Video courtesy of kywildcatstv
DEREK WILLIS
On if this game was the closest he’s been to being comfortable since the injury …
“Yeah, I mean I had to play with those ankle braces and I felt like slower. I mean, whatever athleticism I did have, I felt like I didn’t have. So I decided to take them off and it helped me. I felt more loose I guess, but defensively I just wasn’t there in the first half, and a little bit in the second half, I had some defensive lapses. It was frustrating for me and just thinking about it now is kind of making me mad.”
On how the team was able to flip the script in the second half …
“I think we were more defensive minded I would say. They came out in the first half shooting like 61 percent I believe, and I think they finished around like 36, 38 percent. I don’t know, just talking a little bit and just playing a little more intense helped. Just keyed on it honestly.”
On how a tough game like this helps the team down the stretch …
“It’s going to help us tremendously. This is just how the tournament is going to be. There is going to be days where you’re down 10, let’s see what you can do, and everything counts. I just think it’ll be a learning experience for us, it was a great learning experience for me. It just all around helps us.”
On Isaiah Briscoe’s second-half performance …
“Yeah, he came up with rebounds, he was getting into the lane, got some passes. He played really good. Just did his thing and played more intense. That’s why I think the intensity got up in the second half, where we just kind of broke away from it a little bit.”
On what he learned about himself …
“I don’t know, just being defensive minded. It was so frustrating for me because I messed up so many times. I don’t know, I can’t do that when it comes to the real thing next weekend.”
On him getting some rebounds and blocking shots …“Yeah that’s where I tried to compensate for when I was messing up. I was like, ‘Well, I have to make some plays to get back and do something.’ Because offensively I think I hit a 3 at some point and just hit free throws honestly. I wasn’t really doing much, so I had to do something.”
On if they like a rematch with Texas A&M …
“Yeah I’m looking forward to playing them. Good team, I really like the (Alex) Cauruso kid. I think he’s an underrated player in the SEC, like his game. So it’ll be fun. I’m just looking forward to playing them again.”
On if the team feels like they owe Texas A&M one based on the last game …
“Yeah, things happen, and like I said, it’s all a learning experience. It’s getting us ready for the real thing. That’s just what we took from it and it is what it is. We’ll get another shot at them and it’ll be fun.”
On what Coach Cal was saying to the team during the comeback …
“Just picking things up, just being more intense I would say. Like I said, they came out shooting 61 percent. I don’t know, we just had to pick it up somewhere.”
On if it was hard watching Georgia hit all the shots in the first half …
“Yeah, they came out on fire. I think they were probably a little bit more looser than us. Played another game. They’ve been playing good actually. I believe they won their last five games or something, so they’ve been confident. Was it (Yante) Maten? He played extremely well tonight. The little (J.J.) Frazier guy, he got around me a couple of times and he did fine. They had a solid performance I would say.”
SKAL LABISSIERE
On Alex Poythress showing confidence on offense …
“I mean, he’s been showing it all week since he got back from the injury. He’s a beast down low. Yesterday he showed his outside game, and today he showed what he can do on the inside. So he’s very versatile, he can do a little bit of everything. We got to see that today.”
On what the difference was with the bigs today …
“I don’t know, we just have to learn how to be aggressive without fouling I guess.”
On having the “refuse to lose” mentality at the end …
“Oh definitely. At the end of the game, we – into the second half really, we came out ready to play on defense, and that was the biggest difference. The first half they made shots, a lot of wide-open shots, and we had to bring it the second half.”
On Isaiah Briscoe getting strong rebounds …
“He does so much for this team and he’s so valuable to us. We’re going to need him for us to make a run in the tournament. Isaiah, he does things that nobody else does. His defense, his leadership, like the way he gets the team going. Finishing around the basket, getting those tough rebounds like you said. He does a little bit of everything. When he’s on the basketball court.”
On Coach Cal getting on Isaiah Briscoe a lot …
“It was just a way of Coach Cal getting the best out of Isaiah, and Isaiah responded really well.”
