The Hawkeyes haven't had much success over the years in the Breslin Center, but they certainly gave Michigan State all they could handle in a 78-70 loss on Tuesday night. Following the defeat, Fran McCaffery discussed what changed in the second half, how his club handled the run from the Spartans, and why Joe Wieskamp is struggling.

Q: What was the big difference with Winston from the first half to the second half?

McCAFFERY: He hit some shots early. They ran a play for him to start to the second half and started screen for him. That takes a lot of attention. Yeah, he got loose, but it also created opportunities for Henry and Rocket. Those guys got going in the second half too.

Q: As you have come in here over the years, what has been consistent about this Michigan State team?

McCAFFERY: Their defense, I would say.

Q: This was a tough Big Ten game with a thrilling finish. Can you talk about the atmosphere.

McCAFFERY: It was what everyone thought it would be in terms of intensity level and atmosphere. I thought we handled all of those things except for the last couple of minutes. We were trying to get to the free throw line and didn’t get there. We had some open looks at three that didn’t go. We got some second shots, which was great, but then we had some uncharacteristic turnovers. You can’t come down the stretch and turn it over, not here.

Q: What was the difference between Garza in the first and second half?

McCAFFERY: Not much. We pretty much do the same things. We were trying to push it and throw it in there. It was pretty physical in there.

Q: You got Tillman into foul trouble early. How much did he impact things in the second half?

McCAFFERY: it was the difference.

Q: With Garza, he played 39 minutes and 36 seconds. Can you speak to how much you are leaning on him at this point?

McCAFFERY: Yeah, we are leaning on him. We are throwing it in there. We give it to him on the outside too. We couldn’t get a three from him tonight, but we throw it in to him a bunch. I would have been nice to see him get it in there in the last five minutes.

Q: Wieskamp has scored in bunches before. Is he struggling right now?

McCAFFERY: He’s struggling scoring right now, yeah. But, I think in fairness to him, he didn’t hunt shots and took good shots that were open. He was defended well, so give his opponent credit. They rotated some guys on him. But, he didn’t start jacking and losing his mind by driving into packs of people and committing crazy turnovers. He did it once and didn’t do it after that. He kept playing defense and kept getting on the glass. He’s a team guy. I feel bad that a couple of those open shots didn’t go in for him. Nobody feels worse than he does.

Q: Is it encouraging to get the complementary scoring from Kriener and Connor?

McCAFFERY: Yeah. Ryan Kriener and Connor have both had great years. Michigan State just doesn’t double. They don’t double the post and they did tonight. So they were going to live with other people scoring. Connor and Kriener stepped up for us in a big way tonight. Joe T hit a couple of big shots early. Bakari hit a couple of shots and had nine points. Our team is going to have to have that kind of productivity because they are doubling. Michigan State did the same thing tonight.

Q: Do you think Fredrick will be back on Saturday? As you look back at these three games without him, what are you most pleased with? You end up 2-1 without him.

McCAFFERY: I think it this situation you want others to step up. BK and Cordell stepped up. Kriener stepped up in a big way. Connor was a little more aggressive in scoring the ball. He did a great job tonight with 7 assists, no turns, and three steals. I think C.J. will be ready on Saturday, but he hasn’t been cleared yet. We will see how he does in the next couple of days.

Q: You probably knew a run was coming in the second half. How do you think your guys responded?

McCAFFERY: I thought we pretty much responded the entire game, until the very end. We had a couple of very uncharacteristic turnovers by guys that normally don’t do that. They were trying to throw it to Luka and throw it in, but it wasn’t there. So now you have to move it, set some ball screens and drive and kick. You might have to settle for a jump shot. They were really locked it. I said earlier, we didn’t get to the free throw line in the last five minutes because they were really locked in to stopping him, so now somebody else has to make a play because you can’t force it if it isn’t there.