Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. UW-Stout
November 5, 2017
Kohl Center  |  Madison, Wis.

Wisconsin Head Coach Greg Gard 
Opening Statement:
"First of all, I'm appreciative of all of the fans that came out. I know we had a lot of people from the Menomonee area and that part of the state, specifically those cancer patients that were able to be here today and be recognized (at UW's second-annual Cancer Awareness Game). Hopefully we can continue to raise awareness and help the state of Wisconsin through our efforts. We really appreciate all the people who have come from  [UW Carbone Cancer Center] and from across the state to be with us today. In terms of the game, this game is always one that's fun to play. Having been on the other side in UW-Platteville for so many years, we never had this opportunity and I know how much it means to UW-Stout and the WIAC (Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). For us, it's a great opportunity to play against a team that we saw pressure from the whole game. We saw a team that's running the motion offense with five men that we typically don't see. It taught us a lot. I think we learned a lot through the game. I saw different combinations, guys getting better as the game went on, and understanding some things and being able to handle the pressure for 40 minutes. For the most part, other than a few here or there, we did a decent job against it. (It's) Something that as we break down the film will definitely help us, and those games always do, because it's a team that's preparing for a season and trying to execute their system as well. By and large, (I'm) happy with getting to the line as much as we did and want to get there more. Shot selection was better in the second half than what it was in the first. Defensively, we started to figure out some things more as time went on. We obviously had some specifically youthful mistakes at different times. Now, as I told the team, it starts counting for real. The exhibitions are over, and Friday night, here we go."
 
On the team's consistency on offense:
"Specifically in the first half, I thought we settled for too many quick 3s, especially when the floor was spread and they were transitioning out of their pressure. We had chances to go back inside and we didn't. Most of the 3s we made in the first half were inside-out, other than (Kobe) King's late in the first half. In the second half, I thought we were better. We didn't get as eager to pull a quick 3. We do need to get to the free throw line, that's always how better teams have gotten there a lot. We have a lot of guys who can get there. We have a lot of guys who can post and a lot of guys that embrace the physical contact that comes with it, so we need to do a better job of feeding the post. We've gotten better. At times, we missed some guys who were open tonight that I thought we didn't see or were erroneous in how we tried to deliver the ball."

Freshman guard Kobe King
On playing point guard tonight in D'Mitrick Trice's absence:
"It's something new. I've never really played point (guard) before. I knew there would be a chance for me to play a little bit of the one spot. This morning, Brad (Davison), Khalil (Iverson) and I sat down with coach (Greg Gard) and ran through some things. Overall, it was pretty fun."
 
On his success in the preseason as a freshman:
"Us freshmen never really doubted our abilities. I think it was good to get practice against teams like those. Just staying confident and aggressive in these games has been huge for me and I hope it continues."
 
Freshman guard Brad Davison
On the importance of getting to the line:
"It's extremely important. The coaching staff stresses it every practice and every time out. Not just with getting to the line, but it's about driving, jump stopping, getting in there and being aggressive. It's definitely an advantage on this team."
 
On getting a chance to play in preseason games:
"It's always fun to be out there playing ball. It's big for us young guys to get that playing experience. It's been huge for us."

UW-Stout Head Coach Eddie Andrist
Opening statement:
"First of all, wow, what a game, in many ways. Obviously, we did some good things both offensively and defensively, but what an honor to come in here and play the Badgers. What an honor for Greg Gard and his staff to give us this opportunity and give WIAC (Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) the opportunity, because this is a WIAC thing. We did some good things tonight. We had some bad stretches. Coming into a game like this you're thinking if we can score 40 we'd be good. We obviously out-did that quite a bit. Defensively, I think we're a tough team to play, because that's what we want to be. We want to be that team that teams don't want to play. I think defensively you saw a lot of that tonight with our full-court run-and-jump press and with our traps. We're very unpredictable and guys don't know where we're coming from. Half the time, we don't know where we're coming from, but the bottom line is it can be really effective. At the same time, when it was ugly, it was ugly. When it was bad, it was bad. We know that. We just have to clean things up, and get better at it. It was a great opportunity and we are extremely grateful to Greg Gard and his staff and the Badgers for letting us do this."
 
On Wisconsin's balanced offense:
"As you've seen when they were in Australia (on their foreign summer tour) and when they were playing the exhibition game prior to us, they're really excited about the fact that they don't have to rely on [Ethan Happ]. He's obviously a great player, but we felt, like all teams are feeling, that you have to kind of take him out and then see what happens. The rest of the guys on this team for the Badgers, they have great size. They've got great strength, and they shoot the ball extremely well. I don't see a lot of weaknesses in them, but they, like us as well, have a lot to work on. If you can take one guy out, then you force them to go to somebody else. As we've seen throughout the course of this early season, they have a lot of guys that can do different things and we certainly couldn't cover them all. We did our best, we tried our best, but again, we did some good things in terms of our attack, both defensively and offensively."