Feb. 19, 2012

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Wisconsin vs. Penn State
Kohl Center – Madison, Wis.

Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan

On Josh Gasser’s aggressive shooting:
“Well he was open. He’s never been told not to shoot when he’s open. He has a different trigger than some guys. He knows he doesn’t have the quickest release, but it’s not the slowest. He found himself in a position to make some things happen. Sometimes you do. Sometimes you don’t. He’s opportunistic, though.”

On Wisconsin being more offensively aggressive:
“We didn’t emphasize it any less or any more because we don’t know what the defense is going to do. If you told me about something going into a game and then you find out how people play, the hedges on the ball screens hard. They trap them. So you prepare for everything, but it wasn’t as if we said ‘this is what we have to do.’ We read and react to every defense. Finally, we started making some pretty good cuts where we had forced the officials to call the fouls, and they did because they were fouls. That’s just part of the game. But for about a three or four minute period there, we weren’t cutting hard, so therefore we weren’t exposing the physical contact that the other team was making. They were trying to make a comeback. They were doing the things you have to do when you’re coming from behind and finally we started making a little harder cuts and got to the free throw line. But our shot selection or anything else wasn’t any different going into this game.”

On Jared Berggen’s wide open 3-pointers in the second half:
“It’s a result of him keeping (Jon Graham) in there to take away the driving line. If you noticed, it was very difficult trying to get to the rim. So when a big like that, and he is pretty quick, if he does that then it’s like last year when [Keaton] Nankivil was at the 5 [position], so you pop him out. Oh and then by the way, you have to make the shot. So Jared was wide open because the defender was doing his job taking away the drives and that’s what you have to go to next. But it wasn’t by accident. That’s what we read and that’s how we reacted.”

On the high number of Wisconsin substitutions in the first half:
“A couple of things that our guys did uncharacteristically, so sometimes you just need to go ‘whoa, come over here a second.’ You don’t have time during the game to call guys over all the time so a substation is something (you can do) and then they can get right back on the court. It’s not the end of the world. These guys can handle that.”

On Mike Bruesewitz’s play:
“Really big rebounds, hustle plays, Mike was really into the game. Mike gave what he had. He’s a sparkplug that way. He’s kind of like [Joe] Krabbenhoft in that way. It’s always good to see him bring that energy because it is contagious.”


Mike Bruesewitz

On Wisconsin’s aggressiveness:
“After the Michigan State game we pushed the ball a little more.  We were successful that way.  We were more aggressive and rolled with that. We continued that trend with this game.”


Josh Gasser

On his intensity during the stretch in the first half:
“I was trying to be more aggressive offensively, trying to make plays whether it was for myself or my teammates.  I found myself open; those are the shots I know I’m going to have to take.  I was pushing enough to knock them down, and I’m going to have to keep playing with that aggression and it will help our team.”

On his string of 3-pointers:
“It gets you in the flow of offense a little better.  When shots are falling, things seems to be going better.  Within our offense , we got a lot better looks, got in transition a little bit, that’s always nice to get.  If you can knock down a few you can be a little more aggressive going forward.  When you make 3’s like that it’s just nice to have.”

On being offensive threats:
“Anytime you can have multiple weapons out there to score it’s going to help your team. I think the games that we have played our best offensively, it’s been pretty spread out with the scoring, double figures, and anytime that can happen, it takes a lot of pressure off Jordan [Taylor] and Berg [Jared Berggren].  Mike [Breuesewitz] had a great game tonight.  If we can get double figures like that, it makes everything better.”


Jordan Taylor

On Mike Bruesewitz’s rebounding:
“Nothing different from him. It’s pretty consistent, every night he’s going to rebound it and find open guys and score when he needs to.  He’s been a rock all year long, it’s not surprising.”


Penn State Head Coach Patrick Chambers

On how Wisconsin’s flurry of 3-pointers in the first half changed the course of the game:
“Honestly, you expect that from a Bo Ryan Wisconsin-type team, especially in the first half. But the ones that killed you were in the second half. [Jared] Berggren, those two 3’s he hit were to me the difference because I thought we battled back and we did some good things, but they were daggers.”

On if Jared Berggren is someone you worry about hitting those shots in those circumstances:
“You’re worried about 11 [Jordan Taylor]. You’re worried about five [Ryan Evans]. When they have [Josh] Gasser, [Mike] Bruesewitz and Berggren hitting shots they’re a tough team to beat. I thought we did a pretty good job overall in the second half and then when [Berggren] gets loose for those 3’s, they’re back breakers. You work so hard to try and stop a couple guys and then he gets loose and hits 3’s. It’s a credit to them for sharing the basketball and [Berggren] having the confidence and Coach Ryan giving him the confidence to shoot those shots.”

On if he was aware of Wisconsin’s shooting struggles at home:
“I was scared for many reasons; they just lost to Michigan State, they hadn’t been shooting well and that’s like the perfect storm about to hit you. So you knew we could’ve been draped all over them and they were going to hit – and they did. That flurry was critical. Eleven 3’s in a game is just too many. You’re not going to win many games giving up 11.”

On if it’s tougher for Penn State to win at home than it is on the road or something different:
“I just think it’s inexperience; it’s youth. You come into a packed house and everybody’s screaming and yelling. It’s like when you’re putting in golf that hole looks a little bit smaller. So for us in the first half, that basket looked a little bit smaller. It happens to us on the road. Now it’s got to be in our heads a little bit going on the road and you’re 0-8 in the Big Ten. We’ve got one more away game and that’s going to be difficult, so I have to do something to make them a little more confident.”