Wisconsin vs. Illinois
Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016
Kohl Center, Madison, WI
 Opening Statement:
"First of all, I'm extremely proud of our guys. They showed me a lot at the end of the Michigan State game and I mentioned how they battled and would not flinch nor would they ever have any inkling of giving in. They showed that at the end and I think it helped us here tonight in terms of, it wasn't exactly pretty, especially in the first 25 to 30 minutes, but that resolve and that fight and that grit – as I commended them in the locker room – shows that they're maturing. When things don't go well, you can still find ways to be on the left hand side. The maturity of
Ethan Happ and how he is growing up right in front of our eyes. For Nigel (Hayes) to struggle early, have a seat at the end of the first half and figure some things out, and then to be able to get things going in the second half, and then to be able to get to the free throw line like we did, I thought was very big for us. Our formula here has always been to try to get to the free throw line as much as possible and it's nights like this when you start one for 13 from 3, which I thought was too many, that we found another way when the ball wasn't going in. So to be able to get to the free throw line and get some confidence by seeing the ball go in, that helped us in other facets of the game and then our defense fought. We held them scoreless for over seven minutes and went on a 17-0 run. Obviously our crowd, you've got to commend our fans because they gave us a boost at times when we were sputtering. So like I said, I'm extremely proud of our guys. They did not flinch, they would not wilt at all and when things weren't going well, they kept digging in and finding a way.
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On what he told the team in the huddle when their shots weren't falling in:
"Well, the first six possessions [Illinois] scored on four of their first 6 possessions to start the second half. At the media timeout as I looked up at the scoreboard I saw our fouls, or our fouls on them on them racking up, which was a good thing knowing that we could get to the foul line quickly in the second half. That's always a great way to make a comeback is to try to score with the clock stopped and they also hit tough shots. I mean, I'm going to give Malcolm Hill a lot of credit. He's one of the best players in this league and we knew that before tonight. But some of the shots he hit, even though we were exchanging the ball screen to try to prevent some of the throwback or 3 opportunities with different players and shut off dribble penetration, he hit some step backs and some leaners. We have a guy 6' 9" in your face, and still to be able to hit those shots, that's a credit to him. Tonight's not the first night he's done it. We've watched every game in conference play that they've played and he's at the top. I think he's leading the league in scoring. He probably doesn't drop any tonight with how he did and he's a very good player."
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On his message to the team at halftime:
"The message was, 'Stay true to our identity. We know what has made us successful. Let's get back to that.' We had to adjust some things. We knew they hit some tough shots in the first half, but we were going to have to stay true. 'One possession at a time,' has been our mantra from day one, but let's not get out of character here even though they're hitting some tough shots. Don't hit the panic button. Continue to do what we do and let's get to the free throw line and let's not settle for so many intermediate two-point jump shots. If the 3s are there and they're open, you're feet are set, take them, but if not let's try to attack. If we get to the free throw line, and obviously we were only down five at that point, but I thought at least we could get there and regroup a bit and get back to playing like the last 12, 14 minutes when we made that run. That was Wisconsin and that was my message at halftime. Let's be ourselves here and not deviate from what got us in this good position during this run of games."
Ethan Happ
On what the mentality is like when the other team is hitting all of their shots:"I thought the biggest thing was to not lose confidence in our guards, Nigel (Hayes) included. Coach (Gard) got on us about leaving the ball in a little longer, but we just needed to knock them down and make this thing happen."
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On where his confidence level is defensively:"There were a couple of times where I shouldn't have gambled and I did get beat, so I need to corral that back in a little bit. But the biggest thing is that growing up I always played point guard. I was seeing things that way, but then once I shot up, it's been easier to get around bigger guys."
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Nigel Hayes
On what the key was to getting shots to fall in the second half:"We were 5-of-20 from the 3-point line, so shots still didn't fall. We just did a much better job of getting to the free throw line. I think we shot 33 free throws. The only thing that we say is that if you make more free throws than the other team attempts, you usually win."
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On what it takes to battle back when they're down by 13 and what it says about their resilience:"Bronson (Koenig) and I could tell you from last year when we were playing, there were always moments where we were down, whether it be 13 or whatever, we would always give each other a look saying 'Let's turn this around.' We kind of did that. We knew that in order to reach the goals that we have, we had to take care of business and turn this around and we did."
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On how much the team has matured in the last 8-10 weeks:"It's definitely a sign. Of course it's not the same as it was last year, we all know that, but we're developing that winning way that I spoke about at the beginning of the year when we were losing the close games. Teams that win find ways to win. Teams that aren't comfortable with that do things to make themselves lose. We're slowly creeping over into the area, so now when we get in situations like that we're able to look at one another and know that we can count on this guy, count on Ethan (Happ) and count on Bronson (Koenig). We can all do our jobs individually, which will collectively allow us to come back, or if we're trading baskets, pull away and win."
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Bronson Koenig
On what was said in the locker room at halftime:"We pretty much said that we have to start getting some stops, first and foremost. Also, get the ball inside and get to the free throw line; just playing like we've played during that seven-game winning streak, because we kind of got away from that."
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On what turned it around defensively for them in the second half:"I think coach told us that we were going to stop switching because they ran the same play like four times in a row or something. We just made a little change on defense and it worked."
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On how frustrating the first half was for them with poor shooting:"Especially with our game plan to double the post when Ethan gets it out and have him start kicking the ball out and right on the money and it just doesn't go in, that can be pretty frustrating. We just kept doing what we did and kept getting the ball inside. Eventually, Ethan (Happ) started converting."
Head coach John Gross
 Opening statement:"I'm really proud of our guys for the way they fought. Obviously, we led for almost 24 minutes in the game. I thought we did some good things. I think we've had three games in a row now where I think we've really started to turn the corner and we're really starting to play better. I'm excited about that. I'm seeing individuals getting better. I think our team is getting better. Obviously, we get up 13 points with about 8 minutes to go. I just watched several of the clips and there were some things that we couldn't control and we're a work in progress, but we're certainly getting better. I thought the free throw differential was significant, which I thought impacted the game. It's hard for us right now with our depth for Maverick Morgan to play seven minutes in the second half and get five fouls in those seven minutes. I thought that really hurt us, but give them credit. They made three big 3s during their run. (Bronson) Koenig, (Nigel) Hayes, and (Zak) Showalter all made big shots. (Vitto) Brown had a big one in the high post that was a huge shot and then we had some plays where we have to be a little stronger with the ball. When you have 12 turnovers in a low possession game, that's not good enough. We've got to control that better. We had four of them there in the last eight minutes of the game so those are some of the things we have to do better. One of the things we take pride in, as they do and are very good at it, is not fouling on the defensive end. We need to keep working at playing hard without fouling. We've been good at that, but we want that to continue to be a staple moving forward so we have to get that corrected because I feel that was the biggest difference in the game."
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On Ethan Happ's performance:"I thought he was really good. He's tough to cover one-on-one because he's such a good ball handler down there and he has good balance. He can drive you baseline, he can come to the middle of the floor, he's got good touch and I think he plays the game the right way from watching him. I've really admired that. I think he's going to do nothing but continue to get better. He's obviously, or at least it appears to me, benefited from the redshirt, as has our guy (Michael) Finke. He didn't play quite as well today, but he's also benefited from that. He played great today though to answer your question. He was terrific."
