Mizzou Men’s Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Mizzou 66, Kentucky 87
Mizzou head coach Cuonzo Martin
On Kentucky’s shooting tonight …
“Well they’re a talented team and shot the ball well. I think for their shooting, their ability, especially PJ (Washington) and (Jarred) Vanderbilt and the way they rebound the basketball. Keep balls alive. For those of the young guys they’re relentless rebounds. I think that was probably the biggest key because they’d give opportunities and keep the ball moving. Both of those guys attack the glass very aggressively.”
On how Kentucky played tonight …
“I thought they rebounded well. They had good energy. In most cases, you play at a different level with your home team, so I thought they did a good job at that. They made shots. When you make shots, it looks differently. And they played well as a team.”
On how Kentucky’s play led to Jontay Porter’s struggling …
“I just think that their bigs set a tone and they played hard. They played aggressively. They used their athleticism and make him make plays, and that was it. They made him defend and made him play on offense. Made him work on offense. They made him work to block them out, so just a lot of different things that injured in movement. PJ (Washington) and Jarred (Vanderbilt) sticks out in my mind just with their movement and relentless effort. I thought both of those guys played great games.”
On how they defended the final defensive play in the first half …
“I didn’t want them to hit a three. We wanted to run the ball and force them to make another play but yes, the energy and action they gave is what I wanted out of them.”
On the difference Jarred Vanderbilt makes for Kentucky…
“I think it’s safe to say I haven’t seen an offensive rebounder like that all season. I’d have to go back and check to be specific but, I don’t think I’ve seen a guy that attacks the glass like he did. He has talent without a question. He may have had four fouls or fouled out when he played at our place but he’s the guy who I remembered after the game. Just the way he attacked. He was just getting back into the groove of things so I can only imagine the level of play he’d be if he’d been here all season and played every game. With that size and athleticism he makes it hard on you.”
On next step for Michael Porter, Jr.…
“He was a part of one practice and we’ve only went for about 45-minutes. We’re not doing a lot with him from a physical standpoint. He was a part of shoot around today in the layup lines. He’ll practice tomorrow at the level we have him practicing at - it won’t be a lot. We really want to make sure he’s healthy from a standpoint of being able to take contact—the bumping, the banging, the jumping and those things so they do a lot of extra workouts outside from what they team does because we don’t do a lot of as a team right now. We just have to go from that I don’t have a timeline but the most important thing is that he’s healthy and able to play in games. In his case, he wants to play and I think that the good thing about it but we just have to make sure he’s ready to go from my standpoint, the doctor the trainer, and watching him through practice and live games situations.”
#21, Jordan Barnett, F
On fatigue playing a factor after playing so many minutes this season …
“It shouldn’t be for us. We’ve worked all summer to get our conditions in the best place possible. We have the strength coaches to help us with that. I can’t say it’s never been an issue for us, but we’re in pretty good shape.”
On adjustments that have to be made to turn things around…
“I think it’s pretty clear. We’ve got to pick ourselves back up defensively. We gave up 88 points tonight, gave up 90 points the last game, so we’ve got to pick things up defensively and get back to how we normally defend, and it starts with the captains of the team, myself, KP (Kevin Puryear), Kass (Kassius Robertson). We’ll get back to working and prepare for Vanderbilt.”
#24, Kevin Puryear, F
On Mizzouri’s defensive communication …
“I think we had some lapses mentally on the defensive end as well tonight. We’ve got two more opportunities to close out the season strong. That’s what we’re looking forward to. These next two games that’s what we have to really tighten up on.”
On Kentucky shooting well tonight compared to last time …
“I thought they really set the tone of the game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make as many plays as they did down the stretch, and it opened up pretty big for them. Credit to those guys. They played well. They played well in their environment, home environment, shot the ball well, made the right plays, kept balls alive. Got to give credit where it’s due.”
