Everything Bruiser Flint said previewing trip to Tennessee...

Kentucky is gearing up for its anticipated matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers, an opportunity to right the ship following back-to-back losses at Alabama and vs. South Carolina. To do it, though, the Wildcats will have to take down a top-five team in the nation and the No. 1 defense overall — by a significant margin, at that.

How is Kentucky preparing for the battle against its bitter SEC rival? Associate to the Head Coach Bruiser Flint spoke with the media prior to the team’s trip to Knoxville, discussing the Wildcats’ recent setbacks, the outside noise and the keys to an upset win.

You can watch the complete press conference below:

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Looking for specific quotes? KSR’s got you covered with the complete transcript, as well. Take a look:

On John Calipari’s response to Kentucky’s recent struggles…

He’s just working, trying to get our guys more prepared in what we’re trying to do. That’s all you can do as a coach. John Calipari, he’s been in this situation before. He’s been coaching for a long time. He understands the circumstances in what we need to do, the mindset we’re trying to get the kids back into. Some of the things, you’ve got to keep the clutter out of your head because this is a place where you get a lot of clutter. It’s about working and trying to figure out what we can do to get better and get back on the right track.

On what he needs to see Saturday to know this team is taking steps forward…

I think we took a couple positive steps forward. Even though we lost to Missouri, then LSU, I think we did some things good. For me, our details have to be more consistent. I think sometimes our details aren’t consistent, and it shows in the game. We go through periods in a game where we struggle. We’ve got to be better in our details as a team. I thought we were making some progress, and then we took a few steps back. We did. Some of it is who you have in the game, who you don’t have in the game, things like that. Our details have to be better and be more consistent within the game.

On Kentucky’s approach to the game plan…

Knowing who we’re playing, knowing what defense we’re in, things like that. It only takes one person to break down, and we’ve struggled with that a little bit. We have to be a little more consistent within the game, our details and what we’re actually trying to do. It hurts us at times, we get behind and now we’re fighting back. Made some strides, then took a couple of steps back the last few games. It’s hurt us. We’ve been a little banged up, that hurts also. Alabama game, we got in foul trouble and that hurt us.

On the team’s slow starts…

A little bit of the slow starts has to do with just missing. You don’t take that into consideration when you’re watching the game. I don’t know how many of you guys go back and watch it afterward, how many of you really watch it afterward? If you really go back and watch, you’ll realize we’re open and just miss. We can talk about our offense and what we’re doing, but when you go back and watch it, we’re just missing. You’re absolutely right about that (being a consistent problem), and we talk about that ourselves.

On if the team has the right mindset going into games…

I think we have the right mindset going into games. We miss a lot of shots, especially on the road. Not necessarily at home. South Carolina is really the first game we didn’t get off to a decent start (at home). On the road, we do miss. We have to do a better job of making shots. Sometimes they’re good shots, just not making them. At home, we’re usually a little bit better than that. So yeah, we have to be better on the road in terms of what we’re trying to do.

On injuries for Cason Wallace and Jacob Toppin…

They’re just day-to-day. We’ll see today, but they’re just day-to-day at this point. We’ll say that (they’re questionable).

On the team’s confidence right now…

It’s always hard, especially here. It’s an avalanche if you lose, now. You know how your guys get when they lose here. They’re kids, but they know what’s being said. Cal talked about keeping your head up, keeping the clutter out of their head, let’s go forward. We’re not 6-10, you know what I mean? We still feel we’re good enough to win some games, we’ve just got to get better doing certain things to be able to win those games. We’ve played some tough teams on the road and we haven’t been able to win. The kids are going to be kids, Cal is trying to keep their head up and moving forward, getting better at the things we need to get better at. We think things will turn around.

On Kentucky’s recent defensive struggles…

Like I keep saying, just have to pay attention to the details. It’s all about the details in what we’re doing. It has slipped, because defense is one of the more consistent things we’ve done all season. It goes back to the small things, and sometimes we don’t do them well. We’ve got to get back to doing that.

On what makes Tennessee so impressive defensively…

They’ve got great size and they’re very physical, take up a lot of space on the court. They’re just very physical and always have been that way, even when they don’t have great size. They make you earn not just every shot, but every catch, just catching the ball. They make you earn it. That’s a big part of their game. If you get past the physicality, then it becomes a little bit different. I like their size from watching them on film. To be a good defensive team, sometimes that size matters, that length. And they have that.

