Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: Belmont Bruins Pre-game notes and quotes

Dec 14, 2013; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari talks to guard Aaron Harrison (2) in the first half at Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Notes:
-First ever meeting between Belmont and Kentucky

-Belmont Basketball has won 20+ games eight of the
last 10 years and earned postseason play eight of the last
10 years. That includes NCAA Tournament appearances
in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

-Belmont has two victories over nationally-ranked
programs to its credit (NCAA era). The Bruins
defeated then No. 23 Missouri, 71-67, Dec. 30, 2003,
while beating then No. 11 North Carolina, 83-80, Nov.
17, 2013.

– Willie Cauley-Stein’s 48 blocks through the first 10
games of the season ranks as the second-most
in the John Calipari era. Anthony Davis had 49
to begin his record-breaking year in the first 11
games.

John Calipari:
On working on closing out games …
“(It’s) Really (about closing out the) the last three, four minutes of the game. It’s something we’ve had to do
here every year that I’ve been here. We are really narrowing it to what you do and what you absolutely don’t
do. We’ve got to be clear on it. I think I mentioned this, but we have to be more organized offensively. Their
instincts are now for them not us. We have to be a little bit more organized. There are things that we did
where I said we are getting better, and there are other things where I watch the tape and I say we are not
getting better. We reverted on some things. It’s a process.”

On if there is a sense of urgency with this team …
“I always have a sense of urgency. I want them to be better right now. But, it’s going to be a process and
we’ve all got to live with it. Me especially. It’s not always on my timetable, or our fans, or the media when
the light will go on. But, I have all the confidence in the world it will at some point. I keep saying that it will be
our persistence versus their resistance. They have to understand that I’m not changing.”

Willie Cauley-Stein:
On the key to the final five minutes …
“A lot of it has to do with just execution and playing through mistakes. Obviously you’re going to make
mistakes and you just gotta, especially the last five minutes, just try to play through it because you don’t
know what you’re about to get. In the North Carolina game, we made a bunch of mistakes in the last five
minutes of the game and we still had a chance to win and we just didn’t play through the mistakes that we
made and we were constantly making more mistakes because of the last mistakes we made. It’s just an
add-up. The last five minutes you gotta execute and make not as many mistakes.”

Andrew Harrison:
On the mood of the team …
“I think now we have a chip on our shoulder. Coming into this season, people tried to put us up there with
the greatest team ever or whatever, but now we have a chip on our shoulder. Now we have a reason to play
hard. We have stuff to prove, so that’s what we’re going to try to go do.”