Gophers Joe Coleman hit two big free throws to help send the game to OT.
As always, these are my rough notes, typing live as they talk…Go Gophers!
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Joe Coleman:
We wanted to limit him from shooting
On having the Badgers go 8:48 without a point- we focused in and made them take tough shots
We focus on defense every game, we zoned in on the 3s
(On his mindset at the end of regulation) Tried to score, shot clock was running down, be aggressive and try to get to the line.
(On taking those big FT’s) I wasn’t nervous, I’ve been on that situation before, just like against IU last year.
Austin Hollins
We weren’t making many shots in the 1st half, we knew we had to come our harder
Stay aggressive and stay focus
We just buckled down and do what we were taught the last 5 of regulation
It feels great, especially against Wisconsin
We had a lot of heart tonight, we never have up, we knew it was going to be a dogfight
We knew how big this was.
Andre Hollins:
I did blow a kiss after I hit that 3. This was huge for us. We had been killing ourselves. Huge with a rivalry game
(On his lunch meeting with Tubby yesterday) Wanted to get some clarity to what he wanted, great to be closer to coach like that. We talked about what kind of shots we want, how we want to move the ball.
My teammates did a great job drawing screens for me. I had to put the ball up, I trust my teams to get the rebound.
It was a valentines day kiss to the fans. (On hitting that huge 3).
This time we roughed it out mentally, Joe made huge free throws down the stretch.
We knew we had to buckle down defensively, in the 1st half, we let them dictate and get too many looks.
Like coach said…just play ball, he said he didn’t care if we had 50 turnovers, as long as we win.
Rodney Williams
We had the positivity in the locker room.
The mood was high yesterday, coach is trying to keep us positive at all times.
I had a bit of a battle with the shoulder, but I really can’t worry about that. There’s pain when I bring it up too fast.
Before the game, I took something, and ibuprofen at halftime.
This is real good for me, I’ve only beaten Wisconsin one time since I’ve been here.
Everyone stayed positive, the guys on the bench, the great crowd.
The Barnyard was great, loud when we needed them. Quiet when we needed to shoot free throws, they were a great 6th man.
Tubby Smith:
• Even though we didn’t shoot the ball well the entire game, we forced them into some tough shots.
• We’ve got a guy like Joe Coleman who really stepped up, drove the ball to the basket, and made clutch FT’s.
• It was an all around team effort, Austin carried us early. We did a better job than we have all year round of taking care of the ball.
• We knew we weren’t going to have that many possessions in a game like this. We talked about how to simplify things . Dre’s been calling a lot of plays. I wanted him to get out and run more, because everyone focuses on him because he’s our best scorer. He’s asked to do a lot. Defend the other teams quickest player. That’s what that was about.
• We’d gotten away from playing good defense, I don’t know why. We’ve been working on it. It’s a combination of things. Our ball pressure hadn’t been very good. Just a team concept of being in the right spot. At halftime we talked about not giving up any easy baskets, and we did a better job in the 2nd half.
• He looked like he was favoring his shoulder, I kept asking if he was ok. He was still sore, but Rodney is one of those kids for 4 years, he’s been able to bounce back, he’s very durable.
• Just like the loss the other day to IL, when it becomes a late game possession, you’ve got to execute, and tonight we delivered. Some nights, we don’t. We feel confident playing any style. You’re just not going to be able to force the pace against Bo Ryan’s teams. They’re deliberate, patient, fundamentally sound.
• They put 28 3’s up, that’s a lot of 3’s. We shot 17. We did a better job 2nd half of challenging the 3 point shot.
• I told Joe in the last timeout, make sure you attack the basket, don’t be passive, be aggressive. We ran a play that broke down, they did a good job of taking out some things, WI is the #1 defensive team in the league. Joe saw an opening. When Joe Coleman plays well, we’re a different team. He had his hands full tonight. He has to overachieve, because his opponents are usually bigger than him. We wanted him to duplicate the win we had against IL.
• What does this victory do for you? We’re back to .500, the sky was falling around here. Sometimes when the sky is falling, you think the ceiling is going to cave in on you.
• They wanted it, but we had to have it.
• I think this will be a big boost to us. We’re not a dog, by any means. We’ve got some guys that overachieve. Trevor Mbakwe is playing center at 6’7″, coming off knee surgery, you can’t find a guy with more heart. WI is probably bigger than us at every position.
• This is the best league in college bball, and you have to execute to get a win, almost perfectly.