Michigan State University Athletics
Post-Game Quotes: Michigan
3/9/2025 3:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
On what it feels like to have the type of appreciation he had...
It means a lot, I appreciate the fans for supporting me through the good times and the bad times and staying there. I feel like it is a full-circle moment being able to do that on my last game.
On the three threes he set and the tone that was set...
I thought I was going to get super hot today, but it was slowing down and it felt good in the moment. I was smiling and enjoying it and I feel like it did propel it. Everybody started making shots.
On what the characteristic of the team is that they have been able to win all of these games...
Our strength in numbers, we don't quit we just wear teams down as the game goes on. We know we are not going to win the game in the first 10 minutes of the game, in the first half of the game. We know its a 40 minute game and just try to stay level headed.
On what it means to have the championship...
It was my last year here and I wanted to be able to win something and I feel like winning the championship, was trying to do more but I am going to enjoy this. Knowing that that banner is going to be hanging in the building. We are going to get our names outside by the Magic statue too.
Michigan State freshman guard Jase Richardson
Pre-season did you see yourself being a primary player for this team...
Yeah I felt like coming in, my playmaking ability, just being able to get downhill and then create for myself and create for others was probably going to help the team. We have a lot of great scorers, but if we add me onto that we can create a lot more space for everybody so everybody can get more shots. I feel like that was one of the biggest things coming out of the summer.Â
Can you tell me what it means to you to win a Big Ten Championship your freshman year...
It was super special, especially senior night playing our rival and to get to send our seniors off like that is a really unique and special moment for everybody. The ending wasn't as sweet as we wanted it to be, unfortunately, but it was still a great time for everybody.
Tom said after the game that you're not the only one with a ring anymore, have you talked to your dad about that at all...
A little bit, he's still got a national championship though. There's levels to this so I've still got a couple more that I've got to get. I think he has a total of five in the two years he was here, so I'm a little behind. I've still got a high school ring that he doesn't have though. I've got to get the national one and then I can put myself in that category.
Michigan head coach Dusty May
Opening Statement...
I'll begin by giving Michigan State a lot of credit. They played with great force, determination, and they looked like a team that deserved a big ten championship. Their level of sacrifice for each other. They have such great depth, I'm sure all those guys would like to play 30, 35 minutes, and they're splitting the game based on how it's going. I will say I'm very proud of how we competed in the second half. It was hopefully a good sign going forward where we managed to take care of the basketball and not give them easy baskets, and we didn't have near as many self-inflicted wounds. But there's a great divide between first and second place, and we saw that this year. We're going to attack this with some humility and try to figure out how we can make a big jump in the next week, before we play in Indianapolis (Big Ten Tournament)."
On the altercation at the end of the game...
I didn't know there was a tradition where they're shooting free throws, and we have guys standing at half court. There's not a tradition that we can't stand on half court as the games going on, so I'm not familiar with that tradition. Is that a tradition? (Michigan communications member then explains the tradition) Oh, yeah, no problem with that. Obviously, it took longer than any f-2 timeout monitors (flagrant foul #2 reviews), but we're fine with that, they've earned the right for that. The seniors poured their hearts out, as far as the whatever happened, are we not allowed to stand at half court when they're shooting a free throw? Oh, you are, so yeah, he walked up and….. look, they earned the right to rub our noses in. That is what it is. We have to play better, we have to get tougher, so we move on, and we get to compete for another championship this week.
On his confidence in his team regrouping heading into tournament play...
Well, I had a lot of belief in our guys that we saw some things in the second half, the sense of urgency, the sense of desperation that we need to play with, the last two practices we shot the ball better than we have all year. So, I think that gives us an opportunity to get our confidence back. Confidence, you know, isn't something you can just speak into existence. You've got to put in work, there's some things we can do to help, but I thought we generated pretty good shots in the second half. Obviously, Vlads (Vladislav Goldin) such a load. Those kick-out three's, I thought a lot of them were on line, they were just straight back of the rim. They're just not dropping for us right now, but if you're not shooting well, then you'd have to value the ball even more or, earlier in the year we could overcome some of these turnover issues.
