What HC Pat Kelsey, Louisville Players Said After 75-62 Win vs. Boston College

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program was able to make plays when it mattered most, overcoming a slow start against Boston College to emerge with a 75-62 victory. The Cardinals were deadlocked with the Eagles with 8:35 to go, but ended the game on a 22-9 run.

Here's what head coach Pat Kelsey, shooting guard Isaac McKneely and guard/forward J'Vonne Hadley had to say following the win:

Head Coach Pat Kelsey

(Opening statement)

“Gritty, I think is the best word I can describe as to how our guys played tonight. Gritty, it wasn't the prettiest thing in the world. Obviously with injuries and people out and things like that, guys have to step up, play in different roles than they're normally playing. Guys had to play extended minutes, more minutes than they normally play. But I just thought our guys were gritty. Early on, we got off to a tough start. I thought we were generating some pretty good shots, they just weren't going in. They were making some shots that usually we're okay with. I think they made four of their first five middy pull-ups, which, as you guys know, to us isn't the highest percentage, most valuable shot, they made some of them. I just think our guys fought through. Gritty, play hard, play tough, found a way. I was really, really proud of them.”

(About the slow start and getting to the rim more in the second half)

“It’s always a huge emphasis to get force on the rim. Force on the rim, force on the rim, force on the rim, attack the paint – and that’s in different ways. It’s pushing the ball in transition, it’s off of our screening action, it’s off the pick-and-roll, it’s off rolls, it’s off throwing the ball in there. We’ve been making more of an emphasis to get the ball in there. I thought we did that better tonight, but our guys really played on the attack. We didn’t have the same type of shooting out on the floor as we typically do, but I thought our guys, for the most part, played hard attacking the rim. [Sananda Fru] made some big plays around the rim late. Khani (Rooths) had a little bit of a rough first half, but his response after halftime was really good. He gave us some great defensive possessions. I don’t know about you guys, but I felt like Khani was up above the trees on three or four rebounds where it was like, you pause the tape and it’s like ‘holy crap,’ popping the ball. It was good. About Adrian Wooley? We’ve got a bunch of dudes that are in there cramping up, who played a lot of minutes, guys that have been playing a lot of minutes, so they just emptied the tank. We just put the ball in Adrian’s hand late in the game. He got in the paint and made big plays. Kobe Rodgers? Kobe played poorly in the first half, and he would tell you that, and when he came out in the second half did the same thing. He sat down, got his mind right, went back in and I thought he gave us a big boost. We needed him and he stepped up. I think about that play he made on BC’s No. 13 (Donald Hand Jr.), who is one of the best attacking, get-fouled guards in the ACC, and over in front of their bench, Kobe hit him with his chest, the kid tried to hit him again, hit him again and made him settle for a fadeaway jump shot. I think that clipped Kobe, and with the lack of point guard play today with guys being out, we really needed him and it would have been easy for him to just shut it down. I mean, he was down, like you could just tell he wasn’t playing well. We’ve all been there, but the response was what it was supposed to be, and that’s something we harp on all the time. E plus R equal O. (Events plus Response equal Outcome) Events and crap happens - people get hurt, injuries happen in basketball, you play poorly, you lose a game, you lose two games, you miss a bunch of shots in row, you have several turnovers – it doesn’t matter. I tell them all the time and I told them in the locker room, ‘basketball, sports, is a microcosm of life. Crap is coming at you. It’s how you stinkin’ respond.’ We had some stuff come at us these last couple of days, and our guys didn’t blink. They faced some adversity tonight when we weren’t playing well and just found a freaking way. I’m really, really proud of them.”

(About affecting a game without scoring a lot of points as Khani Rooths did today)

“Relentless effort is number one in our cultural blueprint. Relentless effort, competitive excellence and then the power of the unit. Relentless effort is going as hard as you can for 42.6 seconds which is the average time between whistles in our games. In football, it is relentless effort for six seconds at a time. We have to do it for 42 seconds, which is why you have a deep bench and why you sometimes get tired, give it all you have and empty the tank and somebody comes in and does it again. Khani (Rooths) is the ultimate example of a guy who can affect a game in a bunch of different of ways. He has grown up in our defensive system. He is maturing. I just like how he responded to not playing well early and just gave us really good energy.

Shooting Guard Isaac McKneely and Guard/Forward J'Vonne Hadley

J’Vonne Hadley, 6th year, G

(On what it took to get the guys going after the slow start)

"I would just say shoutout to the guys for having that next man up mentality. Obviously, we didn't expect Ryan (Conwell) to be out. That was just something that happened, stuff happens and we understand it was a next man up mentality, and it starts with our defense. We're just going to continue to say that each and every single time, because it truly is our defense. Our defense sparked offensive runs and we get to be able to go out in transition and play our game because that is where we really thrive on offense."

(On how the Duke loss made players more vocal and accountable)

"I think our team is really just trying to find a lot of solutions to a lot of our problems, and that's just what a really good team does. Obviously you find solutions to your problems. We've all talked about our recent struggles, we sat down as a team, spent some time in practice, actually a really long time in practice. Just trying to figure out solutions as to how we can handle the middle ball screen better. Obviously, I'm not going to give away all of the stuff we've been working on, but we have a lot of stuff in our back pocket that we'll eventually use. Just stuff like that when coaches are doing a really good job, and the staff is, of listening to us and taking recommendations on what we see out there and how we can implement different things on the court, and we all really appreciate that."

Isaac McKneely, Sr., G

(On getting Sananda Fru involved in the game)

“Well, there’s always effort to get him the ball just because he’s so good down there, and he shoots like 90% on the year, it’s insane. So anytime we can get him the ball in the post; rolls, short rolls, whatever it is, we’re always trying to get him the ball. Same with this guy [J’Vonne Hadley], Khani (Rooths), and Aly (Khalifa). Coach has been making an emphasis recently to get our bigs the ball and get them in the post so we can play splits and everything else. But anytime Sananda gets the ball in the roll or in the post, good things are going to happen, so we try to do that as much as we can.”

(On getting it going in the second half)

“As a shooter, you’ve got to have that next shot mentality. I think I missed my first five or six, but you know I’m always thinking in my head the next one’s going in and I can’t lose my aggressiveness. Shoutout to the guys, they were picking me up when I was missing, telling me to keep shooting because that’s what I do. Coach PK was drawing up sets for me, trying to get me going. Once I saw one go down, I was thankful finally to see one go down. But it’s not how you start it’s how you finish, so I’m thankful to finish the game well, and we all did. We turned it up on the defensive end, started sharing the ball better on offense, and we looked a lot better towards the end, so I’m super happy with how we finished the game.”

Head Coach Pat Kelsey

Shooting Guard Isaac McKneely and Guard/Forward J'Vonne Hadley

More Cardinals Stories