Video: UK Coach John Calipari on UK's thrilling 69-63 win at Vandy

UK coach John Calipari on UK's thrilling 69-63 win at Vandy. Video courtesy of Courier-Journal.com


Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari

Opening Comments:

"This was two teams slugging it out, it really was. [Vanderbilt] wasn't going away and we weren't going away. We made some shots; they missed some shots; we won the game. Hats off to Vanderbilt fans. It was a great environment. It is why we do what we do, both players and coaches."

On the Play of Kentucky's Marquis Teague:

"It was great. He did great. He broke down defensively twice, but kept playing."

On Playing a Close Game after Several Big Wins:

"We need all of this. In every huddle, I kept saying this is great for us. It is what we need. To be honest, I would rather we be up 23 points. They are an execution team, a veteran team, seniors. They played like that. We got better today."

On the Play of Darius Miller Down the Stretch:

"I told him the three he made was the play that got us going again... I tell my guys that it doesn't matter how they play the whole game, it is the last three or four minutes...and he did that."

On Kentucky's Play:

"It was a good win in a hard-fought game... Hats off to Vanderbilt. Basically, they beat us in the second half... They caught up with threes. In the huddle, I kept telling my team to make them beat us with twos."

On Vanderbilt Missing Their Last Nine Shots:

"I will have to watch the tape. We are good defensively, but it may have been them [missing shots] too... Lots of people had this as a [loss] for us."

On Having a Week Off Before Playing Again:

"It will be a little different than last time we had a week off before playing Indiana... We will do tape work on Sunday, practice Monday, take off Tuesday, on Wednesday we will doing something special, practice Thursday and Friday so we will be ready for Saturday's game. It is late in the season, so they don't need two days off... We will change it up and doing something special on Wednesday."

On How Kentucky's Players Handled the Unusual Bench Configuration:

"It was hard to communicate. I knew it would be. I told Marquis Teague that anytime he was confused to just pick and roll, so that is what he did."

On Vanderbilt Being a Tough Environment to Play in:

"Every game we play is like walking into this... We get the other team's best shot and after the game, there are 25 cameras... Any of the places we have been end up being like this. We handled this game like we have other and will handle future games the same way. On our board, I tell the team to love the road, love this, relish this."