Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. Tennessee Tech
12/21/2017 10:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Indiana vs. Tennessee Tech
Postgame Quotes
Dec. 21, 2017
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
COACH MILLER: Good win. And it's been a tough couple days, not just for our players, but I think our entire program. And we went back to work and really challenged our guys to get up off the mat, so to speak, even though you don't feel right, but competition is everything. I think we really competed the last couple of days in practice and I think it showed tonight that we were a harder-playing team. We were a smarter team.
And the length of different guys we were able to get in there and play was good to see because Tennessee Tech has been a pretty good team on film. They're going to have a good season. They're an older team, and they're very good off the dribble. But I thought our guys did a much better job on the ball tonight.
Q. Speaking specifically about the defense, what did you think overall was better than Monday night?
COACH MILLER: Ball pressure. Working on the ball. Everything starts and stops with something. And in our program it has to start with the ability to really defend the ball. And if you watch the two games they'll be night and day.
Our Fort Wayne performance on the ball was as soft as we've probably had since Indiana State considering some of the teams we've played and competed with. And that's where it's got to start and stop with our team. There's got to be a nonnegotiable there when it comes how you work on the ball defense.
And I thought we had much more burst in terms of our workload, and I thought we were impacting the ball a lot more and that helps. You don't give up as many 3s when they're not as comfortable. They can't pass it on time. The ball's not getting to the paint, so you're not condensing, sort of caving into the defense.
Guarding the ball worked hard on the ball for the most part all night, and I thought we made them make some tough 2s and not many good 3s, I thought.
Q. This one game, but do you learn anything from how your team responded from Monday from the last couple of days in practice?
COACH MILLER: Yeah, I think I'm going to have to be a raving lunatic every day regardless whether you win by 30 or lose by 30. It's got to be the same. There's an approach here that is easy to come off of a high and make you feel good and a lack of responsibility to understand how every game is important. And, yeah, probably going to have a lot of headaches over the next couple of months.
Q. How much do you need to lean on guys like, I know people look at the 20 points from Josh tonight, but seniors I guess?
COACH MILLER: Without question. Without question. Your best players at the end of the day have to be your oldest players. Not that they're not going to -- what I mean by best players, the guys that get it done in the tough moments, the guys that require, are requiring the other guys on the team to follow their lead.
There's got to be much more of sort of like an alpha dog approach to the upperclassmen. They just can't let that happen on Monday. And it's almost perplexing. I wasn't -- a part of the first game against Fort Wayne it's almost perplexing that the approach wouldn't have been different from the upperclassmen.
I think those guys get driven harder, Josh Newkirk, he had a couple of hard couple of practices, and forcing him to compete, forcing him to get out of his, so to speak, foul trouble and just not being able to lead us out there more. And I thought he was very good tonight. When we have decent guard play we're a lot better.
Q. Zach almost matched his shots attempted on the season in tonight's game. Are you guys just trying to push him to take the open shot when it's there, remind him that --
COACH MILLER: Part of it may have been their style. They chose not to guard him. So he found himself open and he didn't hesitate. I think in the second half the shots he got were really good ones, and I was happy to see him make a couple because that's a big thing for him is being able to create a little offense out there. But Zach's done a nice job. He's been a really nice, bright spot for us in the month of December.
Q. You've got a lot more from McSwain tonight. Seemed to take advantage of the opportunity. Is that part of that competitiveness these last couple of days?
COACH MILLER: Without question. Everyone wants an opportunity. There's a guy on our team that doesn't want to play more. Freddie is no different. There's productivity and there's getting the job done every day and attitude is everything. And I think Freddie, the last few days in practice, did a nice job. And I thought in the game tonight he got off to a little bit of a rocky start but he kept with it.
And when De'Ron went out with his first-half injury he was required to play more. When Freddie plays per minute he's probably one of the best rebounders in the country, and I think he showed that tonight. And I was happy for him to get in there and bang around.
Q. Looking forward, what do you want to use -- what's the schedule, I guess, for this sort of week off and what do you want to use?
COACH MILLER: Christmas break, our guys deserve a little bit of a break here. And we'll be back on the 26th ready to practice. And those practices on the 26th all the way leading into Youngstown State will be similar to the practices we had this week. We have to go to work.
We've got to keep pushing through. And after you get through Youngstown State at that point you have another window before you start Big Ten play. And from that point on, you're not going to have a lot of practice time due to how the Big Ten schedule is. So this is an important time period to recover, an important time period when we get back how we have to practice leading into the Big Ten.
