Louisville at Kentucky Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz

Opening Statement…
"Coming into the game today, we knew that they're a very good basketball team. Maci Morris and Taylor Murray are dynamic guards, two kids that can take the game over and we were concerned about that. We knew that they loved to drive right and unfortunately during the first few minutes of the game, we let them drive right. Then they scored and we finally made some adjustments about four or five minutes into the game, forced them to go left. We had help on that side and defensively we did a lot of good things. I mean you look at our stat sheet and I tell people all of the time, we are one rebound away and one assist away from having four players with doubles-doubles. I mean, it's not just one player. Asia (Durr) shoots the heck out of the ball. When she scores, her teammates do a great job of finding her in open space. We execute, I mean, I was really impressed with us. If you watch that ball game, I mean Asia scored a lot in the half court. You know, because we took the time, we set good screens and found her. Now I say it all of the time, she has to knock the shots down and she did and then I think the start of the game Sam Fuehring gets an offensive board and scores. You know, so we set the tone and I told them in the locker room that you got to rebound the ball in order to win. If you rebound the basketball, you got a great chance to win the game. So, I'm really proud of them. It's a good win, but now we've got to get set for the next ball game. There's a lot of bigger things in front of us and we know that, and we've got to continue to improve to get better."

On having teammates that can really help Asia get going and being able to pick up the slack…
"Well, I think that's why she's able to do what she's doing, you know. It's hard to box and chase her. It's hard to face guard her. It's hard to just say, hey we're going to hold in on her because then she does a great job of coming off the screen. You know, if you're not going to come of the screens well, we'll give the ball to Myisha (Hines-Allen) down in the paint and then she comes off and she scores. Having balance and depth is something that we haven't had at this level of it in the past. You know, it makes life a lot easier for her when players can step up and hit open shots. I thought Arica Carter was big. Arica was big in the first half because now you have to challenge her to make open shots and she did, you know, and we did the same thing. I got to give a few of their kids credit, we double off ball screens when Morris came off of it. I mean it goes back to (Keke) McKinney, she hits a three. Tatyana Wyatt hits a 3, you know, so they had some kids step up and makes shots too which you have to have when you have players of the caliber of Asia and Maci Morris and your kids can compete against."

On Sam Fuehring's effectiveness as a rebounder…
"She doesn't stop. That's the one thing that I will give Sam. She moves without the ball. It's really hard to find that anymore. You know, players like to watch. Shots go up; players like to watch. Sam moves without the ball. I say it all the time, it's hard to find players when shots are taken they will figure out the trajectory of the ball whether it's short or long. Then if it's long, just get to the other side. And if it's short, stay on your side and I think in our game it wouldn't be basketball because don't necessarily play as much pick up. Just going out and playing, you know, you don't get as many reps with just playing basketball and I think that comes from that and Sam has a knack for it. The shot goes up, she can tell if it's short or long and then she goes and hunts the ball. She was big tonight. I mean, I thought the way she offensive rebounded really set the tone for us."

On encouraging Arica with her shot more…
"I told her as long as it keeps going in, keep shooting them. I thought she took one bad shot and that was in the end of the first half there with kind of like two minutes left there in transition where she fired up an off balance bank shot on the left side that did not go in. You know, I told them that you've been killing them on reversal and stepping into your 3, like don't start doing more than what you're really good at. Then she missed that one 3 in front of our bench there late in the game and I told her to shoot when she was coming down. Now what she can't allow to happen is that Maci Morris goes down and hits a 3 right in front of her. You know, you have to defend but you AC has put the time in. When you put the time in, and you work on your game, it's amazing what happens. She did not make one 3-point shot her freshman year. Not one to where she is now, you have to respect her. You have to guard her."

