Matthew Mitchell
Rhyne Howard
KeKe McKinney
Nashville, Tennessee
Kentucky 86, Tennessee 65
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Kentucky.
We will start with an opening statement from coach.
MATTHEW MITCHELL: It’s always great to win in the SEC tournament. We’ve won a bunch of games over the years in this tournament, and I can’t remember one where I was more proud of how hard the players fought and hustled tonight from the opening tip, really started the game with tremendous energy and focus and tenacity.
I thought let Tennessee know we were here to play early, and that’s what we needed to do to build some momentum in the game. We were able to maintain it in just a fantastic win for the Kentucky Wildcats. Extremely proud of our players.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.
Q. Rhyne, Tennessee seems to have an endless supply of long bodies. What were you able to do to negate that?
RHYNE HOWARD: Well, I also have a pretty long body, so I think it kind of evens out.
I just put the trust in my teammates and my coaches to call the right plays or set me up for screens and open shots, just let the game come to me.
Q. KeKe, for a neutral site game, there was a lot of orange in those stands. How important was it to take the crowd out of the game early?
KEKE McKINNEY: I think it’s like any other game. I don’t really worry about who’s in the crowd or what team. I’m here to play for Kentucky just like everyone else. We’re here to just get the job done no matter who’s in the crowd.
THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you for your time.
We’ll continue with questions for coach.
Q. Rhyne doesn’t score until late in the second quarter. You extend the lead. What does that say about the depth of this team?
MATTHEW MITCHELL: Well, it’s a good night for us when we can have some balance. Rhyne certainly leads the way, has just had a phenomenal year. She is an explosive scorer.
But if you look at all of our significant wins this year, when we’ve played well, we have great balance.
Just so proud of the team for getting focused this entire week. We started the week off with a loss that we felt like we had control of the game in Nashville, let that slip away from us. So really proud of the team for bouncing back once again. We’ve not lost two in a row this year. They’ve always had that resilience about them.
It’s a tough group. This was a big win for us. We needed to come in here and I think validate our seed and let people know we were a dangerous team here in the postseason.
Real proud of how the team responded.
Q. You played them earlier in the season. Game was a lot closer. Honestly wasn’t much of a game after the second half. What did you see in the first game that helped?
MATTHEW MITCHELL: It was so early in the conference season, second game, we had just come off of a disappointing loss to South Carolina. We really needed to bounce back.
I feel like we got better over the course of time during the regular season on some key things you have to do to beat Tennessee. I thought we really battled the boards tonight and were able to come up even on the boards. That’s no small task. They are one of the best teams in the country rebounding.
I thought we were able to turn them over in the first game and get some points off turnovers. We did that well again tonight.
I think it’s a totally different atmosphere in the SEC tournament. That game was so long ago, we really tried to focus in on what Kentucky could do well. I think in a tournament setting that’s really the key for you, is to try to come out and be the best version that you can be.
I thought the team did a great job of that tonight.
Q. About the rebounding, you matched them in rebounds and points in the paint. What was the difference in this game?
MATTHEW MITCHELL: I just thought the determination of the players right from the jump. It was not only the rebounds we were getting, it was how we were doing it. I thought we were very aggressive just snatching rebounds with two hands, just establishing a presence on the boards early.
Again, like I said in the opening statement, letting them know we were there to play. I think against a Tennessee team you have to establish a presence of tenacity in a couple of places: You got to be really tough on the boards and you got to come out swinging on defense. If you look at the stats, they’re one of the best teams in the country rebounding and field goal defense.
You have to come out there and match that and try to be really aggressive. That’s what we try to talk about before the game, that hustle is so important for this version of the Kentucky Wildcats. We just have to have that kind of effort to be the team we can be.
I thought tonight was as good of an example of that as we’ve had this season, just the way we established ourselves in the game.
Q. You saw Mississippi State a couple weeks ago. What did you take from that game? What are you expecting tomorrow?
MATTHEW MITCHELL: Well, they’re extremely talented, very fast, well-coached. They have some size. We have some issues there. They’ve got a little more size and length at some positions.
