Louisville post-game player quotes:
#3, Peyton Siva, G
On climbing back in the game in the second half …
“Russ Smith was doing alright for us. He played well. Everybody just really stepped up in the press. We got a couple key steals and Russ (Smith) made shots. He is a great player and at the end, (Kentucky) just hit the lob and it got the crowd back involved. We had a couple fouls called after that, and it just didn’t go our way.”
On why he thought Louisville could never get over the hump to take the lead …
“I just think we didn’t step up and block out at the end. They (Kentucky) just hit the glass and got rebounds. It really hurt us that they got rebounds. Typically after they got a rebound, they got a foul call or an and-one.”
On if Anthony Davis was more of a factor than he expected …
“Definitely. He was a big factor in the second half. He was long, and athletic. He altered a lot of shots.”
#2, Russ Smith, G
On playing against Anthony Davis in the second half…
“What you have to do to get to the basket against that guy is almost impossible. The amount of room he covers around the basket is incredible. Davis is a very solid player.”
On Russ’ individual success…
“I play hard. I leave it all on the floor. I stayed confident all 40 minutes offensively. If coach tells me to keep shooting, I will listen.”
On the length of Kentucky’s team…
“They are a tremendously long team. They were probably longer last year, but the length and wingspan of Kentucky is incredible.”
On playing hard in the last few minutes…
“We always want to win. We never feel like we are out of it. Any basketball player would know the game is not over until the forty minutes is up, so we played hard. If we were down a few points less, it could have gotten interesting.”
#24, Chane Behanan, F
On what he learned from the game…
“Stay patient and be calm. Once we are down on the road and within the last four minutes, we have to get stops.”
On why Louisville couldn’t get a lead in the second half …
“When they threw the alley-oop to Anthony Davis, it hurt. We were within four or five points. Our press was basically killing them.”
On how the game was officiated…
“I think it was called tight. We both had a couple of players with three fouls at half. Then, they got us on the boards.”
