Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening statement…
“Well, we didn’t do very well last night. We have a tough day here of trying to get back on track before we can turn our attention to Tennessee, because if we don’t play our guts out every night in this league, we’re going to have a hard time, and you saw that last night. So, we’ve got to get in here after the press conference today and work on playing with greater toughness. I did a poor job of getting the team prepared. We did not show up anywhere close to the way we needed to last night, and South Carolina is a very talented team, but we’ve got to come out and play like our hair is on fire. We didn’t do that. We’ve got to try to get that straightened out today. Tennessee is, I’m sure, a real talented team. But, we’ve got to get the focus on Kentucky right now.”
On what went wrong from the beginning of the South Carolina game…
“Just fundamentally unsound in every phase of the game. We did not do one thing that we were supposed to do, and that all falls on me for not having the team ready to go. It’s real disappointing, and we will work hard like heck for that not to happen again. The very first free throw that they took, we didn’t box out, we got trapped, didn’t come back with the ball, didn’t meet passes, didn’t set up screens, didn’t set screens, didn’t use screens – it was just a fundamental breakdown. So, that’s my direct responsibility to have the team ready to go. So, we’ve got to get in here and get it fixed today.”
On showing the South Carolina tape to the team…
“No, no. You definitely have to show what is going on there. I think it is very important to see it, rather say you’re just not going to do that anymore. I think everybody learns a little differently, and we definitely want them to have that idea, and use it as a way of showing them what they’re not doing, and showing them how to correct it and what to do. So, we need to own this one. We need to do better.”
On the differences between South Carolina and Tennessee…
“They’re both real similar as far as very talented and very big, and we’re not very big. So, we’ve got to fight like crazy. So, Tennessee probably has a little more size in some spots than South Carolina. They really hurt us with that last night. So, we’ve got to be tougher earlier in possessions and that’s what we’ll have to do Sunday, I’m sure.”
On scoring 72 points against South Carolina, the most Kentucky has scored against a top-five team in 20 years…
“That’s a very positive spin on last night.. thank you to whoever dug up that little nugget of information… Offensively, when we got out of screening action, South Carolina was doing a great job, and we were just wilting under the pressure. Then, we started to get out of some screening action and really tried to cut hard and spread the floor a little bit. They were very aggressive. We just got into our motion offense and started driving the ball and made some plays. But, we didn’t make near enough when we needed to. So, it is something that we know we are better capable of, that’s why I’m disappointed, and I’m sure the players are, too, for their performance because we can play better than that. But, we didn’t last night, so we’ve got to own that. We’ve got to get in here and fight like crazy this afternoon and see if we can get better and get back on track for a big challenge on Sunday.”
On Chasity Patterson being an additional scorer along with Rhyne Howard…
“She is a talented scorer, and you have to have a good balance of pushing in areas where she has to come along, and patience also, knowing it was just her second game of the season, and that’s a difficult spot to be in. So, definitely showing the ability to score, she has done that since she got on campus. But, we’ve got to get her going defensively because she is capable of doing it. Just have to crank up the entire team in that areas.”