On the game philosophy against Morris…
"Our whole game was to force her left, but you can't give her any. When she drives left, she goes to the basket for layups. It's what she does. Every time she goes left, she's going all the way to the hole. When she goes right, she's really good. She'll size you up. She's really good at the step back. She does a really great job, so our goal was play head up and if she's gonna drive make her go left but then we fouled. You know, she got to the line some there in the first half which I thought was a problem for us. Then she started to back off, but I was really pleased with how we defended."

On the depth of Louisville's defense…
"Well, I think defense was good too. We have players that can come in off the bench. I mean Bionca Dunham normally gives us more. She's been really good this year. Now she fouled well. Four fouls in three minutes, that's pretty impressive. I mean that's not easy to get done especially when you're not trying to do it. She normally comes in and can rebound and give us presence. Kylee Shook offensively has come along more than Bionca, but Bionca defensively is further. So, they both have areas that we're going to work to get better that they're both better at."

On the fast break style of play…
"Our whole goal is to get the ball out as quick as we can. Look down the floor but don't force it. I'm trying to get them to pick the tempo up. Push it to the free throw line as quick as you can. If it's not there, bring the ball up, reverse it. I don't want them stopping at the 28-foot marker and just holding it to set up the offense, that's not what we're trying to do."

Louisville Student-Athletes
#25 Asia Durr, G
On her confidence level shooting tonight even while being pressured…
"My teammates give me confidence; they find me on the court. Coach (Jeff) Walz calls great plays and if I don't have the shot there, I know I have my teammates to count on. They always help me get hype, things like that. It's my teammates who get me going. It's so much fun playing out there with them."

On the team's pace tonight, locking down on defense and forcing turnovers…
"Coach Walz talks about it all the time – tempo – and that's what we've been trying to do better as a team. This past week we've bene working on scoring and then sprinting back on defense. Because Kentucky, they don't waste any time getting the ball out the net, they go, so that's what we had to work on this past week."

On Louisville's 20-5 run to end the first half…
"We stayed hungry, we stayed aggressive as well. Coach Walz kept saying they weren't going to back down, even during halftime, that's what he said. We just had to stay hungry and get comfortable. We knew that we were up by 15 to 20, but we had to keep on going. He didn't take his best two players out for the whole game, so he was trying to make a statement."

On Dana Evans developing in the last couple weeks...
"It's always tough coming from high school to college. You've got to make that adjustment. We've been trying to help her in practice. She's coachable, very coachable. She wants to be great. Anytime you have a player like that who wants to be great, that starts to show. I think in big games like this, fans and players are really starting to see what type of player she is."

#2 Myisha Hines-Allen, F
On Louisville's transition game tonight…
"Really well. We were able to rebound the ball and that's where it all starts, just rebounding at the defensive end, then going in transition. That's one of the things that we're focusing on, too, as a team."

On the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry and what it means to her…
"It means a lot since it was my last one, I just wanted to come in here and do whatever I could for the team so we could get the win. But it's a big one. You know what it means to Kentucky and you know what it means back at home. It was just good that we were able to get that win. I think it was some years – I don't know how long – Coach Walz mentioned it before the game that we weren't able to ever win here in some time."

On the difficulty of getting rebounds against Kentucky…
"They're a very aggressive team. They were always in the paint. Their guards rebound the ball so well. Taylor Murray had seven rebounds, so I mean, their guards rebound so well. Then, say we did get the ball, they would come, they'll be right there. I know I got one poked away from me. Their guards are really aggressive. Their post players are just so big, they're able to get up there and get the rebounds too. So we just have to be strong with the ball."

On her confidence when Asia Durr gets on the wing…
"A lot. Once it gets in her hands and it's up, I just want to run back down, but I know I'd probably get in trouble if I did that. I have so much confidence in her. Over this past summer, playing with her at USA trials, I really got to see what Asia is capable of doing and now I think everyone is seeing what she's capable of doing. I'll say it again; I think she's the best player in college basketball. I'm just happy that she's on my team."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Arica Carter

Bionca Dunham

Asia Durr

Dana Evans

Sam Fuehring

Myisha Hines-Allen

Kylee Shook

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