KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES

KENTUCKY VS. ALABAMA

RUPP ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY.

JANUARY 18, 2025

UK STUDENT-ATHLETES

#10 BRANDON GARRISON

On the loss …

“The fouls we kept giving up sending them to the free throw line. They’re a very good free throw shooting team so I feel like that hurt us tonight.”

On adjusting to Alabama’s different play style…

“I wouldn’t say it was a hard adjustment, like I said before, it was little fouls, and we just kept giving them easy buckets. I don’t think it was just the offense that hurt us.”

On getting a week off …

“It’s going to help us a lot. We’ve got a couple guys down, Andrew and Lamont battling, just a couple guys. So, I feel like this week, get those guys back rising and go down there and get another road win.”

#15 ANSLEY ALMONOR

On the loss …

“I felt like towards the end we didn’t execute our defense well and that’s what ended up hurting us. We played our game for the part but then it was just going back and forth and that made us lose focus.”

On the challenge of playing Alabama…

“It was definitely a transition and a challenge. Alabama plays very fast. It’s hard to simulate a practice and until you really go out there you don’t realize how fast they really are and that’s definitely a challenge for us. We are going to watch film and get better from it and use what we learn when we play again.”

On the defensive matchup…

“I was actually pretty amazed by the passes they were making. I don’t know if they practiced that or that’s just natural. It was crazy to see, it was tough to play against them, they have really great players over there.”

#00 OTEGA OWEH

On how are you preparing for your next game after this loss…

“There was a lot of fouling, so we are going to work on that. Also, you know not forgetting this game. Obviously, there are things to work on, so we just have to bounce back and get better on the things we didn’t do so well today which was our physicality and rebounding”.

On from a players perspective what do you think led to your loss tonight…

“In terms of rebounding I think we did a good job on that and limiting transition passes but we gave up a lot of big six points. We started off doing a great job with boxing them out, but you have to keep that going for 40 minutes”.

On how difficult is it to stay in the rhythm of a defensive position…

“We prepared for it so we knew it was going to be difficult. We just had to stay solid and not break. Coach preached that a lot. Trying to have perfect possession versus possession with a rebound. That’s something we have to do better on”.

ALABAMA HEAD COACH NATE OATS

Opening Statement…

“Couldn’t be more proud of a group of guys. It was definitely a bounce-back from the game on Tuesday and quite a win today. It was a really good team that we beat and I think we did a really good job. We were looking at some of the better shooters, Berea had an average of 6 attempts, I thought we did a really good job getting him off. Grant Nelson came out ready to go and get half of our points in the first twenty. We were able to help him bounce off of the game on Tuesday night against Ole Miss and give him some confidence—credits to him. Sears also made a ton of plays, like he always does, he gets to the free throw line and makes big free throws and big points. For him to play almost 38 minutes I thought his defense was pretty good, he showed a lot of effort. Labaron struggled and was shooting maybe 26 percent coming into playing this game, he has been in the gym. I was telling the guys on Tuesday, that we didn’t deserve to win that game because of our effort before the game and going into the game and that’s exactly what happened. We started with guys dedicating themselves and putting more effort in when it comes to reps and getting stronger. So with that being said, Labaron spent a lot of the time in the gym getting reps and I feel that it really showed today. It’s not rocket science, you spend time in the gym and you make your shots. Spend time in the gym, you make free throws. So, Dioubate got somehow less than 15 minutes, plus 21, eight points, and eight rebounds in less than 15 minutes is pretty impressive. Youngblood had a little bit of a coming-out party end of the second half, finally starting to look like how we thought he was going to look. It isn’t easy having surgery over the summer and sitting out for almost six months, trying to come back and you are not 100 percent but he looked pretty good. Great playing here at Rupp, the crowd is great, I love the environment, and I like the basketball people here. Coach Pope has done a really good job rejuvenating everybody. This is the first home loss and they’ve been playing great at home. They are a wonderful team and have so much to look forward to for their season. Our loss on Tuesday wasn’t great and didn’t feel great but sometimes you need a loss to learn some lessons. If you study Coach Saban and his playing history, his teams would take a loss early on and build from there throughout the year. They would focus and lock in on their mistakes and what they did wrong. So I feel like that is the best path for us and we can only go up from here. This was a completely different team than the one that played Ole Miss. If we learn lessons we need to, that is the game we cannot forget. We just have to make sure this isn’t a one-game deal, we need to continue to do the things we’ve done.”

On the guard lineup…

“Yeah, I mean we got more shooting out there, especially with the way Youngblood’s shooting it. You know he’s 2-for-3, and the two threes he hit were huge. I mean Holloway’s been playing great, I feel bad for him because he did have it going there, and then he got in some foul trouble and came out and then, it was going well and I found out, oh, it’s time to get him back in so, he’s been playing great. I think he has six games in a row in double digits, hopefully we can get him going again next game, and we’ve got those four guards all starting. Derrion went 3-of-5 tonight from 3. Sears obviously everyone knows what he can do, you know, CY is coming along, Derrion, Holloway, if you can keep three of those four out there with matchups that you can put them on and just find, we knew when there were certain guys in, we can definitely keep those three guards. Offensively it’s about a line of force, to make shots, you know Jarin’s been pretty good, so I thought he was good tonight, Grant with the way he was playing, we were a little bit in foul trouble in the front court, so kind of trying to save some of Jarin’s minutes for more of a four spot than a three and playing more three-guard line ups. I think was a little help, you know we got in foul trouble in the second half, Clif with the pace that we play, Clif is not a guy, you know he played 25 minutes, it’s about what he ought to be playing, I thought he was pretty good in his 25 minutes.”

On Alabama overlooking Kentucky’s bench…

“No, Kentucky’s got a great bench, they had seven guys in double figures, six guys averaging double figures. Holloway played decent. Youngblood, Dioubate got in foul trouble in the first half. I just, some of it is guys get in foul trouble and you know what, Mark Sears has been in some of these big games before. Grant Nelson had everyone going early, he came ready to play, obviously, so, not going to sacrifice some of those guys minutes just to play guys off the bench if I think that they’re ready to go and they’re playing good, I’ll keep them in the game keep them going.”

On Pope being Kentucky’s coach…

“I thought it was a great fit. He played here, he knows what this place is about, from afar it kind of seems like one of those teams that BYU would play. I think what you’re seeing is offensive production. He’s going to be able to get players here. He’s always had a tradition to get players, you know when they hired him it made total sense, and his introductory press conference, the way they rolled him in was pretty cool. I think Mark is a great guy, so seems to me like the state’s embraced him. I mean they obviously lost today but we’re a good team, this is not going to be a bad loss for them when all is said and done. They’re a very good team. This is their first loss at home since he’s been here, he’s done an unbelievable job, a great style of basketball, I thought it made sense. I’m happy for them, we got this win and we play them twice this year, we need to make sure we give them a loss, but he’s done a great job. I think it helps the SEC to have Kentucky good, they’ve been traditionally good most years and he’s got them very good and they’re eighth in the country and they were a pretty good team today.”