Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Michigan State
February 25, 2018
Kohl Center | Madison, Wis.
Wisconsin Head Coach Greg Gard
On is team's resiliency and consistency:
"This group has continued to persevere and continued to work. It hasn't been easy, and obviously we have our limitations, but they've improved and become more consistent as well as any group we've had around here. In terms of where we've started from and what we had to work through with our inexperience and with having to shuffle the deck in December, we couldn't have competed like this with this group in mid-January. They've stuck with it and have been very, very resilient."
On the performance and play from Brad Davison:
"He's obviously a competitor. He ran by me to the scorers table (after returning from locker room with injury) and I guess he was good to go. That just shows who he is. His mentality and his approach and his competitiveness has become infectious. I think that's part of the reason we've surged here, because of his persona and presence. It's starting to infiltrate in other areas and that's when you have a leader, even though he's still a rookie, you have a leader that they don't just have to look to him to see how he plays. He speaks very well and he obviously says the right things, but just watch how he plays, watch how he competes, he's on the floor, he's coming back in after getting his shoulder put back in, that's a good message even visually for other players in terms of how hard you need to play this game and how to compete. He's helped in more ways than just what you statistically see on paper. There's so much he's done for us, in terms of the culture and the growth of this young group."
Wisconsin Freshman Brad Davison
On his message to the team heading into the Big Ten tournament:
"We'd rather beat them (Michigan State) next week anyways. It's not college football, it's college basketball. The regular season is washed away and we control our own destiny. We have to come back to practice, get ready to improve, get ready to get better. Like I said, this thing is far from over. It stinks that we lost on Senior Day for our seniors, but in our opinion, we have a lot more basketball to play. We're going to keep working, get healthy, continue to improve, and make a run at this thing."
Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo
Opening Statement:
"Unbelievable day for us. I feel like with everything we've been through, these guys showed some incredible mental toughness and persevered through. I thought there was some championship DNA in there the way they handled things when we were up by 10 and then down by two. I thought we made some big plays. Miles (Bridges) struggled early and Jaren (Jackson Jr.) struggled early. I thought we had some good shots, we just missed them. You've got to give (Brad) Davison some credit. The other guy banks in the 3 and you start wondering if it's your day. Somehow, some way, we found a way with Winston making some key plays and then both Bridges and Jackson hit some big free throws down the stretch. It was a physical game, I give (Greg) Gard a lot of credit, his team did an unbelievable job. They're tough as nails. Those freshmen are going to be good players, and (Ethan) Happ's a heck of a player, he's hard to guard. I thought in the first half we missed some free throws and some open shots. In the second half, I thought we made a lot of free throws and that may have been the difference in the game."
On Brad Davison and the young Wisconsin team:
"We had the 10-point lead and they came back, so I give them credit. (Brad) Davison had incredible shots in that stretch. That kid's a good player. He's going to be a really good player in the next couple of years and even down the stretch this year. Gard's done a really good job with this team. They went through their injuries and had to regroup. If you look at their last six, seven games, even in their losses they played awfully well and that's a credit to him and his young players."
