Jan. 9, 2005

Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

Kansas Coach Bill Self<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

On the victory…

“We’ve got really good veteran players who are pretty poised. I’ve been in this situation before, but I’ll be honest, I was surprised. I thought we had to get off to a good start. I don’t know if scoring 11 points with nine minutes left in the first half is a good start. Fortunately, Kentucky just had nine. Both teams guarded and both teams rebounded and both teams shot the ball poorly. But, playing with them early gave us confidence. The only time we got frazzled was when we were up six or seven in the first half and they went on a 15-2 run, and in the second half, the last five minutes, we got frazzled. But other than that, we played with great poise. Our freshmen came through. (Christian) Moody came through, and that’s the big thing. We’ve said all along, `Before we can be good, we’ve got to have some other guys come through other than Keith (Langford) and Wayne (Simien) and Aaron (Miles). Certainly, that was the case today.”

On the defensive intensity of both teams…

“I don’t think I’ve witnessed a game where there are more jump balls. They were all blocked-shot jump balls. That at least tells you that we were converging, both teams were converging (on the ball). Case in point, (Alex) Galindo’s not our best leaper by any means, and he gets four blocked shots because we were challenging shots high and they were challenging shots high. So, I do think a defensive presence like that gives you confidence.”

On the status of Kansas guard Keith Langford…

“We don’t know yet. He got hit pretty good. I don’t know if it showed on TV, but we talk so much about the first one on the floor. It’s a loose ball and we’re up one and he dives headfirst. He’s got a pretty severe concussion. We’ll do tests when we get back if we need to, but I don’t know what availability he’ll have Wednesday. Moody blew up his ankle pretty good too, so I don’t know what his (availability) will be.”

On the game-clinching three-point shot…

“I made a joke after the game and said, `That’s how you run a pick-and-roll right there.’ They defended it well. They switched and we knew they would. Aaron (Miles) said give me the ball. He didn’t handle it very well, but he had the presence of mind to pass the ball to Mike. That was the biggest offensive possession of the game.”

On playing in Rupp Arena…

“It was great. When you think of Kentucky, you think of class. Certainly, Tubby’s (Smith) got it, their whole team’s got it, and it’s tough playing in games where the fans have it too. Fans here, like in Lawrence (Kansas), they appreciate good ball. I think they were juiced and ready for the game. Fortunately for us, the game was so muddy the first half, it didn’t allow them to get into it until late in the first half. We were able to keep them out of the game after a good start in the second half because we played with a lead for almost all of the second half. It’s a great venue. The venue we had against Georgia Tech on New Year’s Day was the best I’ve ever been a part of. Today was about as good as it can be on the road. I think everybody was jacked and ready for the game.”

On whether he would have rather had a road game before this one…

“Yeah, but it worked out pretty good. We played a good schedule. Our RPI and strength of schedule is No. 2 in America. We played good opponents, but we just haven’t played away from home. You can’t really get a gauge of where you are until you leave your own building. I think this was good. Sometimes when you play at home a lot, the pressure is on the home team when expectations are so high. I think getting away, it worked out fine. Our guys didn’t act like it was our first.

Senior guard Aaron Miles

On Kansas’ young players…

“They kept us in the game. C.J. (Giles) probably played the best aside from Mike (Lee). Sasha (Kaun) stepped up. Without them we would have been in trouble. We need them to come in and play roles and give us some momentum.”

On his layup that gave the Jayhawks the lead…

“I just saw a crease in the defense and I tried to attack it. Mike (Lee) set up a screen for me and that was just it.”

On playing against Kentucky…

“There was a point where Kentucky had two players on the ground going for the ball and Kansas had two players down. I think that epitomizes what these two programs are about and that’s why it’s fun to play games like this.”

Freshman forward C.J. Giles

On playing as a freshman in such a big game…

“Coach told me to come out and play like I am in high school. Think about myself back in high school doing what I am supposed to do and just play.”