On what he’s learned about himself these last few games …
“Just finding a way to stay on the court. Even when I’m in foul trouble, whether it’s rebounding or blocking shots, doing something to help my teammates. That’s probably the biggest thing I learned.”
MARCUS LEE
On getting other players besides Murray and Ulis involved in the second half …
“That’s what we do. We kind of try to figure out the different ways to score and just got it done. We’re not set in stone of who’s supposed to score and who’s supposed to get things done. We just try to help each other as much as we can.”
On Charles Matthews …
“C-Matt was huge. He absolutely killed it today. We loved that he came in with energy, enthusiasm and was ready to play.”
On Alex Poythress changing the game …
“We need that from him. The more confident he is in the way he plays, the easier the game is for the rest of us.”
On Derek Willis and his four blocks …
“That’s huge. You guys forget that he’s still 6-10 with a 7-5 wingspan. He does things that daily.”
On what Briscoe gets done inside …
“He fights. That’s one of the great things about him. He’s a smaller guard, but he fights like his life depends on it.”
On being excited to play A&M again …
“It’s another game. We’re not really worried about who we’re playing. We’re just trying to get to the next game and just keep on battling.”
On if they really don’t think about playing A&M again …
“I mean, it’s a game. Things, sometimes they don’t go your way, just like the first half. We had a couple mistakes that led to something not going our way and you gotta work on that.”
On playing better defense in the second half …
“That’s just how you play. You don’t want to start of the game or play any game starting off bad. They come in and give us their best for as long as they can and then once we kind of figured it out we started killing it.”
On Calipari’s tirade motivating Briscoe …
“Yeah, ‘Zay in the second half kind of put us to a new level and a level we needed to be at. Cal does what he can to try to light a flame when you’re kind of dozing off. It kind of set him up to be ready.”
On whether Briscoe is overlooked …
“His impact on the game and on the team in general is huge. Without him we wouldn’t be able to do a lot of these things.”
CHARLES MATTHEWS
On the transition to focusing on themselves no matter what …
“Yeah. You’re going to have games like that. The team came out making shots. For a team to do that for 40 minutes, now that’s tough. But they came out making shots. We were able to up our pressure and we were able to win the game.”
On Calipari calling him over to hug him …
“I’m so used to Cal screaming at me and he brought he over and gave me a hug. I’m like, ‘Yeah, Coach. Let’s go.’ It kept me moving.”
On why Calipari was so happy …
“Coach gets me on at times when I don’t play with my full energy, play fully to my potential. I guess Coach was impressed with the energy I brought to the game today so he wanted me to keep playing like that.”
On withstanding Georgia …
“Georgia’s a good team. They got so much better since the first time we played them. In my opinion, they’re definitely an NCAA Tournament team from what I saw. It just shows the growth in our team. We were able to get hit in the mouth – we were down 10, I think – and we were still able to keep our composure and come back and win the game.”
ALEX POYTHRESS
On what was the difference for him in the second half against Georgia …“Foul trouble in the first half, couldn’t really get in a rhythm. Second half, I did a good job of staying out of foul trouble. I was just able to get a rhythm out there.”
On if Coach Cal intentionally sent him to the post or if that’s something he saw …
“Both. That’s me, Tyler, Coach Cal. He’s like, ‘Alright, we gotta get you some easy buckets, easy shots.’ I was like, ‘Just put me on the block and let me go to work.’”
On the attitude of the team in the first half when Georgia kept hitting buckets …
“The attitude was great. We’re built for this. We needed a tough game like this that we had to go back and forth, down a little bit, a little adversity. I felt like we responded real well.”
On the past few games against Texas A&M being wars …
“Yeah, it’s gonna be a war coming in tomorrow. That’s really what it’s going to be tomorrow so we’re looking forward to it.”
On the difference in the UK bigs from the first half to the second half …
“We were just more focused, paying more attention to rebounding, playing better defense, and then it just jump started our offense.”
