TYLER ULIS
On if he suspected he would have an off day at Vanderbilt …
“No I didn’t suspect it, but it happened and I just have to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Stay in the gym and keep playing.”
On if he was worn down against Vanderbilt …
“No I was fine, my legs were good. I just had an off-shooting night. I wish I would have shot the Ball better, maybe it would have been a different type of game. But it happens.”
On if it was a contributing factor not having Derek Willis on the court to spread the defense …
“That’s a big part of our team, but we’ve played without him and we’ve played well. So we can’t blame it on that. It’s just a fact – honestly, I feel like if I shot the ball a lot better, we would have been able to win that game, been in a better position to win or something. Without Derek, it is hard to space the floor, but hopefully he gets back soon.”
On if there’s more pressure on him to not have an off night …
“No not really. It doesn’t really bother me.”
On what he remembers about Florida from the first game …
“I’ve played Florida for the last two years, so I know a lot about them. I know their guards, guys like (Dorian) Finney-Smith, can shoot the ball, stretch the floor for them, something Derek did for us. We just have to make sure we come ready to play.”
On what he says to the struggling forwards on the team …
“Just try to pump them up to fight and just play hard. Everything is not going to go right all the time with the fouls. They got a couple of fouls early in the game and they had to sit. But offensively we need them to insert themselves and rebound for us. But I feel like they’re going to do their jobs. Once everybody does it, we’re going to be pretty good.”
On Vanderbilt 7-foot forward Damian Jones guarding him …
“I noticed they were switching and I wanted to get the switch so I could take him off the dribble, but I wasn’t finishing shots. Everything wasn’t falling, so they did a good job switching.”
On if he likes when a big guy guards him …
“Yeah, that creates a mismatch, either post it or go by the big man. I tried to space the floor and get by him, but nothing would fall.”
On what they want Isaiah Briscoe to do when he gets open …
“I want him to shoot it. I tell him, ‘You catch it, shoot the ball.’ He’s here for a reason. He used to score the ball a lot in high school, so he can make those shots, he just has to think he can make it. He keeps shooting they’re going to fall.”
On his missed layup at Vanderbilt …
“I just went to shoot the layup and it didn’t go in like everything else in the game. Something I usually make didn’t go in, and that’s one of the main reasons we didn’t come up with the win.”
On if Saturday’s loss was harder on him than other losses …
“Yeah, it was pretty hard on me because of the way I played, but I’m over it now. I gotta move on to the next game.”
On if games against these bubble teams feel like NCAA Tournament games …
“Yeah, they’re always tournament games because everybody wants to come out and beat us. We have to prepare like it is, and just go out there and refuse to lose, just try to play as hard as we can for 40 minutes.”
On what the guards can do to help the bigs …
“Just spacing the floor out for them more. They tried to trap Alex last game. They trapped Skal and it was because of our spacing so we have to do a better job of that.”
On whether Marcus Lee’s game was encouraging …
“Yeah. He did a good job blocking shots late, rebounding for us and that’s something he does for us–he has to do for us in order for us to win. That was a good sign from the bigs.”
On what he looks for when he’s pressuring the ball …
“Just their tendencies, which way they like to go, what type of moves they-their counter-moves and stuff like that so I can maybe get a steal late and stuff like that. A guard who likes to shoot the ball more, I’ll press up more, make him go to the basket and finish over our bigs.”
On the environment at Florida …
“It will probably be hard to hear (Coach) Cal with all the fans yelling and stuff like that. Kind of like the Kansas game. But we’re prepared for it, we’ve been there before and we’re just ready to play.”
On whether he tries harder to get the ball to Jamal Murray when he is this hot …
“When he gets hot, I try to get him the ball. I ask him what he wants to run, what type of plays he wants to get the ball in. We make sure we feed him.”
On how hard Murray was running off screens at Vandy …
“Yeah, he was running hard and he was just catching and shooting. Wasn’t worrying about getting his feet set or anything. He was just letting the ball go. When he’s hot, it’s hard to stop him.”
On whether he pays attention to bracket projections …
“No. I don’t know anything about the brackets and the seeding and stuff like that. I’m just trying to go out there and play, take it a game at a time and make sure we get wins.”
