Missouri Head Coach Kim Anderson, Players Terrence Phillips, Jordan Barnett Post - UK 72 vs @Missouri 62 Game Comments
Opening Statement…
“We got the game played about the way we wanted to. We tried to not turn it into an up-and-down game, we wanted to control the tempo. We were fortunate that Monk and Fox didn’t shoot the ball great, Briscoe got in foul trouble, but I don’t want to take away anything from our guys. We played really hard, but we just couldn’t make key shots when we needed to in the second half when we got the game tied up. At 52-52, then we went on a little drought. We just couldn’t get back over the hump. They did a great job with getting the ball down to Adebayo down the stretch. We tried to double, which worked a little bit, but you know he goes double-double. I’m proud of my guys, always have been. I thought we played our rear ends off and we had chances but we just couldn’t take advantage of them.”
On facing No. 11 Kentucky...
“I think every game is winnable. Obviously, some are harder than others and I would rank this toward the top in difficulty. This is a really good basketball team. For me, watching this team and preparing for this team, I think they really have good chemistry and we were able to disrupt that a little bit. They understand their roles and know who to get the ball to when they need to win the game and tonight they got it to Bam Adebayo. When you have three or four weapons that makes it tough.”
On fan presence...
“The crowd makes a huge difference. I’ve always said that a large crowd gets your guys going. I thought that was a big part of tonight’s game. I walked out there and saw the stands full and it was pretty impressive. I wish the students and the people that have tickets would come more. I certainly appreciate everyone that came tonight and I really appreciate the people that come all the time.”
On preparing for Kentucky...
“What we talked about coming into the game was transition defense and rebounding. We felt like those were two really key things for us. We made them play a little bit more in the half court. They are still good, but they only scored 72 points and their average is 80-something. We tried to slow the game down in the half court.”
On Coach Calipari...
“There is nobody in America that is more supportive of coaches than John Calipari. I go sit in coaches’ meetings with him and he is supportive of everybody else. He could very easily take a nap during the meetings, but he is supportive of everybody and he fights for all the coaches. I told him before the game that I appreciate the way that he has supported coaches in general.”
Mizzou guard Terrence Phillips
On the energy of the fans...
“It was wonderful. When we came back out, for the last time for the start of the game. I turned around and there was a sea of black shirts. I was like ‘wow’. It was wonderful to have those students there, to build that energy. And from the start, I went out there and clapped. I was so excited to have those students there and I am very thankful from them to be there tonight.”
Mizzou forward Jordan Barnett
On the end of the game…
“There are some positives to take. We understand that we compete with one of the best teams in the conference. But the story of the season is that we have to finish games. It is just something that we still have to continue to work on because it seemed like we ran out of gas at the end. We just have to work.”
Opening Statement…
“We got the game played about the way we wanted to. We tried to not turn it into an up-and-down game, we wanted to control the tempo. We were fortunate that Monk and Fox didn’t shoot the ball great, Briscoe got in foul trouble, but I don’t want to take away anything from our guys. We played really hard, but we just couldn’t make key shots when we needed to in the second half when we got the game tied up. At 52-52, then we went on a little drought. We just couldn’t get back over the hump. They did a great job with getting the ball down to Adebayo down the stretch. We tried to double, which worked a little bit, but you know he goes double-double. I’m proud of my guys, always have been. I thought we played our rear ends off and we had chances but we just couldn’t take advantage of them.”
On facing No. 11 Kentucky...
“I think every game is winnable. Obviously, some are harder than others and I would rank this toward the top in difficulty. This is a really good basketball team. For me, watching this team and preparing for this team, I think they really have good chemistry and we were able to disrupt that a little bit. They understand their roles and know who to get the ball to when they need to win the game and tonight they got it to Bam Adebayo. When you have three or four weapons that makes it tough.”
On fan presence...
“The crowd makes a huge difference. I’ve always said that a large crowd gets your guys going. I thought that was a big part of tonight’s game. I walked out there and saw the stands full and it was pretty impressive. I wish the students and the people that have tickets would come more. I certainly appreciate everyone that came tonight and I really appreciate the people that come all the time.”
On preparing for Kentucky...
“What we talked about coming into the game was transition defense and rebounding. We felt like those were two really key things for us. We made them play a little bit more in the half court. They are still good, but they only scored 72 points and their average is 80-something. We tried to slow the game down in the half court.”
On Coach Calipari...
“There is nobody in America that is more supportive of coaches than John Calipari. I go sit in coaches’ meetings with him and he is supportive of everybody else. He could very easily take a nap during the meetings, but he is supportive of everybody and he fights for all the coaches. I told him before the game that I appreciate the way that he has supported coaches in general.”
Mizzou guard Terrence Phillips
On the energy of the fans...
“It was wonderful. When we came back out, for the last time for the start of the game. I turned around and there was a sea of black shirts. I was like ‘wow’. It was wonderful to have those students there, to build that energy. And from the start, I went out there and clapped. I was so excited to have those students there and I am very thankful from them to be there tonight.”
Mizzou forward Jordan Barnett
On the end of the game…
“There are some positives to take. We understand that we compete with one of the best teams in the conference. But the story of the season is that we have to finish games. It is just something that we still have to continue to work on because it seemed like we ran out of gas at the end. We just have to work.”
