Kentucky Player Quotes
#5 Immanuel Quickley, So., G
On Josiah-Jordan James playing in the game …
“He is another really good ball handler, a left that can shoot it a little bit. So, he is really good player. I believe he is a McDonald’s All-American as well. We just really didn’t bring it today, myself, everyone.”
On the reasoning for today’s playing …
“I do not think that there is a specific reasoning. They were a better team today, credit to them. They played harder than us, executed better. You just have to give credit to them.”
On clinching the SEC Regular Season Title …
“The let down was the loss. I do not know if that was the exact reason why. You just have to move on. Practice Thursday and practice Friday and get ready for the tournament.”
On the team’s mood after the game …
“Really quiet. Everybody knows we did not play our best today. Like I said, we just have to move forward. Every team, we have had adversity this whole year. We just have to let this morph us in a positive way and get ready for the next team.”
#3, Tyrese Maxey, Fr., G
On what happened with the game …
“Gave up a lead, we didn’t fight late and that’s on us. We got to do better.”
On if this loss can be a learning lesson …
“Oh yeah, you can definitely learn something. Like you said we’ve been doing it all year, giving up leads, but we just got to bounce back. it’s like I’ve been saying you got 24 hours and after that you’re back at the drawing board to practice on Thursday.”
On Tennessee getting more offensive rebounds in the second half …
“Just not tough enough, we lost some loose balls. We dropped rebounds, big crucial rebounds we dropped and its ok, like I said we got to get back to drawing board, 24 hours is all we got to grieve and after that we’re back at it. big one on Saturday against Florida.”
On the feeling of giving up lead late …
“at this point it is what it is, we gave it up hats off to Tennessee they played great, they scored the ball down the stretch, got offensive rebounds, got stops and we didn’t so it is what it is, you got to go back to the drawing board. We’ll be at practice, practicing hard on Thursday.”
#10 Johnny Juzang, Fr., G
On the impact Josiah James had tonight…
“Yeah, he’s a good player. He definitely contributed for them.”
On how Johnny can stay on the floor, stay motivated and contribute …
“You know, different games call for different things, but I am always trying to contribute, whatever that is, defense, rebounding, communicating, scoring. Yeah, just always trying to contribute.”
On what happened in the second half …
“It was a combination of things, like I said earlier. They kind of got hot, we went into a little bit of a drought, you know, bad timing. As that happens, we could have done a better job keeping our energy up and not letting those things stretch on. It was a tough night; we’ll learn from it and bounce back.”
On what he will take away and learned from the loss …
“Off the top of my head, again, we will go back and watch film and see the little things. You got a lead, you got to keep that lead, any lead, game is not over, you got to keep playing and come out with the same energy again. So, I am sure there will be a game like this come tournament time. Have a big lead, might start slipping a little bit, so you know we will make that adjustment when it happens, if it does happen. But, off the top of my head, we just got to keep playing, put teams away.