December 21, 2019
John Calipari
Nate Sestina
Ashton Hagans
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ohio State – 71, Kentucky – 65
THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with questions for the student-athletes.
Q. For both you guys, Nate, how do you explain the difference from your game against Utah and the way it unfolded tonight. And Ashton, after he answers, what sort of impact do you think Nate had on the game?
NATE SESTINA: I kind of talked to you about it earlier, just coming back for my first game after an injury I was a little hesitant, didn’t want to put my hand out there, put it in passing lanes, go up with two hands to rebound. And I talked to the coaching staff and they were just like, listen, you need to just forget about it, forget about the injury. Talking with our trainer Jeff he kind of said the same thing, just go out and play and don’t think about it. And I tried to do that today, diving on the floor, not thinking about it. But I think kind of carrying that over into today it was just a toughness thing. We knew they were going to be physical, the Big-10’s known for that, I played Ohio State last year, they were physical, so I kind of knew that coming in and I was just trying to do the same thing for them.
ASHTON HAGANS: Nate’s presence being on the floor it was a big deal tonight. He knocked down some big threes that we needed and then got other guys hitting shots, which he’s a vocal leader at all times, on and off the court and that’s what we need, but also the Utah game we didn’t start off with no energy, there was none of that. Tonight I feel like we had a lot of energy starting off the game, finishing too, but we just messed up on certain parts, but now we got a couple days to fix that when we get back from this break, just ready to get back to work.
Q. Ashton, what’s the most important thing in your mind that this team’s got to get right, figure out in the next however many, two, three months?
ASHTON HAGANS: There’s nothing too big, I would just say just coming together more, having each other’s back more, helping each other out. But other than that I think we’re getting it, everyone’s getting their role coming into it, but obviously also we just got to start sharing the ball but that comes with getting closer on and off the court. But it’s just small things right now.
Q. There were a couple times during the game you kind of grabbed guys and were saying something to them after a play or something. Is that something you’re trying to do more of and kind of what was going through your mind on some of those things?
ASHTON HAGANS: Just trying to get guys going, not too much on them but just trying to talk to them. If we mess up, just keep talking to them, like if I do something wrong, I know I’m going to hear it from Nate, I know I’m going to hear it from EJ, things like that, so that’s just what I try to do, just talk to the guys every time.
Q. The Ohio State guys talked about this game being a 40-minute grind, kind of a test of wills. And you guys were right there blow, counter blow, how do you feel about coming out of a game like that against a highly ranked team right there?
NATE SESTINA: For us it kind of shows where we are right now. I think from the beginning of the year until now we have really improved our toughness you saw guys getting chippy, guys were bumping guys around, diving on the floor, guys stepping up, blocking shots. Like I said before, like this is a big toughness game for us and I mean I don’t really remember the score but I think we were starting to click and we’re like two or three possessions away from really getting this thing going and it really starts with like Ashton said, it starts with on and off the court relationships and we’re starting to do that. Guys are hanging out with guys outside of basketball and that trust carries on to the court so that every time we step on we know that guys are going to be there for each other.
Q. Nate, after two straight losses on this trip, what was the mood like in the locker room after the game?
NATE SESTINA: Pretty solemn, but we have a team full of guys that are ready to play and the game coming up is huge for us, it’s an in state rivalry, it’s a big, another big toughness game for us, and the tension around that game is so much more and we know that and the attitude for them coming in, the attitude for us coming in, it’s kind of the same thing, it’s two big dogs going after it and whoever is hungrier at the end of the game is going to get the bones as Kenny Payne said to us tonight.
Q. I know you guys just came off two big losses but the Ohio State head coach, he did say that Coach Cal finds a way to make runs deep in March. What’s your confidence in him and each other and what are you going to focus on once conference play starts?
ASHTON HAGANS: We had our up-and-downs with last year, this year it’s the same thing, we lose we always hear something but we just got to stick with each other. Cal’s coaching us to win in March and so we just got to keep on fighting no matter what happens, just stick with each other like I said earlier and just keep fighting.
Q. Nate, you’ve not played in the Louisville/Kentucky rivalry yet but I’m sure the guys have talked to you about it. What are you expecting in that game next weekend and what have the guys told you?
