Billy D on UK game...

On the match-up with Kentucky:
“Obviously we are playing against a team that is undefeated up to this point in time. They are very gifted and talented - not only their incoming freshmen class, but their players from a year ago that are still there. They have great size, great length, great speed and quickness, which will be a tremendous challenge for our entire team.”

On what makes John Wall a special player:
“He has great speed and athleticism, and he’s very long for a guard. He has the ability to rebound and be explosive on the open floor, has a terrific feel of how to play. He makes people around him better. He’s a guy that’s a special player all the way around.”

On dribble drive and how much he has studied it:
“Kentucky has great speed and quickness in every spot. When you are playing that way, you have the personnel that can really take you off the dribble and I think John Wall has got it off the dribble. When you have guys that can go off the dribble like that, shrinking the floor, cutting down gaps, those types of things become very important. Kentucky certainly thrives in a spread floor situation, where the floor is very open, they can use their one-on-one ability.”

On rebounding against Kentucky:
“Obviously it’s going to be a challenge. Blocking out with us being man-on-man is going to be very important. They have a combination of all three things that make up a good rebounding team. They have length, they have strength and they have great pursuit of the ball. They have all three of those ingredients. Some of their guys rebound the ball with quickness, speed, and athleticism on the floor and it’s hard to go around them. Some of them rebound where they carve out a way because they are physically strong. Then there are the other guys that have great pursuit of the ball. (Daniel) Orton, (DeMarcus) Cousins, Patrick (Patterson), obviously, even (Darnell) Dodson and (Darius) Miller, for their positions, have all three of those ingredients, which makes Kentucky a great rebounding team.”

On the game being nationally televised and emotion:
“I think a lot of these guys have probably played on more nationally televised games than I have in my entire career. When it comes to the TV part of it, a lot of our players have been exposed to that so much – it’s at a different level than it was 15 or 20 years ago. Anytime you’re playing a game there are emotions. I think our guys are excited about the opportunity to come home and play against a terrific team. The league is 16 games and every game you have to be emotionally ready to play. I think when you are not emotionally ready to play in this league, or any league for that matter, that ends up in a loss. We have to work on some things to put ourselves in the best position. You can’t let some of that stuff become a distraction - I don’t think it will be. I think our guys will go out there and be ready to play.”