On McCullar:
“Kevin McCullar, we call him Mac, he's one of our freshmen. He's got huge upside, going to be a good college player. Went through a lot of adversity - didn't play his senior year of high school. He came here, he got hurt again so he's never really had a full offseason. First day he was cleared to practice was really the first day of official practice so he's just continuing to get his legs under him, he's continuing to play more minutes each game. It was a scary fall in the first half. They told us at halftime that he completely fine. His mom and dad were even there, so we all made the decision together. Mac was like, ‘Coach, one-hundred percent, I’m fine.’ So, he did a great job in the second half.”
“It was a big-time college basketball game. We played twenty minutes; they beat us by two. We play them another twenty minutes: we beat them by two, and then we played five minutes, and they beat us by a couple free throws. I wish we could’ve played another five minutes. Felt like it might’ve been one of those games whoever had the ball last wins. So, we were in that situation, and it just wasn’t meant to be for us tonight."
“We’re not in to moral victories around here. A couple of months ago we were playing for the national championship so we expected to win the game. Want to congratulate Kentucky. Played with a lot of poise. They were the more aggressive team in overtime, got to the free throw line more than us. We’re not in to moral victories around here. We expected to win the game. We came up short. Give Kentucky all the credit. They’re a really good team, great coach. Lot of respect for their program. I’ve said it all week and I’ll say it again – they’re definitely a Final Four type team, national championship contender. They have pros. They have a great coach and experience. They only have one freshman in their starting lineup and he didn’t have the best of games today. It was those experienced players that have played for coach Cal for a year that really stepped up when they needed to most.”
“He’s a great player,” Beard said about Nick Richards. “He impacts the game in different ways. I think he’s an NBA player. Got a great poise to him and composure. Looks to me that he’s working on his perimeter game so he’s an outstanding player. We knew he was going to be a challenge.”
“It’s a two-point game, you know, could’ve easily gone our way just didn’t go our way tonight. So I think both teams had enough individual performances to deserve to win tonight. It just sucks that somebody has to lose a game like this. Credit Kentucky. A lot of respect for their program. Congratulations to them on a great win on the road.”
“Russ did a good job on being ready when his number was called. We’ve had several of those this year – Avery Benson, Mac – tonight was Russ’ time to step up. Did a great job getting a couple of baskets, stretching the floor a little bit with his ability to pick-and-roll. Thought he banged a little bit on defense so Russ is a big part of what we’re trying to build here. It’s nice to see him play game minutes tonight and help the team.”
“We don’t get too high or too low around here. We got another great team about 20 or 25 of these teams in the country like Kentucky, like Texas Tech that can beat anybody on a given night. Next game we play West Virginia and they’re in that same neighborhood. We’ll try to play as hard as we did tonight and we’ll try to play a little bit better. Certainly when you get to overtime the more aggressive team is going to have the advantage. Kentucky got to the free throw line more than us and we had too many unforced turnovers in overtime.”
“We have a no excuse culture. We explain to our guys, ‘you can win a basketball game on a night you make shots but you can also win a game on a night where you don’t make shots. There’s ways to get it done. Obviously, it’s going to be really difficult to beat a Kentucky when you go 3 for 19 from 3-point line but there were still ways to win the game. We’re a blockout away, we’re a free throw away, we’re one open shot away, we’re one less foul away, we’re one blockout away from winning the game tonight. It’s going to be hard if we don’t shoot a better percentage than that from 3 but we’ll continue to work at it. Lot of confidence in the guys that shoot 3’s for us. We’ll just stay the course.”
“Kevin McCullar, we call him Mac, he's one of our freshmen. He's got huge upside, going to be a good college player. Went through a lot of adversity - didn't play his senior year of high school. He came here, he got hurt again so he's never really had a full offseason. First day he was cleared to practice was really the first day of official practice so he's just continuing to get his legs under him, he's continuing to play more minutes each game. It was a scary fall in the first half. They told us at halftime that he completely fine. His mom and dad were even there, so we all made the decision together. Mac was like, ‘Coach, one-hundred percent, I’m fine.’ So, he did a great job in the second half.”
“It was a big-time college basketball game. We played twenty minutes; they beat us by two. We play them another twenty minutes: we beat them by two, and then we played five minutes, and they beat us by a couple free throws. I wish we could’ve played another five minutes. Felt like it might’ve been one of those games whoever had the ball last wins. So, we were in that situation, and it just wasn’t meant to be for us tonight."
“We’re not in to moral victories around here. A couple of months ago we were playing for the national championship so we expected to win the game. Want to congratulate Kentucky. Played with a lot of poise. They were the more aggressive team in overtime, got to the free throw line more than us. We’re not in to moral victories around here. We expected to win the game. We came up short. Give Kentucky all the credit. They’re a really good team, great coach. Lot of respect for their program. I’ve said it all week and I’ll say it again – they’re definitely a Final Four type team, national championship contender. They have pros. They have a great coach and experience. They only have one freshman in their starting lineup and he didn’t have the best of games today. It was those experienced players that have played for coach Cal for a year that really stepped up when they needed to most.”
“He’s a great player,” Beard said about Nick Richards. “He impacts the game in different ways. I think he’s an NBA player. Got a great poise to him and composure. Looks to me that he’s working on his perimeter game so he’s an outstanding player. We knew he was going to be a challenge.”
“It’s a two-point game, you know, could’ve easily gone our way just didn’t go our way tonight. So I think both teams had enough individual performances to deserve to win tonight. It just sucks that somebody has to lose a game like this. Credit Kentucky. A lot of respect for their program. Congratulations to them on a great win on the road.”
“Russ did a good job on being ready when his number was called. We’ve had several of those this year – Avery Benson, Mac – tonight was Russ’ time to step up. Did a great job getting a couple of baskets, stretching the floor a little bit with his ability to pick-and-roll. Thought he banged a little bit on defense so Russ is a big part of what we’re trying to build here. It’s nice to see him play game minutes tonight and help the team.”
“We don’t get too high or too low around here. We got another great team about 20 or 25 of these teams in the country like Kentucky, like Texas Tech that can beat anybody on a given night. Next game we play West Virginia and they’re in that same neighborhood. We’ll try to play as hard as we did tonight and we’ll try to play a little bit better. Certainly when you get to overtime the more aggressive team is going to have the advantage. Kentucky got to the free throw line more than us and we had too many unforced turnovers in overtime.”
“We have a no excuse culture. We explain to our guys, ‘you can win a basketball game on a night you make shots but you can also win a game on a night where you don’t make shots. There’s ways to get it done. Obviously, it’s going to be really difficult to beat a Kentucky when you go 3 for 19 from 3-point line but there were still ways to win the game. We’re a blockout away, we’re a free throw away, we’re one open shot away, we’re one less foul away, we’re one blockout away from winning the game tonight. It’s going to be hard if we don’t shoot a better percentage than that from 3 but we’ll continue to work at it. Lot of confidence in the guys that shoot 3’s for us. We’ll just stay the course.”
