RICHARD PITINO: Obviously excited for our program and our players to be able to advance in this tournament. Being here two years ago was great, and, you know, as a program you're always trying to move forward. So to be able to improve on getting to the tournament and advancing is huge. I loved the way that we played. Obviously we won, but I thought we played very, very well in every phase yesterday versus Louisville. Our guys battled and now we gotta be ready, obviously, because Michigan State, terrific, terrific team who is playing as good as any team in the country. They've got Cassius Winston who is probably one of the best point guards in the country and a lot of really good pieces around them, and obviously Coach Izzo does a terrific job. So it's going to be a tough job for us, but we're excited for the opportunity.

Q. Coach, what have you seen differently from Michigan State in the paint with Tillman obviously replacing Ward as far as their go-to guy inside?

RICHARD PITINO: Ward is still a factor. They've got a lot of depth. Unfortunately, they've dealt with some injuries. But they're still going to be who Michigan State is. The bigs are going to run court, duck you in early, pound the glass. They're relentless, you know. They're physically relentless and that's been the consistent theme with that team every single year that we've played them. So there is not a whole lot of drop-off.

Q. Obviously this is a unique situation having Michigan State in the second round. Is it actually a benefit for you just having the short turnaround time and being able to prep for the game because you know their team so well already?

RICHARD PITINO: I would rather place somebody else and not know them. I guess from a prep standpoint it's easier, but just because we know who they are, obviously we know they're very, very good. I'm not sure it's an advantage, necessarily, but from a short prep time, these guys know what Michigan State is all about. We got a lot of respect for how they do things. It's important to get rest. When you play a physical game like we played yesterday it's important to get rest. But watching the film and putting together a game plan on the court as well as in the film room is important.

Q. What's the difference in your team between now and the one we saw in East Lansing in February.

RICHARD PITINO: That was not a very good team at the time. We were struggling, allowing them to get out on the break. Cassius was very good. McQuaid was very good. Nick Ward really hurt us down low. Curry went down with calf issues. Playing at Michigan State is very, very hard. But we've got some confidence going now, beat Purdue twice in ten days. They're a terrific team, went in and beat a surging Penn State team and beat a Louisville team yesterday. So probably a confidence factor, feeling those wins, tasting them, offensively we played well and defensively did a lot of good things.So I think more than anything playing in the middle of the Big Ten versus the NCAA Tournament, probably mentally these guys are more locked in and feeling great about where they are and also understanding the challenges that lie ahead.

Q. Richard this will be your 24th game against a Big Ten opponent, same with Michigan State. I'm curious with the 20-game schedule and the way the brackets fell out, do you think it was fair or just, I know you guys can only do what the Committee gives you. But should the Big Ten have been matched up this early and also with a chance to have a 25th game if Maryland gets through for one of you guys?

RICHARD PITINO: You're not going to hear me complain. I don't care who we play. You're never going to hear me complain about that. We're going to play who is in front of us. Michigan State is a terrific team. In order to go to a Sweet 16 you're never going to play easy games. We take what we get. We're excited to be in this tournament and obviously excited about an opportunity to go play for the Sweet 16.

Q. Kenny Goins have been a player for Michigan State who has been a pivotal role player all year. He's struggled as of late, but how do you game plan for a guy who has been in so many different roles throughout the years?

RICHARD PITINO: Testament to him that he's gotten so much better. Works his butt off. Obviously his story is great, can shoot the ball, last night didn't shoot as well. But he's a much better shooter than that. The things they will put you in, run pick and pops, run ball screens, dive him, lift the 4 man up. So you've got to be ready to guard him. And a three-point shot that's part of their offense and they're going to rebound it. For him he's very versatile, tough, and he has the ability to stretch the defense. So it's a tough match-up for us.

Q. Given the extended run in the Big Ten tournament this is looking at the fifth game in a really short period of time. How comfortable are you energy-wise with where your guys are at and what have you done to keep them fresh with this unique situation?

RICHARD PITINO: Yeah, I mean, obviously with Matz who is going through the concussion protocol and Jordan Murphy who had back spasms yesterday and guys playing major minutes. Amir Coffey didn't come out. Dupree played a lot. Rest is important. As a coach, you've got to make sure that whatever you do with your team benefits the team not necessarily you as a coach. Coaches sometimes like to make themselves feel better on the practice court where it may not always be beneficial for them. So with one day off, you gotta get rest. It's very, very important to keep them off their feet and make sure they are getting rehab and all those things and also understand what the game plan is.

