NO. 20/18 KENTUCKY (18-7, 7-4 SEC)
at No. 25 Alabama (18-7, 5-6 SEC)
Saturday, February 17 – 3:00 p.m. ET
Coleman Coliseum (15,316) ? Tuscaloosa, Ala.
TV:
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Kentucky hits the road for the second straight game and looks to keep its perfect record against the SEC West division intact against Alabama.
The Wildcats are 4-0 this season against teams that comprise the West division, including 2-0 on the road, picking up wins at Ole Miss (68-58) and at Arkansas (82-74). UK?s other two wins came at the expense of Auburn (84-57) and Mississippi State (64-60).
Kentucky has won 33 of its last 35 games against SEC West foes and is 80-19 against Western Division teams since the league split into divisions in 1991-92.
The Wildcats come into the game off a wild 89-85 loss to Tennessee Tuesday night. At one point, the Cats trailed the Vols by 16 points before making a frantic comeback to tie the game twice in the final 3:57 before falling.
UK has won four of the last five meetings with the Crimson Tide.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – FEB. 16
Head Coach Tubby Smith
Opening comments?
?This is another opportunity for us to see how much we?ve, I can?t say recover, but how much we?ve learned from the last time out. I think each time we?ve gotten a little bit better. The biggest concern I had in the Tennessee game is that our defense has been slipping the last couple of games, with our lack of interior defense and on the perimeter letting people beat us off of the dribble. So, we?ve got to get back to defending the right way. That?s something we?ve emphasized the last day at practice, and that is something that we are going to emphasize today as well. Alabama, if we don?t guard them they have enough inside and outside and with (Ronald) Steele playing better he?s capable of presenting an even greater challenge because he looks pretty healthy. A healthy Ronald Steele means that their team is going to be playing very well. Alabama is a team that when you look at their frontcourt that is what you first see. (Jermareo) Davidson and Richard Hendrix are guys that can really pound you inside. Alonzo (Gee) is having a good year. They?ve got some weapons, and they have a good bench as well. The losses that we?ve had, it?s going to be critical with how we respond and recover. I thought we had the effort against Tennessee, and I thought we recovered well in the game against Florida. Tennessee after the Florida game, we just didn?t finish the deal like we should have, which has been an issue for us all year long in late-game situations. Not scoring on the possessions we need to, not taking care of the basketball and making better decisions with the basketball, it?s something that we?ve worked on. Hopefully it will show itself on Saturday.?
On changes to the starting lineup?
?I probably will. The thing about putting Lukasz (Obrzut), or Sheray (Thomas) or Jodie (Meeks) in, it means we?re looking at some different things. Our small lineup has been very effective in getting us back into games. You would hate to have to do that, but that is what we?ve had to do in many of our games. Unfortunately, we dig ourselves such a big hole that the small lineup has been scoring better in transition and playing up-tempo and that?s a smaller lineup. I don?t know how many changes, it could be two or it could be three, maybe more. There is always that option, but no more than five.?
On the match up between Obrzut and Jermareo Davidson?
?Well, he?s matched-up with him well before. They have such a deep frontline, that it?s in the back of my mind on how he?d have to guard a quicker guy and that kind of thing.?
On the concerns of a small lineup on the defensive end?
?Just what happened in the game against Tennessee. They lobbed the ball over us and we didn?t have weak-side help. We?re out there trying to deny the ball into the post. We got out rebounded by them pretty handedly down there. When they had to make plays there down the stretch, they kind of out rebounded us then. When you go small there really is no real offense. We were trying to manufacture points and there?s not a whole lot of execution. We did a lot of penetrating with the ball and pitching it out which is what hurts teams that when they are bigger than you are, you can take them off the dribble. That?s what concerns me, the rebounding end of it and the post defense.?
On Alabama?s Jermareo Davidson and Richard Hendrix?