On the intensity in the second half…

“Whatever was open was open. We took every opportunity that we had to score.”

On the freshmen class stepping up…

“We had to coach told us that the freshmen had to really step up. We really had to step up against their #1 recruiting class and come in and do what we do best.

On playing against Randolph Morris…

“I had played against him before. I knew I had to come in and match his intensity and play my game.”

On if it was the toughest game of the year …

“I think it was. Especially from the environment and these 20,000 some fans.”

Junior forward Christian Moody

On being the most intense game of the year…

“I’d say it definitely is one of them. They picked up their intensity in the second half. It definitely was the most intense game.”

On the atmosphere of the game…

“Geez it was exciting. When we came out with the crowd yelling at us, I know there was a big picture of Alex Galindo, a funny cartoon drawing of him in the crowd. It was exciting to be in such an incredible atmosphere.”

On the strategy of the game…

“We really had to match their intensity. They have unbelievable intensity as a team. Coming into Rupp arena is incredible and we tried to match that, pressure them defensively and execute our new offense.”

Kentucky head coach Orlando “Tubby” Smith

On the play of the big men …

“They outplayed us inside. Look at the percentages of their post people and you can see we had a tough time guarding them inside. Sasha Kaun came in and we couldn’t stop him.”

“We just didn’t do a good job (offensively). We got shots up, but I thought it was poor selection not passing the ball back out and reposting. They took us out of our game. We weren’t strong enough and disciplined enough to stay with the game plan.”

On Bobby Perry …

“I thought Bobby really gave us a good lift and Ravi (too). They both gave us a big lift with their shooting and their defensive presence.”

On the lack of discipline …

“It was a combination of discipline and not being in the right place. We knew they were a team that takes you off the dribble and off screens and we had some major breakdowns. That’s something we’ve had problems with all year. The rebounding, I thought we did some good things there. But the fouling part, we just started reaching.”

On the significance of a game like this in January …

“I think it’s great for the fans. It will help us understand, make our players appreciate and learn how hard they need have to play. In the end. When you play a team that’s higher ranked, certainly it’s going to help your power rating, win or lose. This is a tough time to step outside of conference play and play a team of this caliber. We have to use it as a learning tool and use the positive things we did here.”

On how much of the game plan was to go inside …

“I thought we could get some things inside. We’re just not getting the productivity that we want, whether it’s at the defensive end or the offensive end. So, we went to a smaller lineup to try to speed up things and use some of our quickness. Maybe we just went away from our game plan just a little too soon. We’ve got Shagari and Lukasz and Randolph, all solid post players. But there is that learning curve that they have to be more aggressive. Their mobility in their post players really gave us problems, especially when they kept coming away from the basket, screening on the ball. That’s where we were having the biggest problems. We felt like a quicker post player like Bobby or Sheray could come out and help on the screen on the ball.”

Junior forward Kelenna Azubuike

On the offense…

“We have to execute better offensively. I think they (Kansas) played great defense. We sometimes got the shots we wanted, but some of those didn’t fall for us. We just have to keep working and improve.”

On the game…

“I think we could have been more mentally tough. I think we lost the game on the defensive end tonight. They got to the foul line and drove to the basket. We just gave them too many chances to get to the line.”

Senior forward Bobby Perry

On Kentucky playing 13 players in the first half…

“I think it’s very important that we can get a lot of guys involved. Our depth is really important to us and I think that showed today. We’re in pretty good shape, we just weren’t able to come up with a win. We need to hit our free throws down the stretch.”

On Kansas’ athleticism…

“Kansas is a very athletic team, but we’re very athletic also. We’ve just got to play smart and we didn’t always do that tonight. We need to have mental toughness and match the other team’s intensity out there on the court.”

On whether playing Kansas will provide valuable experience…

“I think without question it will help us down the road in NCAA play and also in the Southeastern Conference. It was important that our players could get in the game and see some quality minutes. That experience will pay off.”