Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Rutgers
Jan. 28, 2017
Madison Square Garden – New York City
Wisconsin Head Coach Greg Gard
"Well obviously not exactly a thing of beauty, but thankfully defensively we were able to get some things done and kept them off the glass enough and then eventually, just in the nick of time, we were able to get a couple of shots to go down. Credit to Rutgers for how they played us. Steve [Pikell] has done a good job with that team all year. Watching games and scores sometimes aren't indicative of how they've been playing. Obviously they try and make things hard on you and if you don't shoot it well, then you can be in these type of games. I thought we did just enough down the stretch and obviously like I said, defensively, the defensive rebounding saved us to give us a chance down the stretch."
On his team's shooting troubles:
"I thought of the 12(shots) in the first half specifically from three, eight of them were good. But there were some that we may be either didn't touch the post before we shot it, or, we shot it too early off an offensive rebound. But Bronson (Koenig) taking 10 of those 25, you know we just had to keep having confidence that eventually one of them was going to go down, so as long as the quality of the shot is good, I don't have a problem with that as long as we're playing inside out."
Senior guard Bronson Koenig
On his team's shooting troubles this afternoon:
"Obviously missing all those shots didn't feel good for me. Nobody could really throw it into the ocean today for most of the game. I just told the guys, keep battling, keep fighting, keep trying to stay positive because it seemed like nothing was going our way. And then, like coach said, right at the nick of time a couple of shots went in for us."
On the run down the stretch, led by Ethan Happ:
"We just do what Wisconsin does, get it in the post. And Ethan's a great player so credit him for making the right reads, making the right plays, either kicking it out or scoring or getting to the free throw line.
Sophomore forward Ethan Happ
On playing from behind:
"It's not what we want to do obviously, but it means a lot for this team to come together through a really bad shooting night and come out on top. Obviously we don't want to play from behind. It's kind of an uneasy feeling and then once you get on top you kind of want to maintain that lead, but we were going back and forth there a little bit.
On playing in Madison Square Garden:
"It's always a special thing when you play at MSG. Once you get going, it kind of just turns into a basketball game. You don't really think about it too much, but then at the end there when you look around and you're at MSG and you have so many great Badger fans that came all the way out or are in New York City that came to watch you, it's really amazing how well we travel and how well the alumni support us. So that was something special and I just savored the moment. It was kind of like a curtain call and whenever you can get a curtain call in MSG, you know I'm not going to pass it up."
