CBS SPORTS CLASSIC: KENTUCKY VS. OHIO STATE

December 21, 2024

Bruce Thornton

John Mobley

Madison Square Garden

Ohio State Buckeyes

Press Conference

Ohio State 85, Kentucky 65.

Q. Bruce, it seemed like you guys were really able to get some easy looks, some good looks, and close to the rim, especially there in the first half. What did you guys see there, and was that kind of the plan coming in?

BRUCE THORNTON: First I want to give all glory to God, my Lord and savior Jesus Christ. I feel like our preparation these last couple days and how it's presented the team has been awesome.

We had a big loss at Auburn coming up so we understood the game plan with Kentucky, understood we can could get downhill after the guards and the game was opening up the floor with the screen and opening up we were able to get downhill.

Q. Just going into this game, talk about the motivation going against Kentucky. A lot has been said about your consistency coming into the season.

BRUCE THORNTON: I feel like every game we're ready to play. We had a couple obstacles throughout the beginning of the season, but a new team, new coaching style, but each and every day we just keep fighting. We keep staying together. We just keep stacking days each and every day, and I feel like today we had the result playing as hard as we did the whole 40 minutes.

Q. What can you say about AB coming back into this game being gone for so long and stepping up the way he did against his old team?

JOHN MOBLEY: Missing a seven-footer is always going to hurt. Not a lot of people seven-foot able to make tough shots in mid range, his energy, his passion is very contagious, and we're just very thankful that he's back and for what he did, and he's going to keep the team getting better.

Q. I felt like you two in particular could really get whatever you guys wanted inside the arc. As this game went on, how did you feel like you were adjusting, and how did they defend it and how did you break through?

JOHN MOBLEY: I feel like we just kept attacking. That was the game plan, just keep attacking. We was very connected on offense, so we definitely just kept attacking, stuck with the game plan.

Q. Defensively what would you say you guys kind of keyed in on to hold them to only four three-pointers and 18 percent shooting, season lows for Kentucky?

BRUCE THORNTON: We knew coming in that one of the best shooters in the transfer portal, I think Brea and Jack Robinson are well capable three-point shooters.

Also (indiscernible) shooting at a high clip right now, shooting in the high 40s. We knew ball pressure was going to be super important. They do a lot of cutting, AB made a lot of good passes, even though late to the rim and a bunch of other stuff. We just knew that pressuring the ball would be a key factor and holding them to one-time shots because obviously rebounds that can lead to kick-out threes can be a big momentum changer throughout the game. I feel like we did our job in that aspect of having great ball pressure.

Q. How much of that connectivity on defense was really focused on -- Kentucky missed 16 of 23 lay-ups in this game.

BRUCE THORNTON: Kentucky is a great team. They're very well rounded. A lot of older guys on their team, so they're very experienced. I feel like today our energy was very contagious. I feel like our defensive pressure and our extra efforts on defense to help each other out, and that's a big thing we're harping on was the extra effort on defense, and today we showed the world we're capable of doing that.