On Ulis and Jamal Murray keeping UK close in the first half …
“It just shows how great of players they are, how they’re two of the leaders on our team. They make us go offensively.”
On what Isaiah Briscoe gave UK during that crucial stretch in the second half …
“Defense, and doing what he does: Driving the ball, getting to the rim. They couldn’t stop him so we just told him to keep on attacking, keep on driving.”
On what Coach Cal did to motivate Briscoe …
“He was just saying we’re not accepting anything less than your best. He knows what we can do, and he expects it out of everybody every time we touch the floor.”
On what Calipari told him when UK went to him repeatedly …
“Just that we’re going to give you the ball and just make plays happen. I was like alright, and I was ready for it.”
On him finishing strong after not starting well …
“It just shows you that the game is 40 minutes. You gotta keep on fighting through, keep on playing, and just keep on pushing through it. If you don’t start off good, you got 30 more minutes left in the game, so correct it and fix it.”
On if they can get more from a game like this than a blowout win …
“Yeah, I feel so. It just shows you what we need to do in those situations, late clock situations. Shows you what we need to do when we’re in crunch time or if we’re down and if we’re on offense, what we do on defense, can we get stops? I mean, yeah, it helps a lot more than a blowout.”
On if this is the most impactful he thinks Briscoe has been in a game …
“Yeah, he’s been impactful in a lot of games this year. But he did have an impact in this game. He helped us and he turned the game around today.”
On if what Briscoe does gets overlooked sometimes …
“I mean, Isaiah is one of our energy guys. I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he does, but that’s life. You just have to deal with it. He’s never complained about that. He always keeps on playing as hard as he can.”
On how much Charles Matthews gave them today …
“Same thing Isaiah did. Came in the game, jump start our defense. Energy. Hands everywhere, getting blocks. He really helped us today.”
On how much a win like this can help prepare them for the NCAA Tournament …
“It can help us a lot, because tournament play is every game is going to be a war. There are no more blow outs anymore. You’re not going to play any bad teams anymore. You have to get ready to battle every game. Every game is going to be a five-point, six-point, three-point game. There’s no more 20-point blowouts anymore. It’s tournament time. People are fighting for their lives now.”
On if they like that they get Texas A&M again …
“Yeah, we’re enjoying the moment. We’re ready to face them. We’ll get prepared. Coaches will do a great job of getting our scouting report, and we’ll figure out what to do from there.”
On how much the battle inside will be the key Sunday …
“It’s going to be a big key. I think they won the rebounding (in the first game), so we just have to come in here, fight hard and try to turn the swing.”
ISAAC HUMPHRIES
On if the way their first game ended at Texas A&M gives him extra motivation …
“I mean, not really. It will be the same as it was. It was just an unfortunate circumstance that happened, but I’m not going to go out and be like, ‘I got a dead foul, I must play well.’ Like, no, I’m just going to do what we always – we’re just going to do what we always do.”
On if he’s excited that the matchup is Texas A&M and he has another opportunity against them …
“Yeah, they’re a good team, obviously, and we know that they’re a good team. We like playing against good teams. … It’s just a good opportunity for us to go out again and face them again, and just be able to prove that we can play against them and stuff, because we did lose. A lot of people when you lose, people think that you’re not as good as them and stuff like that, but we just have another opportunity now to prove that we can easily play with them.”
On what a win like that can do for them …
“I mean, it was good for us to know that we can be down and we can come back in a situation like that. Previously, we have been down and haven’t been able to quite get there, but now I think we’re pushing through that little gap of knowing when we’re down that we can actually come back, and we know what personnel can help us to get there.”
TYLER ULIS
On what the difference was with the team in the first half to the second half …
“Well, they came out hot. We have to give them credit, those guys made a lot of tough shots, a lot of open shots. The second half, we switched up how we were playing ball screens, and it helped us out a little more. We tried to pick uo the tempo and things changed.”
