Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma
Dec. 3, 2016
Kohl Center – Madison, Wis.
Head Coach Greg Gard
Opening statement:
"I'm obviously happy for our guys to be able to learn on the fly and adjust on the fly. Defensively, we had some issues with the dribble handoffs and weaves and giving up too much in the paint. I thought by going to a little smaller lineup and figuring out we were a little bit better. Specifically, in the second half we were able to force them into a few tougher shots at times and then obviously our offensive efficiency was pretty good.
The numbers jump out in terms of Nigel (Hayes) with six assists, no turnovers and the plays that he made there and how he helped find other teammates and the attention he drew. I don't want to be dependent on scoring 90 points every time, so defensively we have to figure those things out and be better in that area.
Happy for our guys. This is a good win for us against a pretty good team. We've seen the gauntlet of competition and we'll have more coming down the road here as we go through the next few weeks."
On D'Mitrik Trice:
"He really, from day one, has come in and done a terrific job of just fitting in and doing his job. He hasn't gotten consumed with anybody else or how many minutes, it was just, hey, be consistent.
He had a little issue in turnovers yesterday in practice and I pulled him out and said that's not what got you over here with the white group, meaning the team with me. If that continues to happen you'll be back there over with the scout team a little bit faster. I think he understood, just be solid. We don't need any superhero efforts. Just do what we do consistently every day and he's been one that hasn't been phased by the atmosphere. He's naïve enough to just go play, but yet experienced enough not to get consumed in the moment or get overwhelmed by the moment. He's been around it. He's watched his brother, his dad. You know the history of him. He brings the right calming influence to our backcourt."
Oklahoma head Coach Lon Kruger
Opening statement:
"Really good game for us to learn from, as it turned out. I thought we did some good things for maybe the first 30 minutes, but didn't handle the adversity of them making shots and playing better then we did there in the last 10. Again, I thought Wisconsin was great and when they started making shots like that in the second half, it really knocked us on our heels and we didn't respond very well to that. Our guys will learn from it and certainly appreciate how good Wisconsin is and the good job they're doing. I look forward to following them for the rest of the year."
On defending UW in the second half:
"They're tough. Their matchups are tough, they've got a couple guys in there who can really post the ball and they're very effective and unselfish with the ball. If you help on them too much, they'll kick it out and make shots. It snowballed on us a little bit, and their confidence went up. They had a lot of good possessions."
On defending Nigel Hayes:
"Very challenging. He's a terrific player and he can score inside with the jumper like that and he's even more difficult to stop. He's a good player, he'll make you pay if you double him, if you help too much he's very willing to kick it out to a bunch of good shooters. He's really a tough matchup."
On if defensive adjustments sparked UW's scoring in the second half:
"We didn't intentionally change anything defensively. I think when you get one, two to go, your confidence goes up and you have a better rhythm. I thought when they were shooting their shots in the second half they were shooting with much more confidence, much more freedom and much more rhythm."
On turnovers in the second half:
"We didn't handle it very well, for sure. Some were certainly of our doing and some was Wisconsin making a good play. Again, those opportunities are what we have to learn from and certainly do a better job with."
Senior Guard Bronson Koenig
On the efficiency of the second half:
"I thought we were getting better looks, I thought we were being a lot more patient getting the ball inside. Our bigs just read the defense really well, and kicked it back out or made good, strong moves and got to the free throw line or finished."
On D'Mitrik Trice coming in and contributing so early in his career:
"I'm really proud of his aggressiveness. Not a lot of freshman come in, especially at Wisconsin. He's fearless attacking the basket and also pulling up for 3s like he does. At the end of the shot clock, there's just a trust factor that you have with him, that you can trust him to make a play, make the right play and he's shooting the ball really well, which I'm proud of him for. He has to always be on the attack and not worried about making mistakes."
Senior Forward Nigel Hayes
On his aggressive play tonight:
"I just wanted to shoot it and make sure I was in rhythm when I was shooting it. That's the best way for me to be the most successful. When I shoot it, I want to make sure that I catch it clean, catch it in rhythm and feeling ready to shoot it. I got a couple pull-ups to go, I tried to get to the free-throw line, and did a decent job of that, so I just have to make sure that I stay working my way inside-out."
On if this game was a blueprint of his aggressive play:
"Definitely. Again I had some reassurance with that mindset, yesterday if you could've heard the call my mother had. It was, you know how my mother is, she definitely got into me and wanted me to make sure I came here to play hard and aggressive, and that's what I tried to do. Be aggressive offensively, finding my teammates, I did a decent job of that. Six assists, give credit to them for hitting the shots. That's what I tell them to do, if they're open, shoot it with confidence and it will go in."
On if the team did a better job in the second half defensively:
"No, not at all. We didn't do a good job. I'm sure you can see some clips, I was getting into Trice over here, pretty nicely about one of our switches that we were supposed to have for today. That just shows the growth of this team, the direction that we are going. Trice just hit a big 3 and the crowd is going crazy, we had a bad switch and then I'm getting into him and telling him we have to be better. We have to be accountable, we gave up 70 points. We know they are a good team but we definitely could've guarded their offense a lot better."
Freshman Guard D'Mitrik Trice
On his 3-point shooting performance and his confidence:
"I feel a lot more confident in my role here with the guys. They trust me to have the ball and to knock down open shots and I definitely would say that I feel comfortable right now."
