Articles by Category
CLEVELAND — Even though it was not a game-winning shot like the ones he hit in the NCAA Tournament last year, but Kentucky sophomore said his deep 3-pointer late in Saturday’s 68-66 win over Notre Dame was still “exciting” for him.
“It’s always cool when you hit a big shot to see your team’s reaction. I just looked over at my bench and I was just happy. I was excited,” said Harrison, who had both of his field goals in the final six minutes to help put No. 1 UK back in the Final Four where it will play Wisconsin Saturday in Indianapolis.
“You gotta be nervous. It’s big-time basketball, win or go home. I think everyone had a little nerves, but you gotta show up in big times. We didn’t come out loose and we didn’t come out with that much excitement. I think we were looking ahead a little bit.”
Kentucky advances to Indianapolis to play against Wisconsin, a team he hit a game-winning 3-pointer against in last year’s Final Four.
“It’s a tough game. They have a really good offense and really good defense and really fundamental team and we’re going to have to really play well to beat them,” Harrison said. “I’m just so focused on winning it that it’s going to be tough to beat us. I think we’re all just as focused as I am. Last year I think I was just more excited about being there and happy to be there. Now it’s win or fail. We’re definitely going to come out and play a lot better than we did tonight. It just woke us up a little bit.”
Here’s more of what the sophomore guard had to say after UK’s win over Notre Dame.
Question: Was it weird to have his brother, Andrew Harrison, hit the game-winning free throws after the success he had hitting game-winning shots last year in the NCAA?
Harrison: “It wasn’t weird at all. Free throws is different. You gotta sit there and think about free throws. I’m happy it was him. It was just a play for either Andrew to drive, Karl (-Anthony Towns) to get it on the post, or me to get it at the top of the key, so Andrew had his lane open so he took the shot, made the free throws and won the game.”
Question: Did he ever think the game with Notre Dame was going to get away?
Harrison: “Heck no. We kept it close, so I knew we had to take a couple shots. That’s what we did. I love this team because we stick together and we have so much confidence and I think that’s what wills us to win. I didn’t look at the first one. I tried to look away at the first one. And then when he hit the first one, I knew he was going to make it. I think the first one was the toughest. I had confidence in him, of course.”
Question: What about UK making the last nine shots from the field?
Harrison: “That’s what we do. We get stops at winning time. We’ve been down before in games. It wasn’t like we’ve never been down before and had to come back. We’ve been down nine with four or five minutes to go and we just had to get stops and get baskets. That’s what we do when we need to. When desperation times come, I think we step up.”
Question: Did he feel fortunate to advance like Willie Cauley-Stein said he felt?
Harrison: “Yeah, they were definitely a difficult team to prepare for. I think if we had more time we would have been more prepared on the defensive end, but we figured it out and that’s what great teams do. I’m really relieved we got past that game. That was a tough game. We haven’t had a lot of those in the tournament this year but every game was like that last year in the tournament. It’s just a pretty amazing feeling.”
Question: Does it give them more confidence to know they can come back and win a game like this?
Harrison: “We’re just excited. We’re going to enjoy tonight, but we know we have a lot of work to do. We’re a confident basketball team, and I think that’s what made us win down the stretch.”
Question: What about the way Karl-Anthony Towns played and scored 25 points after having an off game against West Virginia?
Harrison: “That’s what great players and great teams do. I think everyone played well against West Virginia, except Karl, and I think everyone played terrible tonight, except Karl. It’s just pretty cool to be on a team like that where you can lean on guys and do things like that.”
KSR Twitter Feed