On Isaiah Briscoe’s game today …
“Yeah, down the stretch he was making stops, getting rebounds, making plays under the basket, making free throws. That’s what we need him to do on the team, and he stepped up and did that.”
On if he likes getting a rematch with Texas A&M …
“Definitely. They beat us earlier in the year. Very close game, it came down to the end of the game. We can’t wait to get another shot at them.”
On Georgia incorporating the splatoon system …
“I didn’t really notice they were doing five in and five out. I noticed that they were subbing a lot, but I guess that’s one of their strategies. That’s something we did last year, and if they have the bodies to do it, then yeah.”
On if he was hoping Georgia would miss some shots in the first half …
“Definitely. I felt like we were scoring the ball pretty well, and I kept looking at the score and we were down five, down eight, down 10, seven. They were just knocking down 3s. Tough shots, open shots, they had everything going for them.”
On how a game like this helps them for the NCAA Tournament …
“It’s good for us because there’s been games where in the first half, we didn’t play that well and guys didn’t even fight in the second half. But we came out and didn’t play well in the first half and picked it up in the second half and came out with a win. Close games like that, you want to come out and try to win a game.”
On not wanting to turn back with the fans cheering them on in the second half …
“Yeah with about six, seven minutes left, we were making our run and the fans were going crazy. We couldn’t even hear each other call the plays out. That’s the great thing about this fanbase. They travel anywhere we go. It’s like we were in Rupp.”
ISAIAH BRISCOE
On what the difference was with him between the first half and second half …
“Just Coach (Cal) getting on me and just trying to get the best out of me.”
On if he felt like he made an impact in the second half …
“Yeah, I think so. If that’s what they need me to do to win, then I’ll do it.”
On Coach Cal getting on him when he came out and what he said to him …
“That’s private. I’m not going to speak on it.”
On if it made him feel good …
“Absolutely. Not. (laughter) At the moment no, but now that the game is over, I think I played well in the second half. So I appreciate Coach (Cal) for getting on me and just getting the best out of me.”
On feeling more comfortable at the free-throw line …
“Just taking my time. That’s pretty much it.”
On if rebounding is a big focus for him …
“Yeah, I’m just trying to get out there and rebound period.”
On what clicked for him in the second half …
“Coach (Cal) just trying to get the best out of me, and I appreciate him for that. Sometimes I think he believes in his players more than they actually believe in themselves. Not talking about me in particular, but the things he said to me, I took it in consideration and just decided to go out on the court and just play.”
JAMAL MURRAY
On if they changed anything in the second half or if it was all intensity …
“Just keep playing. We changed a couple of stuff in the pick-and-rolls with a couple of their plays. But most of all, we kept playing and kept fighting, and they missed some shots and we knew we had to take advantage of it.”
On what he thought of Coach Cal getting on Isaiah Briscoe …
“He’s done that to me a couple of times too. I kind of know where he’s coming from and I know how he felt and I know what Coach (Cal) meant. It was just a learning process and we’re growing individually and as a group, so we’ll just try to keep this basketball rolling.”
On how good Coach Cal is at pushing everyone’s buttons …
“Very good. He always on top of you, he’s always smothering you with hard talk and trying to get you going and trying to take your confidence down so you build it back up. He did that to Isaiah today and Alex, and it worked.”
On how he deals with not scoring for a while in the second half …
“I know I’m going to get the ball sometime soon, I’m just not forcing it. I know I can go one-on-one if I wanted to, but there’s no need. Just trying to win this game and make winning plays, and trying to stay within myself and the team. The team did a great job of scoring for that run and streak. I was able to find my shot late in the game and make the most of it.”
On if that’s something the old Jamal would have done …
“I don’t know, I don’t really remember him. (laughter)”
On if Coach Cal has eliminated old Jamal …
“He says it a couple of times when I don’t get by somebody on a drive or don’t rebound, but today he was proud of the way I played and just happy that we got the W together.”
