What HC Pat Kelsey, Louisville Players Said After 99-73 Win vs. Memphis

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program's renewed rivalry with Memphis is off to a great start, with the Cardinals earning a blowout 99-73 victory over the Tigers on Saturday.

Here's what head coach Pat Kelsey, shooting guard Adrian Wooley, point guard Mikel Brown Jr. and forward Khani Rooths had to say following the win:

Head Coach Pat Kelsey

(Opening Statement)

“A couple things I want to say before we start with questions … One is I guess you could say I challenged our fans and they responded, man. They responded. I thought the atmosphere was awesome. Awesome. There were moments in the game where it got really loud at the right time. It was awesome. There was juice in the building, man. We had some big-time recruits here and they saw a big-time atmosphere, so, shoutout to Card Nation. Everybody was like “Are you upset? You’re challenging them” … that’s just PK. I wasn’t mad at anything. My blood just started flowing; I started thinking about the game and how important it is to have that sixth man environment, so I got going a little bit and y’all responded so thanks very much for that.

Special, special day honoring the 1975 Final Four team, retiring the jersey of one of the greatest citizens in the history of our city. One of the great players to ever play here. One of the most deserving banners to live up in the rafters of the Yum! Center forever and ever. I talked about Junior the other day in my press conference – the role model, the example that he is for every Card player that ever puts on a jersey. The way he represented that jersey when he played here and the way he represented that jersey when he finished his playing career and went in to the professional world and the way he impacted so many people in so many ways and left an unbelievable legacy. It was kind of cool that we got to do it on a day where we played Memphis because of the past rivalry and the history of the two programs. It was just very nostalgic and I thought it was really special. The crowd was awesome, the ceremony was great. We got to have Ryan and Eden and Justin, Junior’s children, in the locker room after the game. They spoke to the team, they were unbelievable. It was just a really, really cool, special day. And it was really, really awesome to be a part of it.”

(On the depth of the team and contributions from multiple players)

“Everybody raised the level of play. When you come in, you don’t want guys off the bench to maintain the status quo. Our depth is one of our great assets as a team, but our players embrace it. They embrace it. Aly (Khalifa) didn’t play as many minutes today, but man, was he unbelievable on the sideline cheering Zou [Vangelis Zougris] on. Zou went on and gave us some big minutes and gave us a boost. KP [Kasean Pryor] came in, gave us a huge boost, got the crowd going, dyed his hair again, made three 3s, did what KP does. J’Vonne Hadley and Khani (Rooths) over there cheering their butts off for them. It’s power of the unit. It’s the uncommon commitment of the guy next to you. It breaks human nature, but it’s something that we take such pride in. We recruit individuals that are about that and we protect that culture every single day and it was on display there tonight. You name it, Adrian Wooley off the bench, phenomenal – gave us a big boost, made a bunch of shots. If you would have told me we’d make 18 threes tonight and Isaac McKneely makes zero? That’s crazy. But Isaac McKneely’s over there leading and cheering guys on and being a great teammate. Kobe (Rodgers) always comes in and gives us a big boost. He had that sick dunk which was unbelievable. I thought Mikel (Brown’s) floor game was phenomenal, scored for us. What’s so awesome about Mikel Brown is he’s that super star with eight million stars next to his name with draft status and all this stuff and you can coach that dude hard. That one timeout -everybody was playing like crap. Everybody was overdribbling, nobody was guarding, but you know whose fault it is? It’s the point guard’s. It’s the quarterback on the floor. There’s four other guys making mistakes… you know what? You can coach him hard. He's like ‘yep coach, got you, you’re right.’ Then he comes out at the end of the game and gives me a big hug and smiles – you all know he’s a special player, he’s a special kid as well.”

(On the stretch of 3-pointers in the first half)

“I’ll have to go back and watch the tape, but usually when we’re getting out like that and getting open looks, it’s coming off when we’re stringing stops together. They picked up full, they pressured us all game long and our thing was… usually on dead balls, that’s when we run our sets. We play a very free flowing downhill, fast pace, but when an official touches the ball, that’s usually when we’re going to run a set play, but we were just like, forget it. They’re pressuring us full court, let’s set a full court ball screen and get downhill, touch the paint and start playing. A lot of our 3s came off of that. A lot of broken plays, touching the paint, they’re helping, we sprayed it. And then we had 80% of our field goals assisted on, that’s crazy. I think 24 of our 30 field goal attempts were assisted on. Our goal is 55%, that’s what our goal is pregame, we were 80% of our field goals assisted on and that’s… we’ve said this so many times, because that happens a lot when we have a high assist percentages, it’s guys giving up good for great and sharing the ball and getting other people shots.”

Shooting Guard Adrian Wooley, Point Guard Mikel Brown Jr. and Forward Khani Rooths

Khani Rooths, So, F

(On his comfort level in year two)

“My comfort level is at an all-time high right now. I’m putting a lot of work behind the scenes, and I’m just leaning on that when it comes to game time. So, it just felt like it’s second nature. It might be new to some of you guys but that’s what I do. I feel like I’m a good facilitator and I get the job done.”

(On the fun of playing tonight)

“It’s extremely fun. We all want to see each other win. So, whenever we get our time to shine, we’re going to take it. And when it’s our partner’s time to shine, we’re going to root them on and keep on going. It’s contagious, as you all can see”

Mikel Brown Jr., Fr., G

(On how he feels running the offense)

“I think we are coming together as a squad. I think as far as for myself, seeing my teammates eat as a point guard, I think that just boosts my confidence to another level, just be able to be myself. They keep encouraging my ‘hey, keep staying aggressive, keep being you’, and to be able to create for them and get them easy open looks. Which is, I know every day they’re in the gym; they give them easy looks. 50% of it is going in the rim. So, them having trust in me every single day, just telling me to stay aggressive and telling me to be myself. I think encourages me to go harder for them and play for them.”

(On Pat Kelsey’s tone in his message to him)

“Honestly it was just in that moment in time we’d had really good possessions, we didn’t string out really good possessions on our first three possessions. So, me taking that one leg shot, didn’t play off of two. So, I think that is what took him over the top... He just told us ‘Hey its 0-0, we’ve got to get a good possession, we haven’t had a good position a couple of possessions. We haven’t been stringing stops as well.’ So, I kind of think all of it took care of itself and just popped off. But that’s what you want as a player. You want somebody to hold you accountable. And I’ve been used to that just because my father has been the same way. So, it definitely was just nothing for me. I just took it as a grain of salt and continue out there and go hoop”

Adrian Wooley, So, G

(On his three-point stretch)

“I feel like it was fun being on the court at that time. We were moving all around, shooting the ball very well. I got my teammates some open looks, my teammates got me some open looks. So, it was fun being out there playing basketball.”

(On his favorite moment of the night)

“I feel like the best plays out there were when we were attacking and cutting hard, trying to get some posterizers in. I felt like them going in there and trying to do that to the other team, it just gives me energy as well, to be mentally there.”

Head Coach Pat Kelsey

Shooting Guard Adrian Wooley, Point Guard Mikel Brown Jr. and Forward Khani Rooths

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