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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: BUFFALO

March 17, 2017

Buffalo, New York

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We're joined by Nigel Hayes, Bronson Koenig and Zak Showalter. Congratulations on advancing, playing Villanova in the second game tomorrow afternoon.

Q. You guys, over the last -- you're a senior, you've been on teams that have beaten a couple number one seeds. What is it about this program that allows you to really rise up in these moments?
BRONSON KOENIG: I'm not really sure, to be honest, I know that ever since me and Nigel came in as freshman we've been a resilient team. We don't get rattled when we're down. Kind of like Villanova, just play with a lot of poise. That comes from having a lot of confidence in ourselves, and us as a team.

Q. You are the leading scorer in this tournament. You might have some insight.
NIGEL HAYES: Has to do with our preparation. Our coaches do an extremely good job of scouting, but we also do a good job of trying to sticking to the fundamentals and do the little things. That's what gives you championships. Of course, there's going to be plays made and he's the poster child for making spectacular plays, but there's also a lot of the little plays that you don't see, which is what Showy's responsible for. So, Bronson gets all of the attention, and Showy is the one in the background doing all of the diving, playing great defense for, and when you put all that together on one team, and we're all playing together, playing for one another, you can do special things.

Q. Nigel, through all of this tournament experience through the last four year, what is the most valuable lesson you guys have learned?
NIGEL HAYES: How to remain cool, calm, and collected during moments of either low points in the game or high points, knowing that you may get up, but it may not be over yet. You still have game left to play, and even if another team goes on a run or you get down on that again there's more time left. You can come back, and we've seen both sides of it. Going back to our first time in the tournament, really, when we played Oregon and Milwaukee, we were on pace to lose by 20-plus, and you know, we kept our composure and we were able to fight back and win.

Q. This is for all of you. What was -- what were the emotions like on senior night in Wisconsin, and what has the experience of being in school all these years meant to all of you?
ZAK SHOWALTER: I think it was a very special night for all of us. Obviously this group of four seniors has been in a lot of big games in our career, and really got a lot from Wisconsin. So, I think we -- it was a big night. Especially, we want to get a big win going into tournament play and it started turning our season around a little bit.

BRONSON KOENIG: I think at that point we had lost maybe five or six games or so, and having our final game at home against a really good Minnesota team, we knew that that could really propel us forward going on in to the Big Ten Tournament and just kind of used that as -- just kind of used that going forward into March and April, hopefully.

THE MODERATOR: Nigel?

NIGEL HAYES: It was extremely emotional, not that everyone was in tears or anything, but just knowing it's an end to something that's been very, very good to you. You've made some great memories there, even with the wins and losses, the connections that you made with people, the experiences that we'd had, we're extremely appreciative. Fortunately for us, we've had a lot more wins than losses, so it's been pretty good. Knowing that that's an end of a chapter in our life, obviously you don't want to see it move on, but it has to.

So now we're just trying to change that focus from that, use all of that experience and all of that time we've had and try to do something special in our last year.

Q. It's a life lesson. Those four years, not everybody stays in school four years. What did it do for you just being at Wisconsin those four years?
NIGEL HAYES: Just changed as a person, able to mature on and off the court. Able to develop yourself again, not necessarily just basketball-wise but also as a person, you change, your beliefs, thought processes, things that go on in your everyday life. You're also able to make new connections with people, able to actually play school. He likes to call us student-athletes a lot. All of us will be graduating, so you do a lot of great things. That's the beauty of staying in school.

Q. Nigel, Coach Wright said you had a look of a senior that doesn't want your career to end. You're working on string of three straight double-doubles here. What's going on that you were able to step it up more than usual in this last little stretch?
NIGEL HAYES: Just that sense of urgency that you have. Again, I've been fortunate with Bronson and Showy to have been on some teams with older guys, and we've been fortunate enough to make some long runs. Once you see that run end, you know the look on the guys' faces, the faces in the jerseys in the two years, the pain that you can hear. I saw that at a young age, and I want to make sure I do everything in my power to not let that happen.