DEREK WILLIS
On if this game was the closest he’s been to being comfortable since the injury …
“Yeah, I mean I had to play with those ankle braces and I felt like slower. I mean, whatever athleticism I did have, I felt like I didn’t have. So I decided to take them off and it helped me. I felt more loose I guess, but defensively I just wasn’t there in the first half, and a little bit in the second half, I had some defensive lapses. It was frustrating for me and just thinking about it now is kind of making me mad.”
On how the team was able to flip the script in the second half …
“I think we were more defensive minded I would say. They came out in the first half shooting like 61 percent I believe, and I think they finished around like 36, 38 percent. I don’t know, just talking a little bit and just playing a little more intense helped. Just keyed on it honestly.”
On how a tough game like this helps the team down the stretch …
“It’s going to help us tremendously. This is just how the tournament is going to be. There is going to be days where you’re down 10, let’s see what you can do, and everything counts. I just think it’ll be a learning experience for us, it was a great learning experience for me. It just all around helps us.”
On Isaiah Briscoe’s second-half performance …
“Yeah, he came up with rebounds, he was getting into the lane, got some passes. He played really good. Just did his thing and played more intense. That’s why I think the intensity got up in the second half, where we just kind of broke away from it a little bit.”
On what he learned about himself …
“I don’t know, just being defensive minded. It was so frustrating for me because I messed up so many times. I don’t know, I can’t do that when it comes to the real thing next weekend.”
On him getting some rebounds and blocking shots …“Yeah that’s where I tried to compensate for when I was messing up. I was like, ‘Well, I have to make some plays to get back and do something.’ Because offensively I think I hit a 3 at some point and just hit free throws honestly. I wasn’t really doing much, so I had to do something.”
On if they like a rematch with Texas A&M …
“Yeah I’m looking forward to playing them. Good team, I really like the (Alex) Cauruso kid. I think he’s an underrated player in the SEC, like his game. So it’ll be fun. I’m just looking forward to playing them again.”
On if the team feels like they owe Texas A&M one based on the last game …
“Yeah, things happen, and like I said, it’s all a learning experience. It’s getting us ready for the real thing. That’s just what we took from it and it is what it is. We’ll get another shot at them and it’ll be fun.”
On what Coach Cal was saying to the team during the comeback …
“Just picking things up, just being more intense I would say. Like I said, they came out shooting 61 percent. I don’t know, we just had to pick it up somewhere.”
On if it was hard watching Georgia hit all the shots in the first half …
“Yeah, they came out on fire. I think they were probably a little bit more looser than us. Played another game. They’ve been playing good actually. I believe they won their last five games or something, so they’ve been confident. Was it (Yante) Maten? He played extremely well tonight. The little (J.J.) Frazier guy, he got around me a couple of times and he did fine. They had a solid performance I would say.”
SKAL LABISSIERE
On Alex Poythress showing confidence on offense …
“I mean, he’s been showing it all week since he got back from the injury. He’s a beast down low. Yesterday he showed his outside game, and today he showed what he can do on the inside. So he’s very versatile, he can do a little bit of everything. We got to see that today.”
On what the difference was with the bigs today …
“I don’t know, we just have to learn how to be aggressive without fouling I guess.”
On having the “refuse to lose” mentality at the end …
“Oh definitely. At the end of the game, we – into the second half really, we came out ready to play on defense, and that was the biggest difference. The first half they made shots, a lot of wide-open shots, and we had to bring it the second half.”
On Isaiah Briscoe getting strong rebounds …
“He does so much for this team and he’s so valuable to us. We’re going to need him for us to make a run in the tournament. Isaiah, he does things that nobody else does. His defense, his leadership, like the way he gets the team going. Finishing around the basket, getting those tough rebounds like you said. He does a little bit of everything. When he’s on the basketball court.”
On Coach Cal getting on Isaiah Briscoe a lot …
“It was just a way of Coach Cal getting the best out of Isaiah, and Isaiah responded really well.”
