I think it’s motivation to show these younger guys that hard work pays off, to show that what we’ve been doing in these past few years has worked. And if it’s worked in the past,...

They did a great job; everyone saw it. Just closing out the game, for them to step up and rebound and make big plays defensively, that’s what we need. If we’re going to be a...

We wanted to prove something by coming out with a lot of energy.

Everybody has to be on the same page and everybody has to have confidence. Teams are starting to tweak their defenses where they might not guard two or three guys on our team, thinking they...

That’s one of the things coach Ryan has been trying to get through to some of my teammates – when to attack…he always says when to hold ’em, when to fold ’em. I think that’s...

Definitely. I could breathe. It didn’t feel like I had windshield wipers.

We’re young. Mistakes come early in practice but it seems like the young guys are getting better and better at understanding things.

It was his day. He even said he kind of got emotional. You could tell he got emotional coming out of the game, and even before the game started. It’s great to see that.

We knew we were going to jump back into the Big Ten. It was tough taking that loss but you can’t think about it. That’s one of the things we’ve been doing so good as...

We just weren’t finishing. But we wanted to stick with our game plan. There was plenty of time left.

That’s why I have a lot of confidence still. It’s not like we’re just playing totally bad. We have to be able to close out games when it’s getting tough, when it’s getting down to...

I could breathe. I didn’t need windshield wipers this game. It feels good. I feel back to normal. I didn’t have any pain.

Those are crucial minutes. We wanted to get a good start because we didn’t want this game to resemble the Milwaukee game.

You never know what’s going to happen in the Big Ten. We have to close out as strong as we can. There’s still a possibility for us to get a Big Ten championship, depending on...

They are accepting it. We know what we have and we just have to work from there.

I want all our guys to realize that if we get a chance to play in the NCAA tournament, that’s our last chance. If we lose then, there’s no more looking back and saying, ‘OK,...

This is our last opportunity. We have to realize that. Everybody has to look in the mirror and realize we have to put it together. We don’t get a second chance. We have to do...

Defensively, his confidence is really growing. Everything coach tells him he gets done.

Stay poised. We knew they were going to get up. We just figured if we stick together, keep running our offense and don’t get rattled, we could still come out with a win.

That’s how you win games – if you’re attacking, aggressive. That was a big concentration coming into the game.

You look at their faces after a loss, it’s tough. You lose one at home in the Big Ten, it’s always tough. You have to realize that this is still early.

It’s just a great feeling, and it’s just a shame every player doesn’t get to experience this.

It’s always bad when you have to lose guys. Him being my best friend, it’s really hard to see him have to hang up his jersey. He has a great career ahead of him.

We finally put it together. We put everything together.

I know after the game our guys were limping. They were a physical team and their principles are still the same. They still get a lot of second- and third-chance opportunities. We can’t let that...

All together, I think we played a fairly decent job defensively.

When a team’s making a run, you’ve got to be able to respond.

The main thing is we can’t focus on what they’re going through and hope we get a win out of taking advantage of that.

We’ve got to get stronger. A lot of guys have got to get quicker. This is definitely a motivation game to show guys we have to step our game up another level, another notch.

He didn’t look like he was going to dunk it, so I figured I could just step in and try to alter his shot.

We need everybody in the lanes, getting a body on somebody. When you’re playing guys who are long and athletic like Pitt, coach (Bo) Ryan says you can still stop them by putting a body...

They were playing great defense and it kind of rattled us. We weren’t staying focused. We weren’t staying relaxed.

It’s tough when you lose two guys who gave you a lot of productive minutes.

It’s all about defense. Defense is ultimately going to win the game.

You never know what to look for. The minute that you think they’re going on a screen they backdoor you. … Their passes, they put the ball there before the player is there. They keep...

That has to be the worst shooting performance that I’ve ever seen.

So I see a lot that we have to offer and a lot that we can do and accomplish but it has to be for 40 minutes.

We talked after the game, but that’s enough talking. We just have to go out there and get it done now. We can’t say anything else about it. Everybody’s been making excuses about the losses...

It was a burden a lot of players put on their shoulders that they had to do certain things. That’s just hard. After losing those guys, we knew it would be tough given the numbers...

We have to close out as strong as we can. It’s still a possibility, there’s still a chance for us to win a Big Ten championship.

They never stopped. Every time it seemed like I made a cut or touched (the ball), I was seeing two or more guys coming.

I’m always shaping my game into what the team needs. This year we really need me going inside and drawing fouls. I figure I’ll always have a chance to do that.

With some of the things that happened in the past and earlier in the season, I knew we were going to go through a tough stretch. We have to stay strong. … we can’t give...

That’s how you win games, if you attack and you’re aggressive. The Northwestern game, we watched that and saw where we had a lot of opportunities where we could (have) and we didn’t attack.

They’re two freshmen, but they’re out on the floor closing out the game.

(When) you’re making your run (and) momentum is swinging your way, you just have to finish it off. It seems like we didn’t cap it off because we couldn’t knock down any shots.

It’s great to be named All-Big Ten, it’s a wonderful honor. It’s all thanks to my team, because if it wasn’t for my teammates I wouldn’t get any accolades. It’s not an individual award, it’s...

We talked about old times, about high school. James is a good friend of mine. Whenever we get a chance to meet and talk we do. So, it was along the lines of that and...

The name of a team doesn’t scare me. The name of a player doesn’t scare me. It’s an opportunity for us to win a ballgame.

He said he doesn’t get involved in all the hoopla and everything before, but you can see that he got emotional coming out of the game.