted to go hard to the rim because they weren’t blocking out in the first half. I think I played good. I rebounded on offense and knocked off a few shots.”
On his offensive rebounds:
“I know they were shooting a lot, so I looked to crash the boards. I knew once I got a few that I could break a record or something.”
On the difference between now and a few months ago:
“I’ve gotten a lot of confidence since I have been playing better defense. The last couple of games I have played good offense too.”
On icing his foot after the game:
“I just make sure to ice it so it isn’t painful tonight.”
#10 Keith Bogans
On their second half performance:
“Coach talked to us at halftime and let us know what was wrong with our first half. We just paid attention and picked up the intensity in the second half.”
On the past two wins:
“These past two wins are just as big as the games we have coming up. Alabama and Georgia are great teams and any win in the SEC is against a good team and is a good win.”
On the three-point shooting:
“Everyone was just hitting (their shots) tonight and they were just falling for us. Coach has had us shooting a lot this week. We were missing due to lack of concentration, but we have fixed that and are now back on target.”
#3 J.P. Blevins
On his contribution:
“I was just happy to knock down a few big shots for us today, but everyone is contributing. Keith (Bogans) made the three that started a big run for us, and Saul (Smith) made some big shots too.”
On the second half performance:
“Defensively, we picked it up and offensively, we started hitting shots. It is really contagious and sometimes you just have to see one go in and then everyone is ready to hit.”
On the upcoming Tennessee game:
“This is definitely a big game coming up. We will take tomorrow off and get our legs back under us. We will start getting ready for them (Volunteers) at 6 a.m. Monday morning.”
Coach Jim Harrick Quotes
His thoughts on the game:
“I thought we did everything we needed to do. We missed a couple of lay-ups and a couple of foul shots. Then they hit a couple of foul shots down the stretch and made some free throws. If we make one more basket, and they hit one less three or get one less offensive rebound, we might get a chance to win. But you have to give them credit. (J.P.) Blevins had his career high. When they have a guy get his career high it is hard to win. We played very, very well. But we didn’t win the game, and that is what matters. They are very good, and they hit about six threes in a row. To me, that is very uncharacteristic of this team. So you have to give them credit.”
On opening the game with a zone:
“I was very surprised with their starting lineup. We weren’t going to zone them. But with that lineup, I decided to. I would zone that lineup every time.”
On Kentucky getting so many offensive boards:
“Well, they are 6-10, 6-11 and 6-9. And we are 6-6, 6-7 and three little guards. That’s the price you pay. You just have to figure out what the best opportunities are to do your best job to win. It was a little physical, and we got a little fatigued. Down the stretch, Kentucky had a little more energy. But we gave a great effort.”
On Kentucky’s comeback:
“They were down by nine and came back. They hit six straight three-point shots. We were going to get beat from the outside, and we did it today. They can do that at home, but they didn’t the other night against Alabama.”
On Layne not shooting as well in the second half as he did in the first half:
“I thought he had some good looks in the second half: one in front of the bench, and one at the top of the key. Real good, real good looks. If he hits one or two of those, or another lay-up, and it is a whole new ballgame.”
Georgia Player Quotes
#32 D.A. Layne
“We came out and fought hard today. We fought as hard as we could throughout the game, but at the end we just couldn’t pull it off. They really held down their territory.”
“I feel like I played alright. I think that I could have played better. I made some mistakes that I normally don’t make and I think that cost us at the end. I am frustrated now because I know we could have won this game. We came a long way, but we just couldn’t finish them off.”
“Kentucky is a great team. They have a great coach. Their coach is one of the top coaches in the country and I know he will take them a long way. The Kentucky players have the heart and the will to win it all. I wish them the best of luck and I hope we meet them again in the SEC Tournament.”
#51 Shon Coleman
“It was a very intense game on both ends. Kentucky started a big front line, 6’9” being the smallest guy, and it was a little more difficult to get good looks at the basket. We were able to get some shots to fall, but what hurt us the most was the offensive rebounds. Offensive rebounds give them the opportunity to take more shots. Kentucky got a lot of wide open three’s and that was something we were not expecting, and that really hurt us.”
“Kentucky has a good team. I think that they are well coached. Tubby Smith does a good job and they do have depth off the bench. They bring guys in off the bench and they score, which is something we don’t really have. I give them credit for the way they played. We played good defense tonight but they really hurt us from behind the arc. We missed a lot of opportunities, for example our free throws really hurt us in the end.”
“We didn’t really focus on their outside shooting, we did not think Kentucky could shoot the ball that good from outside. They really surprised us tonight. We were focused on containing Jamaal Magloire. Kentucky really came at us tonight and it just goes back to their coaching and how prepared they are.”