On what he’s learned about himself these last few games …
“Just finding a way to stay on the court. Even when I’m in foul trouble, whether it’s rebounding or blocking shots, doing something to help my teammates. That’s probably the biggest thing I learned.”
MARCUS LEE
On getting other players besides Murray and Ulis involved in the second half …
“That’s what we do. We kind of try to figure out the different ways to score and just got it done. We’re not set in stone of who’s supposed to score and who’s supposed to get things done. We just try to help each other as much as we can.”
On Charles Matthews …
“C-Matt was huge. He absolutely killed it today. We loved that he came in with energy, enthusiasm and was ready to play.”
On Alex Poythress changing the game …
“We need that from him. The more confident he is in the way he plays, the easier the game is for the rest of us.”
On Derek Willis and his four blocks …
“That’s huge. You guys forget that he’s still 6-10 with a 7-5 wingspan. He does things that daily.”
On what Briscoe gets done inside …
“He fights. That’s one of the great things about him. He’s a smaller guard, but he fights like his life depends on it.”
On being excited to play A&M again …
“It’s another game. We’re not really worried about who we’re playing. We’re just trying to get to the next game and just keep on battling.”
On if they really don’t think about playing A&M again …
“I mean, it’s a game. Things, sometimes they don’t go your way, just like the first half. We had a couple mistakes that led to something not going our way and you gotta work on that.”
On playing better defense in the second half …
“That’s just how you play. You don’t want to start of the game or play any game starting off bad. They come in and give us their best for as long as they can and then once we kind of figured it out we started killing it.”
On Calipari’s tirade motivating Briscoe …
“Yeah, ‘Zay in the second half kind of put us to a new level and a level we needed to be at. Cal does what he can to try to light a flame when you’re kind of dozing off. It kind of set him up to be ready.”
On whether Briscoe is overlooked …
“His impact on the game and on the team in general is huge. Without him we wouldn’t be able to do a lot of these things.”
CHARLES MATTHEWS
On the transition to focusing on themselves no matter what …
“Yeah. You’re going to have games like that. The team came out making shots. For a team to do that for 40 minutes, now that’s tough. But they came out making shots. We were able to up our pressure and we were able to win the game.”
On Calipari calling him over to hug him …
“I’m so used to Cal screaming at me and he brought he over and gave me a hug. I’m like, ‘Yeah, Coach. Let’s go.’ It kept me moving.”
On why Calipari was so happy …
“Coach gets me on at times when I don’t play with my full energy, play fully to my potential. I guess Coach was impressed with the energy I brought to the game today so he wanted me to keep playing like that.”
On withstanding Georgia …
“Georgia’s a good team. They got so much better since the first time we played them. In my opinion, they’re definitely an NCAA Tournament team from what I saw. It just shows the growth in our team. We were able to get hit in the mouth – we were down 10, I think – and we were still able to keep our composure and come back and win the game.”
ALEX POYTHRESS
On what was the difference for him in the second half against Georgia …“Foul trouble in the first half, couldn’t really get in a rhythm. Second half, I did a good job of staying out of foul trouble. I was just able to get a rhythm out there.”
On if Coach Cal intentionally sent him to the post or if that’s something he saw …
“Both. That’s me, Tyler, Coach Cal. He’s like, ‘Alright, we gotta get you some easy buckets, easy shots.’ I was like, ‘Just put me on the block and let me go to work.’”
On the attitude of the team in the first half when Georgia kept hitting buckets …
“The attitude was great. We’re built for this. We needed a tough game like this that we had to go back and forth, down a little bit, a little adversity. I felt like we responded real well.”
On the past few games against Texas A&M being wars …
“Yeah, it’s gonna be a war coming in tomorrow. That’s really what it’s going to be tomorrow so we’re looking forward to it.”
On the difference in the UK bigs from the first half to the second half …
“We were just more focused, paying more attention to rebounding, playing better defense, and then it just jump started our offense.”