Indiana Players – Josh Newkirk and Josh McRoberts
Q. Josh, 20 points tonight on just nine shots. Just looked like you were really confident and assertive especially in transition. Kind of pointed at -- this is for you?
JOSH NEWKIRK: No, I just let the game come to me. My teammates did a good job finding me in open spots and I just knocked down shots.
Q. Zach, you looked more aggressive with your shot tonight. Coach has been talking to you maybe about hunting for your shot a little bit more than you have? Has anything changed in that regard?
ZACH MCROBERTS: I wouldn't say hunting for shots, just taking open ones. That's something that comes in practice, just being aggressive every day and carrying that over into games.
Q. Your only three 3-pointers have been in the last few games. Is that something you see yourself doing more?
ZACH MCROBERTS: Just if I'm open, taking open shots. That's really what I'm looking to do.
Q. Josh, can you talk about the importance of playing well tonight after what happened on Monday?
JOSH NEWKIRK: It was very important. We had to respond. We had to get back and fix some things. So it was important for us to bounce back and just get our momentum going after this game.
Q. I think Coach was saying on the pregame radio that last couple of games really ate at you guys and there was a couple of hard practices. What did the last few days look like for you guys? What went into regrouping and moving past Fort Wayne?
ZACH MCROBERTS: Just getting back to work, getting after each other in practice and being ready to go tonight. That's about it.
Q. What do you feel you did different tonight versus the other night, (indiscernible)?
JOSH NEWKIRK: I think we just had a different approach. We came into the game, played hard, stuck to the defensive schemes. And we just moved the ball well on offense.
Q. Josh, you guys had a pretty sustained defensive effort for most of the 40 minutes. Only gave up five 3s. Did you feel it was a sustained effort being out on the floor, and if so what went into that?
JOSH NEWKIRK: I think so. We just made a concerted effort to close out with our hands, making it difficult for the shooters to get shots off and just playing hard.
Q. Josh, Coach talked about Zach's defense in particular having kind of the long arm, big body. What does he bring to you guys on the offensive end of the floor that's growing, I guess, in your eyes?
JOSH NEWKIRK: Knocking down shots, staying on the offensive glass. He brings a lot of energy to the team, moves the ball well. And he's great for us on the offensive end.
Q. Josh, big picture going into the break here, you've had some really good games and you've had some clunkers as Archie Miller has said. Where do you feel you guys are at as far as your level of play heading into the break?
JOSH NEWKIRK: We can only build off today. We had a good game today. And we just want to keep this momentum going forward.
Tennessee Tech Head Coach Steve Payne
Q. Talk a little bit about how you guys brought it within three with about four to five minutes to go in the first half and then to see them take off from there.
STEVE PAYNE: I thought they played with a lot of energy defensively. They did a good job on our best players. I thought we were our own worst enemy in a lot of cases, but I certainly don't want to take anything away from them. I thought their energy and effort defensively was outstanding. Their execution and physicality was great and we did not respond the way we should have.
I'm not sitting here thinking we played very well obviously, but I also think they had a lot to do with that. I thought they responded from a performance that they were despised kind of like the one we had ourselves tonight very well and they were more like the team that beat Notre Dame and played Duke and those teams tonight effort wise and that's what you want your team to do and we will see if we'll do that in the next game and we're certainly going to have that opportunity to do that next game.
Q. Who were you impressed with Indiana the most?
STEVE PAYNE: To be honest, there inside guys are really good. I thought that they did a lot of good stuff tonight. But I was more worried about Tennessee Tech than Indiana. I think Coach Miller is going to be fine. They are going to be the Indiana Hoosiers. But my main concern when I'm watching is Tennessee Tech. We were concerned defensively with keeping the ball out of the post. I think we did a pretty good job at that, but they got us on the offensive glass some.
I thought their guards played under control, they only turned it over 10 times. We thought we could turn them over some. I just think that they played a very good game. They are going to be a very good team. They are in a program that is used to winning and they responded the right way. I'm impressed with their program and their team.
Q. The way they played against Fort Wayne, how much did you talk to your team about how it wasn't going to be the same kind of game tonight?
STEVE PAYNE: We talked about it, but I told our guys that if we played well we'll have a chance and we didn't. I felt our goal and the only thing we talked about Fort Wayne was that if we get it around the 10-minute mark and we make a run then the pressure will be on them. We didn't get it there and they started getting some baskets. That's just kind of the way it goes.