I even mentioned to the guys having to being willing to die for the opportunity to play in a National Championship. I know it may sound extreme, but I'd rather go out there in the game and give everything I have. You can't move with a win, then coming out of there feeling a little better with a loss because a loss will feel a millions times worse than the amount of pain that you can do with a win.

Q. Zak, Kris with the tight turn, you guys talked about what you wanted to shore up from last night. How do you balance what you want to do better than yesterday and getting ready for the No. 1 overall seed?
ZAK SHOWALTER: Yeah, we went over -- Nigel just talked about our scouting reports and our coaches and getting us prepared for these games. This morning slept in a little, got a good scouting report in from Coach Moore and just handling ball screens and stuff like that a little better. I don't want to get into too many details about what our plan is. That's why I think we have success is we pay attention to details and stuff like that. So I think that will help us and we'll be ready to go on Saturday.

Q. Zak, we were talking before, two of the losses were to Butler, a team that plays somewhat similar to you guys, tough on defense, grinds it out on offense a little bit. Is that encouraging to you guys or do you not even consider that and play your own game?
ZAK SHOWALTER: It's encouraging. I don't think you want to read into it too much. I think we'll play our style of play no matter who is standing on the other side. I think Villanova is a team that sits similar to us, and they've been in big games before, and they know what it's like to play in these situations. So, it's going to be a heck of a game on Saturday, and I'm excited for it.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for your time. Good luck tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: We're joined now by University of Wisconsin head coach, Greg Gard. Coach, first, congrats on advancing to play Villanova. I guess whatever congratulations you can get to play the No. 1 seed.

GREG GARD: Great parting gift.

Q. Several Villanova players mentioned Butler as comparison to you guys, Butler beat them twice during the year. I was wondering if you had a chance to see either of those games or see Butler and if there's any comparison there as well?
GREG GARD: Yeah. I've watched Butler play them. Obviously, comparatively wise, we haven't played Butler in a few years, so I think there's probably some comparisons. I think there's also some comparisons between us and Villanova, specifically defensively. Just watching them, how physical they are, how they do a great job of playing a team-oriented defense. Really low to the ball pretty well, and defensively they're very impressive. Everybody talks about what Hart and Jenkins and Brunson do offensively and how they run the show. Defensively they're very good as well.

I think that's where you draw some comparisons, whether it's Butler, Notre Dame, another team that's here, just how they play so well together.

Q. Greg, I asked a few coaches this, and your program fits the bill as well. In the era of one-and-done, when players stick at schools such as yourself, is that more a formula for repeat champion looking at Villanova when you've got that experience? Do you think things changing a little bit?
GREG GARD: I think the experience definitely helps. You can look at the other side and see teams that have won and done that with one-and-done players. I think we're probably both in similar boats from a standpoint that we have guys that stay for the majority of their time, maybe not all of the time, but for the most part.

And you have two programs that develop pretty well, and they get better as time goes on. And you usually look at their roster, and I went through it last night or early this morning, when I got back to the hotel, and I saw a lot of RSs in front of names meaning redshirt. I'm going to go back and research that even deeper because that's always been a big part of our program is when we can redshirt guys and play with older guys. That's helped in our consistency, and I'm sure Jay would say the same thing in terms of him sustaining what he's done there. When you can have older guys for the most part on the floor, I think that really helps.

Q. How have you seen the development of how teams have chosen to defend Happ as he's developed as a player. He brings such unique skill set with elusiveness down there. I guess you try to deny and then you've seen a lot of doubles to make him get rid of the two. Do you anticipate some of that from Villanova and how has he handled getting that much attention, that he wasn't getting maybe earlier in his career?
GREG GARD: Well, he's gotten better in terms of handling double-teams over the last month, six weeks. He struggled with it early, I think. And then as he improved in terms of handling that, we also didn't take advantage of it on the back side, whether it was back-side threes, we miss a lot of wide open shots earlier in the year when that first became a scheme against us. And then, secondly, we also missed the opportunity to throw it back in on the back side of the -- or, the back side of the defense.