On if outside noise can rally a team…

Yeah, you always rally from within. If you don’t, then you’re in trouble. In the end, it’s all about us anyway. We enjoy the fans, but when it’s all said and done, it’s about the team. We can’t let anybody come in and mess us up as a great. Everybody talks about the foxhole mentality, you know what I mean? That’s what happens.

On the team’s mental health and the focus on checking in with the players…

Yeah, especially with Twitter, stuff like that. They read — look, let’s be real, we’re in that world. They read it. When I first started coaching, you didn’t have to worry about that. The only time you saw the fans was at the games, they might boo you. They didn’t have something to say two seconds after the game is over where they can actually see it. We talk about those types of things. You get into the foxhole and you tell the guys, ‘Don’t get down.’ Actually, I always say this because I didn’t grow up with it, turn your phone off. But I’ll be honest with you, it’s hard for this generation. It’s hard. I think the guys are handling it a little bit better, they know the deal. That’s why you come to Kentucky, that’s what you’re getting.

On how you adapt to the times…

You have kids — well, mine is a little older now — but you learn from them. That’s one thing, you just learn from them a little bit. But you see it coming and you have to adapt to it. You have to understand. I remember when we first started having cell phones, they’d bring them into the locker room and they’d go off before you’re getting ready to play a game. Coach would go absolutely, positively nuts. You’d hear one and go, ‘What!?’ It’s not them, it’s someone calling them, they don’t care we’re about to go play in 10 minutes. You know what I mean?

But it’s a big part of their lives now, so that’s what it is. You want to communicate with them? You better have a phone, do things like that. So you just have to adjust with the times and what goes on. You laugh at it because you came through in an era where you didn’t have to worry about that stuff.

On Oscar Tshiebwe’s recent defensive struggles…

I’m going to put this to rest. They’re not the first team that attacked Oscar — they’re not the first or the last. They’ve been attacking Oscar since last year, he just expressed it to you guys.

On if there’s anything specific that changed with Tshiebwe in recent games…

Not necessarily. I’m telling you, he just expressed it to you guys. Everybody tries to put Oscar in ball screens, everybody does. Our defense has slipped a little bit, but it’s not just Oscar. We’ve got to get ourselves together as a unit, but don’t let anybody tell you they came up with a game plan to attack Oscar because they all attack Oscar that way.

On the Tshiebwe’s struggles against Alabama, coaches being hard on him on the bench…

I’m going to say it again, OK? I don’t want everyone thinking they came up with some gameplan to attack Oscar, because everybody tries to attack Oscar in ball screens. They do it to try to get Oscar out of the game, because they know if they get him out of the game, that’s a huge loss for us. So last year, same thing, they put him in ball screens. Basketball is played in ball screens. Our details have to be better, I talked about that. That’s part of it. Our details have to be better, that’s why we haven’t been as good on defense. All of our details. It’s not just Oscar, it’s other guys too. But we know going into a game, almost everybody is going to put Oscar in ball screens.

On why some schools have been more successful at doing it than others…

Because they’re better at it than others. They might be better at it than some other teams, more than us being — everybody is going to put Oscar in a ball screen. I want you all to watch that for the rest of the year.

On Tshiebwe’s decision-making in ball screens and the coaches’ response…

We weren’t pleased with it, but that goes back to what we talked about, the details. We’ve been inconsistent with our details in what we’re doing. It’s not just Oscar. Sometimes it’s a guard getting over a screen, sometimes it’s the scheming of what’s going on in the ball screen. Our details just haven’t been good, and it’s not just him. I’ll tell you again, watch closely, they’re going to put Oscar in ball screens. They’re going to do that, every team is going to do that. We just have to be a little bit better.

On the correlation between Tennessee’s two losses and losing the battle on the glass…

The one thing they have is great size and they do a great job rebounding the ball. One of the big things when you’re playing them is the three ball. When they’re shooting the three ball well, they’re hard to beat. They’ve done a great job this year having great balance. In the games they’ve lost and even their close games, they haven’t shot the three ball great. If we can make them make tough threes and keep them off the backboard, that’d help. But their size, physically, we know coming in they have two gigantic guys in there at all times. We know we have to rebound the ball.

On Antonio Reeves’ growth and comfort as a decision-maker…

He’s gotten better, played a little bit better. Antonio’s thing is making shots. If he makes shots, he helps us. He’s done a better job of making shots. With our offense, he’s become a little bit more patient and not just coming out and shooting. He’s understanding of what goes next, what comes next if you don’t have a shot. That’s been a big thing for him, it’s relaxed him a little bit. He’s been better with it.