KENTUCKY HC MARK POPE Q&A:
* Hard-fought game from a WKU team that's a tournament team. Fun to play in-state teams. We just kept grinding away. Felt kinda like a first-round game you see in the tourney. Our guys did a great job of staying together and just playing the next play even though we had not been playing great.
* Had some great defensive efforts. Jaxson Robinson was fantastic on that end. Lamont and Otega always set the bar high.
* Andrew Carr was the star in all phases tonight. Getting more physical. Focus was unbelievable. Challenged him in practice this week to demand the ball more.
* Not a great overall game for us, offensively, and you look up and still have 87 points. Crazy, Pope says.
* I was excited coming into this game because we need to learn and grow. Needed to get pressured a bit. When we're at our best, we will punish people for pressuring us, but we're not quite there yet. So much left in the tank for our guys. Need the reps to do it.
* On Otega being their most consistent player from night to night... He's been like clockwork. Didn't have that great start like he has been doing a lot, but a good night.
* Liked the spark they got out of going small a couple of times with Carr and four guards on the floor. Also loved how physical and aggressive Carr was down the stretch with those over-the-shoulder hooks.
* On commanding the glass... Really important for us in this one. Would have liked to be better on the 50/50 balls, otherwise pretty good on the glass. Kinda shows we can win in different ways. Imposing our will physically was good today. We win shooting 40% today. That shows we can go grind out a game.
******
WKU HC HANK PLONA Q&A:
* We play every game that we play to win, but Kentucky is an impressive bunch. Thought there were moments with the game in the 50s where we could have executed and hung in there longer, but pleased with our fight tonight.
* They're a very difficult team to guard. They have four guys on the floor at all times who can shoot, and one of them is always one of the best shooters in college basketball.
* When the game got a little more up and down in our direction, we seemed to do better. When we weren't getting that, the offense got a bit stagnant and led to some runouts for them.
* 42 FTs is putting them at the line too much. But our emphasis was the 3-point line, and 8/29 was within our goal. Had a tough time of doing that and protecting the rim at the same time.
* Thinks playing this way in Rupp against UK shows that his team isn't scared of anyone. We didn't break, didn't show any weakness, stayed together as a team.
* On scouting UK and seeing them in person... the size and length jump out at you. Physical, too. Not a lot of teams look like them, offensively, cutting, in November. Usually takes a while.
* On Kentucky's defense... We didn't get a lot of clean looks. We found a few in the middle of the second half, but by that time we were a little mentally and physically tired.
* On Andrew Carr... Has 18 points, and it's like he's not even really trying to score. Let's it come to him. Stabilizing force for them. No turnovers. Not too many teams have a 6-11, 230-pound 4 man who can play like that.
* On when UK went "smallball" ... Carr at the 5 makes it really tough because they just extend so far.
******
UK PLAYERS CARR, OWEH, KRIISA Q&A:
