A lot of times, shooting becomes contagious, and once they started knocking down shots, there wasn’t a lot we could do about it.

His courage, the way he put us on his back offensively, was outstanding. You saw him will his shots in. You saw him will us to a victory.

Hopefully, being an older team it can work in your favor. Hopefully, we can take charge of that (opportunity in the NIT) and do very well.

We have respect for their team and their program. They’ve been able to do something we haven’t done to get here, and that’s go outside their home arena and win.

I think he’s been everything to this program. He’s been an absolute high-level competitor since the day he stepped foot on campus. I’m going to miss him, as a coach and as a teacher. He’s...

We held serve at home and I’m really proud of our seniors and our veterans the way we fought back. And I can’t say enough about Michigan State.

We have no choice and it’s going to be a tough game. It’s going to be a competitive game and I’ll be very disappointed if we don’t bring the fight and spirit that we had...

I thought our veterans really led the way with a lot of toughness and a lot of heart. And certainly our crowd this evening really pulled us through tonight.

He certainly played at a high level.

Hunter was a big difference for us … I thought he had a really, really solid game.

We have the kind of kids who are going to respect their opponents and prepare the right way. I love that about our kids and our program.

I was really happy the way we shared the ball. And we played much better defense in the second half.

That is probably going to have some health luck along the way. The team that does not have any serious injuries or defections or (academic) casualties, if you will, in any shape or form.

Anytime you’re thought of by your peers in the coaches’ poll and you guys (media in attendance) thinking of us in a positive way with our program and team right now makes you feel good....

I do think right now he’s giving us a stabilizing feel.

I think it would be helpful that we anchor it for a period of time. We could build up some kind of brand loyalty and recognition for where our tournament is located.

We had breakdowns. You have to give them credit for how they played tonight.

I am biased to our seniors. I am very much attached to that group of players. They are the type of players you always want to be in your program. They have done anything and...

I told him prior to (the Northwestern) game – in front of the team – that it was important for him to stay aggressive, and I wanted him to listen to me and not worry...

We can say that or cry about that, but nonetheless, we have to keep fighting. Obviously, it didn’t help us to have him go down.

They were charged. They were ready. It was role-reversal from the previous game.

It’s a signature win for us because we recognize how good Illinois has been. It was also important for us to stay in the thick of the Big Ten race.

We have no one to blame. That’s what I wanted the kids to know.

Any time you can win a championship and hang a banner, those are very positive moments. And obviously, you feel better about yourself going into the next season.

They brought it from the opening tap, and they had us on our heels early. They had so much energy, and it’s disappointing in some ways because it seemed like we helped them get that...

It feels great. But we know things like this can be short-lived. While we’re here, we’re going to try and enjoy it.

When you look at their team, it looks like they’re defending. It looks like they’re having some fun.

For us, we know the rivalry, the proximity and that we hadn’t won this game in a long time, so we’re pleased. The focus for us was to try to stay in the hunt for...

Hopefully this is a week that will allow us the opportunity to work on fundamentals.

On the floor, I thought we had a terrific defensive performance. I thought we were very active, I thought our team shared the basketball really well. We certainly tried to take care of it. Obviously,...

I have a lot of respect for what Coach Odom has done with that South Carolina program.

He’s such a threat out there. Sometimes confidence can waver game to game and moment to moment, but certainly for us to have a chance on Saturday, he’s got to play well for us.

He was a catalyst for us. We were fortunate that he was feeling it to shoot such a high percentage.

I can’t say enough about the effort Graham Brown gave us against a frontline like Indiana has.

They were charged; they were ready.

I think it’s great for college basketball. It’s great for teams and it’s great for everyone at the end of the season to have renewed hope.

We realize that our challenge is going to be a very difficult one with a good South Carolina team.

I thought this was something that brought us together.

It was an incredible time for him in terms of emotions and adversity.

He did struggle. We certainly needed all of our perimeter players to play well and I thought it hurt us when Dion (Harris) got the two fouls (early). … That probably forced some other guys...

Obviously, for us to win one or two more games wouldn’t hurt. But we’re the No. 1-ranked conference in America and we’ve been able to finish .500 along with Michigan State. We’re both 8-8 and...

I said Tuesday that if the season ended then, I thought we’d be in. I feel that same way tonight. This was a good win to put on our resume.

Overall, we didn’t finish strong, it hurt us and we haven’t been selected because of it.

We certainly tried to turn it up. They missed some shots they would ordinarily make. I thought we brought our defense together where we’d be able to defend and not break down.

Both teams struggled offensively but the difference was that they were able to get to the free-throw line. They (Buckeyes) were the aggressors.

This feels great. But we all know things like this can be very short-lived. But while we’re here we’ll try and enjoy it for a minute.

They look like a very confident and spirited group right now. We’ve kind of gone on the other side of things.

I don’t think that we were sluggish. I thought they played an exceptional basketball game early and that put us on our heels.

I wish we could play. When you come off of a disappointing loss, you want to get back at it and get the feeling, the taste out of your mouth.

I thought he had a tremendous floor game. I mentioned to him at halftime that I thought he played a tremendous first half. … It was beautiful to watch him play that way.