Postgame Quotes: No. 22 Badgers vs. NC State
November 27, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes: No. 22 Wisconsin vs. NC State
November 27, 2018
Kohl Center | Madison, Wis.
Head coach Greg GardÂ
Opening Statement:Â
"I'm really proud of this group and the way they battled back. The stretch they've been on, the teams they've played, to face a team that pressed you for 40 minutes and 94 feet, the way they were able to battle back and be that resilient. A lot of heart, mental toughness, and grit shown there tonight. Obviously it's not pretty at times but pressure can speed you up and play with your decision making ability at times. But down the stretch we just kept battling. We were down by 12, to keep fighting back, keep fighting back, chipping away, and then finally over the edge at the edge showed what this group is made of. I'm proud of them, rest up quick, and go to Iowa City."
On the overall game:Â
"We kept talking in the timeouts just keep pushing and we will get over the hump. Just chipping away. Obviously those are dead balls coming out ot the timeout, so get a stop and get a kill together, which is three consecutive stops. That is our terminology of knowing what we need to do. Knowing what we were going in to and knowing that they were going to play a lot of guys and face pressure all the time, obviously we are going to play a lot of guys. I thought we got great contributions from Kobe King, (Brevin) Pritzl, Aleem Ford. Trevor hit some big shots. Even Tai's minute, that was a situation to throw a freshman in. There hasn't been a lot of games. As we tell all of our guys, always be ready, you never know when it is your time. I thought it was a game where we had to play smaller. (Nate) Reuver's numbers are down because of what we had to guard and handling that pressure and having more ball handlers on the floor was necessary."Â
On the team's grit this season:Â
"I think this group has embraced that. They understand, as they've grown through last year, what it took when you have to dig a little deeper. They've embodied that. You are going to be in situations where things don't go as you planned or as you want. You aren't going to make every shot. There are going to be nights where you struggle. But to have the fortitude to keep rallying is a good trait to have."Â
On the versatility of lineup:Â
"I think you've seen the emergence of Kobe King. He's starting to become more and more comfortable after missing most of last year."Â
On where the team is at heading into Big Ten play:Â
"I think they've shown they can win in different ways. We've shown in a game in the Bahamas, Stanford where we didn't shoot as many threes, Oklahoma. We were in a rock fight with Virginia and we battled back in that game. We have been able to find different ways and that is usually a sign of a good team. Every night it is going to be somebody different and we need to depend on different people and we need to depend on our bench at times. As we say all the time, all hands on deck, and we certainly needed that tonight."
NC State Head Coach Kevin Keatts
On what he learned from today's game:
"I learned a lot about my team today coming into a hostile environment with a good program on their home floor. We obviously had our opportunities to win so it's disappointing that we lost."
On D'Mitrik Trice:
"Hey he's a good player, he made a play. Am I happy that he made that shot? I thought our guy was there, I think Braxton was checking him and he backed up a little bit and he banged the shot so, he's a good player making a good play for his team."
On Wisconsin:
"They're a very good basketball team, they're well-coached, they do a great job. You guys (the media) know this cause you cover it, it's (The Kohl Center) is a tough place to play."
