Dec. 3, 2002
Recap?|?Box Score?|?Notes?|?Photo Gallery
Head Coach Tubby Smith
Opening remarks…
“First, I’d just like to compliment Coach (Jerry) Steele. He had a good game plan to spread the court and shorten the game. They were pretty successful with that, but we were still able to score 84 points and win by 20 as we had one of our better shooting nights. We’re never satisfied, but I thought — with our bigger lineup against their short, quicker lineup that put a lot of pressure on our people — that we made the adjustments necessary. I’m disappointed in our rebounding and we seemed to lack a little energy at first. But whenever you come off a trip like Maui, especially sandwiched between a big game coming up as well. I thought it showed a lot of mental toughness from our guys to stay focused and not get out of character. We showed a lot of poise. It was a good win for us as we start our preparation for a good North Carolina team.”
On halftime adjustments…
“I thought everyone picked up the intensity a little bit because we knew we weren’t giving the kind of defensive energy that we needed in the first half. They were some loose balls that we weren’t getting to, rebounds that were long because they were shooting a lot of long shots, and we didn’t box out well on free throws. I thought Gerald (Fitch), Chuck (Hayes) and Keith (Bogans) really picked up the intensity on the perimeter in the second half.”
On Keith Bogans…
“Keith is off to a good start this year, which helps our team a lot. He is an important part of the success of this program. If he keeps up the intensity and keeps making shots, we’ll be a hard team to beat. He’s really been mixing up his offense, making the open shots and attacking the glass – showing his all-around basketball ability.”
UK PLAYERS
Keith Bogans, Guard
On the team’s play…
“We were kind of sluggish after coming back from Maui. Coach kind of let us have it after the first half and told us we needed to pick it up. We came out with more energy and put it all together.”
On getting ready for North Carolina…
“We were more tired than anything, but we needed a game like this to get ready for North Carolina. Everybody was doubting them because they lost an exhibition game, but so did we. After watching them play it just shows what hard work is all about.”
On the “big” line-up…
“I think that’s going to help us out a lot. It will make us a tough team to handle.”
On his start to the season…
“I know the way I’m capable of playing. This is no surprise to me. Last year was, but this year isn’t. I’m just going out and doing what coach asks me to do.”
Chuck Hayes, Forward
On playing the three-spot…
“I’m fine with it. It’s something I like to do and as of right now that’s where coach needs me so that’s where I’m going to play.”
On playing 33 minutes…
“I feel pretty good. Somebody fell on my knee but I’ll be ready for the next game.”
On getting ready for North Carolina…
“We just need to be ready to play. We wanted to get this game over with. Going into the “Dean Dome”, how can you not be ready for that? If you can’t be ready for games like that you don’t need to be at Kentucky.”
Jules Camara, Center
On the slow start…
“We came out and played more aggressive. We got some steals and that helped get the offense going. Our intensity really picked up in the second half and we were able to make a couple of runs.”
On the upcoming game with North Carolina…
“It’s going to be a good challenge. They have an athletic team and it will be a good match up because we like to get up and down the floor. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to play a good North Carolina team.”
Gerald Fitch, Guard
On the second half…
“My main focus was defense. They really slowed down the tempo in the first half and we just wanted to come out and speed things up. We wanted to take control of the tempo of the game.”
On Coach Smith’s disappointment with the first half…
“I could see the frustration on Coach’s face in the first half so I knew something was coming at halftime. As much work as we put in at practice I knew he was disappointed with the way we came out to start the game.”
On the upcoming game with North Carolina…
“I know they’re going to be ready for us when we go into their house. We’ve just got to be ready to step up and accept the challenge.”
High Point Head Coach Jerry Steele
On their strategy coming into the game…
“Our goal was to shorten the game. With seven minutes to go we wanted to be close. The one thing we didn’t want to happen is what we did two years ago (lose by 51 points).”
On how Kentucky beat them…
“Kentucky went inside to their bread and butter, and they went to Bogans a lot. That was a difference in the game. They made it tough on us (defensively) and they were scoring on the other end. It seemed like more than seven minutes (during a scoreless span). That’s when they broke it open. We had zero success getting behind people.”
High Point Player
#4 Dustin Van Weerdhuizen, Forward
On High Point’s goals for this game…
“We wanted to improve as a team. We wanted to play well together for an entire game and build chemistry, and I think we did that for the majority of the game. We got better tonight, even though we lost the game.”
On the offensive strategy for High Point…
“We’ve been working on the spread offense all season. We used the smaller, quicker lineup specifically for Kentucky. The offense was pretty successful for the most part.”
On what this game did for the High Point confidence…
“Knowing that we have the ability to play with a team like Kentucky for the entire first half is a good sign for us. This game really helps our confidence because we can see marked improvement in ourselves.”
On the difference in the second half of the game…
“We played strong in the first half and Kentucky picked up their intensity in the second half. We got frustrated when they got a run and we didn’t play as well together. Kentucky’s players played very well in the second half and they just wore us down a little.”
