March 10, 2006

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes |  Photo Gallery

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo

Opening statement:

"I'm really proud of the effort these guys gave coming off last night. We weren't the prettiest. Illinois really pressured us and it bothered us some. But the defense we played and the job we did, most of the time rebounding pretty well -- I can't say enough. I told Shannon (Brown) when he was walking out there that it was time for a different Brown (in reference to Dee Brown) to be the hero. He did a great job. Moe (Maurice Ager) was extremely hot early. It just felt like when we had the lead with him on fire, we couldn't take a chance of getting him in foul trouble, so we had some strange lineups in there in the first half.

"Illinois is a great team. I still think they have a great shot to make a long run in the (NCAA) tournament. I'm just proud of these three guys (Shannon Brown, Maurice Ager and Paul Davis) and the rest of our team because we had a lot of play out of a lot of guys."

On Michigan State's defensive effort:

"As a team it ranks as good as any. We did a lot of things we wanted to do. We did a better job of getting around some of their ball screens.

"Our motto tonight was `never relax'. We looked at a lot of film (from previous games against Illinois) and saw us just standing around sometimes. Dee (Brown) is great at kind of lulling you to sleep when he stands in the corner. Then he comes off the double staggers and this time we were ready. Shannon (Brown) did a great job and then when we brought Travis (Walton) in he did a very good job. That's what we are. We didn't shoot bad at 47 percent against a good defensive team but we definitely won this game with our defense."

On the play of Goran Suton:

"At halftime he found a way to get nine rebounds and yet he was finding ways to do other things that weren't as productive. As I was walking in (the lockerroom) I was trying to figure out some ways to get him to take care of the ball a bit better and my assistant reminded me he had nine rebounds, so that changed a little bit of the halftime speech. He did do a good job. He has a nose for the ball. He has some of those skills and as he gets stronger he's going to get better."

On the play of Dee Brown:

"You know how much respect I have for him. I'm hoping they make a long, long run in the NCAA Tournament. We played pretty well in both Illinois games and he just made some plays. Tonight we found a way to clamp down a little bit more. Defensively we didn't really give him a single look.

"The Big Ten is going to miss Dee Brown. He's good for this league. He plays hard. He doesn't talk it, he walks it. I'll always have great respect for him."

Shannon Brown

On the late-game inbounds pass off Illinois' Chester Frasier:  

"When I saw (Chester) Frasier face guard, I knew he wasn't paying attention to me. I just took the opportunity (to throw the ball off his back)."

On defending Dee Brown:

 "We matched his intensity, and brought a little bit more intensity, and then we knew we had it. As much as we have to chase him off screens, he has to run off of them so we knew he was getting tired like we were. Our big men did a good job of bumping him off when he was coming and around and trying to curl. It was just a team effort."

On limiting big shots by Illinois:

 "As much as (Dee Brown) made shots in our first two games against them, other players made shots too. We knew we had to defend everybody. We just got down and dirty on defense."

Maurice Ager

On winning the final matchup with Illinois:

"It feels pretty good right now. They're a tough team and we can celebrate right now but at the same time we still have a job to do and finish it off this weekend."

Paul Davis

On winning the final matchup with Illinois:

"We still have a quick turnaround but during our four-year career we haven't had the best record against (Illinois). So it's a nice win, especially since it may be the last time we play them. It feels pretty good going out this way."

On chasing Big Ten Tournament and NCAA titles:

 "It's something we've been chasing for four years. It seems like every year, one way or another, we have a shot at each one. There's two left and we don't want to have any regrets, so hopefully we'll get one in two days (on "Selection Sunday") and another one presents itself and we have to focus on that tomorrow (playing in the semifinals)."

Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber

On the game:

"I think it's pretty obvious they came ready to play.  We had beaten them on senior night a week ago, so they came with a high-level of intensity, and we did not match that, especially in the first half. Second chance points just killed us. With a lot of the long rebounds, it seemed like every time they got one they capitalized on it. I thought we did compete better in the second half, but the margin was just something we could never overcome. Dee (Brown) beat them both times this year, and they made a decision. Their guys stepped up defensively and didn't let Dee get many open looks."

On possible NCAA Tournament seed:

"We had a chance at winning the Big Ten (regular season) championship. We lost a home game and didn't take care of business, and we had no one to blame but ourselves.  It's the same situation now. We've put ourselves in jeopardy to drop a seed. When you lose to Michigan State, they are a very good team. They have three of the best players in the country.  I hope it shouldn't affect us. We've got to wait and see, but if we drop a seed, we've got no one to blame but ourselves."

On Michigan State's defense:

"They were much more aggressive on defense. You look at last week where they played Thursday night, then had a one-day turnaround. We had the Tuesday game and it seemed like we had the energy and they didn't have it. Now, they played last night and came back and their level of intensity was much higher than ours."

On his underclassmen getting more tournament experience:

"I told them after that I hope they hurt a little bit. This is a dress rehearsal for the NCAA (Tournament) and the next time we lose we go home and we don't get to play. I think it's a good experience for our guys."

Big Ten Men's Basketball

Printer-friendly format	Email this article