So, he's obviously gotten better, but also the guys around him have gotten better at taking advantage of what's there. We've tweaked some things. We've drilled a lot of things to try to help him through that. So, he's probably seen about every conceivable thing you can do with five guys on the floor in terms of where the traps are coming from, whether it's the bottom, whether it's the top, whether it's the same side wing, whether it's been post to post.

It's just a matter of making decisions, being strong with the ball, not panicking, and he's had to grow through it. And we'll continue to work with it, and we work it about every week. But it's also, in large part, due to the play around him, too. If guys can help him out, and not put him on an island and change sides of the floor. And then when you make shots against it, that's the ultimate goal to try to make teams pay for committing an extra guy towards him.

Q. You mentioned it the other day, but can you elaborate a little bit about what you remember about your experience winning a national title here in 1995 in Buffalo?
GREG GARD: Well, I'm in my second year of college coaching. I'm still an undergrad student at UW Platteville. We get beat in the Sweet 16 the year before, and then we come back and go undefeated. So, I got spoiled right off the bat in terms of thinking it was always going to be like that, how easy it was to march to a Final Four and have an undefeated team.

But the experience here in Buffalo was terrific. Obviously there I am at 24 at the time, and you have that type of an experience. And I think what those experiences at Plattville taught me and Coach Ryan was always talking to me about this, is that divisions didn't matter. Don't get caught up in the Roman numeral behind the school or what division you're in. The experiences we can have at Division III were maybe not the same stage as Division I, but the experiences for the student-athlete and the excitement and the drama and euphoria with it, those were great, great memories.

And obviously, to Buffalo, the National Championship here, prior to the two we won at Salem in '98 and '99, those are vivid memories for me, and that was kind of where it all started in terms of my college coaching.

Q. Do you ever look back when you're on this grand stage and think back to it started for you on that smaller stage?
GREG GARD: Yeah. And I think that helps keep this in perspective. That it's still a game. They're still young men out there trying to play really well. There's so much attention given to it from the outside that it's -- you keep reminding yourself what it was like then, what an innocent experience it was for those guys back in '95.

And I actually talked to one of the players that was on the team two nights ago, Saul Phillips who is now the coach at Ohio University, and he was a senior on that team in '95. Just remembering back to how we rushed the floor, that whole journey through the year, going undefeated, just the innocence of what it's like. And I was close to their age. Those guys are 22, 23, and I'm 24, still finishing up my undergrad. It puts it in perspective, what the experience is like for the student-athletes.

Q. Greg, Nigel is working on a string of two straight double-doubles here. Is this just a senior feeling the end of his career coming on and wanting to prolong it? Has he made some changes in his game or maybe have you made some changes in how you're using him?
GREG GARD: Well, I think it's probably all three. I think he's attacked the paint a little more ferociously, gotten better at trying to play around the rim a little bit more, and I think that's been a year-long process. We've done a few things schematically a little differently over the last three weeks or so to try to maybe emphasize it even more, take advantage of what they were doing with Happ specifically. But I also think it's -- I've said it several times, seniors hear the clock ticking. They see the sands going through the hourglass knowing there's not much time left regardless of how we finish it out. It's coming to an end pretty soon.

I would say a combination of all three. But probably, number one, he understands what time of year it is. And, number two, he's made a conscious effort to take advantage of what his advantage is, and that's basically playing 15 feet and in, and using his skill set to try to create those match-ups or getting defenses caught in some of those match-up advantages.

Q. When the team was struggling late in the season, they were pressing and it was against teams that maybe they were favored against. The national perception tomorrow night is you guys are playing a Villanova team that you're not supposed to beat. Does that help the guys to go out there and play maybe more relaxed, get it all out there, nothing to lose?
GREG GARD: Well, I don't know. I think once the ball goes up, guys just play. And I think sometimes there's more made of that type of scenario, in terms of who's loose, who the pressure's on, who's favored. That, I think is really irrelevant in players' minds. Once that ball goes up, like I said, all of that gets flushed out, and you just play for the 40 minutes. And I think during our stretch, I don't know so much if we pressed as we played some teams that have played very well against us. We were not in sync specifically offensively. Some of that was due to Koenig being hobbled a little bit, and that put us out of sync. Even when he came back, we weren't quite as in sync was we were the last couple weeks.