On Ulis and Jamal Murray keeping UK close in the first half …
“It just shows how great of players they are, how they’re two of the leaders on our team. They make us go offensively.”
On what Isaiah Briscoe gave UK during that crucial stretch in the second half …
“Defense, and doing what he does: Driving the ball, getting to the rim. They couldn’t stop him so we just told him to keep on attacking, keep on driving.”
On what Coach Cal did to motivate Briscoe …
“He was just saying we’re not accepting anything less than your best. He knows what we can do, and he expects it out of everybody every time we touch the floor.”
On what Calipari told him when UK went to him repeatedly …
“Just that we’re going to give you the ball and just make plays happen. I was like alright, and I was ready for it.”
On him finishing strong after not starting well …
“It just shows you that the game is 40 minutes. You gotta keep on fighting through, keep on playing, and just keep on pushing through it. If you don’t start off good, you got 30 more minutes left in the game, so correct it and fix it.”
On if they can get more from a game like this than a blowout win …
“Yeah, I feel so. It just shows you what we need to do in those situations, late clock situations. Shows you what we need to do when we’re in crunch time or if we’re down and if we’re on offense, what we do on defense, can we get stops? I mean, yeah, it helps a lot more than a blowout.”
On if this is the most impactful he thinks Briscoe has been in a game …
“Yeah, he’s been impactful in a lot of games this year. But he did have an impact in this game. He helped us and he turned the game around today.”
On if what Briscoe does gets overlooked sometimes …
“I mean, Isaiah is one of our energy guys. I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he does, but that’s life. You just have to deal with it. He’s never complained about that. He always keeps on playing as hard as he can.”
On how much Charles Matthews gave them today …
“Same thing Isaiah did. Came in the game, jump start our defense. Energy. Hands everywhere, getting blocks. He really helped us today.”
On how much a win like this can help prepare them for the NCAA Tournament …
“It can help us a lot, because tournament play is every game is going to be a war. There are no more blow outs anymore. You’re not going to play any bad teams anymore. You have to get ready to battle every game. Every game is going to be a five-point, six-point, three-point game. There’s no more 20-point blowouts anymore. It’s tournament time. People are fighting for their lives now.”
On if they like that they get Texas A&M again …
“Yeah, we’re enjoying the moment. We’re ready to face them. We’ll get prepared. Coaches will do a great job of getting our scouting report, and we’ll figure out what to do from there.”
On how much the battle inside will be the key Sunday …
“It’s going to be a big key. I think they won the rebounding (in the first game), so we just have to come in here, fight hard and try to turn the swing.”
ISAAC HUMPHRIES
On if the way their first game ended at Texas A&M gives him extra motivation …
“I mean, not really. It will be the same as it was. It was just an unfortunate circumstance that happened, but I’m not going to go out and be like, ‘I got a dead foul, I must play well.’ Like, no, I’m just going to do what we always – we’re just going to do what we always do.”
On if he’s excited that the matchup is Texas A&M and he has another opportunity against them …
“Yeah, they’re a good team, obviously, and we know that they’re a good team. We like playing against good teams. … It’s just a good opportunity for us to go out again and face them again, and just be able to prove that we can play against them and stuff, because we did lose. A lot of people when you lose, people think that you’re not as good as them and stuff like that, but we just have another opportunity now to prove that we can easily play with them.”
On what a win like that can do for them …
“I mean, it was good for us to know that we can be down and we can come back in a situation like that. Previously, we have been down and haven’t been able to quite get there, but now I think we’re pushing through that little gap of knowing when we’re down that we can actually come back, and we know what personnel can help us to get there.”
TYLER ULIS
On what the difference was with the team in the first half to the second half …
“Well, they came out hot. We have to give them credit, those guys made a lot of tough shots, a lot of open shots. The second half, we switched up how we were playing ball screens, and it helped us out a little more. We tried to pick uo the tempo and things changed.”
