Post-game press conference notes

[azimmerman_1]

Chris Collins:

Opening statement: Obviously I'm down about tonight's game. Not how about we played but the result. i thought that was a very high-level basketball game. I just want to thank our fans. The student-section was packed, the place was packed, and our guys really fed off that energy. We played incredibly hard, we didn't play perfect, but to have 17 assists and 3 turnovers, we just kept battling and fighting. Give them credit, Iverson had a couple drives that were big, Davison has a pull-up that hit the rim like five times, give him credit, it was a big shot. It just didn't come out our way.

On the defense against Happ: I wouldn't say he was flustered, he is a difficult guy to play against. You have to pick your poison a little bit. So maybe it caused them some problems early but they adjusted and we lost Trice a couple times, Ford a couple times. You have to make the decision about the double teams and giving up 3s, and then we shut down the 3-point line but he scored three of four times around the bucket.

On the final possesion: Vic was the first look and Aaron was the second look. I thought he got a clean look, it wasn't wide open, but all things considered you got a good shooter a look.

On Miller Kopp: I was proud of his fight, I thought he competed. He's still finding his way as a player in this league. I loved that he took his shots with confidence. I thought he did a lot of good things.

 

[azimmerman_1]

Greg Gard:

On the game he expects against Northwestern: We didn't think it was going to be easy. They've got good players, preparing for tonight we knew it would be [a tight game], but we come in here with a lot of good teams that have struggled throughout the years. It makes this league fun.

On the defense against Happ: Lotta extra help, sending the nearest guy. It wasn't a whole lot different than the first time. Ethan used dribbles before he needed to. In the second half there was more space around him, we tweaked some things but he made some decisions better.

On why Northwestern's offense has been struggling: This league is tough, we've had sixteen league games, all but one or two have come down to the final minutes. They've had a ton of games with a shot up and the horn going off. There's a fine line, Law and Pardon played really well tonight, they're all-conference type performers.

 

[azimmerman_1]

Dererk Pardon:

On the atmosphere: It was great. I love it. They come out and support us every night, I'm so thankful for them.

On defending Happ: I thought we did a really good job, just making his catches and touches hard, that's what we try to do in the majority of the game. I felt like we got stagnant on the pass out of the double teams, so we kinda went away from it.

On the team's scoring: We have the utmost confidence in all of our guys. Tonight it was me and Vic, another night it could be Miller, or Aaron, or A.J..