NATE SESTINA: It’s going to be a dog fight and Cal said to us today that they’re like 1-11 against us and however long and that’s big. I mean they’re coming in looking to get a win, we’re coming off of two losses, they think that we’re going to come in and kind of lay an egg, so I think for us and for me personally at least I haven’t played in this game you I understand what it’s like to play in big games and in a rivalry game like this is something that I’m really looking forward to. When I committed here that was one of the games that they talked about, so I’m really looking forward to it, got to get away, take a little mental break, be home for Christmas, I know everybody’s going to be in the gym, everybody’s going to be working out and we’re going to come back and get after it.
THE MODERATOR: All right, we’ll let you get back to your team. Coach, give us your thought on this afternoon’s game.
JOHN CALIPARI: We fought. We tried. Thank God we had Nate. I think we put ourselves in a position where we had a chance to win, we just wouldn’t pass the ball. We’re still, we’re opening up the courts to drive people because everybody will collapse and they did collapse and we tried to shoot it anyway. I mean we did — I called my last timeout to make us pass that ball where EJ threw — I called a timeout to say, you’re going to pass this ball. So we came down three straight times with guys wide open and shot it into a guy 6′-10″. We’re still learning. But if this is who we are, we’ll be fine. Nick didn’t play great, EJ played OK, we just got to get those guys going a little bit.
THE MODERATOR: All right, we’ll take questions.
Q. Over the last several games you said our guys aren’t passing the ball. What has?
JOHN CALIPARI: They started today, we did pretty good for awhile. It was in the last four minutes they wouldn’t pass. I mean, I thought they did a good job, we got 17 assists and 11 turns, which in our case usually wins games for us. But there could have been three more assists in the last four minutes and we would have had 20 assists, 11 turns and it would have been like a good night. But we chose to try to score it versus, they’re collapsing, that’s what they’re doing and I, what Nate did for us, folks, is he started making shots so some other guys, it’s contagious, they can make a shot now. So we get seven today. If we get seven we’ll be fine. Seven for us, eight, six, a game, we just can’t go 2-17. 1-12. And the problem is we still had a lot of guys go 1-6, 1-5, and they were wide open like they’re wide open and when those guys start making it, we’re spacing the court how I would like to space the court. So we can get to the rim. Now unusual for us to get, have a team shoot more free throws than us. Like on the year we’re way more free throws than the other team. This is an aggressive team, they’re, they were physical, they did some good stuff.
Q. After the Utah game, the way it ended on Wednesday, did you get an explanation on the restricted circle?
JOHN CALIPARI: I asked about the one today.
Q. Did you get — the way it ended on Wednesday did you get a different explanation today?
JOHN CALIPARI: They, you know, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
Q. The start, it seemed like this was the Derek Willis plan for Nate?
JOHN CALIPARI: Yeah.
Q. To come in as a stretch guy and let him shoot threes?
JOHN CALIPARI: Yes.
Q. When did you decide —
JOHN CALIPARI: Before we talked about it, just so you know. So we spent two days just like one of the things I said, Nate, what were we running for you to get you threes? And then we put in some stuff and what they did after he banged a couple, they just said okay we’re going to switch. Well, there’s two things you do, you run him into the post with the point guard, and you bring that other big out or you tell your point, it’s called a boomerang, he throws it, they get it right back to him and he goes downhill right at that big. You do one of the two. We’ll work on that kind of stuff, we haven’t had it. The biggest thing is we got the ball in the lane like we want to and we just ran people over. I told Ashton, he played great, but he’s got to lead us the whole game. The play at the end of the half where he just, a minute to go, we could have gone in up at halftime, and he just, you’re down one versus two and you ran the guy over. Wait a minute. And we had a good game plan of trying to grind them out a little bit because they’re a very good defensive team, they played very physical, they’re a bump and grind kind of team and we wanted to bump and grind them and I thought we did pretty good. I mean I, at the end of the day, I don’t know exactly what we shot, but it was pretty high and they make 10 threes a game that was an emphasis for us and we held them until the last two where we rotated and they made two at the end. So you hold attempt that makes 10 to basically four, I thought we did good. This was a good time for us. I mean the last 10 minutes of Utah and this game, I mean that’s a top 1, 2, 3, team. That’s what they are. Their shooting guard played today, he had been out a couple games he didn’t play against Minnesota in the last game, but he played today. And so for us to be able to say, okay, now let’s clean up all this other stuff, let’s get guys to fight, Nick’s got to come back, I told him, you got to get back in the gym, you put yourself in this position by how you practice and how you approach this, now we, it’s not acceptable, let’s go.