?Hendrix is more inside oriented. He stays more back to the basket. Jermareo is more versatile, he can take you off the dribble. He?s the type of guy that will shoot the jumper from outside. Not that Hendrix can?t do it, but Jermareo is more of the high-post player. He can play low post. The ability to switch is what impresses me the most about those guys. They really are battlers inside. They?re strong, physical, and long. We?ve got to match that and find ways to keep the ball out of the post which we weren?t able to do at Tennessee or in the Florida game. That has been our biggest concern. People are just able to take the ball to the basket either with the dribble or the pass.?
On Ramon Harris?
?It?s just hard to put him in these games. Every game is a war, when you?re fighting from behind. I just don?t think he?s ready. He?s going to help us in the future. Looking back on it, I knew it was going to be a tough transition. He?s come in the middle of the toughest part of our schedule. If he had been with us earlier in the year, he could have given us a little more confidence in what he can do. He?s been practicing just as tough.?
On what changes need to be made to enhance the post defense?
?It?s a combination of both (pressuring the ball and denying the pass inside). We?re not getting good ball pressure that?s how they?re able to make sharp, direct passes into the post. We just don?t play with the physicality to deny certain post-up positions. You have to push people either up or down the lane. We?ve just had trouble with that. I would like to see us do both better, put better pressure on the ball so that they can?t make an easy pass in there and play a little bit harder to keep people out of areas where they can catch the ball in a scoring area which is near the basket. Tennessee scored against our zone. They scored against our man to man. They scored on dribble penetration. They scored on post-ups. When you give up 22 or 23 lay-ups, that?s going back to where we started the year.?
On the physicality of his team?
?We?ve got to get back to basics, all of the things we?ve gotten away from. We?re so concerned about perimeter shooting. We?re playing the kind of defense that really allowed our guys to get out on the shooters in principle. We?re doing things that are unfamiliar with us. You look at Florida; they have a lot of different weapons. Tennessee you felt like you?ve got to get out there on (Chris) Lofton and a couple of other shooters. So, you start to make those adjustments in practice and this team is just having a tough time with that and understanding that. We play a lot of people.?
Kentucky Players
#3 Ramel Bradley
On the team being tougher on defense?
?I agree with that. I think we gave up too many lay-ups. We?re not even contesting the lay-ups and dunks, we?re talking about a guy getting the ball and just being able to finish the play. I think it?s been that we haven?t played tough for a couple of games. It?s very easy to fix.?
On what the team needs to do to fix the defensive breakdowns?
?I think it?s a combination of both (mentality and the players encouraging one another). I think guys have to just say ?no we?re not going to give up easy lay-ups like that anymore.? When guys come down, you have to be able to make them pay. If you foul them, you can?t let them finish the basket.?
On Coach Smith considering making changes to the starting lineup?
?As long as I?m a part of either one of the lineups, I?m fine. As long as I?m out there on the court, I?ll deal with either one (small lineup or big lineup). I?m not really surprised. He?s a great coach. I?m not surprised he might want to mix it up a little bit for whatever reason.?
#33 Randolph Morris
On playing better defense in the post against Alabama?
?People will say that we responded. I?m not going to be able to do it by myself; it?s going to have to be a team effort because we?re playing a team like Alabama. For me, I?m going to take it as a challenge to play exceptionally better than I did against Tennessee. I?m just looking forward to the chance to get out there and play and improve on my performance defensively.?
On whether or not he got tired in the second half against Tennessee?
?I was a little bit fatigued, but that can?t deter you from playing well. I can?t give into mental fatigue. Just because I?m tired, I have to find a way to fight through that. Even though I was a little worn down, I have to find a way to overcome that.?
On the toughness of the team against Tennessee?
?Mentally, no we weren?t tough. We usually handle the screams and people yelling, but we didn?t handle them as well as we usually do. We didn?t play as well as we knew that we could have. For whatever reason we were mentally down, that?s how you know your defensive execution is off.?
