NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - IOWA ST. VS WISCONSIN

March 20, 2022

Greg Gard

Brad Davison

Tyler Wahl

Johnny Davis

Fiserv Forum

Wisconsin Badgers

Media Conference

Iowa State - 54, Wisconsin - 49

MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard, please.

COACH GREG GARD: All right. Obviously not the way we envisioned it ending in terms of the season. Credit to Iowa State and congratulations to them and good luck in the next round.

I spent most of the time here in the locker room with these guys just talking about the journey they've been on and thanking them for everything they've done for our university, our state, our program, coaching staff, and most importantly, what they've done for each other, how they've bonded together, how they've grown. Obviously it stings and it's hard today, but these guys have done a lot and accomplished a lot this year and overcome a lot of odds and a lot of doubters.

So we'll reflect on this. It will get better as time passes in terms of taking the season as a whole. Proud of the group and the effort. Effort was never anything I had to coach and as a coach, when you can walk into a locker room and know that you don't have to worry about coaching effort, you're typically going to have a good team, which we did. So shot the ball uncharacteristically poor today, turned the ball over. We're No. 1 in the country in fewest turnovers. Today we were not. And obviously at this time of year it's a one-game playoff.

So with that, I'll take questions.

Q. Brad, after the handshake line you kind of stood there and just walked around the court for a second before leaving. What was going through your head in that moment?

BRAD DAVISON: Just a lot of emotions. I just get overwhelmed with gratitude for the career I've got to experience here, but also just for the relationships and the people that I've got to do it with. So I was just taking a moment to look around at all the red and to be on the floor in the arena with the jersey on. Look at my parents and my fiance and friends, just special moments, taking pictures in my head. That's kind of what was going through my mind.

Q. This is for Brad and Tyler. How much do you think Chucky's injury impacted your offensive rhythm? Is that something you could feel out there on the court?

TYLER WAHL: Chucky's a great player, a great point guard. He's another piece that really holds us together. Seeing him go down hurts us, but we tried to rally together and you could definitely feel his presence not out there.

BRAD DAVISON: We have an offensive game plan, defensive game plan. He's a big leader, a big foundation of what we try to do, so when we lost him, we had to kind of make audibles on the runs. It was kind of like next man up mentality. We gave full effort, just turned the ball over a few too many times and missed a little many shots.

Q. Brad, how do you want people to remember you when they look back on your career with Wisconsin?

BRAD DAVISON: Just somebody who gave their heart and soul to try to be a great teammate and a great leader and a great friend and brother, that tried to do everything he could to help his team win.

To be honest, I hope basketball's not the first thing that people think about when they think of me. I hope it's about an interaction that we had or maybe a picture or an autograph or a conversation. I hope it's something bigger than basketball or just me wearing the 34 jersey. I hope that's how my teammates see me and my coaches view me as well, because those are the things I really value.

I love the game of basketball but I know I'm not defined by my performance or wins or losses. I know where my identity lies. That's what scripture says about me, but that's also what my teammates think about me and my coaches and my family and my friends. So I'm content, but with that being said, I just hope people remember me as a great teammate, great leader and great friend.

Q. Johnny, how much of your guys' struggles on offense today had to do with their defense and how much do you feel it had to do with what you guys were doing?

JOHNNY DAVIS: They put a really good pressure defense, they did a really good job of taking away passing lanes. I just think that we just straight up missed shots and didn't share the ball the way we were supposed to.

Q. Johnny, Brad was asked what's running through his mind. I'm just curious, as you were walking off the court, walking to the locker room, what's running through your mind as to today, this loss and your future?

JOHNNY DAVIS: Obviously a little hurt from the loss. I didn't want the season to end this way and, you know, for right now I just want to cherish these past two years I've had at Wisconsin and finish school this semester and just -- you know, I just want to stay in the moment for right now.

Q. For Johnny and Brad, with this home state support you had here, the fans in the stand on their feet, you got some open looks in the second half that could have made it a one-possession game a couple times. What was it like taking those shots and not seeing them go in? Obviously you had some good looks.

BRAD DAVISON: You never want to miss shots. You're trying to get good looks. That's why you play the game and why you run offenses, try to get the best look, and sometimes they just don't go in. We have confidence in ourselves and confidence in our teammates, but you've got to try to find other ways to win and we came up a little bit short.

JOHNNY DAVIS: Yeah, that's the game of basketball, sometimes you make shots, sometimes you miss shots and, you know, it was one of those days for us.

Q. Johnny, Gabe Kalscheur was kind of a thorn in your side almost the whole game, especially his scoring presence today. What was he doing that kind of got the edge over you guys?

JOHNNY DAVIS: He did a really good job of using screens to free himself and then back-door cuts as well, he had a couple of those. I would say he does a really good job of coming off screens and being ready to shoot the ball.

