JOHN CALIPARI Q&A:
* Starts by offering congratulations to Tennessee. They fought hard for the win. Said UK had its chances, but the Vols never let go of the rope. Shows what their coach is about.
* Cal says he was right -- "Again" -- that the SEC deserves 9 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Thinks A&M and Florida should both be in. Thinks 7 or 8 will probably be in. "I have a lot of confidence in these teams."
* Asked if this is the kind of game you can just flush and move on, or does this create concerns for NCAAs... Calipari says he believes in the players maybe more than they believe in themselves. Davion Mintz and Jacob Toppin were passing up shots they could make, among others. Cal says Oscar is right (see below) that if you miss, you have beast inside who will probably get the rebound.
* "I thought we had a chance to win. I thought we were going to do it... but we got beat on a backdoor to lose the game. A backdoor!" ... "We had some of those plays."
* "Thank goodness it was under 2 minutes on that last out-of-bounds," Cal said of Shows blowing the call. Tossing some shade toward Doug. "Everybody saw it."
* Cal says "I think we're in really good shape. We've got three guys at every position (going into the NCAAs)." If eight guys play like crap, you're not winning. But he doesn't think that will happen.
* Air balls from some of the best shooters in the conference Cal says in disbelief.
* When we had it down to 6, there were 3 plays back to back to back that, if you make, you can't win a national championship because a good team like Tennessee will make you pay. "It's a good lesson for us."
* Asked how he thinks the Cats should be seeded, Calipari says probably a 2, maybe a 3, but who knows. "My guess is it will be a hard path."
KEION BROOKS Q&A:
* Tough one to lose, but still in good spirits.
* Was it more about what UK didn't do or what UT did do... Gotta give Vols credit, Brooks said. They shot it well, especially at the start of the game. But UK shot itself in the foot a couple of times when Cats had chances to make it closer.
* Keion felt like the looks they got were good, but just one of those days when the ball wasn't dropping. "For the most part, we got a lot of good looks... Kellen had some shots that were in and out.... Just didn't go our way tonight."
OSCAR TSHIEBWE Q&A:
* On what they're most concerned about getting right before the NCAA Tournament... Staying focused, being locked in. "This was kind of an off-day for us... but I'm still confident that we'll be ready next week."
* Oscar says he's gotta be smarter to avoid some cheap fouls in the next game.
* Guys were hesitant to shoot when they were open, Oscar said. Pointed to Toppin passing up open looks when he had great position inside to get the rebound, even if he missed it.
RICK BARNES Q&A:
* Game kinda went as expected. Tough, hard-fought. And now Vols have to bounce back for perhaps the hottest team in the country in Texas A&M
* On these last two UK games versus the blowout in Lexington... Chandler was pretty bad the first time they met. He was scuffling. It was a game that kind of woke him up to how you have to be ready every night.
* Barnes says SEC deserves so much more credit than it is getting.
* On the defensive performance... Proud of how they've bought in. Most teams in a league like the SEC want to hang their hat on defense.
* Barnes was concerned that UK was going to force-feed it to Oscar as much as possible coming out of halftime. Felt like he dodged a couple of bullets early in the half where it could have changed the momentum.
KENNEDY CHANDLER Q&A:
* When Cats made their run, the media timeout helped the Vols refocus and come out ready to get some stops on defense.
* The blowout at Rupp wasn't the Vols. Woke them up as to how they have to approach every game.
* Chandler said he got as much treatment as possible on the ankle last night so that he could come back and play today.
* Chandler said Vols knew who the shooters were (i.e. Grady) and who to blanket, who to let take shots.
* On what the game means when you play Kentucky... Every game you have to have a championship mindset, and their goal is to play on Monday night in the NCAA championship. He then laughs and calls UK "a regular team." Ouch.
* On getting the ball in his hands after every UK run and timeout... Coach Barnes has confidence in me to get the good shot or find somebody open.
* Starts by offering congratulations to Tennessee. They fought hard for the win. Said UK had its chances, but the Vols never let go of the rope. Shows what their coach is about.
* Cal says he was right -- "Again" -- that the SEC deserves 9 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Thinks A&M and Florida should both be in. Thinks 7 or 8 will probably be in. "I have a lot of confidence in these teams."
* Asked if this is the kind of game you can just flush and move on, or does this create concerns for NCAAs... Calipari says he believes in the players maybe more than they believe in themselves. Davion Mintz and Jacob Toppin were passing up shots they could make, among others. Cal says Oscar is right (see below) that if you miss, you have beast inside who will probably get the rebound.
* "I thought we had a chance to win. I thought we were going to do it... but we got beat on a backdoor to lose the game. A backdoor!" ... "We had some of those plays."
* "Thank goodness it was under 2 minutes on that last out-of-bounds," Cal said of Shows blowing the call. Tossing some shade toward Doug. "Everybody saw it."
* Cal says "I think we're in really good shape. We've got three guys at every position (going into the NCAAs)." If eight guys play like crap, you're not winning. But he doesn't think that will happen.
* Air balls from some of the best shooters in the conference Cal says in disbelief.
* When we had it down to 6, there were 3 plays back to back to back that, if you make, you can't win a national championship because a good team like Tennessee will make you pay. "It's a good lesson for us."
* Asked how he thinks the Cats should be seeded, Calipari says probably a 2, maybe a 3, but who knows. "My guess is it will be a hard path."
KEION BROOKS Q&A:
* Tough one to lose, but still in good spirits.
* Was it more about what UK didn't do or what UT did do... Gotta give Vols credit, Brooks said. They shot it well, especially at the start of the game. But UK shot itself in the foot a couple of times when Cats had chances to make it closer.
* Keion felt like the looks they got were good, but just one of those days when the ball wasn't dropping. "For the most part, we got a lot of good looks... Kellen had some shots that were in and out.... Just didn't go our way tonight."
OSCAR TSHIEBWE Q&A:
* On what they're most concerned about getting right before the NCAA Tournament... Staying focused, being locked in. "This was kind of an off-day for us... but I'm still confident that we'll be ready next week."
* Oscar says he's gotta be smarter to avoid some cheap fouls in the next game.
* Guys were hesitant to shoot when they were open, Oscar said. Pointed to Toppin passing up open looks when he had great position inside to get the rebound, even if he missed it.
RICK BARNES Q&A:
* Game kinda went as expected. Tough, hard-fought. And now Vols have to bounce back for perhaps the hottest team in the country in Texas A&M
* On these last two UK games versus the blowout in Lexington... Chandler was pretty bad the first time they met. He was scuffling. It was a game that kind of woke him up to how you have to be ready every night.
* Barnes says SEC deserves so much more credit than it is getting.
* On the defensive performance... Proud of how they've bought in. Most teams in a league like the SEC want to hang their hat on defense.
* Barnes was concerned that UK was going to force-feed it to Oscar as much as possible coming out of halftime. Felt like he dodged a couple of bullets early in the half where it could have changed the momentum.
KENNEDY CHANDLER Q&A:
* When Cats made their run, the media timeout helped the Vols refocus and come out ready to get some stops on defense.
* The blowout at Rupp wasn't the Vols. Woke them up as to how they have to approach every game.
* Chandler said he got as much treatment as possible on the ankle last night so that he could come back and play today.
* Chandler said Vols knew who the shooters were (i.e. Grady) and who to blanket, who to let take shots.
* On what the game means when you play Kentucky... Every game you have to have a championship mindset, and their goal is to play on Monday night in the NCAA championship. He then laughs and calls UK "a regular team." Ouch.
* On getting the ball in his hands after every UK run and timeout... Coach Barnes has confidence in me to get the good shot or find somebody open.
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