On the play of MSU freshman guard Jase Richardson...
Impressive. His poise, his ability to draw fouls, they have the unique ability to play with extreme physicality, and then when you try to match it, then they bait you into it and then they get the fouls. But Jase, man, his big three late when we made a defensive error. I thought that was a huge shot reserved for seniors in that moment, or on a run. We're guarding as well as we have in a long time, we were running good offense, not turning the ball over, and he stepped up and made a big play. He impacts the game in so many ways and his poise, is extremely impressive, especially factored in that he's a freshman.
On junior guard Tre Donaldson's struggles as of late...
Obviously, these are his better games. He's been in the film room, he's been in the weight room, he's trying to work his way out of it. I thought he had some good looks; we want him to take those shots. We actually had talked as a staff and felt like he was turning down too many catch and shoot threes. I just want to talk about the pace Michigan State, the speed, especially the first 10Â minutes that they played at was impressive. It was breaking. I mean, they were running it down our throat, they were challenging everything, they were quick to the ball, and for us to get to the point where we can great over that hump and be at a championship level, those are ultimately the things that you need. It's the steals, the threes, whatever. But in the first half, they were much quicker to loose basketballs. They were more aggressive on the glass, and so like I said, we're going to attack this with some humility and get better and see what this group can do."
Yeah, I'll begin with giving him some credit. He played with a lot more force and determination in the second half. Also, we were moving the bed- the ball-much better, we weren't stuck on one side on one side line for 15, 20 seconds, trying to attack a set load of defense, especially when Vlad's (Goldin) getting as much attention as he was, they had guards sitting behind him. So if we could have found a way to simply get to the second side quickly, I think our offense would have looked a lot better, but sometimes their intensity and their pressure keeps you from playing the way you're designed to play.
On getting the offense moving…
You know, Vlad's (Goldin) 9 for 12, 11 for 14 from the line. 
I thought as much as we can get him in a good scoring position we have to do, it's just when you come down and you stop every play, it gets challenging, but you know, I think he generated a lot of fouls, open shots for his teammates. I didn't feel like that was causing us to not be in any flow. We were turning over before we got to half court in the first half. and then in the second half, I thought we found a pretty good rhythm of insight and outside. 
We were not making the shots, but I think for this team to max out, we're gonna have we're gonna have to bang in some shots.Â
On the game being a disappointing end to the season…
You don't have a choice, you know, we're gonna learn from this, but we're not gonna look back and well, it's the same issues that we have plagued us all season, so are we gonna find solutions and fix them or we're not, and if we're not, then we're gonna have to to shoot the ball better or continue to be better on the defensive end. I believe in these guys, there's some butts to push. 
There are some lineup combinations. There's something out there that can help us get over the hump. I was very proud of our guys in the second half. 
I thought we looked like a good basketball team again for portions of the second half.
On it being his first year in the program and the team's pacing…
No, I mean personally, I think that the season gets going, and when you don't have the depth and you're in as many tough games as we've been in, you tend to overlook some of the mistakes because you're winning, and you're in position and you don't really want to- you just keep thinking we're gonna chip, chip, chip, and some of these things were rear in their heads throughout the year, but we were making shots and we found some unique ways to close games. Some of this isn't a surprise. 
It's just when you factor in the turnovers that have continued and then we're not making shots, then you get exposed for what you were doing this entire time. We were trying to hold it together at times when we weren't playing as well instead of ripping the band aid off. But also, you know, Michigan State, they've got a lot of guys that have been through these wars. 
They have great - you just see the leadership on the court and the accountability that they hold each other too. So I'm not taking anything away from them. Those guys went through 20 games, Big Ten slate and earned it and they bounced back and responded from their tough stretch and became better for it, so this was our tough stretch. 
We didn't play nearly as well as we needed to, but I do believe in the response and the character of this group, and so we're excited to go play…flush this. There's nothing we can do about it now other than continue to find ways to be better. We're excited to get to Indy. We've done well on these extended road trips when our guys are together and we spend a lot of quality time, so move on.
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