Postgame Quotes
Dec. 21, 2017
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
COACH MILLER: Good win. And it's been a tough couple days, not just for our players, but I think our entire program. And we went back to work and really challenged our guys to get up off the mat, so to speak, even though you don't feel right, but competition is everything. I think we really competed the last couple of days in practice and I think it showed tonight that we were a harder-playing team. We were a smarter team.
And the length of different guys we were able to get in there and play was good to see because Tennessee Tech has been a pretty good team on film. They're going to have a good season. They're an older team, and they're very good off the dribble. But I thought our guys did a much better job on the ball tonight.
Q. Speaking specifically about the defense, what did you think overall was better than Monday night?
COACH MILLER: Ball pressure. Working on the ball. Everything starts and stops with something. And in our program it has to start with the ability to really defend the ball. And if you watch the two games they'll be night and day.
Our Fort Wayne performance on the ball was as soft as we've probably had since Indiana State considering some of the teams we've played and competed with. And that's where it's got to start and stop with our team. There's got to be a nonnegotiable there when it comes how you work on the ball defense.
And I thought we had much more burst in terms of our workload, and I thought we were impacting the ball a lot more and that helps. You don't give up as many 3s when they're not as comfortable. They can't pass it on time. The ball's not getting to the paint, so you're not condensing, sort of caving into the defense.
Guarding the ball worked hard on the ball for the most part all night, and I thought we made them make some tough 2s and not many good 3s, I thought.
Q. This one game, but do you learn anything from how your team responded from Monday from the last couple of days in practice?
COACH MILLER: Yeah, I think I'm going to have to be a raving lunatic every day regardless whether you win by 30 or lose by 30. It's got to be the same. There's an approach here that is easy to come off of a high and make you feel good and a lack of responsibility to understand how every game is important. And, yeah, probably going to have a lot of headaches over the next couple of months.
Q. How much do you need to lean on guys like, I know people look at the 20 points from Josh tonight, but seniors I guess?
COACH MILLER: Without question. Without question. Your best players at the end of the day have to be your oldest players. Not that they're not going to -- what I mean by best players, the guys that get it done in the tough moments, the guys that require, are requiring the other guys on the team to follow their lead.
There's got to be much more of sort of like an alpha dog approach to the upperclassmen. They just can't let that happen on Monday. And it's almost perplexing. I wasn't -- a part of the first game against Fort Wayne it's almost perplexing that the approach wouldn't have been different from the upperclassmen.
I think those guys get driven harder, Josh Newkirk, he had a couple of hard couple of practices, and forcing him to compete, forcing him to get out of his, so to speak, foul trouble and just not being able to lead us out there more. And I thought he was very good tonight. When we have decent guard play we're a lot better.
Q. Zach almost matched his shots attempted on the season in tonight's game. Are you guys just trying to push him to take the open shot when it's there, remind him that --
COACH MILLER: Part of it may have been their style. They chose not to guard him. So he found himself open and he didn't hesitate. I think in the second half the shots he got were really good ones, and I was happy to see him make a couple because that's a big thing for him is being able to create a little offense out there. But Zach's done a nice job. He's been a really nice, bright spot for us in the month of December.
Q. You've got a lot more from McSwain tonight. Seemed to take advantage of the opportunity. Is that part of that competitiveness these last couple of days?
COACH MILLER: Without question. Everyone wants an opportunity. There's a guy on our team that doesn't want to play more. Freddie is no different. There's productivity and there's getting the job done every day and attitude is everything. And I think Freddie, the last few days in practice, did a nice job. And I thought in the game tonight he got off to a little bit of a rocky start but he kept with it.
And when De'Ron went out with his first-half injury he was required to play more. When Freddie plays per minute he's probably one of the best rebounders in the country, and I think he showed that tonight. And I was happy for him to get in there and bang around.
Q. Looking forward, what do you want to use -- what's the schedule, I guess, for this sort of week off and what do you want to use?
COACH MILLER: Christmas break, our guys deserve a little bit of a break here. And we'll be back on the 26th ready to practice. And those practices on the 26th all the way leading into Youngstown State will be similar to the practices we had this week. We have to go to work.
We've got to keep pushing through. And after you get through Youngstown State at that point you have another window before you start Big Ten play. And from that point on, you're not going to have a lot of practice time due to how the Big Ten schedule is. So this is an important time period to recover, an important time period when we get back how we have to practice leading into the Big Ten.
Indiana Players – Josh Newkirk and Josh McRoberts
Q. Josh, 20 points tonight on just nine shots. Just looked like you were really confident and assertive especially in transition. Kind of pointed at -- this is for you?
