Here is what Kentucky freshman Willie Cauley-Stein had to say before today’s practice:

On how he feels going into the postseason …
“I feel good. Yesterday’s practice was really good. It was tough, but guys seemed to be in it mentally, more focused.”

On how to make this latest turning point stick …
“Focusing on what we’ve got do. It was good that Coach didn’t back off yesterday in practice and is going to continue to push us through because he said last year, or in years past, that they would have had two days off instead of one day off. So it’s good. It’ll keep us in the right mind frame that we need to be in going into it.”

On leaving no doubt about NCAA selection …
“I mean, absolutely. We just need to go into the tournament with the mindset like we’re not trying to get beat, like we want to win it, obviously, and keep it rolling.”

On whether anything has told him UK is ready to make a postseason run …
“I couldn’t answer that now. I couldn’t answer it now. We’ve been here before like this, so I’m not even going to try to answer right now.”

What do you mean “been here before” …
“I mean we’ve been where it seemed like we turned the turning point and reverted right back. So I just don’t know.”

On whether he and Archie Goodwin being vocal about how they played at Georgia affected things …
“I mean, yeah. It definitely affected the game. When guys step up and do what they have to do, it just makes everybody else’s job easier. We just played better.”

On Alex Poythress being a mystery …
“Alex is just—I don’t feel like Alex knows yet. And Coach says you mature at different rates and I feel like he’s just taking longer to mature. Alex is a great kid. He’s not bad or anything, so it’s just whether he wants to mature faster and listen and do what Coach is telling him to do. It’s all up to Alex.”

On whether Poythress saying he was disappointed in his own play is a sign of progress …
“He’s showing maturity in saying that he’s wrong and not saying, ‘Well, everybody else is wrong that’s watching,’ or, ‘Coach is wrong.’ He is stepping up and saying he’s doing bad and he’s the problem and stuff like that.”

On how close Poythress was to playing the way he needs to play against Florida …
“Alex is in spurts. He’ll play like a beast in spurts and then I don’t know what happens. It’s not a beast though. And then there are some games where he’s playing 25 minutes as a beast and then those are the games where we’re beating people by 20.”

On what he learned about his own importance from the Florida win …
“Just defending and energy, that’s where I feel like that’s my spot on the floor is just energy and effort and making hustle points and just talking to everybody and loosening everybody up.”

On why UK has seemed to turn the corner so many times …
“I don’t know. Guys relax or guys don’t focus. I honestly don’t know.”

On what it takes to turn the corner once and for all …
“Just listen to what Coach has to say because he’s been through it for so many years. So that’s something we don’t get is the time that he’s spent in this and preparing guys for it. We’re fresh in the game; he’s been there for a long time so we just have to listen and I don’t think that’s what we’ve been doing.”

On whether he prefers playing Arkansas or Vanderbilt …
“It don’t matter who we play. We just have to focus about ourselves.”