On if he suspected he would have an off day at Vanderbilt …
“No I didn’t suspect it, but it happened and I just have to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Stay in the gym and keep playing.”
On if he was worn down against Vanderbilt …
“No I was fine, my legs were good. I just had an off-shooting night. I wish I would have shot the Ball better, maybe it would have been a different type of game. But it happens.”
On if it was a contributing factor not having Derek Willis on the court to spread the defense …
“That’s a big part of our team, but we’ve played without him and we’ve played well. So we can’t blame it on that. It’s just a fact – honestly, I feel like if I shot the ball a lot better, we would have been able to win that game, been in a better position to win or something. Without Derek, it is hard to space the floor, but hopefully he gets back soon.”
On if there’s more pressure on him to not have an off night …
“No not really. It doesn’t really bother me.”
On what he remembers about Florida from the first game …
“I’ve played Florida for the last two years, so I know a lot about them. I know their guards, guys like (Dorian) Finney-Smith, can shoot the ball, stretch the floor for them, something Derek did for us. We just have to make sure we come ready to play.”
On what he says to the struggling forwards on the team …
“Just try to pump them up to fight and just play hard. Everything is not going to go right all the time with the fouls. They got a couple of fouls early in the game and they had to sit. But offensively we need them to insert themselves and rebound for us. But I feel like they’re going to do their jobs. Once everybody does it, we’re going to be pretty good.”
On Vanderbilt 7-foot forward Damian Jones guarding him …
“I noticed they were switching and I wanted to get the switch so I could take him off the dribble, but I wasn’t finishing shots. Everything wasn’t falling, so they did a good job switching.”
On if he likes when a big guy guards him …
“Yeah, that creates a mismatch, either post it or go by the big man. I tried to space the floor and get by him, but nothing would fall.”
On what they want Isaiah Briscoe to do when he gets open …
“I want him to shoot it. I tell him, ‘You catch it, shoot the ball.’ He’s here for a reason. He used to score the ball a lot in high school, so he can make those shots, he just has to think he can make it. He keeps shooting they’re going to fall.”
On his missed layup at Vanderbilt …
“I just went to shoot the layup and it didn’t go in like everything else in the game. Something I usually make didn’t go in, and that’s one of the main reasons we didn’t come up with the win.”
On if Saturday’s loss was harder on him than other losses …
“Yeah, it was pretty hard on me because of the way I played, but I’m over it now. I gotta move on to the next game.”
On if games against these bubble teams feel like NCAA Tournament games …
“Yeah, they’re always tournament games because everybody wants to come out and beat us. We have to prepare like it is, and just go out there and refuse to lose, just try to play as hard as we can for 40 minutes.”
On what the guards can do to help the bigs …
“Just spacing the floor out for them more. They tried to trap Alex last game. They trapped Skal and it was because of our spacing so we have to do a better job of that.”
On whether Marcus Lee’s game was encouraging …
“Yeah. He did a good job blocking shots late, rebounding for us and that’s something he does for us–he has to do for us in order for us to win. That was a good sign from the bigs.”
On what he looks for when he’s pressuring the ball …
“Just their tendencies, which way they like to go, what type of moves they-their counter-moves and stuff like that so I can maybe get a steal late and stuff like that. A guard who likes to shoot the ball more, I’ll press up more, make him go to the basket and finish over our bigs.”
On the environment at Florida …
“It will probably be hard to hear (Coach) Cal with all the fans yelling and stuff like that. Kind of like the Kansas game. But we’re prepared for it, we’ve been there before and we’re just ready to play.”
On whether he tries harder to get the ball to Jamal Murray when he is this hot …
“When he gets hot, I try to get him the ball. I ask him what he wants to run, what type of plays he wants to get the ball in. We make sure we feed him.”
On how hard Murray was running off screens at Vandy …
“Yeah, he was running hard and he was just catching and shooting. Wasn’t worrying about getting his feet set or anything. He was just letting the ball go. When he’s hot, it’s hard to stop him.”
On whether he pays attention to bracket projections …
“No. I don’t know anything about the brackets and the seeding and stuff like that. I’m just trying to go out there and play, take it a game at a time and make sure we get wins.”