JOSH NEWKIRK: No, I just let the game come to me. My teammates did a good job finding me in open spots and I just knocked down shots.
Q. Zach, you looked more aggressive with your shot tonight. Coach has been talking to you maybe about hunting for your shot a little bit more than you have? Has anything changed in that regard?
ZACH MCROBERTS: I wouldn't say hunting for shots, just taking open ones. That's something that comes in practice, just being aggressive every day and carrying that over into games.
Q. Your only three 3-pointers have been in the last few games. Is that something you see yourself doing more?
ZACH MCROBERTS: Just if I'm open, taking open shots. That's really what I'm looking to do.
Q. Josh, can you talk about the importance of playing well tonight after what happened on Monday?
JOSH NEWKIRK: It was very important. We had to respond. We had to get back and fix some things. So it was important for us to bounce back and just get our momentum going after this game.
Q. I think Coach was saying on the pregame radio that last couple of games really ate at you guys and there was a couple of hard practices. What did the last few days look like for you guys? What went into regrouping and moving past Fort Wayne?
ZACH MCROBERTS: Just getting back to work, getting after each other in practice and being ready to go tonight. That's about it.
Q. What do you feel you did different tonight versus the other night, (indiscernible)?
JOSH NEWKIRK: I think we just had a different approach. We came into the game, played hard, stuck to the defensive schemes. And we just moved the ball well on offense.
Q. Josh, you guys had a pretty sustained defensive effort for most of the 40 minutes. Only gave up five 3s. Did you feel it was a sustained effort being out on the floor, and if so what went into that?
JOSH NEWKIRK: I think so. We just made a concerted effort to close out with our hands, making it difficult for the shooters to get shots off and just playing hard.
Q. Josh, Coach talked about Zach's defense in particular having kind of the long arm, big body. What does he bring to you guys on the offensive end of the floor that's growing, I guess, in your eyes?
JOSH NEWKIRK: Knocking down shots, staying on the offensive glass. He brings a lot of energy to the team, moves the ball well. And he's great for us on the offensive end.
Q. Josh, big picture going into the break here, you've had some really good games and you've had some clunkers as Archie Miller has said. Where do you feel you guys are at as far as your level of play heading into the break?
JOSH NEWKIRK: We can only build off today. We had a good game today. And we just want to keep this momentum going forward.
Tennessee Tech Head Coach Steve Payne
Q. Talk a little bit about how you guys brought it within three with about four to five minutes to go in the first half and then to see them take off from there.
STEVE PAYNE: I thought they played with a lot of energy defensively. They did a good job on our best players. I thought we were our own worst enemy in a lot of cases, but I certainly don't want to take anything away from them. I thought their energy and effort defensively was outstanding. Their execution and physicality was great and we did not respond the way we should have.
I'm not sitting here thinking we played very well obviously, but I also think they had a lot to do with that. I thought they responded from a performance that they were despised kind of like the one we had ourselves tonight very well and they were more like the team that beat Notre Dame and played Duke and those teams tonight effort wise and that's what you want your team to do and we will see if we'll do that in the next game and we're certainly going to have that opportunity to do that next game.
Q. Who were you impressed with Indiana the most?
STEVE PAYNE: To be honest, there inside guys are really good. I thought that they did a lot of good stuff tonight. But I was more worried about Tennessee Tech than Indiana. I think Coach Miller is going to be fine. They are going to be the Indiana Hoosiers. But my main concern when I'm watching is Tennessee Tech. We were concerned defensively with keeping the ball out of the post. I think we did a pretty good job at that, but they got us on the offensive glass some.
I thought their guards played under control, they only turned it over 10 times. We thought we could turn them over some. I just think that they played a very good game. They are going to be a very good team. They are in a program that is used to winning and they responded the right way. I'm impressed with their program and their team.
Q. The way they played against Fort Wayne, how much did you talk to your team about how it wasn't going to be the same kind of game tonight?
STEVE PAYNE: We talked about it, but I told our guys that if we played well we'll have a chance and we didn't. I felt our goal and the only thing we talked about Fort Wayne was that if we get it around the 10-minute mark and we make a run then the pressure will be on them. We didn't get it there and they started getting some baskets. That's just kind of the way it goes.
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's BasketballFB: Under The Hood - Week 3 (Indiana State)
Thursday, September 11
FB: Elijah Sarratt Media Availability (9/9/25)
Tuesday, September 09
FB: Roman Hemby Media Availability (9/9/25)
Tuesday, September 09
FB: Under the Hood with Indiana Football - Week 2 (Kennesaw State)
Thursday, September 04