Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Maryland
Feb. 19, 2017
Madison, Wis. -- Kohl Center
 

Head Coach Greg Gard
Opening Statement:
"Well, I just got off my radio spot and I want to make sure I thank the fans for how loud and energetic they were today. This place was unbelievable and that's a credit to our fans. They obviously have supported us for all the time I've been here and well before, and I thought they were as loud as they've ever been today. That was terrific. In regards to the game, extremely physical. We may have run the training room out of ice after the game. But our guys, specifically in the second half, stepped up and answered the bell, so to speak. We were much better in the paint, obviously got to the free throw line a bunch, tried to convert more of those opportunities into more points, and also only one turnover in the second half, so that was more like how this team is. (Zak) Showalter, I thought did a pretty good job even though (Melo) Tremble gets 27 (points) working and shooting hard. In foul trouble, guys off the bench did a great job of helping us. Obviously, Brevin (Pritzl) came in and was able to chase (Kevin) Huerter around and do that. Met other guys Khalil (Iverson) and Trimble all kinds of help that maybe doesn't get noticed or doesn't have a stat in a box score. Those things were all very important, specifically when we had to battle through that much foul trouble. So, great team win, very proud of our guys. This is one good heck of a team (Maryland), as I knew and I thought back in November early that no one was talking about them, but they were going to be pretty good. Obviously, you got a player like Trimble to build around and those three freshmen are pretty good, but they obviously grow throughout the year, so this is a heck of a win for us and guys played well."

On Bronson Koenig, D'Mitrik Trice and especially Brevin Pritzl's play:
"Yeah, obviously, Brevin with five offensive rebounds. I'm not so sure we scored on all five. There was obviously at least one put-back that was down in front of me. I don't remember specifically the others, whether we scored in that possession or not, but he gave some energy and I thought the matchup for him, chasing around Huerter was good. They were almost clones of each other, so that was good. Trice, I thought again, not knowing how Bronson was going to be, was he going to be able to go. We planned as if he wasn't going to go. Yesterday, even though he practiced with us, I knew Trice would be ready to go so I couldn't wallow in indecision, so we decided yesterday Trice was going to start regardless. Bronson came in and did a good job. They kind of counterpunched with each other a little bit, and the rest of them like I said, Khalil even though the numbers don't show I thought defensively he did some good things. We had to play him at the four at one point in time and Hayes at the five so like I said, everybody had a hand in the outcome."

On seeing urgency within the team after halftime:
"I mean, if you just look at numbers, 3-for-13 in the paint in the first half, 11-for-17 in the second half. I'm not a mathematician, but I know that's a lot better. So, that helped. We finished around the rim and we didn't fade away. We went strong through people. We drew fouls and when we do it, that makes us really good. When 3s  goes down, and that will happen, then we start to sparkle and shine, but we have to find other ways. We've always been a program that wants to pound it inside, regardless, and taking care of the ball was also a big thing in the second half too. You know, to be able to go through the half and have one turnover, I'm not sure where it was, nobody in the locker room knew, at least nobody wanted to admit they had it, but I'll find it on film. I just thought we played more mature the second half, maybe we grew up in the 15 minutes we sat in the locker room. I don't know, because the first half we were getting the ball in the right spot, but the production wasn't what it needed to be."

Zak Showalter 
On Wisconsin's bench production:
"We got great, great minutes off of the bench. I think that's something that we've been lacking the last couple of games. It helps when you have Bronson Koenig coming off of the bench though. It makes your bench points look a lot nicer, but I mean, it was great for him to get back into the flow of things and he's had five days off so he's a little bit slow. But, it was good to see him come in and contribute and he played well at the point again. Yeah, we got great contributions and that's a huge reason why we got that win today."
 
On Brevin Pritzl's play today:
"We know he's got that ability and it's good to see him come and play hard and he finished around the rim really well today. A lot of people might expect him to hit more shots, but he's got that ability where he can get in there and mix it up. He's gotten a lot stronger. His body is in a great spot right now, which might sound a little bit weird, but he's really put on a lot of weight in the weight room, put on a lot of muscle in the weight room, and he's using it to his advantage at this point."
 
Ethan Happ
On what the key was for him and Nigel Hayes to be successful:
"I think it helped us a lot that when they doubled we knocked down shots like out of the double team we hit a couple of 3s and some drives with Brev and then like when Nigel found me when they went to double that one time and I dunked the ball. So, when you can produce out of the double team then it's a lot tougher for them to send it, and with Nigel and I, we like our odds against whoever they go in single coverage."
 
On him and Nigel and Bronson scoring a lot of points:
"I love it when we can get a lot of guys going and I think it really helps us three when it's not just us three. We had a lot of guys contribute. So, when it's not just relying on us and we've got Brevin coming in and [Showalter] doing his thing we got other guys who are, they have to worry about them as well that helps us."

Maryland Head Coach Mark Turgeon 
On not playing Melo Trimble for the last four and a half minutes:
"Nothing to him, he was tired. He was carrying us. He missed two free throws, he never misses. He was tired. If we would have made a little run, I would have put him back in, but we got four games in 10 days. Wisconsin was dominating the game."
 
On the play of Ethan Happ and Nigel Hayes:
"They were good. They were terrific. We couldn't guard them. We couldn't double them. We couldn't guard them head up. They were great."
 
On if the inexperience of the Maryland bench contributed to the loss:
"No, I just think Wisconsin is really good in this building. They've lost two straight and I think they played a heck of a game."