MODERATOR: Guys, thank you. Questions for Coach, please.

Q. Greg, you said at the top that you had to focus on the totality of the season, but what are your emotions right now, first seeing Chucky go down and seeing the season end as it did today this way?

COACH GREG GARD: Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is obviously the last time I'll have that group in the locker room. It's not -- it's not the actual game itself, it's the finality of the season and finality of a journey that's been a long time in the making. So it's those things. It's the relationships. Not that the relationships will end, but they're going to take a different -- you know, as guys graduate and move on and those type of things. That's the thing that as a coach you always miss the most. The loss, yeah, that stings and we didn't play well enough, shoot well enough, take care of the ball, but it goes beyond that. The finality of that last time and not being able to go to practice tomorrow, next week, those type of things. It's going to end at some point in time, you just try to hope that you can keep stringing it out for another day.

Q. Greg, what update can you provide on Chucky's injury and his immediate future here?

COACH GREG GARD: Yeah, he's in a lot of pain. As you saw, he's on crutches with the boot and got it wrapped. I haven't talked to our trainer or doctor yet, I just talked to Chucky and he said he's in quite a bit of pain. You know, we'll make sure he's in good hands and get him healthy, get it figured out exactly and get him healthy.

Q. Without Chucky in the second half, how did you want to balance the backcourt rotation in the second half?

COACH GREG GARD: Yeah, it puts us down another one. We had Lorne Bowman who had been with us for three quarters of the season, so we're down another point guard. We had to make shifts by committee a little bit. Brad there more than planned. Obviously I even put Johnny there. At the end. I had Isaac Lindsey for a couple minutes. Yeah, when you lose somebody like this, it leads us in an assist or facilitates the ball, what he does defensively. We played 30-some games with him at the helm and at this point in time in the season, it's -- injuries happen, I understand that, but I think -- I thought we bounced back okay emotionally from it. But obviously when you have to make an in-game adjustment like that, you're having -- not making great decisions as it is in terms of our turnover ratio. We needed to have him on the court. It would have helped.

Q. Could you just reflect on what Brad Davison has meant to you personally as a coach and also for the program in total over the course of his five years?

COACH GREG GARD: He's been a coach's dream. He's given everything and more than we've ever asked for. You always know that he's going to give you everything every day. His teammates follow that lead. He's been a leader in our locker room since pretty much the day he walked in as a freshman or shortly thereafter and he's helped set and maintain a terrific culture of how we have to do things every day, how you go about your everyday life, and he's taken a lot of flack for things over the course of his career, but when you really know him, you know who he is as a person.

Like I said, as I told the team, hopefully our younger guys have taken lessons from all of our older guys, things that can help them not only in the game as they walk into their next year, but also how those lessons can help them in life. Brad has been -- he's been special, you know. He's been special. I can't say enough about him. I knew this day was going to come at some point in time, but from a coaching standpoint, I couldn't have -- asked, we couldn't have asked of anything more. He's given absolutely everything he's had to this program in so many ways and tried to make sure it was focused on the right things. He's definitely left an exceptional mark on this program, past and future.

Q. Greg, Johnny had a spurt or two, but it seemed like it was difficult for him to get into a rhythm. I don't know how much of that was his ankle or Iowa State was doing something out there, too. Did you find a hard time to kind of get him going?

COACH GREG GARD: Yeah, I thought, you know, ability to play off two feet at times. You know, they did a good job of crowding and sending help towards him. You know, we were able to get enough established in the post to either -- that would have given him some more freedom and some more opportunities. Tyler getting in foul trouble hurt us. It got him out of rhythm.

I'll know more as I look through the tape and see, but I thought we had some good looks, too. I know we're 2-22, but I would say for the most part until right at the end, most of those were pretty decent looks that you've got to take, especially with how they're playing with packing things in and trapping the post. Those are things you've got to counter by knocking down some shots.

Q. I don't know if you know Johnny's future or his plans, but what do you hope for him regardless? What will you advise him? Because a lot of people maybe not with his best interests at heart may be giving him advice. You know him. What do you want him to consider, talk to, research, that type of thing?

COACH GREG GARD: Yeah, that will all play out as we walk forward. Obviously he's an exceptional player, he's had an outstanding year, he's an amazing talent, but he's given a lot to this program, you know. To see the hurt in his -- in the locker room for him. Wearing that Wisconsin jersey meant -- means an awful lot to him. And whatever happens, you know, he's obviously got a future in this game. I'll help him however I can and help guide him and his family through that wherever, if things work for him.

I want what's best for him and if an opportunity's the best thing for him to do that, then he's got my full support regardless. They all do. Obviously I know he's in a position where he's going to have an opportunity or a decision to walk through.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.