Wisconsin vs. North Dakota
Nov. 17, 2015
Kohl Center - Madison, Wis. 

Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan
On dominating the glass:
"We had a size advantage, but still, it's not the size of the dog in the fight it's the fight in the dog. Just because you might be bigger, or if you're not quite as big, doesn't mean you can't get in and get some rebounds. We'll face enough teams that are bigger than us, but this team tonight was not bigger than us in size. I felt we should have had an advantage on the glass and we did."

On the NCAA's ruling over freshman Andy Van Vliet's eligibility:
"It's really amazing, as Andy said to us, the reason he repeated at the level that he did was because they were going to drop him a level and he knew for example that he couldn't get into the University of Wisconsin if he didn't stay in that higher track over in Belgium. That's what he always wanted to do, he always wanted to come over here and play and he fell in love with us a couple of years ago. He knows how strict we are and he knows about all the guys that were denied admission here, so he's heard enough of those stories.

So he stayed in that track, which meant he was going to do that level again. Their second level over there is our AP classes here. That's the best educational system in Europe, their top level is college. There is no question that he can do the work here, and he wasn't doing it to do anything other than improve his chances of being admitted to a school like ours. You lose a year and sit a year because you're trying to get a better education? You know how I am about some of those other rules, but this one doesn't make any sense."

On his expectations for freshmen Alex Illikainen and Charlie Thomas:
"Well, I expect every time they're on the floor to play hard, play smart. I expect them to come to every practice every day and learn, same thing I expected out of my junior high kids in 1972, the team that I had. I expect the same things from players all the time, doesn't matter the level or where they are. Listen, get better, be quick learners."

On Ethan Happ's performance:
"It's sporadic and it was sporadic when he was on the scout team. He'll have days where you scratch your head and other days where you use two hands to scratch your head, meaning he was doing some good stuff. When you scratch your head with one hand, that's not good, two hands, that's good. He was having fun out there."

On Illikainen's outside shooting ability:
"He's a pretty good outside shooter and he seems confident. Charlie (Thomas) is a pretty good outside shooter, too. Charlie just was off for some reason tonight. Some balls went through his hands, he just seemed like he was a half-step off the whole time, like he wasn't quite mentally with the game tonight. So hopefully that will just be a freshman being a freshman."

On all five starters reaching double figures:
"Everybody contributed. Nigel (Hayes) was finding open guys, Bronson (Koenig) had four assists, Nigel had seven, so that's 11 with one turnover. That's pretty good, but that's the two guys who had experience. They were finding these guys in pretty good spots, especially Nigel."

On Ethan Happ's ability down low:
"Well, that's his game. That's what he has to do for us because he's not a prolific outside shooter. He knows how to get things done to help the team, so that's what he has to do. Stick with what you do well, and he does that well. Ten feet and in, 15 feet and in, he's pretty tough. Plus, he'll play defense, he'll get some deflections and he got some loose balls."

Ethan Happ
On his foul trouble:
"The coaches definitely got on me about it, but it doesn't take a brainiac to know you're not going to play when you have two fouls in the first half. I know I had two fouls early in both games and I've paid the price, I didn't play that much. I felt like I could have helped the team in our loss but you learn from it and move on."
 
On having five players in double figures:
"I don't know if Coach (Ryan) said this to you guys, but he wasn't too happy with us after this game. Even though we got the win, there's still a lot of stuff we have to work on. Defense is one of the key things that is going to help you go farther in the tournament and as the season goes on. That's one of the things he really focused on after the game. 
 
"(Offensively) we did get kind of stagnate there when we had the starters back in in the second half where it's just give it to one guy and we didn't really do much off the ball. Once we figure out cutting and getting the other team in foul trouble from us cutting we will start to get more points."
 
On what he can contribute:
"I don't see myself as just a garbage bucket man, I've known those types of guys in high school. I'm going to do whatever I can to help the team win. I don't care if I score two points or if I score 17 points. It really doesn't matter to me what I contribute as long as our team wins. I just need to give it 100 percent instead of foul trouble."
 
On going to New York this week:
"I'm excited for it, playing in Madison square Garden, that's like the Holy Grail of basketball. So to go there and play, that's going to be exciting on its own but it's going to be one of my first tests against a really good Georgetown team and it's going to be exciting for me personally, and I know our team's excited for it."
 
