NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - WISCONSIN VS BAYLOR

March 21, 2021

Greg Gard

Mackey Arena

Wisconsin Badgers

Postgame Media Conference

Baylor 76, Wisconsin 63

GREG GARD: First of all, obviously congrats to Scott and his team. Obviously it's a terrific team. I thought the first half we had some possessions get away from us where they got a lead on us. And proud of our guys, how we battled back the second half. Obviously got it to seven or six there once or twice, but obviously Baylor made some plays and answered that with some key buckets at times, or free throws.

But just got done with our team in the locker room, and really thanked them for everything they've done for us, not only this year but I've got a group of seniors that are obviously going out the door and really appreciate all they've given us and what they've done for our program.

With that, I'll take any questions.

Q. You talked a lot about the defensive pressure being one of their strengths yesterday. Do you think that overwhelmed your guys? Do you think maybe it took a half to get used to that?

GREG GARD: Well, obviously the numbers tell us we turned the ball over higher than normal, and to obviously a team like that, we've got to maximize possessions. I thought we did get a little sped up early, tried to play a little too fast at times. Second half was a little bit better, but obviously 14 is double about what we've been averaging, and they do a good job of -- they're athletic, they're strong, they can put a lot of pressure on at every position, specifically when they go smaller. So that obviously definitely played a factor in it.

Q. How would you summarize what this team went through this year, and in terms of being able to battle with some top-tier teams but just not being able to break through?

GREG GARD: Well, I look at this as a deeper -- it's bigger than basketball. What these guys and this group -- I've been doing this a long time, and I've never been around a group that's had to endure more over the last two-plus years, going back to Coach Moore and that whole tragedy that they still carry with them. Obviously rallying and winning a piece of the conference championship last year, having no tournament, which was an emotional blow, and this year having to navigate through a season in the middle of a pandemic and have unprecedented discipline in terms of what they had to follow every day and the protocols. We were one of the few in the country that got through without any pauses or any issues.

It really is -- I just finished with them. I thanked them for all they've done for this program, going beyond basketball and beyond even this year, because that group of seniors obviously have been through a lot, and they've had great jubilation and some extreme trials. As I told them, that's life. You're going to have some things go your way, and you're going to have some things not go your way. But as long as you're doing the best you can and giving your best effort, that's all we can ask. And they definitely every day gave us all they could.

They were able to play in the tournament this year, get one win. We obviously wanted more. But there was never a deficiency of effort and giving of themselves to our program.

Q. Baylor has been considered one of the best teams in the country all year long. I was curious just where you thought they stacked up against some of the teams you guys played in the Big Ten this year and kind of what they posed as a matchup issue, and how they stacked up as far as the best teams in the country go?

GREG GARD: Yeah, they're similar to -- they're a little similar to Illinois, minus the big guy inside. I know Illinois got knocked off today, but the guard play I think is what really stands out. That trio is exceptional. I think two of them are All-Americans. You can see why. But I even thought the difference today was Mayer, the plays he made off the bench. When they needed baskets in the second half, he answered for them. When you have guard play that good, you obviously will be one of the better teams in the country.

So from a backcourt standpoint, similar to some of the best teams that we see in our league. Front line is a little different than what we see, but those three guards are terrific.

Q. Greg, just from a basketball sense, you were competitive in so many of these losses but couldn't quite get it done and fell short of your goals. Why do you think from a basketball sense that happened?

GREG GARD: I don't know if I have an exact one -- if there's one answer to it. I think it's a multitude of reasons. If I start listing reasons, it just sounds like excuses. But we had to continue to be more consistent. We had a run there in the first half where we allowed them to get some separation from us, where we either didn't finish inside, we turned it over, they got loose in transition, and against the best teams you can't have inconsistencies in some of those areas. That's probably one of the reasons, against the best of the best, and obviously we played more than our share of the elite teams this year. You have to be able to -- our margin for error is slim as it is, and then when you get against the top-tier in the country, your margin for error becomes almost nonexistent. You have to adhere to those guidelines, principles, whatever you want to call them, and have more consistency from possession to possession.

Q. I'm not sure when we're going to get to talk to you next and this could be a transition year in terms of personnel. Where do you think this program stands right now in terms of probably most of these guys leaving and a lot of young, new faces coming in and coming back, as well?

GREG GARD: Right. Well, I think the older guys have done a really good job of putting the culture in the right spot and helping guys the younger guys, and that was the intention behind having a bigger younger group coming, be sitting kind of in the wings learning from these guys. They know there's going to be a lot of work. The older guys didn't get to this point by taking it easy.

There's going to be a lot of work they're going to have to do in the off-season, starting with spring workouts and strength and conditioning, into the summer, and hopefully we can get back to some sense of normalcy in terms of off-season training, which I think was key for us that we didn't have it last year or this past summer, and hopefully we can walk back into some sense of normalcy because the off-season is huge for everybody. It's ginormous for our program. We have to have that off-season strength and conditioning component. Not only just summer but spring and into the fall in hopefully a normal pattern where we can really help these guys prepare for what's coming.

Q. Greg, late in the second half it was a close game, then it seemed kind of like you guys were pushed away from your offensive system, kind of playing hero ball. Did you see that yourself, and if so, what do you think caused that change in the offensive attack?

GREG GARD: The defensive pressure of Baylor. They went small and were switching everything and made it really hard to be able to get to where we wanted to get to. So that was -- I'll give credit to Baylor for getting us out of what we wanted to do.

Q. How did you keep your players motivated during halftime while trailing 42-29?

GREG GARD: Well, we knew we had 20 more minutes, make some adjustments on some things defensively, try to do a better job of taking care of the ball, finish inside when we had those opportunities, and minimize the miscues where Baylor was able to get some easy offense in the first half. So try to -- they knew we had another 20 minutes, and there was going to be 30-some possessions and let's make sure we try to attack that and do better than what we did the first half.

Q. Greg, you haven't used your two bigs together much against small lineups. You went to it in the second half. Why did you go to it and what did you think it gave you?

GREG GARD: I went to it because they went with their two bigs, Vital and the other one, 0 and 23. When both of them are non-shooters, we can play that a little bit better. When they came back with Mayer, it obviously made it a lot harder to do that.

I thought it gave us some good -- we got some production out of it, but Scott countered with going back and going small again. We had to counter back to be able to chase Mayer around.

Q. Just to follow up for clarification, are you operating on the presumption that none of your seniors are coming back, some of them may come back? Where does that sit right now?

GREG GARD: I don't have any presumptions. I don't know. I'll give them some time to marinate from this and let the emotional sting of all this, of the finality of a season dissipate a little bit, and then I'll get a chance to talk to them. But right now, I don't know. And I'm not going to guess.

Q. Kind of following up on an earlier question, you talked about the strange season, but I'm wondering, what will you remember most about these last two weeks when you were in Indianapolis for an extended period of time, obviously due to the new protocols, and obviously you're leaving a little bit earlier than you would like to?

GREG GARD: Well, obviously a credit goes to our medical people and most specifically our players for getting us to this point where we could participate in postseason play. I don't think anybody on the outside realizes what these guys have had to follow since September really to try to stay on a path, to stay safe obviously first and foremost, but also put yourself in a position to be able to play games.

I think we were accustomed to this routine. Maybe not quite the lockdown or the quarantining or the really staying on a floor of a hotel and not leaving a hotel except when it was scheduled, that was an adjustment, but I think the everyday protocols, the discipline that they showed during the year helped them be able to handle what was required over the last week to two weeks that we've been here in Indianapolis.