Q. Follow-up on Nate. You may have answered it with not passing at the end, but he goes the last 14 minutes without a three-pointer?
JOHN CALIPARI: Well they switched and did some stuff.
Q. He took him away?
JOHN CALIPARI: Yeah. And that guy can coach too.
Q. Like you said you guys are generating a lot of open shots and it’s guys like Tyrese, like Johnny, like Immanuel who are good shooters they’re just missing shots. Do you have any idea like why, like what makes you think that they’re just missing shots?
JOHN CALIPARI: Probably mindset. Like you can’t really say like, well I come out every time I miss a shot. No, that’s not true. So then it become, at one point I was trying to get them to just say one word in your mind when you go to shoot it. Straight. Straight. Straight. Because if you’re thinking straight you can’t think I’m going to miss this too. I’m missing this, oh my God. So you just, then that worked a little bit. And then I was like, well, if there’s another word that will make you feel good before you shoot, say that word. Maybe it was a high school team you got 40 against. “Saint Alysosis” and then shoot it. Because the mentality of shooting, you cannot be afraid if you miss one or two, then pass on the next three, because you kill your team. But if I miss five in a row I’m embarrassed. Excuse me? Get in the gym then. The one way is get in the gym and master your craft. We got good shooters, if you watched us practice yesterday, we made 50 threes. They’re like — and then — and it’s not just missing, it’s hard right. You hear what I’m saying? It’s not di, di, di. No, it’s, like boom, boom, zing. I mean that’s what it is. So I just think, again, the toughness of playing here, got to be tough, got to be a dog. Every game is someone’s Super Bowl. Ohio State played their butts off today and they ground it out, they played to win a game and they played and fought and pushed and were big and I mean they played. And that’s what — I told them, I said you could say it’s hard to play — it’s hard to play against these teams that are trying to kill you. The other thing that happens I’m trying to explain, they will look at a guy like Tyrese and say, he’s a lottery pick? Well watch what I do to him. Then why am I not a lottery pick? They don’t get, well we’re exchanging basket, hi, how are you, good to see you. These dudes are fighting and this is the process we go through every year. When they figure it out, if I don’t fight I’m not making it. If I’m not a dog, if I’m not — you don’t make it. And it’s not about exchanging basket, let me get more shots. No. Now you’re 1-12. What do we do now? So, but I’m not spending much time on it, we’re just taking a lot of shots and we chart every shot. And at some point you say, fall back on your training, you made 60 in five minutes, you made 67 in five minutes. You can’t make them when you’re wide open? But I think I got a good shooting team. Thank goodness for Nate today.
Q. What’s the team plans for Christmas and is it good to maybe step away for a few days?
JOHN CALIPARI: Good for me, I know that. I don’t know if it’s good for them. Nine of them are already going to the airport, going separate ways home. Johnny’s got the shorter trip to L.A., he’s laughing, I’ll be home in 30 minutes. The rest of us got long flights. But I grabbed each of them individually and talked to them and just told them, maybe gave them a critique a little bit but I said, go have fun with your family, we’ll deal with it when we come back. We do this every year. The NCAA’s made it not an option any more. You got to take four days. Well we always took four days. I didn’t care what — and I basically did it because I really cared about my own family. I wanted to be with my family for four days. I don’t care. I’m not playing over Christmas, I’m not, we’re taking four, five days, three days, this year we’ll take four, but now the NCAA makes everybody do it. I thought it was an advantage for us. Because we were playing teams that were given no Christmas break and they would play and get ready and I thought it was our advantage because of how we did it. So now it’s no longer an advantage.
Q. You talk about guys getting shots. EJ just took four, first 17 minutes didn’t have a shot. What is he not doing to get more involved and why is he not shooting it more?
JOHN CALIPARI: Well one of the things is you can offensive rebound and go get shots, so now you don’t have to worry about someone passing you the ball just say I’m going to rebound offensively. The second thing is fight in the post where we can throw it to you. Now it becomes so it’s obvious that you got to get it. Last game he begged me, like get me it in the block. Today we tried to run a couple things to him, couple of things to Nick, but it didn’t materialize because that guy worked harder than they did. You got to work harder than that guy to get open than he is working to keep you to not catch it. And it’s all what we’re going through. This is normal, it’s just, you know, you would rather learn from close wins, we had our chance today, we were down two with a few minutes to go. We had our chance. And then the same with Utah. Tie game with a minute to go, whatever it was. We had our chance. And we let it slip. So now we move on. Folks, I tell you all, have a merry Christmas, hope you get to enjoy your family and I hope you enjoyed the game today. Thanks.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
December 21, 2019
Chris Holtmann
Kyle Young
Kaleb Wesson
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ohio State – 71, Kentucky – 65
THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with an opening statement from Coach and then take questions for the student-athletes.
CHRIS HOLTMANN: Okay. Yeah, I thought it was a really good college basketball game. Got the utmost respect for Coach Calipari, his team, that program. So, obviously, to get a win in a somewhat neutral site is fun. But tremendous — they’re going to have a great year. John’s teams always get better as the year goes on. They’re going to have a great year. Players win games like this. We said that going into the game. Players win games like this and these guys and others stepped up and made plays.
THE MODERATOR: Take questions for the players, please.
Q. You didn’t trail for the final 28 minutes. They kept cutting it to three, cutting it to one. You guys always seemed to have an answer. What did it take to answer every challenge they threw to you in the second half?
KALEB WESSON: Poise possessions, but I feel like we just came out and we tried to get the best shot on every possession. I feel like that helped us get the win today.
KYLE YOUNG: That was one thing we preached on in the huddles. We knew it was going to get loud at times. So when that happened we knew we had to stay within each other, trust each other, trust our brothers, and we were able to do that.
Q. In the last game when Nate Sestina was scoreless, and he broke his wrist, five threes today. I’m wondering how much of a surprise — how much of an impact did he make, do you think?
KALEB WESSON: He made an impact coming off the bench, scoring 17 points. When you have a guy like that on your team, that’s good for your team, having a boost like that off the bench.
KYLE YOUNG: He’s a great player. We’ve played him previously, so we knew what his game was about. We knew he’s a player who made big shots.
Q. For both of you: You guys took several charges today and blocked, I think, seven or eight shots. Just what do those type of defensive plays do for, like, the team’s psyche?
KYLE YOUNG: It’s huge. Being in the right position at the right time, we knew we had to be in gaps in order to make that play and that’s a huge swing for us. It’s energy, gets us going. When guys give up their body for the team like that, we can only be happy, so it’s good.
KALEB WESSON: Like what he said. No, giving up your body for your team, that’s something we try to preach because we’re a brotherhood, try to play every possession.
Q. You guys both talk about poise. What did you learn about D.J. Carton tonight? He had the ball in his hands a lot, seemed to make the right play more often than not in those last 10, 15 minutes.
KYLE YOUNG: We know what kind of player D.J. is. We know what he can bring to us. We know he was able to stay poised tonight, make some big plays for us down the stretch and we’re just happy to have him out there.
Q. You guys have a couple of big wins already this season. To win this game today here in Vegas on national television, what does it say about where you guys are going into the holidays at 11-1 with some of the wins you have?
KALEB WESSON: I feel like it just shows we started out good. There is still a lot of season left, but I thought we started out pretty well. And our coach prepared us at the beginning of the season and we continue, we’re going to continue to do that going forward.
Q. Thinking of the Walker 3 there with 26 seconds to go. I’m wondering if there was a play that’s sort of like, we’re winning this game. It’s a possession-by-possession thing, but we’re winning. Was it that play or some other play that —
KALEB WESSON: There was a lot of those plays out there tonight, regardless. Like you said, Walk’s 3, you got to shoot free throws at the end closing the game, you got some of the charges we took, the blocks we had, some of the big rebounds we pulled down. You can go to any play during the game, but we just, we came out, we played hard today and came up with the win.
Q. Kaleb, it looked like first play of the second half was drawn up for you in the post. Was there a talk at halftime about getting you more touches in the paint?
KALEB WESSON: Not talking to me about getting more touches, but that was a play we drew up. The coaches drew it up and my teammates found me in the right spot and we just executed.