Q. Richard, watching your team since you played Michigan State earlier in the season, you guys have evolved. You're not the same team. I'm curious how has Michigan State evolved or have they stayed the course?

RICHARD PITINO: They're always pretty good. You know, I mean, they've been pretty consistent since I've coached against them. They've got the certain pillars or the way they want to play. They don't deviate from them a whole lot. Cassius is so rock solid with everything that he does. Nick Ward on and off with injuries. Those younger guys are getting better. Henry is an X factor for them on the glass. They've been good for a long time. Coach Izzo is one of the best for a reason. They are a good basketball team and they beat Michigan three times and Michigan is a really, really good team.

Q. Coaches yesterday found some spotlight for heated interaction with Aaron Henry. What's your take on how that unfolded from watching the video of it? Could you comment on what your reaction to basically the national reaction has been? There has been some negative and positive, but there has been a lot of it, regardless. What's your take on that?

RICHARD PITINO: I can tell you this, I'm not surprised that there is outrage. There is outrage with everything that goes on with everything that any of us do, so that's not a surprise. As for Coach Izzo, I've coached against him for six years and I've never seen a group of players that play harder, respect and love more than Coach Izzo. He's going to be hard on them, but every single player when he talks to them, arm around them. He's tough on them. He should be tough on them. He's in the Hall of Fame, and I didn't see too much of all of that. But I know his players love playing for him. I was at Michigan State when they had the National Championship team with Magic Johnson and all those guys that came back, and I don't know how many missed that. That's a testament to Coach Izzo. Those players are lucky to play for him. Every time I coach against him I learn something from him, so I have 1000% respect for him more than any other coach I've ever faced.

Q. Richard, just being from in the locker room now and on Wednesday seems like your team has a good camaraderie off the court. In your opinion, how does that translate on the court and do you put much stock in the whole team chemistry thing?

RICHARD PITINO: It's important from a chemistry standpoint to have off the court a respect level for each other as human beings and obviously as teammates. It's important but you've got to develop that on the court, too. That's just as important as being friends, hanging out together. There's got to be a chemistry on the court in the heat of the battle, when adversity hits being able to talk to each other, being able to push each other, being able to address something on the court the right way talking to each other and you're probably going to do. You're going to be better at that if you like each other and respect each other. Winning helps that, having good kids like we do also helps that as well.

Q. Richard, certainly Izzo is not going to let Gabe take open looks. What is the counter to how you expect Michigan State to defend him?

RICHARD PITINO: You know, Louisville has got a terrific defense and offensively I thought we executed very well. We rebounded the ball well. It all starts with us with our defense. If we can defend we can rebound and it allows us to get out on the break. That's been kind of the ingredient for us all year. When we've been good we've been able to defend. It's all about execution. We're all going to know everything that we're doing this time of year. It's just a matter of how hard do you cut, how hard do you screen, how well do you move the ball and share it?

Q. Richard, the last seven games are arguably the best stretch of Amir's career. Looking at the big picture how have you seen him develop the last three years to get to where he is now?

RICHARD PITINO: Just been a normal, natural progression. Everybody is in a rush to skip steps. For Amir he was An All-freshman player in the Big Ten. Played the most minutes in the league for a team that was a 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and last year he was playing well and unfortunately he had season-ending surgery. He's healthy and he's reliable and what he's attacking the right way he's tough to keep in front and tough when he's getting to the basket. He's played a lot of games forty minutes. That's hard to do. He's quietly a fierce, fierce competitor.

Q. Coach, you spoke about Gabe's professionalism and work ethic. How have you tried to use that as an example for other guys or has it inherently rubbed on off on them?

RICHARD PITINO: There is no better peer pressure than seeing somebody like Gabe when you break for practice and you can either go to the locker room, the training room, you can shoot half court shots, mess around with your teammates or Gabe Kalscheur will go straight to the corner and do a shooting routine, doesn't matter. He did it today. Doesn't matter where we are, when we're playing, what game we played the night before, that does not affect him. When he shoots free throws and he does his free throw shooting routine. Every free throw he points up to the sky for whatever reason. He does that when he is practicing. He is methodical in his approach and you see what he did last night. I would hope that would motivate our guys. It would motivate me.

