Credit to UM Hoops for postgame video.

On Danny Wolf's assist ability

Just the fact that he really is a guard in a seven-footers body. The way he dribbles, the way he shoots it, the way he can create space. And so we just felt like with him, and we've been working on it the last couple weeks more extensively, as the games have bogged down, we're trying to figure out what's our best plan of attack in the half court. And that, in a small sample size, had been a really efficient attack for us. So we started trying to, I guess, just get everyone to be more aware of it. And then with Danny, because it's a new role for him, it's just hitting the singles. And he hit some home runs, but he wasn't trying to hit home runs. He just was making the right play. And so that's what I thought he did late. When he didn't have the 4-5 to Vlad, he simply made the next play. He created the advantage, he created the play, but then Roddy made the play to Vlad. So it's just us figuring out the best way for us to play. I think every team's going through it. They're still trying to figure out what they're really the best at, what they're not so good at. And some of it's trial and error, but I think it's fairly obvious when he plays at that pace, some teams are going to have to game plan to stop him.

On what he saw from Wisconsin's scheme and how to exploit it

Well, I think most of us coaches, the 4-5 ball screens, you don't see a lot. So the players don't defend them. I was concerned when they went small. Tonje was at the 4, and in my mind, I was like, let's go ahead and take a look at it when they downsized. And I thought we were still able to play over the top. And most of it was because Vlad was unpredictable with the screens when they're coming, where they're coming from. And then his angles are continuously improving. And then when Danny made the 3, it forced them to have to go over. And so there's a lot of things that go into it, but it's credit to our guys. They made plays, they played smart, solid basketball.

On what to do when Wisconsin's shots aren't falling

Well, I mean, Blackwell and Tonke, man, those guys, they shoot the 3 off the bounce, off the catch. They get downhill. They're so intelligent where they know when you reach, they make you pay. And they're strong and physical. I thought they both just find different ways to impact the game. And we took a calculated risk to plug a little more than we normally do off of their big guys. And they did knock them down tonight. And I do think our guys were active enough. And then also because we were going at them a little bit defensively, maybe they didn't have quite the legs. I'm not sure. But, you know, obviously, our game plan was to keep those two off the free throw line and try to limit their 3-point shots.

On Vlad Goldin playing physically and smart

I just think that he picks his spots really well. And obviously, he's so big and strong around the rim. I think his physicality, they were trying to do something on Ball Street that's hurt us in the past. And I thought Vlad was able to meet them and kind of hold a wall. But offensively, when you have the hands that he has and you're such a big target, we've got to find ways to continue to get him the ball. But he played at a very efficient rate. And I think he had a couple that didn't drop that we expected going forward.

On whether sharing the ball was part of the gameplan to beat Wisconsin

Well, that's the staple of, it's our identity. We typically limit teams, their assistive baskets. If you look at us historically, our defense has always been one of the top teams in the country. We're top ten now. And I think we'd be higher, but we've turned it over so many times. So teams have been able to get assists in transition after steals. And so our goal is to be top five in unassistive baskets. So it's what we do. I do think Klesmit made a couple big shots off the bounce. Those guys made some really good individual plays. And a couple of them didn't drop late, and we were able to finish with the rebounds. But for us to get that many assists was a direct reflection of us trusting each other and playing to the next thing.

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