On Isaiah Briscoe’s game today …
“Yeah, down the stretch he was making stops, getting rebounds, making plays under the basket, making free throws. That’s what we need him to do on the team, and he stepped up and did that.”
On if he likes getting a rematch with Texas A&M …
“Definitely. They beat us earlier in the year. Very close game, it came down to the end of the game. We can’t wait to get another shot at them.”
On Georgia incorporating the splatoon system …
“I didn’t really notice they were doing five in and five out. I noticed that they were subbing a lot, but I guess that’s one of their strategies. That’s something we did last year, and if they have the bodies to do it, then yeah.”
On if he was hoping Georgia would miss some shots in the first half …
“Definitely. I felt like we were scoring the ball pretty well, and I kept looking at the score and we were down five, down eight, down 10, seven. They were just knocking down 3s. Tough shots, open shots, they had everything going for them.”
On how a game like this helps them for the NCAA Tournament …
“It’s good for us because there’s been games where in the first half, we didn’t play that well and guys didn’t even fight in the second half. But we came out and didn’t play well in the first half and picked it up in the second half and came out with a win. Close games like that, you want to come out and try to win a game.”
On not wanting to turn back with the fans cheering them on in the second half …
“Yeah with about six, seven minutes left, we were making our run and the fans were going crazy. We couldn’t even hear each other call the plays out. That’s the great thing about this fanbase. They travel anywhere we go. It’s like we were in Rupp.”
ISAIAH BRISCOE
On what the difference was with him between the first half and second half …
“Just Coach (Cal) getting on me and just trying to get the best out of me.”
On if he felt like he made an impact in the second half …
“Yeah, I think so. If that’s what they need me to do to win, then I’ll do it.”
On Coach Cal getting on him when he came out and what he said to him …
“That’s private. I’m not going to speak on it.”
On if it made him feel good …
“Absolutely. Not. (laughter) At the moment no, but now that the game is over, I think I played well in the second half. So I appreciate Coach (Cal) for getting on me and just getting the best out of me.”
On feeling more comfortable at the free-throw line …
“Just taking my time. That’s pretty much it.”
On if rebounding is a big focus for him …
“Yeah, I’m just trying to get out there and rebound period.”
On what clicked for him in the second half …
“Coach (Cal) just trying to get the best out of me, and I appreciate him for that. Sometimes I think he believes in his players more than they actually believe in themselves. Not talking about me in particular, but the things he said to me, I took it in consideration and just decided to go out on the court and just play.”
JAMAL MURRAY
On if they changed anything in the second half or if it was all intensity …
“Just keep playing. We changed a couple of stuff in the pick-and-rolls with a couple of their plays. But most of all, we kept playing and kept fighting, and they missed some shots and we knew we had to take advantage of it.”
On what he thought of Coach Cal getting on Isaiah Briscoe …
“He’s done that to me a couple of times too. I kind of know where he’s coming from and I know how he felt and I know what Coach (Cal) meant. It was just a learning process and we’re growing individually and as a group, so we’ll just try to keep this basketball rolling.”
On how good Coach Cal is at pushing everyone’s buttons …
“Very good. He always on top of you, he’s always smothering you with hard talk and trying to get you going and trying to take your confidence down so you build it back up. He did that to Isaiah today and Alex, and it worked.”
On how he deals with not scoring for a while in the second half …
“I know I’m going to get the ball sometime soon, I’m just not forcing it. I know I can go one-on-one if I wanted to, but there’s no need. Just trying to win this game and make winning plays, and trying to stay within myself and the team. The team did a great job of scoring for that run and streak. I was able to find my shot late in the game and make the most of it.”
On if that’s something the old Jamal would have done …
“I don’t know, I don’t really remember him. (laughter)”
On if Coach Cal has eliminated old Jamal …
“He says it a couple of times when I don’t get by somebody on a drive or don’t rebound, but today he was proud of the way I played and just happy that we got the W together.”
