Mizzou/Kentucky Post-Game Quotes
1/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Mizzou Head Coach Kim Anderson
Opening Statement:
“We obviously don't play Kentucky very well, but I thought we battled. I thought we fought. We just couldn't handle their size. They did a great job of getting the ball inside. We fouled way too much. They shot 37 free throws, and we only shot 20. When that happens, it's hard to win. I think defensively we need to do a better job of moving our feet and doing all of the basic things. Offense, early on, we had trouble scoring. They were hard to score against in Lexington. They are so big and so long. I thought we had some great performances from Wes, and it was great to see Ryan play—go in and play well. They're the No. 1 team in the country, and I can certainly see why. I was proud of our guys—we hung, we fought, we clawed, and hopefully we'll get better from this experience.”
On being physical…
“We talked about being more physical because I think quite a bit this year we haven't been physical. We felt like down there, in Lexington, we weren't physical at all. We played tentative. Here, we talked all week about being aggressive, being physical, diving for loose balls, which is the way we want to play anyways, but I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight. I think we probably got tired. We got in foul trouble, and we had to play guys more minutes than we normally do. One of our goals was to paly more physical than we did down there, and I thought we did that. “
On the change from the first half scoring to the second half…
“The first half, we were getting a little pocket pass, and we were working on that. Ryan did a great job of converting. In the second half they did a better job in the second half. They're 20-0 for a reason—the guy on the other bench knows what he's doing. I thought they did a better job of closing off. We didn't do as good of job at executing, and they had something to do with that.”
Were you confident in Wes before the game?
“Yeah. I know he would. I wasn't near as worried about Wes as everyone else was. I mean I was concerned and I was there for him. I've told him, he didn't lose the game. There were several possessions where that game was lost. I thought he'd respond. He's like that. He doesn't let that stuff bother him. It was good that he came out and played well.”
On the final score…
“Well, we lost by 49 in Lexington, and we lost by 16 tonight. No, I'm not happy losing, but I do think we played better. It was a nine-point game there at half, and they made a little run there in the second half, and got it to 20 I think. All I can ask is that these guys keep fighting, and that's what they've done, and it's not always pretty, but they didn't quit. They kept fighting. I' tired of losing, but I'm pleased that we are at least still fighting.”
On Mike Alden…
“I didn't know it was coming. I'm happy for Mike, Rocky and Jake. I'm grateful for the opportunity that he has given me, and I don't want to let him down. I'm going to keep fighting. He's done some tremendous things at this university in 17 years. I was here when he got here and I'm here when he left—wasn't here much in between. If you look around this university and the athletic department, he's down a lot of great things, and when I talked to him today, I'm just thankful, and happy for him because teaching is his passion—it always has been, and now he gets an opportunity to pursue his passion. He has done some great things here.”
Mizzou Junior Forward Ryan RosburgOn his solid contributions tonight:
“I had to be ready. Obviously, I haven't been playing much lately, but I knew I'd get a chance sometime. Luckily, I made the most of it for the most part of tonight.”
On playing against a team with big size like Kentucky:
“We knew that they had three or four guys that at any time could come block your shot. We knew that going in. You can practice against it so much, but when you get out there and see how long and big their guys are, they just alter shots and you have to find other ways to score.”
Mizzou Sophomore Guard Wes ClarkOn the team's performance tonight vs. Kentucky, compared to earlier this season in Lexington:
“I mean we all can say that. We lost by 50 down there, and we lost by 16 tonight. We had better effort, but we're still not where we need to be.”
On preparing for their next game vs. Ole Miss this Saturday:
“It's definitely going to be a challenge, but the coaching staff does a great job of getting us prepared. We're just looking to go out there and put forth our best effort.”
Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari
Opening Statement:
“It was a very physical game, lots of fouls called. I'll tell you; you go on the road and play a late game, I was figuring out how to keep our guys awake all day. Missouri had Arkansas beat, beat LSU, and they came after us and they were not afraid. We struggled with our pick-and-roll defense in the first half, played a little better in the second half. I guess that is the M-O, be really physical, body-to-body, and we are going to have to figure it out, and play through it.”
On problems with pick-and-roll defense in the first half:
“We were going to switch it, and our guards were going to play behind, and a couple times, we didn't get back to the big quickly enough, and the weak side defense wasn't there in time, and we gave up three or four dunks.”
On teams playing more physically against Kentucky:
“Because we are young, we got a bunch of young guys. I was hard on these guys; I wasn't going to back off, I don't care what the score is. We are worried about us. I'm worried about each individual here getting better, and if you step back I'm going to be all over you.”
On potential surprises in the way Missouri came out in the first half:
“No, I knew it was going to be like that. You don't beat someone like you did there, and they came back and played like how I expected them to play.”
UK Sophomore Guard Andrew Harrison
On general thoughts of tonight's game:
“It was a fun game, we beat them pretty bad last time. They were a better team than they played so we knew we had to play as hard as we could to win tonight.”
On how he has recently improved his game:
“I've been working out a lot, putting extra work in and having confidence in myself.”
On his team's execution tonight:
“We could've played better here and there, but they made a lot of big shots. We can always improve on executing more.”
UK Sophomore Center Dakari Johnson
On Coach Calipari's halftime adjustments:
“He told us to keep on playing defense. We knew they were going to play their hardest, so we needed to come ready to compete.”
On teammate Karl-Anthony Towns being active in the post tonight:
“He was a part of the game plan. He did a good job making space for himself, and going straight up as he made good moves.”