Q. Both of you: Coach alluded that it was a semi-neutral game, but there were a ton of Kentucky fans. After you guys won, you ran into the crowd and gave high-fives to the Ohio State fans. Was that an impromptu thing?
KALEB WESSON: No, we just try to show love to our fans for coming out to road games. We understand it’s hard to get out to road games, spending the money to come watch us play. We appreciate that.
Q. Kaleb, can you critique or grade Andre’s chase-down block there?
KALEB WESSON: It was all right. (Laughing) It was cool. Nice to see. Everybody said ooh aah. We had to go on to the next play. I was ready to go on to the next play. Everybody was, like, you know.
Q. Their big guys, Kentucky’s true, kind of true post players have been inconsistent at best for a couple years now. Did you guys feel like that was an area that maybe you could enforce your will on them a little bit. They struggled to score inside today. It seemed like you guys were really bothering them.
KALEB WESSON: Getting paint touches was a big thing for us, whether it’s post play or driving or ball screens, anything. So we tried to stay to our game plan and we executed pretty well today.
Q. Kaleb, you’re sometimes someone who sort of wears your emotions on your sleeve, and I just wondered, when you see D.J. has a game like he does, and late in the game it just seemed like he was playing under control, yet at the same time was also emotional and showing that. How — what did you see from him, because I know at times I’ve seen similar emotion from you?
KALEB WESSON: We just, when D.J. comes out, he’s a big-time player. We all are big-time players. And for him to be able to, at a young age to be able to control his emotions during big games like this, you’re playing a blue blood team, you know you’re going to have a lot of hype too, so him coming out being a young guy, showing that poise, being able to make plays, and then when he gets emotional being able to calm down and still get on to the next play, it’s big.
Q. I don’t want to exaggerate, but how much did this have like a NCAA post-season feel to it? The punch, counterpunch?
KALEB WESSON: Like you said, the counterpunches, teams going back and forth for a 40-minute grind is what we try to talk about at the beginning of the game. And I feel like we went out there with that mindset and that mentality and came out with a win.
Q. What will it mean to get Dwayne back in the pregame huddles and things like that?
KYLE YOUNG: It’s huge. He’s really important to us. You can tell when we’re missing somebody like that, a fantastic shooter like he is. But just to have everybody back and we’re all together as one, that’s where we kind of do our best.
Q. We talked about turnovers this year and, obviously, the first half that was an issue. What was the talk at halftime or in huddles about cutting those down? And how were you guys able to do that in the second half?
KALEB WESSON: We understood that they were a handsy team. Guys out there, you got Ashton Hagans and they play good on this side of the ball. And so just being able to stay solid, being able to take care of the ball, slow them down, not trying to rush. That’s what they try to do, pressure you, and then you get out of what you’re doing. So we tried to stay in what we were doing and just stay poised during the possessions and it worked for us.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Thanks guys. We’ll let you get back to your team. Take questions for Coach.
Q. There were a lot of key plays there by a lot of your guys down the stretch, but I’m wondering the — there was one, I think, it was a one-possession or two-possession game, it looks like Richards was going to get a layup and D.J. comes from the backside out of nowhere. When we talk about D.J. learning and growing, I know everyone likes to see his handle and his drives and stuff, but is that just as important, if not more important, his awareness to make a play like that?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: It’s just as important to me. That’s for sure. It’s just as important — he’s learning. He’s not there yet. Neither are any of our freshmen. I don’t think any freshmen across the country is there when it comes to understanding all of the positioning that’s required and, really, more than anything, the attention to detail off the ball defensively. But he made a critical play there. He’s got strong hands, he’s quick, he anticipates well, and when he’s alert off the ball defensively, he can really be effective.
Q. You’ve beat three Top-10 teams now. What is the, I don’t know, the trait or characteristic that sticks out to you, I mean, not necessarily like the obvious thing, but just like from a coaching perspective that maybe not everyone would notice in those three games?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: I think we played fearless in those games. I think that’s important for your guys to play loose and fearless. Understand it’s not going to be perfect. You’ve got to have players that are gutsy enough to do that. I thought we responded to the emotion of the game. You guys said that it had a real, I don’t know, it wasn’t always great in terms of how either team played, but had a real good feel to it in terms of the energy in the building. And I thought we responded with good poise. But we just want our guys to be aggressive and fearless in those moments, and they have.
