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LSU Basketball lost at Kentucky, 75-70
LSU Head Coach Johnny Jones
Opening statement…
“We
knew coming in today that it would be a hard-fought contest. I knew,
Kentucky coming off of a setback there at Alabama, coming back at home
today looking for a win. We knew that they would be ready and that they
would play tough and they definitely didn’t disappoint. They did those
things but I was proud of our guys. I thought we played extremely hard
in the first half. Unfortunately, down at the half, had to fight an
uphill battle there in the second half but I thought we were able to
chip away at their lead, thought if we could ever get a lead and force
them to have to play from behind, it would help us. But, we were never
able to put them in that position in the second half and the credit
goes to them. I thought they did the things that were necessary down
the stretch and made the necessary plays to win today.”
On whether Alex Poythress looked different in this game versus the previous ones he saw on film…
“I thought he played extremely well. I thought they went to him in the post area. I thought they did an
excellent job of taking advantage of the size advantage he had, worked the angles and (he) made some
big plays in there early and made it very difficult for us. At the same time I thought he was really tough on
the boards. He was extremely long and pushed his way in and got some second chance opportunities in
terms of rebounding the basketball and he got some offensive put backs as well. So I thought he was a
big difference maker in the game today.”
On how Johnny O’Bryant III adjusted to change the second half…
“I thought we just needed to be more aggressive in terms of trying to take the ball at the basket instead of
settling. I thought we allowed [Nerlens] Noel to bother us at times and tried to shoot around him instead
of going at him. I thought Johnny did a much better job of being aggressive going at the basket in the
second half. I thought it served him well because I thought he was able to score better.”
On whether it looked like Kentucky had six players on the court on the inbound play late in the game…
“That’s what it looked like. I thought that was what was going on. I wasn’t sure and we just wanted to ask
the refs if there was anyway possible (to review). I thought the back ref had an opportunity to see. They
were trying to get off the floor at the time that I thought the ball was in play but it didn’t happen. We’d had
ample opportunities prior to that to make some plays so I don’t think that was the game changer there.”
On why he thought forcing Kentucky to play from behind would be in LSU’s favor…
“I just thought, in terms of their youth, if we could have forced them to have to play and if we could
have gotten a three- to five-point lead and forced them to have to execute in the half court, I thought it
could possibly be a little tougher for them. I think it comes with their youth, or lack there of, and we were
hopeful to put them in that position but to their credit, I thought they did an excellent job of preventing that
and made some big plays prior to not ever relinquish the lead.”
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