Jan. 15, 2002
Recap?|?Box Score?|?Notes?|?Photo Gallery
Head Coach Tubby Smith
On the game…
“We got off to a good start. The guys seemed to be focused and ready to play. I thought their (Ole Miss’) kids battled back in the second half. We had a flurry of turnovers to start the second half, and I was disappointed in that. Gerald Fitch did a really good job. We were better balanced. Although Tayshaun (Prince) didn’t rebound well, he did get some open looks. Chuck Hayes was outstanding and we have to find a way to get him more minutes. We need to keep playing defense like we did tonight.”
On UK’s defense…
“I think the team is playing defense with more pride. Jules (Camara) was inside blocking shots. That just helped take Justin Reed out of his game. Gerald (Fitch) set the tone for us, and the other guys stepped up.”
On attacking the basket better…
“We did that better. We did a good job. Cliff Hawkins should have done it a little more than he did, but overall it was good.”
On Jason Harrison getting into foul trouble…
“It’s always tough when one of your best players can’t play. It was a result of aggressive play. He and Cliff (Hawkins) were going at it. When he (Harrison) plays well, their team plays well.”
On what he likes about Chuck Hayes…
“I like when he boxes out right, when he rebounds right. He’s being very active. I like it when he can go inside and make the moves inside like he did tonight. That’s why he has to be in the game more.”
On whether he wants to get 10-11 shots a game from his inside players…
“I don’t count shots. If you get an open look, I want you to take the shot. I don’t care who it is.”
UK PLAYERS
Gerald Fitch
On attacking the basket…
“I think Coach Smith stressed that because when we get a lead we sometimes become passive. He wants us to continue to attack the basket no matter what the score is.”
“Coach Smith wants us to be aggressive the entire game. I think we lost our focus on offense in the second half. He wants us to keep attacking and not lose our aggressiveness.”
On his play…
“Of course I am getting more comfortable about playing. I think I am starting to pick it up, but I can never be completely happy with how I play. There is always something I can do better at. I always look at the negative parts of my game and try to make those better.”
Chuck Hayes
“The last few practices Coach Smith has been sweating as much as we have. He has been out there on the floor playing with us. He has a lot to do with our intensity.”
On the win improving team attitude…
“A little, but not too much. We have a tough game coming up on the road. We always have to strive to be better. If you are content with where you are you will get nowhere.”
Cliff Hawkins
“I think it started on the defensive end for us tonight. We know we can score, but we have to find a way to stop the other team. I think our defense destroyed some of their cutting and moving and we wore them down.”
“We played terrible defense the games we lost. Coach stresses defense and he tells us we have to find a way to stop teams and hold them under 30% shooting (3FGs). If we do that we win games.”
Tayshaun Prince
“Our defensive intensity was there tonight and it carried over to our offense. We didn’t give them the opportunity to get going and we were able to get a lot of our guys involved.”
“Coach has stressed that the way we practice is going to determine how we play each game so it’s very important we carry our defensive intensity to upcoming games, especially those on the road.”
On the play of Gerald Fitch…
“The way he plays for us is magnificent. He came out there and grabbed some big rebounds.”
Marquis Estill
“I was ready to play as soon as we started warming up. I was feeling relaxed and just focused on the game.”
“Defense is the key to winning games and I thought we did a good job of picking up our intensity tonight.”
Ole Miss Head Coach Rod Barnes
On his feelings about the game…
“I want to congratulate Coach Smith and his basketball team. I thought they did a great job tonight. I thought they were well-prepared for the basketball game.
On Ole Miss’ start…
“We were the same old team we have been the last three games. I thought we got off to a bad start, and you cannot do that against a great basketball team that needed a win. Those guys were 1-2 (in SEC play) and they needed a win. They are not going to give you a chance to come back and win the basketball game.”
On how Ole Miss matched up against UK…
“I think our kids did a great job and gave a valiant effort. They tried to get us into a position to win, but we ran into too strong of a basketball team tonight.”
On Ole Miss’ youth…
“This is still a young team. We only have three kids that have played (in Rupp) and this was only our second time on the road.”
On what Ole Miss needs to do in the future…
“We need to do a better job of getting ready to play.”
On UK’s defense…
“I think a lot of (Kentucky’s) offensive problems have come because of their defensive problems. I knew Coach Smith was going to get on those guys and that we were going to be in for a tough night scoring-wise.”
OLE MISS PLAYERS
#11 Jason Harrison (G)
On playing Kentucky…
” You have to give credit to the coach they have here. This team had a very good plan, making it very difficult to play the type of game we are used to. After shutting down Mississippi State, we weren’t expecting the kind of game we had tonight.”
“I’m pretty used to people focusing on me defensively. Tonight I just couldn’t get it going to bring our team to victory. You really have to give Kentucky credit because their defense broke us down.”
On coming back in the second half…
“We had the shots during the first half but couldn’t get them to fall. We came back in the second with a different mindset to bring us back into it but still couldn’t get the shots to go down.”
“For some reason this game we just started flat. For the first three games we would make some noise and be the team we can be from the beginning but Kentucky wouldn’t let us do that though. This is a great team and you just can’t come in and do that against them.”
# 15 David Sanders (G)
On tonight’s game…
“The SEC is a rough conference. We came out slow and you can’t do that against a team like Kentucky. We have to bounce back from this loss and be ready for the next game.”
On Kentucky’s play…
“I knew they would come out and rebound from their recent games. Their season was on the line and they came out and got a big win.”
On SEC play…
“It’s a tough conference to play in but it’s a long way from over.”