It's a combination of things. I don't want to discredit the other teams' efforts and what they did, and we also saw teams fighting for post season appearances. We went to Michigan State when they needed to win. We were playing Iowa when they were still trying to fight for their post season lives. I think Northwestern, same example. So I don't want to discredit what the other teams did and how well they played against us, but I also don't want to put all the light on that our guys were feeling pressure. Hey, we didn't play well specifically offensively, and, you know, we got back to being more in sync and that's helped us.

Q. I just want to get some of your thoughts. What are your impressions when you watched Villanova in that classic National Championship game last year and do you, as a program, do you see that in a different lens having been in a National Championship game?
GREG GARD: Yeah. What I see in Villanova is a championship-program-type swagger, and I've seen it in our guys, too, just from the benefits of being in two Final Fours. They understand what it's about and what you have to go through and also that air of confidence that borders on arrogance. I mean, without being arrogant, you watch Villanova walk on the floor and they are very confident, led by Jalen Brunson, who has always been a championship level guard. Even when he was back at Illinois in Stevenson High School, he had the air about him then.

And Hart carries that same type of presence about him. You look at that and I've see it in our guys too. I think it's embedded in both programs. What was the other part of your question?

Q. Do you watch a National Championship game differently, having been in one?
GREG GARD: Not really. I probably watch it less, you know? Having been there and knowing that you -- like I said, I don't get caught up in a lot of the pomp and circumstance around it. I just lock in on the game itself, and try to watch that more so than all of the fanfare around it. Having been there, usually get to that time of year, your tank's pretty well empty, so you're trying to recharge and get ready for what's next.

So, obviously Villanova had a heck of a year last year. They've had a phenomenal year this year. I think last year helped them springboard into this year, even though they lost a few guys. But those guys that have returned really carried the mantle pretty well.

Q. Coach, how much did you expect to get from Khalil last night and how much of that carries over with your bench tomorrow?
GREG GARD: Yeah. I didn't know. I didn't know where he was going to be at emotionally. He seemed like he was okay when I talked to him over the couple days, but Khalil is also a tough read. He hides his emotions pretty well for the most part. He would be a very good poker player because he doesn't let you know a whole lot of what's going through his mind. But I thought he was terrific last night. He was a huge boost for us. He was very active. We missed him against Michigan in the championship game, there's no doubt, specifically defensively. He had played very well at Ann Arbor, a couple weeks prior, three weeks prior. So that void was evident on tape, and it was even more evident when he came back to practice last week what he added back to us.

I'm just happy for him because he's been through so much hurt and sorrow, not only with his cousins, but also what he's going through with his dad. I know he's still working to try to get through that, and rightfully so. I know how it's been for me at 46, losing my dad a year and a half ago, and for somebody to go through it when you're still in high school, I can only imagine how painful that's been for him and then to add that on top of it. It's a lot for a young person to handle. So I'm happy for him because he needed something positive. He was definitely very positive for us last night.

Q. Greg, I was just ask every coach today with the N.I.T. experimenting with the four-quarter format, I was just curious what your thoughts were on that. Would you like to see the game move that why, why or why not in?
GREG GARD: I've watched very little of the N.I.T. I watched a couple of the teams that are in it from our league. A little bit of Indiana, a little bit Illinois, a little Iowa. I don't know exactly the impact it's had. I know from talking to high school coaches in the state of Wisconsin and Minnesota, we just went to halves in the last handful of years, and the high school coaches do not want to go back to quarters. They really like the flow of the game in the halves and the way it's set up right now. So, just judging from what their feedback has been in both states, Minnesota's had it a little bit longer than Wisconsin, it's been a positive move for the game in that regard. And I probably, unless data or information tells me otherwise, I would probably be in favor of keeping it how it is. And I've always been, if it's not broke, why are we tinkering with it? I think there's probably some other things in the game we can continue to work on, rather than worrying about changing to quarters.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. Appreciate. Good luck tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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