Everything Gabe Brown said after Michigan State's win over No. 4 Purdue
Michigan State senior captain Gabe Brown got off to a fast start and helped the Spartans pull of a 68-65 upset victory over No. 4 Purdue on Saturday at the Breslin Center. Brown discussed a variety of topics with the media following the big win.
On Tyson Walker’s game-winner:
“I know Tyson’s moves like the back of my hand. I knew he was going to step back. I didn’t even go crash [the boards], because I knew it was good. I knew[Purdue’s] Sasha [Stefanovic] wasn’t going to come off me. I knew Tyson was going to hit this shot, and he hit a very big shot.”
On MSU’s energy and grit:
“We needed a win. I got tired of losing. We’ve been in close games and we haven’t been able to finish, and I just wanted to go out and get a big win. I know I’ve got to bring energy. I’ve got to be the guy each and every night to encourage my guys and lead. And that’s what I wanted to do today.”
On hitting shots early in the game:
“I always work on my shot each and every day. I had a little slump of my own, I mean, like everybody else. But, like I always say – the work is going to show up. And I just kept shooting, my teammates kept finding me and I kept believing in my shot.”
“The basket always gets bigger every time you hit your first shot. Yeah, it got to looking bigger. Right now, I’m going to enjoy this win, but we’ve got a lot more games and a lot more things that we’ve got to finish. And we’ve got a big game coming up, so, I’ve got be on my guys each and every night about just staying locked in, staying ready to play, because we’ve got a big stretch coming up.”
On forcing 17 turnovers, defensive effort:
“As a ranking of the defensive performance, I’d say that this was one of the best ones we’ve had this year. But, that’s all credit to the coaches. The coaches stay in late nights, watching film, just trying to give us a blueprint on how to go out there and guard. We did a very good job of just sticking to the plan.”
“We just stayed glued to our guys and we wanted our big men to – just basically, they’ve got to hold weight down there. There was some big boys down there, but they did a very good job of just containing them.”
On Mel Tucker being in the Izzone:
“It brings way more energy, because Coach Tucker – he’s a Spartan. He believes in it. He loves the fans. He loves to be out there, and for him to just be there at the game and just encouraging us is a blessing.”
On Max Christie, shooting sessions together:
“It helped out a lot, because we were both going through the same thing. We both had our little slump, but Max is a worker just like me. He’s in the gym all the time, and I told myself and our [grad assistant] we wanted to work out together this entire week. We wanted to get ourselves out of our own slump, and we did a very good job of doing that tonight.”
“Max is teaching me a lot of things, especially about staying in there on my shot, holding my follow-through, because sometimes I can get undisciplined. And Max is a very disciplined shooter, so he helped me out a lot with that.”
On the atmosphere at the Breslin:
“It was crazy. It was crazy, especially when Tyson hit that shot, it was crazy. But, all in all, it was a very good atmosphere and the fans got involved and helped us get a good win.”
On Mady Sissoko:
“Mady – wow. This is the first time I’ve heard Mady yell – Tonight. And that just pumped me up the entire game, because Mady don’t talk, he don’t yell that much, and when he did that – oh yeah, I knew we was going to come out with a good outcome. Mady just did a good job of playing his role, doing a very good job.”
On Purdue’s Zach Edry:
“Man, it’s crazy, but Julius Marble did a very good job – Marcus Bingham, Mady – of holding weight. That’s one thing we talk about all the time. You’ve got to hold weight when you’re down there. When they put me down there I hold weight. I’m the prime example of that. So, they did a good job of just following my lead this time.”
