Feb. 19, 2002
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UK Coach Tubby Smith
“It was a real war and a tale of two halves. Our kids showed a lot of heart, a lot of courage and a lot of toughness. Chuck Hayes was a warrior and was going after the ball. We did a good job getting the ball inside. Jules (Camara) played well. (Rashaad) Carruth only had two points but he really played well defensively.”
On the surge at the end of the first half…
“We couldn’t make shots in the beginning. We were pressing and giving up easy baskets, so we changed our press alignment and made a run.”
“I have to compliment the crowd. That is what we need.”
On the momentum this win gives the team…
“I think it’s something we will try to build on. This should be a building block. To come back like this reminds me of the ’98 team that won the national championship. We made clutch plays down the stretch.”
On the play of J.P. Blevins…
“He’s starting to let himself go. We talked about surrendering yourself and giving all you can. That is what he did.”
On defending Marcus Haislip…
“Marquis Estill has been struggling a little. Chuck matched up well with him early and Jules did a good job.”
UK PLAYERS
Chuck Hayes
“This win will help us a lot. Teams focus on Tayshaun and when that happens others have to produce and tonight that happened with Jules and I. The fans and the bench were behind us and this was a big win.”
On Marcus Haislip…
“He is strong and he is tall. He can shoot and he is very athletic. We had to limit his touches tonight and keep him from getting comfortable on the block.”
Tayshaun Prince
“We had a bad first half. The end of the first half got us going. We got some momentum and we needed to penetrate and get to the foul line and make things happen.”
“We wanted to get the ball inside tonight. We got in a slump early on the defensive end, but we came out of it. It was an all-around effort from everyone.”
Cliff Hawkins
“It’s a big win for us. It gets our confidence back. Coach told us to keep playing hard, keep fighting, don’t give up, and keep pressuring them. We did.”
On his performance…
“I felt pretty good about my performance tonight. I think that’s the first time I’ve gone without turnovers in a Kentucky jersey.”
On the team’s unity…
“Everybody was on the same page tonight. Everybody wanted to win. We’re starting to play together now. We’re supporting each other no matter who’s getting the shot.”
Jules Camara
“Coach always tells us that our defense will carry to our offense. In the second half, we knew we couldn’t let our game down. We had to come out and play aggressive.
On his performance…
“I always know I can hit the shots. It’s just a matter of me going out and being aggressive and getting it done.”
On the crowd…
“We’ve got the best fans ever. They were there for us in the first half and stayed with us for the second. They were a big key to our win.”
Tennessee Head Coach Buzz Peterson
On loss…
“We had our chances tonight. I look at the stats and see one lead change. I feel their big run at the end of the first half was significant. Instead of going into the half up 15 or 16, we went up seven and lost some of that cushion – that was the difference.”
On UK…
“You have to give Kentucky credit for their active zone. They were able to force us into turning the ball over and we can’t do that and expect to win the close games. I loved the pace of the game for the first 18 minutes but they went on a run that really hurt us.”
On UK players…
“(Cliff) Hawkins made a big shot and played well and (Chuck) Hayes has hurt us both times we have faced him. He’s a strong, physical player and the only thing I don’t like about him is that he’s only a freshman.”
On UT’s play…
“Our kids scrapped and fought hard out there. Kentucky is a good rebounding team and you’re going to give some up there, but you just can’t afford to make turnovers in crucial moments.”
On UK’s crowd…
“Their fans were extremely loud and they make a difference on an opposing team. If you have a young team it can make it hard to concentrate on the floor.”
On Vincent Yarbrough…
“He came up big tonight and made some big shots. UK was playing (Marcus) Haislip very physically. When he touched the ball they doubled up on him and he had to get rid of it – he didn’t have one of his better games.”
TENNESSEE PLAYERS
#1 Vincent Yarbrough (F)
On a disappointing loss for Tennessee…
“They came out aggressive in the second half with a lot of energy. We didn’t carry our energy from the first half to the second half.”
On the difference in the game…
“We were proud of our effort but we gave it away at the end of the first half. Once the crowd got into it, that was the end of it.”
On the frustration of the game…
“It’s always frustrating when you can’t get the ball. They did a good job and Coach (Smith) realized what they needed to do to stop me. I think the game was lost at the end of the first half when they cut our lead from 16 to eight.”
#42 Jon Higgins (G)
On the differences in the two games this season…
“Tonight, they (Kentucky) just had the crowd behind them. That was the only difference.”
#12 Marcus Halisip (F)
On the game…
“It hurts to lose like this when we came out and played so well. They just kept coming back and pinching away our lead.”
“The first half the crowd couldn’t get hyped up as much, but then they got fired up and we just had to keep blocking them out and keep playing.”
On the lineup change…
“We noticed the difference with the change in lineup. We just had to come out and combat the change. We had to step up our game more. They doubled up on me more so than in the last game a few weeks ago and just tried to keep the ball out of my hands. That was difficult to handle.”
