[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]UK Hoops Postgame Quotes[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]No. 12/10 Kentucky 74, No. 10/11 Louisville 54[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]December 4, 2011[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]Opening Statement …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“That was a great victory for our team today. Louisville is a tough, tough opponent and we had a lot of respect for them coming in. They were very difficult to prepare for and they are a very well-coached team. I am so proud of our players to put in the work to prepare and put themselves in position to earn a great win for our program today. I am really happy for our players.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I][/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On the depth of the team and going 10-players deep in the game …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]”
“We were hoping that our depth could be quality today. We were hoping that could be an advantage for us. I was extremely cautious, and worried if that is a better word, about their top players. Shoni (Schimmel) is an unbelievable player and I really felt that we had to make depth a factor today. We haven’t played in a game where we could really tell if we had quality depth or not, but today I think it paid off for us and we were able to make it work to our advantage.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I][/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Kentucky’s rebounding and second-chance points …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“Yeah, we have really tried to focus on becoming a great offensive rebounding team and we have the athletes to do it. We just have to focus on that and work really hard. That has to be, and we talked about it being, a sincere effort to offensive rebound today. You couldn’t act like you were going to the boards, you had to go in there and get some. That was a big thing for us. Louisville is a great defensive team and they just make it so hard on you to run anything that looks really fluid or good. They just do a great job of knowing your personnel and making it difficult on you. I didn’t think we played a very pretty offensive game today. But some of those offensive boards and put backs were big for us when Louisville was making it difficult on us to score.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I][/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On A’dia Mathies performance and if she was more focused today …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“I think that A’dia was really focused today and she is a good player. That is clear to everybody in the building that she is a talented player. I don’t think there is any doubt that she sensed this was a big game and a big rivalry. She was tremendously focused and prepared well. I thought that she played a beautiful game, I really did.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I][/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Kentucky’s defensive effort …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“I thought it was good. I thought that we needed to try to do our very best to pressure Louisville as much as we could and try to wear them down. We tried to make someone other than Shoni (Schimmel) handle the ball. That was a really big emphasis in the game. I thought that our players did a good job with that. We played tough defense.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I][/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how Kentucky was able to limit Louisville’s 3-point shooting in the game …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“They are a really good team and the shots fell for us today. They got more open shots than I would have preferred, I can tell you that. Last year, they beat us really bad and a lot of their 3s went in and they did a great job of creating that. It is tough when (Shoni) Schimmel gets the ball and you double team her, but she can throw it all the way across the court under tremendous pressure. You are just going to give up some open shots. They are just a difficult team to play and a difficult team to prepare for. I am really, really proud of our players grinding out a tough victory.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I][/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On the crowd at Memorial Coliseum …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“It was fantastic. You just can’t put into words how grateful I am to be at a place where people care and people come out and support us. It was a fantastic crowd and a fantastic basketball game for Kentucky. I am grateful for the fans that came out and hope we can get a big crowd out at Rupp for the Duke game.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I][/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On what today’s game said about his team that he didn’t know before …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“I thought that our players had played very hard and we were clearly superior in all seven games. But you just don’t know until you go up against an opponent like this. I think that it showed us that we were able to get prepared and get ready for a tough opponent. It definitely helped that it was at home and we had all the help and support in the building. I still think that we have a ways to go and we need to work to get better. I am awful proud because I am telling you this was a miserable week for me because of the unknown. I just don’t like that. It is really, really difficult and I had no idea how the game was going to go. No one had played them with Shoni (Schimmel) and Monique (Reid) playing in the game so I just didn’t have a good feel for what might happened. I think that it showed that we could get ready for a big game. It is a great rivalry and we have a lot of respect for them.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
