NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - COLGATE VS WISCONSIN

March 18, 2022

Greg Gard

Davis Johnny

Tyler Wahl

Chucky Hepburn

Fiserv Forum

Wisconsin Badgers

Media Conference

Wisconsin - 67 , Colgate - 60

MODERATOR: The schedule for Sunday is the Badgers against Iowa State at 5:10, followed by Purdue against Texas roughly 7:40. We will hear from Coach Gard with an opening statement and then take questions for the student-athletes.

We will start with a statement from Coach Gard, then we'll take questions for the student-athletes.

Coach?

COACH GREG GARD: Thank you. Obviously a phenomenal environment in here. Colgate's a terrific team, saw that from watching all the film that we were able to look at through the week. Credit to our guys, I thought defensively middle part of the second half on we got really good. Obviously made plays when we needed to, took care of the ball, which was huge, was able to score in the paint, and then able to get them off the 3-point line and do a better job of covering up some of their looks. Terrific win, any win in this tournament's obviously terrific and look forward to moving on to Sunday.

Q. For any of you guys, Richardson out there was just knocking everything down, seemed to start the second half and then just like that it went cold. Was it a plan, was it a scheme or was it just you guys realized you need to do something different to kind of cool them off?

JOHNNY DAVIS: Stop being lazy on defense and nonfundamental, that's all it was.

Q. Johnny, can you elaborate on that a little bit? Just what was going wrong, just not chasing well enough?

JOHNNY DAVIS: Yeah, I remember one time it was me and Tyler Wahl on a little dribble handoff and I went under the flip instead of over and that gave a shooter like him, especially he's a really good shooter, enough time to get his shot off.

Q. Tyler, it appeared that the plan at least, especially right off the bat in the second half, was to get you more involved offensively early. Can you talk about why that was the plan and what you were able to do in the second half to help get things in control till Johnny took over?

TYLER WAHL: Yeah, we did have a little emphasis on me touching the ball more in the post and our team just plays better I think when we touch the post. You know, a lot of teams just ten toes when you kick it out for threes and then just closer shots.

Q. Tyler, it seemed like Ben Carlson gave you guys some pretty good minutes, especially early on. Can you talk about what he gave you guys tonight?

TYLER WAHL: Ben comes in falling for us and that was a big spark for us. We were able to get a few offensive rebounds and some second chance points off of it and that just got us going, I would say.

Q. For Johnny, I think you scored the last 14 points for Wisconsin. After y'all took the lead with that 3-pointer, what was your mindset from that point on?

JOHNNY DAVIS: That was a big shot by Steve and I feel like I've done it before, but my teammates have a lot of confidence in me, so do the coaches, to be able to close the game out.

Q. Building off that for Tyler or Chucky, what is it like for you guys as teammates when you watch Johnny get into that kind of a zone?

CHUCKY HEPBURN: No, I'm speechless, I ain't got no words to say. I just give him the ball, get out of the way. I said it before, I'm not going to say it again, love playing with him. That's one of the best players I've ever played with and I love this last journey with him.

Q. Tyler, when they put up so many threes, does that change how -- you had a lot of key rebounds. Does it change your rebounding approach? And then a follow-up question for anybody, this tournament seems to be blood thirsty for upsets. Do you feel more relief that you advanced or elated that you advanced? Thank you.

TYLER WAHL: I wouldn't say our mentality changes for the rebounds. When they're shooting those threes, the ball's going to bounce out a little farther, so everyone's got to check their man.

As far as upsets go, it's March Madness. Nothing's promised after this one game. Everyone's fighting for 40 more minutes.

Q. Chucky, talk about your defensive assignment on Cummings. It's probably challenging to simulate his level of quickness in practice. Obviously felt like he was a little confident early, but second half seemed to be a little different story.

CHUCKY HEPBURN: Cummings is a great player. I love the way he plays. I let him get comfortable the first half and in the second half I told my team I was going to shut him down, so I did.

Q. Johnny, what was it like managing your emotions in this game and in this environment? Colgate's fans were kind of getting on you a little bit. What was that process like just from beginning to end?

JOHNNY DAVIS: There wasn't too many of them, so, you know, when they were talking, I don't know how I could hear them, but I could a little bit. You know, I mean it really don't affect me like that at all, that -- just me talking and getting myself amped up just helps me play better.

Q. Johnny, building off that, what was it like to play in front of this home crowd here in Milwaukee for the first NCAA Tournament game?

JOHNNY DAVIS: It was really great. I appreciate everybody that came out. There was no way we were going to take an upset in our home state, pretty much a home game, but we need to do it again on Sunday.

Q. Johnny, your shot was not falling in the first half and I know you're a confident kid, but what allowed you to take over offensively down the stretch when your shot hadn't been falling consistently?

JOHNNY DAVIS: My teammates and coaches. Towards the end of the game, Coach was calling plays for me and my teammates told me to keep shooting the ball.

Q. This one's for Chucky. Looking at that first half from Nelly Cummings and seeing how many points he put up and primarily being tasked with guarding him in the second half, what was your mentality going into halftime in how to stop him?

CHUCKY HEPBURN: He got them going the first half and I knew that he was the leader on the offensive side, so, you know, I began to shut down in the second half, you know, and stop their offense. They still hit a couple threes, but I still slowed down their offense and we were able to get on (indiscernible.)

Q. I know both teams had a 9:45 p.m. tip, but what did you guys do to pass the time? Did you study? Did you get away from basketball? What did you do?

TYLER WAHL: Well, it's spring break for us, so we didn't do a whole lot of studying. Just watched basketball all day, hung out.

JOHNNY DAVIS: Played cards.

