Postgame Quotes: Wisconsin vs. Eastern Illinois

Nov. 8, 2019
Kohl Center  |  Madison, Wis.

Wisconsin Head Coach Greg Gard

Opening Statement:
Happy for our guys to bounce back tonight. We knew it wasn't going to be easy, we knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Watching tape of [Eastern Illinois] against Texas Tech and how they were going to play us, how physical it was going to be with the guys that they have and what type of game they were going to try to make it. I thought we got a little better in the second half in terms of taking care of the ball. Obviously, the big stat that jumps out, to get to the line 24 times and convert on a pretty good percentage of it was good. Defensively, I thought for the most part we were pretty solid. Obviously, Reuvers filled up the stat sheet. I thought Kobe bounced back pretty well in different combinations. It was eye-opening for others and head-opening for D'Mitrik Trice in terms of the stitches he had to get, but I knew it was going to be that type of a grind-y, gritty, not always easy type of game. Fortunately we were able to do enough good things to pull it out.

On introducing son of assistant coach Howard Moore, Jerell, with the starting lineup pregame:
We're just trying to help to make his life as normal as possible. We can't replace his mom, we can't replace his sister, but we can try to do a lot of other things to help the kid out. I can't imagine at thirteen years old what that kid has gone thorough. It was actually Patrick Herb's idea to make him the sixth starter. I thought that was awesome. Obviously, he is a part of our family. He's going to take that with him for the rest of his life. He's been through a lot, more than anybody, let alone a kid, deserves to go through.
 
On the team's performance:
Our defense is ahead of our offense. Tonight was a contrasting style in terms of what we saw Tuesday night where we played a little differently. We have to find different ways to manufacture points. It's not the first time that we had to grind a game out. There are going to be others, teams aren't going to come in and lay down, they are going to find a way to compete. I thought Jay's group told them before the game just watching them against Texas Tech, the score wasn't indicative of how competitive the game was. There was a little burst that extended it before half, but we're going to have to continue to find ways to learn and to grow. Like I said I like the fact that we can get to the free line more frequently and we shot it a little better here tonight and we need to continue to do that more. Different guys in different positions, different places had to deal with the foul trouble and then try to get better as the game goes on. Wednesday will be a completely different type of preparation.
 
On Kobe King:
I thought he took what was available, he attacked and he made good decisions when he attacked. He started playing with two feet, he started using some pump fakes and things that didn't just launch himself at times like maybe how he had done other nights. He learned. Our whole theme today before the game was get better. You know, what did we learn within the last 72 hours, how much better can we be. It's going to be different, you're going to get played a little bit differently, but we've got to become smarter and better and I thought he took it a good step in the right direction.

Junior Guard Brad Davison

On the pregame recognition for the Moore family: 
The pre game ceremony was great, it was a very emotional night for everyone involved, the team, our athletic program, the community, the fans. This tragedy kind of brought everyone closer together and that was really exemplified tonight, I'm very thankful that we were all able to have that moment and share that moment with one another tonight. For the basketball side of things, I think the word coach used was gritty not always pretty or something along the lines of that. Its the first win, they're a very scrappy team, played a very different style than we do so its always a tough match up but we stuck in there and it was gritty but not always pretty but we got the win

Sophomore Guard Kobe King:

On bouncing back with a better performance in the second game of the season:
[Assistant coach Alando Tucker] told me after the last game that it took him a lot of games of him struggling to get to where he was. So, that's something that really hit home and the coaches were definitely feeding me confidence and just said its a long season and you just have to stay aggressive but get better and learn from it. I think it was another step forward tonight."