Q. Obviously we know yesterday Jordan is going to play regardless, but how is he doing healthwise; and Matz, if he doesn't play what do you like from the guys off the bench?

RICHARD PITINO: Matz is going through the concussion protocol, so it's day-by-day there. We don't really know. Jordan has improved. He was struggling, laboring through that second half. We got a lot of treatment for him. We didn't go full-go today in practice by any means, but we held him out. But I would anticipate knowing the way I know Jordan I would be very surprised if he doesn't play.

Q. When you first started recruiting Gabe Kalscheur what were a few things that stood out about him?

RICHARD PITINO: The ability to hit shots. I know he played on a really good AAU team and he would have games where he would hit five, six threes. I did see kind of like that business-like approach, which I really liked. He's a good person, cares about being a good person, cares about winning.Those are guys that the more I'm in the Big Ten you win with guys like that. Guys that are smart players, take this thing seriously, not afraid of contact, not afraid to guard the best player. I mean, it's kind of amazing because he didn't have a lot of high, major offers. But he was a guy that we identified with, we didn't care about rankings or anything like that and we wanted him. He's been a great player, had a really good freshman year.

Q. Coach, you talk about how even keeled this team is. You have used the phrase that they didn't have a pulse?

RICHARD PITINO: Did I say that?

Q. I think so. And guys like Amir are competitive. Do you think that even keel approach is a form of competitiveness and how do you see it play out?

RICHARD PITINO: I think it's a strength. I do think when you're in the Big Ten and you're playing 20 league games and you're in, like we talked about, all the outrage in today's world you can't get too high or too low. You really can't, because it's going to happen. There is no running from that part of it in our profession today, especially with social media. So you need to be able to, if you lose two or three in a row in the Big Ten you just gotta move on. You've got to learn from every single game that you play in. Guys have had nights where they haven't hit shots and they've stayed the course. You have to do that. It's a long, long season.We're playing our best basketball now and I think a lot of that has to do with kinda the mentality of the team. They really don't get too high. They really don't get too low.

Q. Just how do you see your bigs, whether it's Daniel and Jordan or whoever else off the bench matching up against Xavier Tillman, Ward and Goins?

RICHARD PITINO: It's not easy. They're big, strong, physical, and you try to game plan for it, but when you don't have that on your roster it's hard to see. So obviously playing against them opens our eyes a little bit. But there is not a lot of front courts with that size and that physicality and as relentless as they are. We're going to have to do a great job on those guys. That's extremely important when you're playing Michigan State.

Q. Coach, winning an NCAA Tournament game hasn't happened much in the last 20 years. What does that do for the program moving forward and obviously having kids on the team from Minnesota having big moments like Gabe and Daniel and Amir?

RICHARD PITINO: Yeah, when you are building a program, winning, facilities, all that stuff is great, but at the end of the day winning is what sells your program more than anything. From a recruiting standpoint when you see a guy like Gabe Kalscheur and Daniel and Amir and Jarvis and Michael, those are five kids playing in a NCAA Tournament game and helping us win and advance, that sells more than anything else. Their families are in the stands, and, you know, they're excited about it. You see an arena that's filled with Gopher fans. That's what playing college basketball is all about. You see these players are getting better and getting that exposure. That's a dream come true. To hear Gabe Kalscheur I get chills and I'm not just saying that, but to hear Kevin Harlan calling that, that's special even for me. Winning helps and you need to be able to capitalize off that success and continue to get good recruiting classes.

Q. Did you do anything to commemorate the win or do you have any well wishes that you would like to speak of?

RICHARD PITINO: I went to dinner. Is that something? I went to dinner with my wife and my brother. No, other than that, just move on. It's a great win, you know? It's a great win. But in this tournament, it's like anything else, I told our team you got to the tournament which is a goal. Are you just happy to be here or would you like to make some noise? Obviously they showed the ability to do that versus a really good Louisville team. Now you've got your one game away from a Sweet 16. You've got to beat a really, really good Michigan State team. So, no, I didn't do anything besides get a bite to eat and watch film and try to find our guys a way to beat a really, really good Michigan State team.