KENTUCKY HC JOHN CALIPARI Q&A:
* Calipari says he doesn't want to make anyone mad, but he's got to get out of here quick and go do his radio show.
* Went to a shorter rotation tonight, loved how they started the game as the aggressor.
* I keep saying, we've got shot blockers. Don't give them the jumper. We can block shots. Ugonna was incredible.
* DJ really helped us on the defensive end of the floor. It may take him time to get back in the offensive flow., but helped on D.
* Wished he coulda got Jordan Burks in tonight.
* There are plays where they're still missing wide-open guys where all it takes is one more simple pass after the defense collapses.
* The big point today: we guarded. And their guards are really good. It's going to be a process, and I think we'll break through. My teams break through.
* Tre being in there today helped us. He got a bunch of rebounds, 50/50 balls. He went to get X-rays on his shoulder after the game.
* It doesn't really matter who I put in. They can all play basketball.
* Need to start making better passes into Ugo. Making it hard for him with some sloppy entry passes. Thinks he shoulda had a double-double tonight.
* On what he means by being "built for March." In the NCAA Tournament, you can't advance getting 60-65 points. We can score points. We can be a low-turnover team. The issue is, will we be physical enough? DJ is physical. Tre is physical. Ugonna is physical. Adou is physical. With those guys, we can be more aggressive and get to more rebounds and 50/50 balls. If we get those things, we've already got the hardest thing, which is what we are (a high-scoring team). Stuff they need to add does not take skill.
* Oddly, now Cal is getting very sensitive tonight about his "built for March" comment that he believes he has explained "10 times." Chastized both the media and the radio postgame crowd to quit asking about something they've never asked about. But gave an interesting answer to it. Bizarre,
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OLE MISS HC CHRIS BEARD Q&A:
* On UK's defense tonight... Thought they came out the aggressor. Onyenso had a special game.
* On UK being able to counter their run to start the 2nd half... Talent and depth. Cal has been pushing different buttons trying to find the right combination. He found one there to get the big lead back. Kinda the same way both halves started.
* Needed more good inside-out possessions than they had tonight. And too many turnovers. UK has guys with good hands, Sheppard was disruptive. They had a ton of blocked shots and steals.
* You never want to stop attacking the rim, even with a big-time shot-blocker, but you have to be a little more intelligent with it than we were tonight.
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KENTUCKY PLAYERS Q&A:
