GopherLady
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In case you just want to hear every single nugget this man said after this incredible win...you guys can break up the questions and answers. I've had a cold for 3 days, and need to get up after being glued to coverage since 6pm 
Mike Grimm: Breath, coach, have you caught your breath?
Niko Medved: What a night. Oh, man, barely,man, I just in the second half tonight, I just felt it like, and I told him at halftime, I'm like, we've been here before tonight's our night. You know, we're going to, we're going to find a way to get this done. We're going to dig in even harder. And I thought they did. I mean, I don't know what our lead was there late. You know, as you would expect, it got crazy. I don't know, did they miss a shot in that stretch? And even some of them were heavily, you know, contested, then we get a rebound, we step out of bounds. It was just kind of one of those things, but we did a great job when we had to handle in the press. We knocked down enough free throws, got the stop that we needed, and these guys earned this tonight.
No question, no question about it. Yeah, they got up to, it was 16 at the 408 mark, and then, and then, you know, look, they went on a little run, you're right, they were hitting threes. I mean, Trey fort, who played like two minutes their last game, hit four threes in this game. So sometimes that's sports, but that's why you build a 16 point lead. So you got a little cushion, right? That's basketball,
you know, you got to play for 40 minutes. And just so proud of our guys. I mean, you you asked me, and everybody asked me, boy, you know, you had so many tough losses, and you know, what's the mood of the team? Like, how do you get them to keep coming back? And, boy, they just keep coming back. And their mentality, their character, all that is just incredible. And to see them keep responding and keep showing up, ready to fight. And I kept telling him, you know, you're going to get rewarded. And we sure did here tonight. Yeah, Coach, and talking
about that fight, you had a number of guys that played well tonight, but can you speak a little bit about Crocker Johnson? He really came out on fire. Was playing against two of, you know, traditional, really good bigs, and Michigan State was handling and being extremely physical really set the
tone for this game. You know, he's just, he's such a special dude. And you know, I really got on him hard after the Penn State game in the locker room. And, you know, and even when I watched the film, I was probably unfairly hard on him, but, you know, wasn't up to his standards. And it's funny, you know, you come back the next day and you talk to him, and you know, some players take that stuff personally, right? But you know, what guys like him, do they say Coach, man, you're right. I was awful. You know, I got to be better. I needed that. And then, you know what he does? He comes out and responds today, and that's just who he is. I mean, he's a warrior guys. He's tough as nails. He never quits. He's saying the right things in the huddle, and he's just really turned into a great leader for us,
yeah, and you know, we could go down the whole roster, right in terms of guys. I mean, this was obviously a full team win, five guys in double figures. But there was a point in the second half, a little like at Penn State, where Reynolds just started to say, All right, try to stop me. I'm taking it to the rim. He had a couple three point plays, some soft touch off the rim. I thought that was a key stretch of the second half.
I agree. I thought he played really good defense, too. But yeah, he was terrific. He had a few that didn't go his way early in the game, but, you know, he really mentally stayed with it tonight. And yeah, he really got aggressive, got attacking, got to the free throw line, had some easy buckets. Thank you. Look at it, but you have eight assists again tonight, you know, just creating shots for others. So yeah, he was clearly at his best. Yeah, Coach,
and I know, you know they say a win is a win, but, but what does this mean to you? As you know, a head coach beating up being able to beat Tom is here at the bar in your first go out.
You know, it hasn't hit me yet. I mean, this is a guy that you know, I admire as much as anyone in our profession. He's a Hall of Famer. He's one of the best, if not the best to ever do it. And, yeah, you know, you you grow up dreaming about wanting to challenge yourself right against the best, and that's what you get in this league, and you get it when you play Michigan State, and so, you know, but free of me for a second, I think it's just big for our program. It's the guys that saying, Hey, we've got the right formula here. We've got the right culture. We've just got to keep digging in. We got to keep getting better. We got to keep creating belief. And I think that's what we're doing, yeah,
and you know, it's, it's, you know, when you put the work in and you play like these guys have even through this stretch to get the payoff right, like tonight. And as you've been saying, Once one comes, you know, who knows, right? I mean, maybe this steers you into into some real positive stretch in the run.
Well, you know, you hope so. But you know, every game takes on a life of its own. I tell you one thing, man, we're going to enjoy this one tonight, though. These guys have, these guys have earned that and and then we'll get ready. And you know, we've got Maryland here on on Sunday, but we'll take it. You know, it's cliche. Got to take it one game at a time. But you know, hopefully this just continues to build confidence
in our group, yeah, wire to wire. How about that? Nothing to it, right, nothing to it. All right. Good job. Was fun. Thank you. All right. There he is, the head coach, Nico Medved sponsored.