CHUCKY HEPBURN: I took a walk outside. I got wet, too.

MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. You're released. Then we'll take questions for Coach Gard, please.

Q. Greg, you talk a lot about defense feeding offense. Do you think that was the case with Johnny once he stopped being lazy, as you said? Do you think that fed his offense a little bit?

COACH GREG GARD: Yeah, I don't know if lazy is the right -- he's pretty self critical, if that's the right word. Obviously to try to get them off the line and he was right about -- not that he didn't go over. He didn't go over aggressively enough in some of those situations. Yeah, any time we can get our defense to turn into some offense, he's really good in transition, Chucky's good in transition, Tyler is, so if we can get that, especially with how good Colgate is in terms of squeezing the floor, if we can get some buckets before they get set, obviously he's pretty -- Johnny specifically is pretty dynamic in transition.

Q. What did Tyler give you tonight? I know you've seen him do things all year but I'm thinking of one play in particular. There was a missed three, I think, and he kept it alive, which led to a 3-point play by Johnny.

COACH GREG GARD: Yeah, he's done that all year in terms of key rebounds at big times. I thought he could have finished a little better in the paint, but we kept trying to play through him as much as we could just because of his versatility at passing and the pressure it puts on the defense. Obviously he's got a nose for the ball and he's hungry and he understands how important resetting those possessions when he does get those offensive rebounds are.

Q. Greg, Johnny says -- I know he credits you a lot for how he plays down the stretch. What do you tell him when the shots aren't falling and he scores 17 points in the second half today?

COACH GREG GARD: Well, the first half I thought we pressed -- we were pressing everybody a little too much early. I thought we were wound a little tight and it's normal. You come into this environment and they've watched games for -- it's hard sitting in the hotel room all day and play the last game. I thought shot selection wasn't where it needed to be in the first half. Second half, I thought we were a little better in terms of taking the shots we needed to take, playing through the paint more, not settling for jump shots, moving the ball more and the results obviously when you do that, you usually shoot a better percentage.

Q. Asked Tyler the same question, but seemed like Ben gave you some good energy early on. Did you like what you saw?

COACH GREG GARD: Yeah, I thought he was active on the glass. It's a tougher matchup for him just because of all the mobile fours that shot threes when Thomson came in. I thought he did a good job. He was active on the glass, got us going a little bit offensively in the first half when we were too jump shot happy by getting on the glass and finishing some plays there and keeping possessions alive. I thought he did some really good things.

Q. You guys are obviously a very battle-tested team. What did you think when you guys were kind of close there late in the second half with your defense to kind of get things going for your offense there?

COACH GREG GARD: Again, Colgate's a heck of a team and that group has had a great run. Just trying to keep them off the 3-point line as much as possible and that puts a lot of pressure on your defense. Trying to keep Cummings under control and guarding without fouling. You kind of have to pick your poison at times and I thought we were not aggressive enough, as Chucky mentioned, on Cummings early. We were too soft on the ball. We got a little more aggressive and physical with the balance in the second half and I think that helped. Obviously they came out, I don't know, what six for six to start from three? I thought Coach Krabbenhoft was going to have a heart attack in one of the time-outs. It's his scout, but they were able to final. We got it under control.

Q. Greg, your team has a knack for hitting bank shots when it really needs to happen. How big was Steven Crowl's bank with about 8 minutes to go for your momentum?

COACH GREG GARD: I could tell from where I was standing the trajectory of the ball, it wasn't going in. I was like nope, oh, good shot. I mean, bank shots, they all count the same. I'm sure he didn't try to bank it. It's something Steve can do and something he will continue to do and improve upon as he -- not bank them in. But to be able to stretch the defense that way in his size, it's a skill of his and something he's getting more and more comfortable with.

Q. Johnny's not the most outwardly emotional guy, but how does he use energy or emotion from the crowd, even the opposing crowd sometimes to help his game?

COACH GREG GARD: I would say he hates losing more than he likes winning. So for him, I've always said he's very competitive and that's probably No. 1 on his skill set. So he likes to compete and he -- you know, he doesn't express his emotions too much. Hopefully he does it with how he plays and I thought he got going pretty good in the second half there and fortunately took good shots, got to the foul line, 3-point play was big off of one of those offensive rebounds. He does what great players do, when the lights get bright, they step up.

Q. Coach, you hear so much about momentum offensively, but it was, I think, 7 minutes 7 seconds, you guys held them scoreless in the second half there. How does that sort of build and snowball defensively when things are going so right on that end?

COACH GREG GARD: Obviously it builds your confidence and if you can turn some of that defense into some offense, which we did a little bit in some of the transition plays, that helps. Again, with their ability to shoot the three, I don't think any separation is safe and that's what -- every possession gets magnified when you're only five, six, eight points up because I've seen them trim leads really quick with the three. And obviously with that many guys that can shoot it, it puts you -- puts a lot of pressure on your defense to do it right the whole possession and multiple possessions in a row.

Q. Greg, preparation is obviously challenging at this time of year. What do you know about Iowa State and what do you need to know about Iowa State?

COACH GREG GARD: They're good. They won tonight. I haven't watched one second of them yet. Coach Oliver has that scout, so he's a week into it and I'll convey with him when I get back to the hotel, and it will be a long night watching the Cyclones. They're good, though. Obviously the point guard is a good player. Up and down the line-up, know a couple of those guys that played in the Big Ten, Gabe Kalscheur, Brockington. So it's a good team. Obviously, you win and get into this tournament and you win, you're doing something right. So we'll have to use the next two days here or day and a half to prepare and be ready for Sunday night.

MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. Good luck Sunday.

COACH GREG GARD: Thank you.