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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: OMAHA

March 22, 2015

Zak Showalter

OMAHA, NEBRASKA

WISCONSIN - 72
OREGON - 65

THE MODERATOR: Zak Showalter, Sam Dekker, Frank Kaminsky represent student-athletes of Wisconsin. Coach Bo Ryan is with us. We will ask for a statement about the game, Bo?

COACH RYAN: Well, we're just very pleased to represent the Big Ten and our university in the Sweet 16. These guys definitely have had the kind of season where they've earned ever inch of this. Hopefully we can go out to LA and get something done. I'm proud of these guys. That was a tough game. Pretty physical, some things got away from us, but we were able to corral all our talents and get it done. We'll take questions.

Q. Talk about that 6-0 run and how decisive.
SAM DEKKER: Basketball a lot of times is a game of runs. Oregon made their run to fight back. I think we established a good lead in the first half, but as a good team always does, they're going to come out and make a run, and the good teams are the ones that can respond to those runs. But I think there might have been a time-out in there somewhere, and Coach tells us to settle in. We have guys that aren't going to get too riled up. We're just going to stay the course and play our basketball, and we got a big 6-0 run there, like you said, opened up the lead and got a few stops and held it down from there, so it's a game of runs, and just got to be able to respond at the right times.

Q. Coach, and Sam, Coach, you called a time-out just as Sam was throwing down a dunk! You called the time-out, then they hit a three. What was the process in calling that time-out and then the three-point?
COACH RYAN : That possession, that's all. Instead of getting 2 and he might have hurt himself on the dunk, he gets a 3. I had called a time-out as soon as Josh got the ball, so by the time the ref had blown the whistle, there was a little bit of noise because there was a turnover, I think, in there. Then Sam was open for a reason. I think they saw me call time-out.

SAM DEKKER: At first I was kinda -- I kinda gave Coach the look, like, what are you doing? But I knew he had called it earlier. He was like, "no, I called it earlier." But yeah, we just set up our offense again, and someone got me a nice fade screen. I was able to step off, he went the wrong way on it, and Josh found me for a good pass, and I was able to knock it down. Yeah, so getting one more point, maybe Coach knew something that I didn't, and the basketball gods worked in our favor there.

COACH RYAN: On the play before, Frank didn't leave his feet the way he normally does, he was getting tired, and I said as soon as we get the ball again, we'll call time-out, so that was the reason for the time-out.

Q. Frank, a lot was made of the size advantage you guys had against Oregon. What were they able to do to neutralize that because they outrebounded you guys and some other stats they were ahead of you as well.
FRANK KAMINSKY: You know, I knew they were going to throw a lot of different things at us. We knew they played a match-up zone. We knew they were going to throw double teams and triple teams and pressures up and down the court; that's their style, and when that happens, there is bound to be a lot of missed shots. They have good athletes on their team, people who can go and get the ball, so they were just able to do that tonight. The rebounding margin was not huge. There is not a big difference, but when there is a game like that and there is a lot of shots going up, you know there's going to get a lot of rebounds, and they were able to get more.

Q. Zak, can you talk about your contribution and what it means to be on such a big stage in this situation to be able to do it, and Sam as well, about what Zak brought to the team tonight for you guys?
ZAK SHOWALTER: Yeah. He's just always trying to stay ready. I know some things have been said about our bench through the year. We want to prove ourselves and be ready, so me and Vitto are always ready on the bench. So I think tonight I got some good minutes in the first half. I knew going into this game Josh and B might get into some foul trouble because Joseph Young is that good of a player. So I was prepared. And it felt good to get in the first half, get more comfortable, and then by the second half, I was ready and when I got the ball, we'd worked on that drill so many times, where you catch it, ball fake to the corner, and if the defender goes to the corner, which he did, and he leaves me, I'm wide open and ready to take the shot, so I was ready.

SAM DEKKER: Coach always preaches, add, when you're coming to the game, whether you're a starter and you come out and you go back in, add, or if you're a bench player, come in and add something, add energy, whatever, rebound, deflection. And Showy is just a warrior; he battles, doesn't care if he scores, doesn't care how many fouls he picks up. He knows he has to come in and play good defense, get deflections and scrap, but him being my roommate, I see how much he gets to the gym and shoots, goes and works on his offensive game. So he's got that element to his game; we just don't always use him in it, and we put him in for just energy. But tonight he got a few good looks on the offensive end, was able to cut and use athleticism for the layup, and then hit a big shot and chased Joseph Young around, and that's not an easy task, so I thought he came in and did a great job for us.

