Men's Basketball

Postgame Quotes: Wisconsin vs. Penn State

Coach and player quotes

Men's Basketball

Postgame Quotes: Wisconsin vs. Penn State

Coach and player quotes

Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Penn State
Jan. 24, 2017
Kohl Center – Madison, Wis.

Head Coach Greg Gard
Opening Statement:
"Well, I'm obviously extremely happy and impressed with our players in the second half of how we played and responded. Specifically, I don't think we were okay offensively in the first half and obviously defensively, number one, in transition for those that have been around this program know that we emphasize that quite heavily. So we had to kind of re-check ourselves at halftime a little bit and emphasize some things. It starts on the offensive end with taking care of the ball and getting good shots and I thought we did a much better job in the second half of that and finished strong at the rim. And we made better decisions and then we were able to shut things off in transition in the second half. Going from, I think they had 13 transition points in the first half to none in the second half, it was obviously an adjustment that needed to be made. So happy for our guys and proud of how our bench played specifically to give our guys that had heavy minutes Saturday at Minnesota a little extra time to rest, boost and definitely a very good team win."
 
On how Bronson Koenig has become capable of taking over games:
"I think moving him around a little bit has helped whether its been positional adjustment or playing him off the ball a little bit more but also we've had him a little more actions for him. But I think he's also starting to read screens and those things and use screens better. Teammates are screening better for him and we're still not as good of a screening team as I'd like to be, but we're better. I think it's a combination of things of him being more aggressive and I think we're better around him in terms of utilizing screens and those type of things."
 
Vitto Brown
On bouncing back after being under the weather against Minnesota:
"I'm not going to use that as an excuse for my lazy play. The point of emphasis for me was to go out there and play with a lot more energy and bring a bigger presence to the defensive and offensive side."
 
On the gap between UW's play in the first half and second half:
"Definitely going into the next game against Rutgers, we're going to work on putting two solid halves together. People go off on us at halftime, which allows us to refocus. Next time we just have to be ready in the first half."
 
Ethan Happ
On halftime adjustments:
"His (Coach Gard's) big message was points in transition. They had 13 in the first half and zero in the second. So, that's what he told us."
 
On working inside-out:
"I think most times what opens that up is being able to produce inside. We weren't able to do that in the first half, but we made it another point of emphasis in the second. It opened up in the second half and guys knocked shots down."

Penn State Head Coach Pat Chambers
Opening Statement:
"Great second half by Wisconsin. I was proud of our guys. We came out and got drilled by Purdue, but responded and played a great 20 minutes. But it's a 40-minute game. Great lesson for our younger guys that we have to keep working together and getting better. We have to be the best team we can be at the end of the year. Again though, Wisconsin scored 46 points in the second half. That's a credit to the players and the seniors. They were there when they needed them the most."
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Players Mentioned

Vitto Brown

#30 Vitto Brown

F
6' 8"
Senior
Ethan Happ

#22 Ethan Happ

F
6' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Vitto Brown

#30 Vitto Brown

6' 8"
Senior
F
Ethan Happ

#22 Ethan Happ

6' 10"
Redshirt Sophomore
F