Postgame Quotes vs. Marquette
December 12, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Wisconsin vs. Marquette
December 12, 2015 -- Kohl Center
Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan
December 12, 2015 -- Kohl Center
Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan
On the difficulties of getting to the free throw line:
"When you're playing with a lead you tend to shoot more free throws, but they did a good job of walling up with their bigs. Inside, they shut down a lot of penetration to the rim and if you're not getting there you can't get those bumps to go down, you can't get the fouls. We ended up getting to the one-on-one with a chance to be in it, but the way they shut it down by taking away the dribble penetration, we had to rely on jump shots and you're not going to get fouled a lot shooting jump shots."
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On the team's response in the second half:
"We took away a lot in that second half. We got them to turn it over in there, we got them to make some bad passes, that's what gave us a chance. That's how we made our comeback. We didn't give up simply because they were taller than us, and they battled too."
Player Quotes
Junior G Bronson Koenig
On how Marquette defended ball screens:
"Every time I came off a ball screen I felt like they doubled me with that hard hedge with one of their seven-footers. So they made everything tough for me, which I'm sure was their game plan, just to get the ball out of my hands -- and I tried to do that the best I could. Vitto did a good job of hitting some mid-range jumpers, so took a little pressure off me."Â Â
On sometimes putting too much pressure on himself to score:
"Not really. I've always been a pass-first point guard and, like we were just talking about, when they doubled me off the ball screens I tried to hit the open man, but also I'm still trying to decide when to be aggressive, when to pass, when I need to take over, and stuff like that. It's still an ongoing process and I think I just need to do a little better job of when I'm coming off that ball screen and maybe when the big does switch on me, being a little more patient and getting more balance before shooting because a couple of those jumpers I shot were a little off-balanced. So if I do that, maybe we win the game." Â
Junior F Nigel Hayes
On showing fight down the stretch:
"I think we did a much better job of that in that little span. Whenever you look back on a game like this it's never as bad as it seems or as good as it (seems), and we can see over that little run that we're capable of playing a better brand of basketball. And if we can put that little span into an entire game, then obviously we'll be a much better team." Â
On inconsistency:
"It's always frustrating when you lost games but we're trying to learn as much as we can from these losses. Not that you need to lose to learn, but with the results of these losses and these close games, we see what we're capable of doing. In each one of these losses, we had a stretch where we played the basketball we're supposed to play and these are the principles we're supposed to apply. And when we look at the entirety of the game we see that we didn't do those things, but if we can try and channel some of those spurts in some of these losses and find a way to put them into an entire game, we'll definitely be a much better team." Â
Junior F Vitto Brown
On the challenge of guarding Marquette's front court:
"Their bigs were really good. Mostly just because they're aggressive and they continue to attack you, so they put a lot of pressure on us to stay solid and not get fouls. And they did a good job of getting Ethan in foul trouble in the first, but I think in the second half down the stretch we did a better job of trying to make it harder for them to catch it in the post, and I think we did a better job of that in the second half."
Steve Wojciechowski
Opening Statement:
"We feel very fortunate and excited to win here today. We have an unbelievable amount of respect for the Wisconsin program and what Coach (Bo) Ryan has built here. We knew it was going to be a very difficult game and we would have to show great maturity and toughness. I thought our players did both, they showed incredible maturity from start to finish and toughness to withstand a late run and to make some big defensive and rebounds to finish out the game. These two guys to my right (Luke Fischer and Henry Ellenson), I think for me, I wouldn't trade them for any frontcourt in the country. Luke has been a rock of maturity for our team and in my mind, Henry is having as good, if not better a freshman year than anyone in the country."
On defensive efforts against Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes:
"Those two kids at their position match up with anyone and they have great game experience and they've been a part of and used to winning. So obviously, stopping those two guys and slowing them down was a huge key to the game. We thought we wanted to be really aggressive on ball screens against Koenig and we were able to do that. Our guards pressured the ball very well and our big guys were right there. I also thought Sandy Cohen had a remarkable game against Hayes. He's one of the most versatile players in the country and I thought Sandy just followed him the entire night and that's who Sandy is becoming. He's become our best perimeter defender and you have confidence putting him on All-American caliber players like Hayes."
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Player Quotes
Junior G Bronson Koenig
On how Marquette defended ball screens:
"Every time I came off a ball screen I felt like they doubled me with that hard hedge with one of their seven-footers. So they made everything tough for me, which I'm sure was their game plan, just to get the ball out of my hands -- and I tried to do that the best I could. Vitto did a good job of hitting some mid-range jumpers, so took a little pressure off me."Â Â
On sometimes putting too much pressure on himself to score:
"Not really. I've always been a pass-first point guard and, like we were just talking about, when they doubled me off the ball screens I tried to hit the open man, but also I'm still trying to decide when to be aggressive, when to pass, when I need to take over, and stuff like that. It's still an ongoing process and I think I just need to do a little better job of when I'm coming off that ball screen and maybe when the big does switch on me, being a little more patient and getting more balance before shooting because a couple of those jumpers I shot were a little off-balanced. So if I do that, maybe we win the game." Â
Junior F Nigel Hayes
On showing fight down the stretch:
"I think we did a much better job of that in that little span. Whenever you look back on a game like this it's never as bad as it seems or as good as it (seems), and we can see over that little run that we're capable of playing a better brand of basketball. And if we can put that little span into an entire game, then obviously we'll be a much better team." Â
On inconsistency:
"It's always frustrating when you lost games but we're trying to learn as much as we can from these losses. Not that you need to lose to learn, but with the results of these losses and these close games, we see what we're capable of doing. In each one of these losses, we had a stretch where we played the basketball we're supposed to play and these are the principles we're supposed to apply. And when we look at the entirety of the game we see that we didn't do those things, but if we can try and channel some of those spurts in some of these losses and find a way to put them into an entire game, we'll definitely be a much better team." Â
Junior F Vitto Brown
On the challenge of guarding Marquette's front court:
"Their bigs were really good. Mostly just because they're aggressive and they continue to attack you, so they put a lot of pressure on us to stay solid and not get fouls. And they did a good job of getting Ethan in foul trouble in the first, but I think in the second half down the stretch we did a better job of trying to make it harder for them to catch it in the post, and I think we did a better job of that in the second half."
Steve Wojciechowski
Opening Statement:
"We feel very fortunate and excited to win here today. We have an unbelievable amount of respect for the Wisconsin program and what Coach (Bo) Ryan has built here. We knew it was going to be a very difficult game and we would have to show great maturity and toughness. I thought our players did both, they showed incredible maturity from start to finish and toughness to withstand a late run and to make some big defensive and rebounds to finish out the game. These two guys to my right (Luke Fischer and Henry Ellenson), I think for me, I wouldn't trade them for any frontcourt in the country. Luke has been a rock of maturity for our team and in my mind, Henry is having as good, if not better a freshman year than anyone in the country."
On defensive efforts against Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes:
"Those two kids at their position match up with anyone and they have great game experience and they've been a part of and used to winning. So obviously, stopping those two guys and slowing them down was a huge key to the game. We thought we wanted to be really aggressive on ball screens against Koenig and we were able to do that. Our guards pressured the ball very well and our big guys were right there. I also thought Sandy Cohen had a remarkable game against Hayes. He's one of the most versatile players in the country and I thought Sandy just followed him the entire night and that's who Sandy is becoming. He's become our best perimeter defender and you have confidence putting him on All-American caliber players like Hayes."
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Players Mentioned
Wednesday, March 18
Sunday, March 15
Saturday, March 14
Friday, March 13