 
Zak Showalter
On improving his shot technique:
"Yeah I got a couple more shots up this summer. I was here from the May 26th to June 16th period when a bunch of guys go home, I took a class so I had a lot of time to myself in Madison basically to get some shots up with my managers. They are there for us whenever we call so I had them up at 7 a.m. everyday in the gym with me. So that was the period where I got a lot of shots up this summer."
 
On having five players in double figures:
"Obviously we've come a long ways here but we still got a lot to learn. Offensively, we are starting to hit some shots and guys are starting to be more comfortable on the court with each other but we have still learned a lot of things on defense. Obviously, we've got a lot of holes and we are working to fill those."
 
On Andy Van Vliet's appeal being denied:
"I honestly didn't even know it happened until I looked on Twitter after the game. It's unfortunate. Duje (Dukan) kind of had the same situation, not to that level, but it's a bummer that he has to take it and do the best he can to stay prepared for next year and get a lot better. He's got a big frame so he's going to put on some weight but he's just got to stay positive, I know it's frustrating to hear but he'll do the best he can."
 
On getting more chances to shoot free throws:
"I think with these rule changes it presents a lot of opportunities to get to the line. We have pretty much been bonus for 10 minutes left in each half I feel like in every game. So taking advantage, we have to start making some free throws. Our percentage is not obviously where we would like it to be. We're going to get to the line with these rule changes we just have to convert them."
 
On going to New York this week:
"Ethan hit it on the head, MSG is going to be awesome and I'm so excited. I've been watching basketball players play there for years so I'm excited to do that. Georgetown, don't sleep on Georgetown too, I think they're beating Maryland right now I saw when we were watching in there, so I'm excited. It's going to be a tough game and we'll be ready to go."


North Dakota Head Coach Brian Jones
Opening Statement:
"Well I think you saw a Wisconsin team finally get in a little rhythm on both sides of the ball. I think they're just getting a little more comfortable. In that first half we kind of got their separation, basically 19-0 in points off of turnovers and points off second shots and that's where they did an excellent job of just capitalizing on extra possessions on our miscues. I thought they were extremely efficient and they stayed within themselves and our guys were probably younger than they are and new bodies out there just learning how to compete against that kind of size and honestly that kind of discipline. I've got to give a lot of credit to their guys because they made a lot of individual plays and our guys were prepared for their actions but their guys stepped up and really did a good job of making individual plays and that kind of took course over the entire 40 minutes."  

On individual players:
"It's Drick's (Bernstine) second college game, for us 15 points and 9 rebounds and we're going to need him to play at a consistent level like that. He's a versatile player, he's more of a skilled and point forward, so I thought he did a nice job. We just needed guys like Quinton Hooker and Carson Shanks to be a little higher level. They played solid but they needed to be better against an opponent like Wisconsin. You've got to give Wisconsin a lot of credit though, they did a nice job of making their opportunities more difficult."

On putting any extra effort towards Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes that opened the door for others?
"Yeah I think so. I think what they run it's to me offensively what they do. It's about getting Koenig in space with ball screens because he's so good with the ball. Hayes is just a nightmare because he's so big and strong and that's where he exposed our young freshmen tonight because they're smaller and not as strong, sliding him around in the post. And he made some jump shots and is always is so efficient. So we tried to shrink the floor and those two as much as possible and that allowed (Vitto) Brown and other guys just to get some rhythm shots and they hit quite a few contested ones and if they can hit that many shots while contested they're going to be hard to guard because that opens up the paint even more for an Ethan Happ or for other guys to post up."

On playing a team like Wisconsin:
"My years in the Big Ten as an assistant and I've played in this building as a coach so many times and it's the same old story every time regardless if you're Michigan State or North Dakota, they come in here and they get teams to try and press and get back in the game instead of being patient on the offensive end when they get on a run. They're so efficient, what'd they have, 6 (turnovers) tonight, 3 against Western Illinois, and 7 against Siena, they just don't turn it over. We shot the ball well, but the things that hurt us were when we got to the rim we didn't finish and we don't have the type of length that we see every day but we need to get to the rim and finish. Foul shooting was a big issue tonight and really zapped our energy in the first half when we were trying to make a run and get back into the game. At one time we were 0-for-6 or 0-for-7 and those are just like turnovers because it's an empty possession and for a young team. So I feel like our young guys hurt themselves when they made good plays but couldn't finish the possession whether that was a defensive rebound or a made basket or a made free throw."