Sutton's Postgame Comments
UK Mentor Pleased With Team's Poise In The Stretch
Following are Coach Eddie Sutton's postgame comments after his Wildcats defeated Vanderbilt 73-65 last Wednesday night at Rupp Arena:
Question: Your comments on the game?
Sutton: I thought we were flat and very careless. That's not to take anything away from Vanderbilt because they played a very fine basketball game and had a good game plan. They really took away our pressure defense for the most part. They kept emptying the back end out to where they could lob the ball to (Brett) Burrow, and that hurt us because we didn't do a good job of defending that. Overall. I would have to think that C. M. (Newton) would be very pleased with the effort that his ballclub gave. When I say carelessness  we missed to many easy layups. It's one thing to miss shots but you don't miss baskets right underneath: we missed a lot of those. We also missed some free throw opportunities when perhaps we should have had a lead in the first half in double figures. They made a great run at us in the second half, and we added to our own miseries. It's good to win the basketball game. In order to win a conference championship, you're not always going to be on top of your game every night, and if you win while you're not on top of your game
you look (at the statistics) they only got 15 shots between them. That's not very many when you try to go inside as much as we do. We saw the same thing last Sunday at North Carolina State. The only thing there was that we didn't hit the shots. Tonight, James stepped up and hit some big shots for us.
Question: Do you think that Kenny's a little frustated?
Sutton: I think his teammates would agree  that he is getting banged around a lot. I think he does get frustrated at times. It's very difficult for him to even cross the lane without getting bumped a few times.
Question: Your comments on the difficulty of trying to get the ball into Walker's hands?
Sutton: Anytime a ballclub double and triple-teams a player it's hard to get him shots. That's why his teammates have got to step forward and hit those shots.
Question: Midway through the second half with the score tied at 53-all, Frank Kornet, who thought he was elbowed, was called for fouling Walker. What did you think?
Sutton: I question that one right in front of our bench when Kenny (and a Vandy player) col-
Eddie Sutton
then that goes a long ways in getting to the 'crowning room.' I'm just happy that we did win. I was pleased that our ballclub did display a lot of character and a lot of poise late in the ballgame. Vanderbilt really had the momentum going their way, yet James (Blackmon) stepped up and really hit a big shot; Kenny (Walker) got some big rebounds; Cedric (Jenkins) got a big rebound on a missed (UK) shot; and Roger (Harden) hit a big shot at the top of the key. So, we did hold our poise well and we were able to win. The crowd helped us down the stretch and came alive. They played the part of the sixth-person.
Question: What about Vanderbilfs 2-3 zone?
Sutton: What we saw tonight is nothing different from what we've seen most of the season. They certainly try to take away the inside game, and I thought Vanderbilt did a nice job of keeping the ball out of Kenny's hands. We did get it to Winston (Bennett) a few times. But when
lided and both went to the floor, and they called the foul on Kenny. There were some strange calls both ways.
Question: How alarming is it to you that your ballclub did not play well in its 22nd game of the season?
Sutton: It's not alarming to me. North Carolina has had some of those same type of games and they've been able to win. Even in the game the other night with Georgia Tech, they're down 13 with about nine minutes to go. . .Marquette should have beat North Carolina. The only reason I use North Carolina is that they're the No. 1 team in the country. Jacksonville had 'em beat earlier and let them off the hook. So, you're just not on top of your game every night. There's no way you're going to go out there and play a perfect game. Against North Carolina State I thought we played a whale of a basketball game. We played a lot better Sunday than we did tonight.
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By Dan Krueckeberg
SEC BASKETBALL * 36 (No. 2)
A road _
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9   Abbr.  for class of 'Bama
11 Jenkins or Thomas
12 Initials of Gator Lawrence
13 Namesakes of LSU's Vargas
15 _loo: Alaska site
16 The extra-terrestrial
18 Nuptial words
19 Initials of a star SEC guard     ' _
20 Body parts
21 Postage 24 Nothing
26 Abbr.  for "livingroom"
27 Auburn's Jeff
28 Every team hopes for a__ start in
SEC action
30 Very common verb
31 A 6-7 Wildcat junior
33 DeVoe has coached the Vols for 8 _
35 Best in SEC?
37 _       the line for two
38 Initials of Georgia's Howard
40 Some weekend games are played during the
Bob Boyd's _ Dillon
"The defense would _ into the middle"
"Protect the _ at all times!"
"They re-_       the clock"
_'    squad might find it tough to
41
43
44 47 49
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56 Abbr. for "warrant officer"
57 First name of 66 Across
60 Abbr.  for "United Nations"
61 "Who will be _ this year's SEC
champs?"
63 First name of 78 Across
65 Affirmative vote
66 Alabama's 6-4 sophomore
70 Prefix for "opposite in kind" 72 Initials of Madison of Kentucky
74 Body of water
75 Abbr. for "over-the-counter"
77 Symbol for "tin"
78 _1    guard play is tops for the Tigers
79 Namesakes of Tranbarger of Ole Hiss
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2 Initials of Wildcat sophomore Robert
3 The _ of March
4 FG
5 Tide's Gottfried always ranks high in
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6 Initials of 6-7 Vol senior Rob
7 Slide
8 Auburn lost _       starters from last season
9 With shot clock, only _-stalls are
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10 Initials of Ole Miss newcomer Sims
11 6-8, 240 lb. sophomore of the SEC
13 Brings 12.5 ppg from last season
14 Christmas man
17 Baseball star Rod
21 First name of an SEC coach
22 Junior guard White
23 Made of metal
25 Vandy hopes to improve on their _
place SEC finish of last season 27 Threat 29 Tennis term
31 Sleep station
32 Initials of Purdue standout Lewis
34 "Moten _ the fastbreak superbly"
36 Cat _nny wears 034
39 Georgia guard Donald 42 It is
44 Gator Cornelius
45 Initials of former Cat star Groza
46 "They had a _ lead at halftime"
48 A Vol guard
50 Was in debt
51 Initials of Arterburn of Tennessee
53 _'    team hopes to improve off its
5-13 SEC mark of last season
54 The _C
55 Foot part
58 Biggest question for contenders
59 Honor
62 6-6 senior Joe of Ceorgia 64 "     upset is brewing"
67 Eastern state abbr.
68 Scientist's workplace
69 Not me
71 Initials of jr.  'Bama guard Jim
73 SEC state abbr.
76 Initials of SEC standout Coner
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