Mike Grimm: Breath, coach, have you caught your breath?
Niko Medved: What a night. Oh, man, barely,man, I just in the second half tonight, I just felt it like, and I told him at halftime, I'm like, we've been here before tonight's our night. You know, we're going to, we're going to find a way to get this done. We're going to dig in even harder. And I thought they did. I mean, I don't know what our lead was there late. You know, as you would expect, it got crazy. I don't know, did they miss a shot in that stretch? And even some of them were heavily, you know, contested, then we get a rebound, we step out of bounds. It was just kind of one of those things, but we did a great job when we had to handle in the press. We knocked down enough free throws, got the stop that we needed, and these guys earned this tonight.
No question, no question about it. Yeah, they got up to, it was 16 at the 408 mark, and then, and then, you know, look, they went on a little run, you're right, they were hitting threes. I mean, Trey fort, who played like two minutes their last game, hit four threes in this game. So sometimes that's sports, but that's why you build a 16 point lead. So you got a little cushion, right? That's basketball,
you know, you got to play for 40 minutes. And just so proud of our guys. I mean, you you asked me, and everybody asked me, boy, you know, you had so many tough losses, and you know, what's the mood of the team? Like, how do you get them to keep coming back? And, boy, they just keep coming back. And their mentality, their character, all that is just incredible. And to see them keep responding and keep showing up, ready to fight. And I kept telling him, you know, you're going to get rewarded. And we sure did here tonight. Yeah, Coach, and talking
about that fight, you had a number of guys that played well tonight, but can you speak a little bit about Crocker Johnson? He really came out on fire. Was playing against two of, you know, traditional, really good bigs, and Michigan State was handling and being extremely physical really set the
tone for this game. You know, he's just, he's such a special dude. And you know, I really got on him hard after the Penn State game in the locker room. And, you know, and even when I watched the film, I was probably unfairly hard on him, but, you know, wasn't up to his standards. And it's funny, you know, you come back the next day and you talk to him, and you know, some players take that stuff personally, right? But you know, what guys like him, do they say Coach, man, you're right. I was awful. You know, I got to be better. I needed that. And then, you know what he does? He comes out and responds today, and that's just who he is. I mean, he's a warrior guys. He's tough as nails. He never quits. He's saying the right things in the huddle, and he's just really turned into a great leader for us,
yeah, and you know, we could go down the whole roster, right in terms of guys. I mean, this was obviously a full team win, five guys in double figures. But there was a point in the second half, a little like at Penn State, where Reynolds just started to say, All right, try to stop me. I'm taking it to the rim. He had a couple three point plays, some soft touch off the rim. I thought that was a key stretch of the second half.
I agree. I thought he played really good defense, too. But yeah, he was terrific. He had a few that didn't go his way early in the game, but, you know, he really mentally stayed with it tonight. And yeah, he really got aggressive, got attacking, got to the free throw line, had some easy buckets. Thank you. Look at it, but you have eight assists again tonight, you know, just creating shots for others. So yeah, he was clearly at his best. Yeah, Coach,
and I know, you know they say a win is a win, but, but what does this mean to you? As you know, a head coach beating up being able to beat Tom is here at the bar in your first go out.
You know, it hasn't hit me yet. I mean, this is a guy that you know, I admire as much as anyone in our profession. He's a Hall of Famer. He's one of the best, if not the best to ever do it. And, yeah, you know, you you grow up dreaming about wanting to challenge yourself right against the best, and that's what you get in this league, and you get it when you play Michigan State, and so, you know, but free of me for a second, I think it's just big for our program. It's the guys that saying, Hey, we've got the right formula here. We've got the right culture. We've just got to keep digging in. We got to keep getting better. We got to keep creating belief. And I think that's what we're doing, yeah,
and you know, it's, it's, you know, when you put the work in and you play like these guys have even through this stretch to get the payoff right, like tonight. And as you've been saying, Once one comes, you know, who knows, right? I mean, maybe this steers you into into some real positive stretch in the run.
Well, you know, you hope so. But you know, every game takes on a life of its own. I tell you one thing, man, we're going to enjoy this one tonight, though. These guys have, these guys have earned that and and then we'll get ready. And you know, we've got Maryland here on on Sunday, but we'll take it. You know, it's cliche. Got to take it one game at a time. But you know, hopefully this just continues to build confidence
in our group, yeah, wire to wire. How about that? Nothing to it, right, nothing to it. All right. Good job. Was fun. Thank you. All right. There he is, the head coach, Nico Medved sponsored.