#4, Nick Richards, Jr, F
On Immanuel’s (Quickley) performance when the team needed baskets and he hit three three’s in a row …
“Well he played amazing tonight. He made every shot and if you needed a basket you just ran to him. He made really tough three’s. He just overall played amazing.”
On if (Nick) Richards is going to record a spot for Quickley in the All-American video …
“*laughing* Yeah sure why not.”
On friendly competition for the player of the league spot against Quickley …
“Honestly, we just go with the flow. Whenever it’s our time to get buckets, make a play, or do something on the court, we just let it happen. You know we’re just out there trying to be good teammates to each other.”
On concerns with the press at the end of the last couple of games…
“No concerns, we just need to work on it in practice. I’m pretty sure the coaches are going to go over it more with us. We’re going to get better at it.”
On hitting free throws …
“Honestly that’s really what we aim for on the press late in the games because we know the teams are trying to foul us so that we can go shoot free throws hoping that we’ll miss it. We practice free throws every day, we try to make 50 in a row if that’s possible. I’m one of those who stay back and practice and just work on those free throws.”
On the battle with Kerry Blackshear tonight …
“It was pretty good, it’s pretty fun. He’s a good player, one of the best players in our league. I thought he played really goodtonight. He made a lot of good three’s and a lot of smart decisions. He made a couple of assists to his players. I thought he played really well overall.”
On if he talked to Blackshear when he visited UK …
“No, honestly it was just a hi and a bye. I saw him once while he was on campus and he came while I was packing to go home.”
On the defensive strategy when shutting Blackshear down …
“The strategy was basically making his catches hard. Take away his three point shots. I think he went two for six which was good for us. But overall as a team, we defended properly. Obviously,there’s going to be some break downs, but I think we recovered from those late in the game and I think we need to work on it a little bit more.”
#3, Tyrese Maxey, Fr, G
On would you rather personal high scoring or all-around game with 13-7-7 like tonight …
“I’d rather just win! I’m willing to do whatever my team needs and that’s what I tried to do today. Of course, Ashton (Hagans) wasn’t able to start because of his leg and he told me to just do what I doand he had faith in me. So I took on the role of being a lead guard, trying to get our guys involved early like getting EJ (Montgomery) and Keion (Brooks) some shots. I’m glad we won. Win by one, win by twenty, I love it.”
On Immanuel Quickley’s performance tonight …
“Immanuel is just a different breed and I think it’s just a testimony to his work. Coach got on him in the first half because he kept passing up shots and he told him if he doesn’t start shooting, he’s coming out, so I think he got the message. He said he was going to come back and be aggressive, if you open, shoot it. Don’t ever pump fake pass up a shot, you put in too much work for that.”
On improving inbound play …
“I need to practice it, a lot. I mean, stuff happens, we we’re trying to run two different things and I think our bigs didn’t know what the guards were running so we just need to clean that up and work on our communication during crunch time.”
#5, Immanuel Quickley, So, G
On his career high of 26 points …
“God’s been good, it’s all Him. But my teammates do a great job of finding me especially in transition. This team has been great, we have a lot of fun and that keeps us going. I remember Coach Calipari saying to the team, ‘Raise your hand if you are in the 25+ club,” and everyone looked at me like you haven’t had 25 points yet? It happened really quick; I wasn’t pressed to get it, but it just happened.”
On what got the team going tonight …
“One of the coaches yelled at me and said something along the lines of you need to score. Coach Calipari always has my best interest, so I’ve just been playing and trying to be free and just hoop. When they’re yelling at me to shoot, it doesn’t mean I have to, but just be more aggressive with making opportunities for myself or my teammates. In the second half you just have tobe a little more aggressive, really in any game in the first or second half. When my team needs me, I try to provide that spark. The guys are always good about being like, ‘Come on Quick, we need you,’ things like that. This team has been great and I’m just thankful for my team.”
On competition between him and Nick Richards …
“There’s no competition. The ‘Pick Nick’ video was great, the ‘decent free throw shooter’ was funny. Nick’s been great this year, definitely an SEC Player of the Year contest for sure. He plays great for us so hopefully he can keep doing great stuff. It’s not my decision to have a video of my own like that so, I’d be just as happy for my team to win a national championship. That’s really what we’re trying to accomplish this season and try to continue to build as a team.”
On his confidence …
“My confidence has been great for a while now. My teammates have been doing a great job of getting me open looks but when you see a couple shots go down that helps. So just to be able to get my confidence higher than it’s been, great.“