KENTUCKY HC MARK POPE Q&A:
* These seniors become so close. Was nice to see them close it out at home like that.
* On Damian Collins being welcomed back by BBN tonight... Says BBN is incredible, so not surprising. A special night.
* On knowing moving forward that they won't have Jaxson Robinson and how the team responded to it... A lot of emotions coming back form that late tip at Oklahoma and knowing that Jax probably wouldn't be back, then to run into Auburn. Our guys were devastated for him. He's a massive part of our team. But at the same time, it's resolved, and we know what we need to do moving forward.
* Asked about Otega Oweh's play, Pope says he loves basketball players who grew up playing soccer, and Otega knows a lot about angles because he used to play soccer. We need him to be great defensively, and he was tonight. His focus was great tonight,.
* On Collin Chandler... It's really important for him to play like that in our stretch run. He's ready, he's capable. He has to step up. Same thing for Noah and Perry. Our success is going to be dependent on them being great.
* On Ansley Almonor... Had 3-4 quiet games for the standard that he had set. Liked his mindset tonight, I'm gonna go out and be a baller tonight. Another really important guy for the stretch run,
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LSU HC MATT McMAHON Q&A:
* As disappointing as our play was, you really have to give credit to Kentucky for a really strong performance. They're hard to prepare for, hard to simulate their pace in practice.
* Really liked hearing that ovation for Damian Collins in the pregame lineups. Really classy of the UK fans.
* Defensively, we had very few answers for them.
* Double-zero was phenomenal tonight. Set the tone on both ends of the floor. Physically dominated.
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UK PLAYERS Q&A:
