[B][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]2011-12 Kentucky Basketball[/B][/FONT][/COLOR][/B]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]No. 2 Kentucky vs. Radford[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]Lexington, Ky. — Rupp Arena[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]Nov. 23, 2011[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]Post-Game Notes[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B][U]Kentucky Players[/U][/B][/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]#3, Terrence Jones, F[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how the team played tonight… [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“We did better than the game before. We are still improving. We showed a better effort on the things coach challenged us on.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On the slow offensive start … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“It’s okay if we have slow offensive nights if we are playing well defensively. Everybody’s playing hard, but sometimes it won’t fall for you. We did a good job sprinting the floor and creating offense from our defense.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how Marquis (Teague) played tonight … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Really just listening to coach. He really tried to prove to him this game that he was listening and doing what he asked. He did a good job of running the team.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]On the difficulty of playing in games being a heavy favorite…[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Staying focused. On Sunday’s game we lost focus (because we were) ready to come back home after being gone for so long.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]#23, Anthony Davis, F[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Sam Malone’s drive and score … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“He does it in practice as well. We already knew he was going to do something. We are trying to get Brian (Long) to shoot the ball too.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how well the team is playing together … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I think we are playing very well. Nobody is trying to play for themselves. Coach Cal stresses that we need to play as a team. We can’t beat the other team by ourselves so playing together makes the game a lot easier.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On needing a win after the Old Dominion game … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Any win would be great after that. We really didn’t play well. I wasn’t staying low and being aggressive. We needed it to get our confidence back up.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On the play of Teague and listening to Coach Cal…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“He just wants to listen to Coach Cal and be a great player. He knows Cal can help him because he has a lot of point guards in the NBA.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]#25, Marquis Teague, G[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how he played tonight, and how he felt he played…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“It felt good, just play good one game. I mean, not turn the ball over as much and get the win.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On if his ‘mind was tying up his feet’ in previous games…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]“[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]Yeah that’s the case, I was just trying to make the hardest play instead of the easiest. Trying to make a highlight play instead of the fundamental play.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On what was going through his mind while he was messing up…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Coach Cal was telling me things that[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I] [/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]he was wanting me to do, and I was trying to go out there and do them to perfection, which was causing me to mess up.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how he plays with a lot of emotion:[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I play with a lot of emotion, thats how I’ve played since I was little.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On making the “easy play’, lobbing it to Terrence (Jones) or Anthony (Davis)…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]“[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]That is as easy as it is going to get”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]#20, Doron Lamb, G[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On starting off slow and relying on the defense…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“You got to work as a team on defense early in the game and get the stops. Steals and rebounds will lead to easier offense.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Thanksgiving plans for tomorrow…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I think Marquis (Teague) and I are going to Twany (Beckham’s) in Louisville; a little team bonding.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On playing the zone in the second half…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]“[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]With Terrence (Jones) and Anthony (Davis) on the wings blocking shots, it really helps us. With me, Marquis (Teague), and Michael (Kidd-Gilchrist) at the top of the key, the other team can’t really get a shot up.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On not overlooking these next couple games before the high profile games…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Just don’t go out and force shots because it’s a weaker team. Just play hard on defense and the game will come to you.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B][U]Radford Head Coach Mike Jones[/U][/B][/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]Opening Statement … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“It was a great experience for our guys to come in here and play in front of a great crowd. I thought our guys battled, coming into the game we knew that they were going to be bigger, stronger and more athletic at every position and if we just fought hard good things would happen for us. Unfortunately, the ball didn’t fall in the hole early in the game. It is very difficult when you spend a lot of energy on the defensive end and the ball just doesn’t fall. It is just human nature to get a little frustrated and I think some of that happened at the beginning of the game. I was very pleased with our defensive effort at the beginning of the game, the score could have very easily been 20-0 and instead it was 12-0 before we got our first basket.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On having open shots… [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“We had open shots. I would say – haven’t looked at the tape – we had six or seven open shots at the beginning of the game that just didn’t go down. We thought we could hurt them in transition and we got out in transition and got some looks but they didn’t go down. We had to come back and battle on the defensive end which I thought we did a pretty good job.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Kentucky’s length … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“They remind me of the Syracuse team that won the national championship that year (2003). We played them when I was at the University of Richmond and they would sit in the zone and we had to figure out how to get the ball into the middle and it’s hard to because of their length, and when you think you have a shot they’d close out quickly and be able to put pressure on it. I definitely think if they did play some it would be tough to score against them in that.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On defending all of Kentucky’s options … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“The tough part is when they are on that back line and you help at all and they just throw it up to the rim. Once they get up in the air, then they are pretty much on their own, but if you can get them before they are in the air then I think you have a chance. The biggest thing for us coming into the game were two things, one, getting back in transition, and to do that we couldn’t afford to turn the ball over. In the half court the biggest thing was to just stay in front of the drivers because they all want to drive. I thought they did a really good job of getting inside the zone with drives. We didn’t close out the right way, we’d run up to them and the next thing we knew they’d be by us and we’d end up scrambling. They were able to get a lot of good shots because they were able to get into the defense and kick it out. They are a difficult matchup, they have a lot of skilled players. Terrence Jones, (Michael) Kidd-Gilchrist and (Darius) Miller are good at taking one or two dribbles and kicking it out and I think that’s one thing that hurt us the most.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B][U]Radford Players[/U][/B][/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]#24, Brian Darden, G[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On going up against Kentucky’s frontline … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“It was a new adjustment for us. We have to come out and play harder. If we played harder, we could have done better. They (Kentucky) had pretty good pressure, but if we would have executed better, we would not have as many problems.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how this game will help prepare Radford for its conference schedule … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I think our team will accept that we are all in this together and need to play as a unit. We need to improve on executing our offensive plays. I think our defense has been tremendous for the most part and we need to concentrate on executing our offense.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]#23, Johnathan Edwards, F[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On playing in Rupp Arena … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“The fans here are very enthusiastic. When you grow up as a kid, you see Kentucky and this is a different atmosphere. We have played in big arenas, but this place is different. The fans are passionate.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On playing against No. 2 Kentucky … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“They are a lot more athletic than the teams in our conference. They are a lot bigger. When you play against a team like this you have to be very sharp offensively. You have to pay attention to detail. They are a very good team and aren’t No. 2 in the nation for nothing.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Radford’s non-conference schedule … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“This is one of the toughest non-conference schedules I have been a part of. We have been able to prepare for a lot of different styles. Even though we’ve played a lot of games in a short time, in the conference tournament we’ll have to play three games in four days. This prepares us for where we want to be at the end of the season.” [/FONT][/COLOR]