Q. Frank, being a senior, you guys have gone to the Sweet 16 like four of the last five years now. How do you look at that accomplishment? Is it something that is to be celebrated, or when you guys are so regularly able to do that, how do you kind of look at getting there?
FRANK KAMINSKY: It's definitely a satisfying feeling. Getting to the last 16 teams left in college basketball is obviously a good thing. But we're a 1 seed for a reason. We have a good team this year; we have a good body of work, so we're going into games expecting to compete and play hard and come out on top. So when you get to a stage like this, you know, we were able to do it last year. We've seen it before; we know when it takes, we know what we need to do, on and off the court. So when you have that recipe for success with people in front of you, with the upper classmen who instilled it in us, you just know what it takes, and you know what to do. And we have a great program and great coaches and great people on this team that really know what it's like to win, and that just makes it so much easier on us.

Q. For Sam and Frank, how well do you think you played today? What was the key to grinding this one out? And also, the two-steal sequence, one by Frank, one by Josh, can you address that as well?
SAM DEKKER: Well, the first half I wasn't playing up to my capabilities. I got kinda out of sync and started trying to force some stuff, and Coach took me out, and the assistants just said, hey, just keep with it; let that go. Don't try to do too much. And at halftime they said the same thing, kind of pulled me off to the side when we came out of the locker room and told me that half is over with, just play your game and be you. And when I'm myself, I can do some good things, so I just let the game come to me and just put up shots with confidence and tried to be a little more aggressive. And yeah, those two steals that we got, those were big and those were by two leaders of our team. I feel like Josh and Frank are always getting their hands on stuff and making differences in the game. Josh doesn't always have the box score stats, but he's going to do those little things that help the team win, and every team needs those type of guys. And Josh, once again, makes a big play for us, turns the tide and gives us good momentum.

FRANK KAMINSKY: Just trying to make a play. That's what it came down to. You know, when they cut the score, tied the game, we knew we needed to get a play to get us going, get stops on defense and try to score the ball, make a smart play. I was getting tired of them scoring off the ball screen, so I was able and lucky enough to be in the situation where I was able to get a steal and then Josh came down ad got another one, and it kind of really helped us win the game.

Q. Bo, Oregon obviously did a lot of things to try to speed you guys up. I guess from your vantage point on the sideline, how reassuring is it to have guys that don't look like they get sped up?
COACH RYAN: I thought we sped them up, because when we were beating their pressure, they had to quickly recover and, you know, "man up!" The speed of the game, that's not an issue for us.

Q. Zak, I apologize if you've been asked this before, but what was the key for you today?
ZAK SHOWALTER: I was just saying I got comfortable as the game went on, and as I was on the court some more. Bronson I knew was going to get in foul trouble -- I already went over this a little bit, but I was just ready to go in and make the big play, and that's what I dream about. That's what any kid dreams about, knocking down a big shot in the NCAA Tournament, so to be able to do that was awesome.

Q. Bo, just, could you just go over a little bit about what lies in front of you now going out to Los Angeles and playing a team like North Carolina?
COACH RYAN: Well, first of all we're going to enjoy this. Our assistants have their scouts. We have a coach that has all the stuff ready for whoever won their game, so we'll get all that put together. It's already put together, but we'll disseminate that information to our players through our iPads and get our scout team ready. But it is a little bit difficult. We've got -- we have the late game. They're going to send us home, we're going to get these guys in bed by 2, 3:00. They have class tomorrow, and then -- so we will be off our feet tomorrow. We're not going to practice tomorrow. The other three teams that are going out to California were finished yesterday. I just find that kind of curious, why this is the way it is, but I'm sure with the logistics, this is what happens. So we won't have as much preparation time as our opponent, but we'll just have to run a little faster.

Q. Coach kind of alluded to what I was going to ask you guys about for the players, just that quick turn-around. And you know, you go through such a grueling time-out in Chicago with the three, and it's so late here now. How much of a disadvantage is it for you guys with only a few days?
ZAK SHOWALTER: I got three exams next week that aren't going to be very fun, so I've just gotta -- I mean I've studied a little bit while I've been here, and Monday I'm going to study a lot and try to take care of it and get ahead in some classes.

FRANK KAMINSKY: We've been through things like this before.

COACH RYAN: Tell them how many classes you have.

FRANK KAMINSKY: I have like four classes. I'm kidding. I don't have any. I have one, but we know what it takes. It's the time of the year where basketball is our main focus. We're student-athletes, but this is the biggest time of the year for us, for basketball, so we know with the quick turn-around it's not going to be easy, but we have guys on our team who are smart enough to know how to take care of themselves and take care of their schoolwork, so we'll be fine.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Wisconsin? Thank you very much, gentlemen. Best of luck.
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