Evansville players say they are not intimidated by coming into Rupp Arena to face No. 1 Kentucky.
“They put their pants on one leg at a time, too, so we’re not worried about that,” UE guard Sam Cunliffe said. “We’re all high-level players, too. Yeah, they’re Kentucky, but we want to bring our best. We know they’re a good team and are excited to come compete and see what we can do.”
Here are more comments from the Courier & Press:
The Aces themselves don’t care about Kentucky’s hype. They said after Saturday’s close, season-opening win over Ball State if they focus on the name, they’re going to break character and get beat badly.
They had just seen an example of how that can affect a game after nearly blowing a 25-point lead.
“They put their pants on one leg at a time, too, so we’re not worried about that,” UE guard Sam Cunliffe said. “We’re all high-level players, too. Yeah, they’re Kentucky, but we want to bring our best. We know they’re a good team and are excited to come compete and see what we can do.”
Evansville hasn’t fared great in recent Power 5 road games. They lost by 64 points to No. 4 Duke two years ago and then suffered a 39-point loss to open the McCarty era last year at Illinois. The next game, however, they fell to Xavier by just six points.
John Hall said McCarty doesn’t talk much about his playing days, but he does constantly speak on what it takes to be winners because he knows from experience.
“I know he’s competitive and he wants to go in there and show them what we’ve got with this team right here,” Hall said.
Cunliffe understands the legacy McCarty left behind at Kentucky. He’s seen some highlights on YouTube of his coach from back in the day and admitted, “We’re kind of spoiled because he’s our head coach and we see him every day, so it’s not as special.”
Interested in the stock market? Robinhood is giving away one free share of stock (up to $500). Click here to claim yours now.
