Kentucky Players
#12, Keion Brooks Jr., Fr., F
On moments where the “lights came on”…
“I just kept pushing through. I had some rough ones, just trying to get back together, just kept pushing through with my teammates. I have faith in them and the coaching staff believing in me.”
On how much faith he has in Ashton especially against Georgia …
“I have faith in Ashton no matter who we’re playing. He’s going to play hard, he’s our leader, he’s going to carry us, and play hard. He knows how to play and has a great will to win.”
On playing against a 2-3 zone …
“Me personally, I do like playing (against) a 2-3 zone because I know I can get in the middle and make some shots, and create some open shots for my teammates. I got caught in the middle once, and didn’t really look to attack and they got a steal off me, but besides that I feel good playing against a 2-3 zone.”
On practicing against the 2-3 zone …
“We know teams are going to play a zone because it’s hard to matchup with our size and our athleticism and our speed. They try to go to zone to slow us down, so we got a lot of stuff we go to give us some movement.”
#0, Ashton Hagans, So., G
On how nice it was playing his home-state team…
“You know, it’s always good to go against my home state team. I was committed there, at one time, then came here. But, it’s good to just have my family here to see me, watch me play, go against some of my homeboys from back at the crib. It was just a good win.”
On his reaction to seeing Ja Morant shout him out on Twitter…
“Actually, me and Ja talk a few times here and there, but you know I always try to get some advice from him. He always hits me back real quick, so I just thank him. He inspires me to go harder, he inspires a lot of people actually. Knowing somebody like Ja, to just pick some stuff from his game and just add it to mine, you know, it’s a good thing to have him on my side.”
On how he was chirping at the UGA bench…
“Oh yeah, always. They were talking to me out there, so you know I just had to talk. It wasn’t too much, nothing to the heart. We were just out there, you know, having fun.”
#23, EJ Montgomery, So., F
On if that moment felt like an important factor to you during the game …
“Yes, that’s what coach (Calipari) wants from his big guys to do, is just to make the shot on different ends and just block shots.”
On the importance of getting in shape and how it has transformed his game …
“Every chance I can, KP (Kenny Payne) especially with his conditioning and just trying to get me in better shape, he wants me to just play my hardest the whole game.”
On what his confidence is right now after back to back solid performances …
“It’s just getting better, just trying to go out there and help our team win.”
On how he feels now versus last year in terms of physicality …
“I feel a lot better, that was my main thing over the summer was to get stronger and to come back and be an impact in the game.”