Q. You guys are, obviously, among the elite teams this season, but to come to an event like this with blue bloods all over the place here and come out looking as the best team, what does that mean for the program going forward?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: Yeah, I hesitate to talk about best team right now. Who knows. There’s a lot of season left to be played. John’s track record for getting players — or getting teams to play their best in March is, obviously, well documented. So that’s all we’re trying to do. We said after the Minnesota game, we’re trying to learn and move forward. Not one game defines us. Not one of those three wins defines us. It’s a long season. We’re just trying to get better. We’ll see if we can do that. Our league’s a bear. Our league is a bear. So we got a great West Virginia team coming up after Christmas.
Q. Right now Kentucky, obviously, has some warts. When you were diagnosing and game planning, what warts stick out the most where they’ve got to make progress and try to fix this thing?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: Yeah, I think they’re going to be fine. I really do. I think, obviously, the game the other night was, I thought that Utah played really well. But they will shoot the ball well. I think Sestina gives them, obviously — he was difficult for us. We were — at halftime, we had our entire halftime was consumed with how are we going to guard his ball screens. And we talked about a few different things from switching to full rotating. I think he’s important for them. They will shoot it better moving forward. I know that. And I think they’re going to be fine. But, obviously, that’s what everybody points to is shooting and offense. I really think that will come, for sure.
Q. I think it was after the under 8 timeout you came out and played zone a few possessions. What was the thought process there?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: We didn’t really go into the game — actually I didn’t even talk to our players about playing zone. We have it in our bag, but I did not discuss it, I did not anticipate going and playing zone. But literally I’m watching just one more game this morning and I just had that thought, like I probably want to give it a look for a possession or two. And I didn’t even tell the staff, but it was just one of those kind of game-time decisions.
Q. How much did this game sort of demand a competitive spirit from both teams and how well do you think both teams responded?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: I thought they had great competitive spirit. I really did. And you expected that, right, after — we certainly expected that they were going to come out and I thought they really did. I just thought our guys certainly did as well and they responded to every minute — I think about the three in the first half that Andre Wesson hit, where the momentum of the game could have gotten away a little bit, I think maybe if they had went up a point or two. There were a lot of those plays where we were able to stymie their momentum just enough. But I thought the game had a really good a really good life and competitiveness to it.
Q. You talked about both fearlessness and poise and I feel like for a freshman point guard that can sometimes probably be difficult to balance those, but it seemed like D.J. only had one turnover and he also made some clutch plays down in the second half. How did you see him just balancing those and going through that mentally?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: I think he did a good job with it, he did a good job with the emotion of the game. It helps, as I said, to have some older guys with him because, as he should, he listens to Kaleb and C.J. and Kyle and Andre. I think that’s important when you have a freshman point guard out there that he can take a lead from some of those guys. They level him out at times, but give him credit, a lot of credit, he made obviously a lot of plays, his back door playoff on the side out of bounds between him and Kaleb was a really good instinctive play. So give him a lot of credit. The isolation play on Sestina was a good play and I thought defensively he made some strides.
Q. We talked to you a lot this week about your ties to the Lexington area and I wonder what this felt like to you now that it’s over with, preparing for this and getting a chance against your hometown team?
CHRIS HOLTMANN: Yeah, you know, I just, I think it was really — you’re so locked in and dialed in and preparing your team for — obviously Kentucky’s Kentucky, so they’re not just another opponent, they’re a tremendous program, tremendous coach, tremendous players and obviously I am from there. But it was really about our players executing and that’s what I tried to lose myself in. And I’m sure my brother enjoyed it, mom and dad did, but, you know, we’ll move forward.
Q. I know it’s a blue blood sport like we talked about, but setting up your team to be No. 1 in country and things didn’t quite go as planned. Coach Cal said yesterday that he thought you were the No. 1 team in the country. So do you have a message for the haters now that you maybe proved that true?
JOHN CALIPARI: Coach Cal, I notice, has a way of saying things like that, right, to edit into the game. He anointed us the No. 1 there going into this game and I probably would have done the same, to be honest with you. But, no, we’re not putting any stock into the haters or No. 1, we got our fannies drilled at Minnesota. But listen, it’s a great win leading into Christmas, I don’t want to understate it, it’s a great win leading into Christmas.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