But we have to be ready for a real, real tough game. They’re an outstanding team. We played real hard and were able to earn a victory. We were proud of that one. Tomorrow will be a tough game. We have to come out and, again, we have to try, to the best of our ability, to play Kentucky basketball and really focus in on the things that are important for us to play well.
It’s a great opportunity for us. We love playing in this tournament. We’re happy to have another opportunity in it.
Q. You have a player from Knoxville, Chattanooga, two assistants that were at the staff at Tennessee. You have another player from Memphis. What is all this Tennessee stuff?
MATTHEW MITCHELL: I’m grateful for the opportunity Pat Summitt gave me 21 years ago. Pat and Mickie and Holly really embraced me as a young coach. It changed my life professionally to be able to be in that program, to learn from Coach Summitt, all the great people that were there, build some lifelong relationships.
Known Kyra and Niya since they were coming out of their freshmen year in college, just built some great relationships and gained a lot from that experience.
We recruit Kentucky so hard, we’re really proud any time we have a player from Kentucky who can play for us. We really focus on that. But the border states are important for us, too. Tennessee has been a state where we’ve gotten some really good players on this particular team.
You just never know who’s going to fit and where they’re going to fit. I think these players saw our vision at Kentucky and what we’re about and signed up and we’ve benefited from their presence.
I think Jaida Roper a lot of times gets overlooked. You talk about her being from Memphis. She has squeezed everything out of her opportunity at Kentucky. She is really our floor general right now as a senior point guard. She’s banged up and not full speed. Man, she is giving us everything she has and doing a great job. We’re proud of our players. We’re going to try to fight again tomorrow, see if we can get one more victory.
Q. You’ve been through a lot of these SEC tournaments. You said you’re bringing this team here to win this thing. How is preparation with a team that did legitimately win the title different than one which may not be as competitive?
MATTHEW MITCHELL: I think what we try to do is get some rest early in the week. I think that was really important. If we can do and play close to our best, the way we did tonight, there’s some key things that have to happen, then we feel like we can win the tournament.
A real blessing out of being the third seed and not knowing who you’re playing, there’s a possibility you could play one of three teams when the week starts. I think it helps you get focused on who you are, sort of simplify that and really latch onto that.
No matter who you have, you’re not going to have a ton of time to prepare. I’ve always felt like in this tournament you need to focus on what you’re doing. They had a good week of doing that. They came out tonight and played some good Kentucky basketball. So proud of ’em.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
Kellie Harper
Lou Brown
Rennia Davis
Nashville, Tennessee
Kentucky 86, Tennessee 65
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Tennessee.
We will start with an opening statement from coach.
KELLIE HARPER: We’re disappointed. But Kentucky just played a terrific basketball game. I think the second quarter got away from us. We had a few too many plays that we needed to execute better both offensively and defensively. Allowed them to go on a run and get really comfortable.
When that team is comfortable, they make shots. I mean, we were throwing a lot of different defenses at them, but they kept finding people that put the ball in the hole.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.
Q. Rennia, from your experience before in the SEC tournament, having to play last night against a team with fresh legs tonight in Kentucky, what impact might that have had on this game?
RENNIA DAVIS: I honestly don’t think it had an impact. I really think it was all us. I don’t think we executed as well as we could have, especially on the defensive end. So, yeah, I’m really disappointed in that.
Q. Lou, when you think about what this team is bringing back for next year, what are some of the highlights?
LOU BROWN: I think this team with Kellie’s guidance, this team has a bright future ahead of them. They have so much talent coming back. You’ll have freshmen that have a lot of experience under their belts now, big playing minutes, in the SEC tournament and throughout the SEC. I think that in itself will push the team ahead next season.
Q. Rennia, as you think about your off-season, what you want to improve going into your senior year, what does that look like?
RENNIA DAVIS: Just stay in the gym and keep working whatever the team needs me to do. Continue to crash the boards. Just continue to try to communicate with my teammates and build those relationships off the court. I think it will help translate over.
THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you.
Coach, any final thoughts?
KELLIE HARPER: I don’t think our season is over. Hopefully these players aren’t thinking about next year right now. I hope they’re still thinking about the NCAA tournament.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
