Billy Kennedy on win over Arkansas, looking ahead to Mississippi St.

Key quotes from Billy Kennedy interview

“I watch a bunch of college basketball. I’ve watched a lot of Mississippi State the last couple of days, but I did watch Kansas last night. I’m fond of their program, and I’m friends with a lot of those guys. I always watch them play, and it’s a heck of a place to play. I can promise you that. It was a really good game. I thought Oklahoma was going to pull it out, because they made so many big time plays. You usually win that way on the road.”

“This season has been good. As far as having fun, I don’t know if coaches have a lot of fun. I don’t think people understand. I do enjoy being around these guys. Like last year’s team, it’s a good group. You can see that they understand what we want, especially the older kids. It’s a lot of fun to see them come and see Alex Caruso have this special game the other day breaking the steals record. Just to coach him the last four years has really been fun, as well as a lot of our other guys.”

“Defensively, we set the tone against Arkansas. We’ve got to get where we – when you’re up big it’s hard to focus. In maybe the last seven minutes, they scored more points than we would have liked. I think we held them to 23 points in the first half, and we’ve done that against Baylor and Kansas State. To be really good defensively the first 20 minutes is something that I’ve been really proud of. Hopefully, we can extend those leads and keep playing the same way. We’ll have to do that on the road. On the road, teams come back. Teams make shots and there are rallies. Just being able to sustain our defensive intensity for 40 minutes is still a key for me.”

“The 12th Man makes a big difference. When our guys go out there, I don’t think people realize how important that is. When they go out there and they see the place is full and people are having fun, it makes them want to perform at a higher level. It’s unfortunate, as a coach I’d like them to perform just for me. We’ve trained them that way – or (play) for themselves. Most athletes are used to doing that. The fans – you play so many games and practices, and you have young guys. They aren’t pros yet. They aren’t professionals. When they come out, and there’s a fanbase – you saw Kansas. There’s no way in the world Kansas wins that game against Oklahoma anywhere else except for at Allen Fieldhouse last night. It makes a huge difference. That’s the difference between winning a championship or getting in the NCAA Tournament. One game. That’s a big game. The fans the other day, especially during the holidays with no students here, were a tremendous plus for us.”

“We’ve got some good matchups coming up. Obviously, we’re worried about Mississippi State tomorrow night. You’re talking about a team that’s been in the top-20 from the beginning of the year on. You’re talking about a good team. Now you’re talking about a team with some weight, because it’s bringing fans in consistently. Hopefully, we can continue to do that, because we’ve got a good slate ahead of us to build on.”

“I expect us to handle the positive attention well. I really do. Our four seniors understand that we lost the game at Arizona State because we didn’t play the right way. We shot quick. We took some bad shots and got behind. Instead of staying the course, we played out of context so to speak. Our young guys, Tyler Davis and D.J. Hogg, didn’t play really well last game, but they came back in practice and are working through it. I think we have a group that’s mature enough to hopefully keep our heads in check.”

“I see determination in Jalen Jones. He’s always played hard and brought really good energy. I still challenge him on his shot selection, but when he’s shooting it as well as he shot it the other day, it’s hard to reign a guy like that in. Our problem is, we can have three or four guys who are taking quick shots. They all can get hot, and they all can’t. You hope they all do it at the same time, but on the road, being disciplined is important. Jalen – I was really happy for him. Sitting out four games was a really ridiculous rule. He adjusted from coming off the bench and has worked his way back to where he’s at now. I’m really proud of him.”

“Mississippi State is a senior team. You’ve got Gavin Ware, Craig Sword, I.J. Ready who is a junior, Malik Newman – a top-10 high school All-American. You’ve got Travis Daniels, a senior. They’ve got five or six seniors that have played a lot of games of SEC basketball. Fred Thomas is a senior. They won’t be intimidated by playing against us or by the success that we’ve had. They’re playing their first SEC game at home for a new head coach, so we’ve got our hands full going up there. Craig Sword and Gavin Ware are two of the better players in our league. We haven’t won there since I’ve been here. In two games, we were up and didn’t finish it off. Hopefully we can get up there and finish one off.”

“Mississippi State is good enough and talented enough – they’ve won three straight at home, so they’ve got a little rhythm going with some wins. They’re playing all zone. They’re doing some things totally different than I would have anticipated. Again, I’m worried about us. If we do what we’re supposed to do and go handle our business – I think we will. If we’re in tune with what we’re doing and how we’re playing, we’ll give ourselves a great chance to get a win."