I’m more disappointed how we played in the first half. It kind of set the tone for the game. In the second half, we probably outplayed them in every facet of the game. … We...

You know me, I don’t feel like we’re ready, but I do think we can get ready in four days. Illinois is playing awfully well, they haven’t lost many games in the last couple years,...

We played well in spurts and I thought we hurt them with our transition game. We weren’t rebounding well enough to get any breaks going in the first half. Rebounding is our Achilles’ heel right...

There are times when I knew people hated to come in here. And once your streak is broken there’s a difference. You’re invincible, but once you lose there’s a little chink in the armor.

As I look at that situation, because you can’t help but see it, I feel for Mike Davis. I believe he’s been under the gun maybe a little more than he should be.

We’ve got a good enough team to win the next six games and we’ve got a good enough team to lose the next six games and I think a lot of teams are in that...

Not many teams have the dual threat that Indiana has. Ironically, I think at times we could be one of the teams that does.

Illinois and Michigan State are both going to play pretty good defense. They’re playing a little better than we are defensively right now, and I guarantee you both teams are going to run.

The officiating, I question it. I really do. I question it. I guess I’m allowed to say that.

The common battle cry is that it all evens out. It will never even out because you never know which years certain teams are good.

Maurice has struggled lately. And (yet) I don’t think there’s anybody I’ve ever coached who wants to win more than he does.

That was a big game, including the way we won it.

He played like a warrior. … Making those free throws and all, he played his tail off. And there’s just a comfort level with the guys and … ah, it was big.

I did not like the way it was called. Every time we touched a guy there was a foul.

In our losses to Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, we’ve had serious foul trouble at key times. Maybe we’ve had leads or were playing good, but it changed the complexion of the game.

Bernard Cote played better for them and I think if he continues to play better that will be important for them in the future.

I’m really excited. A lot of our older players were here. I felt like the old guys were back and we played our old style.

It has been an incredible year for me, … When I got back, I had a meeting and told my team, ‘If you can be as disciplined and focused as our troops over there, we...

He was good. That’s what he can do: He can shoot it. And I think it was good for him to get a little a confidence, some shots up and a little playing time.

I’m only embarrassed that in front of our two most famous alums, we didn’t play with that same kind of tenacity.

He kind of thrives on pressure, he kind of thrives on big moments. He took control of the game, under control. And that speaks volumes of a player when he can take control of game...

I thought they were physical. I thought they checked us. I thought they got to loose balls.

We’re the ones coming off two losses, and they beat us down there. I’m sure they’ll be hungry, we’ll be hungry. I don’t know if it’ll be more or less, but I know what we’re...

What I think a successful program is, is not the one who wins it every year, but the one that is truly knocking at the door and everyone knows every year. They are a threat...

It’s as competitive as it’s been since I’ve been at Michigan State.

I think we were too aggressive. Every time we touched a guy, there was a foul.

The NCAA wants you to make sure nobody’s fighting, and then they don’t want you breaking it up. My assistant doesn’t deserve any of the blame for that; I do. I didn’t appreciate the double-technical...

He had someone die over in Iraq that was close to him. I don’t want to make a big deal about that. It’s just something that bothered him that he didn’t let us know about...

Maybe that’s why I’m walking gingerly, I’m not as excited where our team’s at yet. Because there’s a train wreck coming.

Before Christmas I thought he was hitting a little bit of a wall, but after Christmas I thought he really started to understand things a little bit better and run things a little bit better....

We were out of sync.

I think his team has definitely gotten better since the year started. I think that team could come into next year as the most improved team in the league.

They’ve had moments when they’ve been real good and not as good, and so have we. They still have some vulnerability just like everybody in this league does. It was just two games ago that...

The turnovers, I told you, would make a big difference in the game. We did a great job there.

I’m not sure how many people would have picked us to win either road game. We played at the two toughest road places.

I kind of respect and understand his theory, because it’s a lot like mine. He looks at it like the only way he’s getting to the NCAA tournament is to win his league, so if...

As hard as they played, I kind of enjoyed watching them. I don’t know if they’ll ever hit that many 3s again. But I know we’re going to play better defense. And we might have...

I can remember back in the championship years winning by one point and two points against teams that weren’t as good. I’m gonna chalk this up to a win when we weren’t at our best.

They’re playing for a Big Ten championship. They haven’t done that for a few years now, and they’re playing a team that beat them handily. The schedule is somewhat in their favor, somewhat in Ohio...

If you look at our home and road stats, they’re enormously different. Most teams are different, but not enormously different. You get in a little slump, and you don’t get the confidence of the home...

I was proud of my team, staff and assistant coaches, it was a heck of a job. They were a good basketball team and put more pressure on us than Wisconsin. Our shooting and rebounding...

I think it’s really important, for two reasons. No. 1, for the games themselves, and No. 2, so that we don’t get a false sense of where we are.

We did a pretty good job on a lot of guys, just free throws, free throws, free throws.

Our defense was very, very good against a very complex offense at times. A week prep for that offense helped us.

It’s not an excuse. He just struggled as you saw. It was one of his worst games. I felt for him after, and I felt for him that he tried to hold it all in,...

I’ve tried to just keep my mouth quiet. It is a brutal, brutal, brutal schedule. And if you go through everyone’s schedule, which I’ve done, there’s no one even close. But so be it.

If we hadn’t done it before and played well for an extended period of time, I’d be panicking more than I am. I know in the areas that we’ve struggled, we’re better than that.

He is a product of staying four years. He is having an incredible senior year. He’s under control more. He deserves a ton of credit for changing his game. I hardly see him forcing his...

A 12-4 record could win it this season, with an outside chance for 11-5.

Iowa’s good enough to win the Big Ten title. They’ve helped themselves this week by beating Indiana (Saturday) and us.