Feb. 26, 2003
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Head Coach Tubby Smith
Opening statement…
“This was a pretty hard-fought game. Tennessee came in with a good game plan. We couldn’t stop them in the first half, and didn’t do much better in the second. [UT’s] presence on the boards helped them control parts of the game, but I thought our guys just kept competing. We had quality play and very balanced scoring. Keith (Bogans) raised his level of play at the end of the first half and made some clutch shots. Of course, (UT Coach) Buzz (Peterson) did an excellent job preparing his team. And Ron Slay is just a great player. I was impressed with the play of Chuck (Hayes) and his energy and effort, just getting on the floor for every ball. Our guards struggled a bit shooting, but the big key was being able to make free throw’s down the stretch.”
On defending Tennessee…
“We couldn’t stop them, and they were able to get shots off. All our guys did a good job of limiting their touches inside, stopping entry passes, and that’s why we forced 18 turnovers.”
On Tennessee point guard C.J. Watson…
“They have an outstanding point guard in Watson. He doesn’t get very flustered out there. We were running some great guards at him, with the likes of Keith (Bogans), Gerald (Fitch) and Cliff (Hawkins). I thought [Watson] held his composure for most of the night, except for a few turnovers.”
On UT’s rebounding edge…
“They didn’t miss a whole lot of shots, so there weren’t that many defensive rebounds for us to get. If we can come out and force 18 turnovers, I’ll take it.”
On UT’s high shooting percentage…
“We contested most of their shots, they just made a lot of big shots. They were on fire tonight, but we took their best shot and came away with a win.”
On defending Ron Slay…
“Jules (Camara) is very long, he’s an excellent shot-blocker and very tough to see over. His quickness is the key to his defense. Then you send in Chuck (Hayes) who can battle physically and Marquis (Estill). That’s what you have to do. I think giving a guy like that different looks can create problems.”
On the pressure of UK’s streak…
“I don’t think it puts any extra pressure on us. Every team in this league has a bullseye on their back. You have to be ready to play every single night. If you take a night off there is always someone there looking to knock you off.
UK PLAYERS
Cliff Hawkins, Guard
On his relationship with Tennessee forward Ron Slay…
“Slay’s a great guy. He’s fun to play with and play against. He was out there tonight trying to get his guys fired up. On the court he’s all business.”
On UK’s defense in the second half…
“In the second half we got after them and pushed them out of their offense. We just went out and put pressure on them.”
Marquis Estill, Center
On UK’s defensive intensity…
“We played good defense off and on. We didn’t play as great as we normally do. We were able to get it going late and it carried over to the rest of the game.”
On the concern that there haven’t been any real close games during the streak…
“It’s not a concern for us. We just keep focusing on winning games and playing great defense. If we do that and take away the other team’s offensive threat we’ll keep winning games.”
On if the team is thinking ahead to the NCAA tournament…
“We’re not thinking about that. We’re taking it one game at a time. We can’t afford to look ahead.”
Keith Bogans, Guard
On the game at Georgia…
“We have a big game coming up. They’re a great team and we just need to focus and be ready. Our defense is the key. If we play great defense and stop them we’ll be fine.”
On if there is a danger of the team getting caught up in the streak…
“I think we’re focused. Coach has told us to take it one game at a time. As long as we do that it won’t be dangerous. I think it’s good that we’re winning right now and we just want to keep it going.”
On the team’s unity at this stage in the season…
“We’re all on the same page and we all know our role. We’re just out there having fun. We don’t have just one guy, we all want to go out and play.”
Tennessee Head Coach Buzz Peterson
On the difference in the game…
“Kentucky’s defense is really good. They scored 22 points off our turnovers. They are very good in transition and they just have so many weapons. We wanted to put pressure on their wings and that caused us to back off the boards some early. They really hurt us on the offensive glass early on.”
On what he saw from his team
“I saw a lot of fire and intensity from our guys. We got in some foul trouble, but we had good pressure on the ball. Ron Slay was great. I told them they have nothing to hang their heads about, they got beat by a very good basketball team tonight. Our guys played hard and I loved our effort.”
On where Tennessee has to go from here…
“We have to win the next three games. We’re going to go right back to work tomorrow. It might be a short practice, but we’re going to try to get the intensity back up right away.”
On the Rupp Arena crowd…
“The crowd was a factor tonight. I called that first timeout of the second half just to try to shut the crowd up some. I told the guys that I just wanted to get them settled down and stick with the game plan. We did a good job of working through it, but the crowd certainly played a role.”
On the play of his guards…
“We had to play (Jon) Higgins at the point more than we ever have before and it wore him down some. C.J. (Watson) picked up some early fouls and made some bad decisions, but he has to learn from this game and get better. I haven’t seen C.J. get in that much foul trouble and we haven’t had to play without him for that long, so that hurt us tonight.”
On the Kentucky team…
“I want to congratulate Kentucky on a fine effort tonight. They have a great coach and they play hard. They just play great defense. They are always in the passing lanes and they make it hard to run offense. They scored 22 points off our turnovers, and that really told the story in this game. We shot almost 59 percent from the floor for the game, but we gave up so many points in transition. That makes it hard to come back.”
TENNESSEE PLAYERS
# 35 Ron Slay, Forward
On playing in Rupp Arena…
“It’s tough, especially coming in here with the No. 2 team in the country and they’ve got the crowd going wild. I think a couple of our younger guys played a little differently tonight.”
On Kentucky’s zone defense…
“I don’t think they got to us at all. They went back to that man-to-man defense and that’s what got them here. When they come out in zone, to me that’s just not Kentucky ball.”
“They’re a national championship team. They go out there and they’re clicking together. Even when they don’t do something right, they look like they’re doing something right. Even when they make an offensive mistake, they usually make up for it on the defensive end.”
# 1 John Winchester, Forward
On more playing time…
“(In practice) I’m just playing hard every possession, playing hard defensively. I just tried to do everything coach (Peterson) wanted.”
On playing in Rupp Arena…
“It didn’t take a while (to adjust), the ball just felt deader. The gym setup was great, I like the environment.”