Nov. 10, 2011
The Wildcats closed out the exhibition portion of their schedule with an exclamation point, posting a 125-40 win over Morehouse College.
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| Gameday Information |
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Kentucky vs. Marist
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| Coverage |
| TV: FS South/UK IMG Radio: UK IMG  Live Video via ESPN3 Live Audio Live Blog Text Updates |
UK ended the two-game exhibition schedule with a 2-0 record outscoring the opposition 111.0 to 46.5.
Terrence Jones led the Cats in scoring and rebounding, averaging 22.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in the two-game stretch.
Freshman Marquis Teague tallied 16 assists and fellow freshman Anthony Davis blocked 12 shots. The Wildcats shot 65.9 percent from the field over the two-game stretch.
Scouting Marist
Marist is a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.The Red Foxes were picked to finish 10th by league coaches.
Marist returns three starters and eight letterwinners off last year’s squad that finished 6-27.
The Red Foxes are under the leadership of coach Chuck Martin. Martin has tallied a 17-79 record in his three years in Poughkeepsie.
Pre-Marist Media Opportunity – November 10, 2011
UK Head Coach John Calipari
On what he found after watching film of the Morehouse game …
“We started right; we didn’t start the game shooting all 3s, which we did the game before. The intensity level on team defense was terrific and we ran wide which made the game easier. When we did have opportunities to execute, we did, which is great. When we went to the bench, guys did their thing. It’s hard being up 60 and continuing to play in the second half, and they did, they played hard. With seven minutes left we put in Sammy (Malone) and Brian (Long), and neither one of those guys really practices in practice, let alone get in there and play seven minutes. There were some things, but nothing big. We showed them four or five minutes of offense and defense, some hustle plays and just tried to encourage them that this is what it looks like.”
On if he is pleased with where his team is right now …
“I’m fine with where we are; it’s who we are going to play. We just talked today, what if we want to massage the ball, we haven’t done it yet, what do we do late in the shot clock? We just put in out-of-bounds plays. Other teams are way ahead of us and I’m still sticking by there are 60 or 80 teams that could beat us, but the way we played against Morehouse it would be hard for them, it wasn’t just Morehouse it’s how we played.”
On Marquis Teague’s progression at point guard compared to former point guards …
“Until we are in a big time game and he gets the ball with the game on the line and we see how he reacts, it is too early to tell. I said to him last game that he was really unselfish, he didn’t take a shot for the longest time and then the shots he took were wide open jumpers or he just attacked the rim. Again, seven assists with only two turnovers and I only played him 17 minutes, he’s doing fine; he, Michael (Kidd-Gilchrist), Anthony (Davis) and Kyle Wiltjer (are doing fine). We just need him to be unselfish. He is more of a classic point guard coming in, he scored a lot of points in high school and that was before he had a jump shot.”
On how things stand with Stacey Poole Jr …
“Because I was out of town I didn’t get to spend any time with him and I haven’t seen him yet today but I’ll sit down and talk with him in the next day or two. I wanted him to take time, you want every player to stay and fight through it, but if the young man doesn’t think his opportunity is here, they all want to play, and I will support him. I am disappointed if he chooses to leave, but he is a great kid that I think is a terrific basketball player.”
On Marist …
“I just watched a little tape, they run good stuff; he is running some of the dribble drive. (Marist head coach) Chucky Martin coached with me at Memphis; they play some zone and some man. He is a terrific coach; he took over a tough situation where you lose seven or eight guys from the year before. My hope is this is his breakout year because he has a good job and it’s a great program.”
On zone defense…
“It might (appear in the Marist game). We worked on it a couple days ago and we’ll spend some time on it today. If we go to the big lineup, that might be what we go with. I like the big lineup, Terrence (Jones) at three, Michael (Kidd-Gilchrist) at two, that’s a big team.”
On how he plans to use the “big lineup” …
“We’d only run a few things, run in transition and two or three things for that team and that’s it. I like what they did, they went pick and roll with Doron (Lamb). That may be what you run in transition, you run the court and go into the pick and roll, I don’t know yet. That’s what they did and it didn’t look bad.”
On the Kansas game coming up …
“I’m not worried about Kansas; I’m just worried about my team. All I want to see (tomorrow) is us play with great intensity, continue to play unselfish and if they do those things that’s all I can worry about. I’m not getting ahead of myself and worry about other teams. Our schedule is very demanding; we know that and each game will be hard.”
On the starting lineup …
“It will be decided here, unless something crazy happens, with Doron (Lamb) going back to New York, I’ll probably start him. I start anybody that goes to their hometown, so that will be the case. Maybe he doesn’t do anything during the next couple days but I doubt that. He has jumped on the Josh Harrellson thing. He’s working hard, but you can’t just do that one week, you have to keep doing it.”
#3, Terrence Jones, F, So.
On trying to keep the focus on Marist and not look forward to the Kansas game …
“Well for me, I’m just excited to play one game at a time. I’m just ready to play tomorrow. The next game will be Tuesday, so that’s when I will be excited for that, after the Friday game.”
On if they are ready for the season based off the practices they have had …
“No. I feel like we get better with each practice, so we need this practice as much as we’ve needed all the other practices before.”
On being on the cover of Sports Illustrated …
“It feels real good to be able to represent the school and the team on something that big; it just makes me proud to be able to be that person.”
On how they are getting better at practices …
“I think it is just because we practice so hard against each other, and everyone in practice is so competitive. Everybody that you guard in practice is equally talented, enough to make each other better.”
#23, Anthony Davis, F, Fr.
On officially starting the season tomorrow night …
“I’m ready for the first game, the season opener. It’s the time we’ve been waiting for. We’ve been waiting for the season to start and now it’s finally here so we’re all just amped up. We can’t wait for tomorrow.”
On whether getting to play a little bit at Rupp has helped them prepare for the season to start …
“Most definitely. We got used to the rims and the court is way bigger. We’re getting used to the court and everyone is getting excited early. It really helped a lot.”
On whether the win the other night led to more relaxed practices …
“Not at all. We always have our intensity up in practice. [Coach Calipari’s] standards don’t lower for anyone. He just tries to go out there and make us compete and still play the way that we know we have to play.”
#25, Marquis Teague, G, Fr.
On how he feels running the offense …
“I feel like I’m doing good. I’m just trying to get everyone involved. I need to keep up high energy, and just keep control of things on the floor.”
On what he needs to work on …
“I need to keep making sure I am knocking down open shots. I need to keep pushing the ball in transition, and sometimes I need to slow it down. I need to pick and choose when to speed up and slow down.”
On what they did after the blow-out win over Morehouse …
“We came in the next day and just got shots up and got free throws up. We played tough and played hard.”
