Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. Youngstown State

Indiana vs. Youngstown State
Postgame Quotes
Dec. 29, 2017

COACH MILLER: We will take the win and finish off non-conference. I was much more pleased in the second half. I thought inserting Zach into the lineup in the second half after studying the plus-minus stuff at the break, it was clear that he was a big difference when he was in there.

The first four, five or six minutes of the second half, I thought that was really big having him in there. That got our defense-to-offense going with some easy baskets and extending the lead. And then from that point forward, I thought we played pretty comfortable. We continued to work the ball inside as much as we possibly could to play inside-out with our advantage.

I thought some guys stepped up and did some better things in the second half. It was a very disappointing first half but a much better second half.

Q. Do you see Zach's role changing moving forward from bench to potential starter?
COACH MILLER: We'll see. We will study that. As you get into Big Ten play, you are going to need you best guys that are playing the best out there. We will take inventory of what that is and make our decision going forward. But I like Zach in there right now.

Q. What makes Zach effective on the court?
COACH MILLER: He's an everyday guy. What you see out there in the games is what you see in practice. It's a little bit like what we talked about with Juwan a couple weeks ago, what you see Juwan doing in the games is what he is doing in practice. That's why you have to put so much value on the workload that these guys go through in practice and what they are getting done to earn these minutes.

Zach is earning his minutes, not only in practice but he is doing exactly in practice what he does in the games. He's giving maximum effort. He's playing extremely hard. He is giving you a lot of hustle plays. A lot of winning plays.

For him, when you start to play that way, you are not worried about scoring or shooting or anything else, just doing your job. Then the next thing that happens is you start to make a couple shots and make some plays on offense. It has been good to see him grow up.

I know as we started the season, we tried to learn our team and figure out the best rotations. And I think as we have grown over the last five or six games, I think we have figured out that he needs to be a part of what we are doing.

Q. What's the next step, in your mind, for Zach?
COACH MILLER: I think the next step for him is to try to be the best defender that he can possibly be. Adding rebounding. A bigger player in Big Ten play is going to be important on the perimeter. But I think low turnovers, do your job, make the hustle plays, when you are open – shoot it. Be simple.

I think if he keeps it simple, he's going to continue to give us great maximum effort. If you can count on effort, that's something a coach can count on and he's earning trust with our staff right now.

Q. What did you want to see in this game, what did you see and what do you want to see moving forward in to Big Ten play?
COACH MILLER: We are not rebounding the ball at all right now. Even in the Tennessee Tech game. They had 17 offensive rebounds in this game tonight. That's not going to cut it moving forward. You are not going to be able to survive against the teams in our league if you can't rebound.

I think our defensive rebounding percentages that we are looking at right now, we have to be consumed with that.

I think the other thing is we have to be a better offensive team. Right now, we are not shooting the ball anywhere near what our capability is. Part of it is, I think we have four or five guys on our team that start the game with – 'boy I hope I make one tonight'. When you have three or four guys thinking like that and the first one doesn't go in, next thing you know, you have some guys out there really struggling.

That's part of it right now, worrying about the wrong things. When you worry about the right things, like Zach for example, it's amazing how the ball will go in. I think we have to get some guys out of the clouds, so to speak, out of the fog of why aren't I shooting good or why haven't I been doing this. Just worry about winning the game. Worry about playing the right way. Do your job and execute better. Then I think it will be a little bit easier for him.

I don't think the quality of our shots are terrible. I just think we are not making the open ones. A lot of that is just mental right now.

Q. What is it that Zach does to make the team run so efficiently and what can you do to have that affect the younger players?
COACH MILLER: Well I think with this current team, I think we are a low energy team. We are not a hyped team. There are not a couple guys on this team that when the ball goes up, they are coming for you. Zach is moving in that direction. When he is in there, you know he is going full throttle. He is playing as hard as he can on defense. He is on the offensive glass. He's doing the hustle plays on the floor. He will do whatever it takes. I think when you have guys out there that impact the game with their effort or their passion, it can really spearhead some guys.

COACH MILLER: We need to get some other guys on this team fired up and ready to go and playing like that. And right now I think we've got some guys that have deteriorated as the last month has gone by. If you look at some of our production from some guys, we've deteriorated in some areas.

And I think it's confidence. I think it's relying on offense rather than worrying about the commitment level to how hard you have to play and how much passion you have to play this game with. When you wear Indiana across the front of your jersey, I don't care who you're playing, you represent a lot more.

I think Zach embodies that and we need to get some other guys on this team fired up and worried about, well, why isn't this guy making a shot? He'll make a shot if he just dives in the other pool.

And that's a big part of it. We got to get De'Ron going right now. De'Ron, really, in my mind, isn't playing anywhere near where he was a month ago. Why is that? We've got to get him rolling again, get him back in practice competing. If he's going to finish in the game, he's got to finish in practice. And he can't be a guy that's not giving maximum effort all the time.

If you do, you cheat it, you're going to struggle; you can't cheat the process.

Q. What changed in the second half with turnovers, seems like there's a lot of games where the first half --
COACH MILLER: It's always like that sometimes, especially when -- we're in transition a lot off of missed shots. So you're coming down on your break. And usually when the ball's going away from you, you have to trust your players.

And I think a lot of times in the first half, when it's going away from us, we're not as smart, we're not as detailed, we're not as good. And some of the decision-making in the passing, not good.

Second half, I think, as it's coming to us, we have a little bit more control over those guys and are able to be a little bit more efficient with what we're running and how we're attacking them.

So only having, I think, five turnovers in the second half, much better. But 15 turnovers is too many tonight.

Q. Can we ask about Wisconsin -- Wisconsin and Minnesota, your thoughts on maybe having gotten the early window?
COACH MILLER: We got their early window. And those two games meant a lot, as you know, once you start up, where you're at you've got 1-1, a bunch of teams at 1-1, couple 2-0s, couple 0-2s. As you get ready to get geared up here, we're already a couple in.

And studying the league, I think our league is underrated. I don't think we had a great non-conference as a league, but I think we have two Final Four teams, potential Final Four teams in our conference in Michigan State and Purdue.

And I think those two teams clearly right now have established themselves at being at the top. And from there there's a lot of teams that have done some good things and a lot of teams that have been up and down.

But I think anyone in that pool is going to have an opportunity night in, night out to win. I don't think there's very much difference between a lot of teams. That's from Rutgers all the way to Michigan State, I think every game is going to be a tough out.

It's going to be a heck of a conference race. And I feel like as the conference season goes, there's going to be plenty of opportunities for resumé building wins. And I think our league will be fine.

Q. These two games, to next week go on the road, (inaudible) how difficult is it to actually win on the road?
COACH MILLER: It's the hardest league in the country to win on the road, without question. The home venues are packed.

And in my experience here, to win on the road in this league, is the hardest thing to do. And Wisconsin, it's the only thing you can really concentrate on now, and I know how hard it is to play there. And that's our focus right now is to find a way to be ready at that jump ball to compete and play as hard as we possibly can against them in that building, which we know is going to be very difficult.

Indiana Players – Juwan Morgan and Zach McRoberts

Q. You guys were totally different team the second half from the first half -- 20 percent production efficiency. Came out completely different mindset. What changed in the half?
JUWAN MORGAN: Like you said, we came out sluggish in the first half, but then just putting it together and playing for each other, we were out there just making winning plays. And everybody was out there playing there freely. It wasn't like everybody was out worried about missing their shots or getting their own shots. Everybody was just trying to get everybody else open. And the result, we got a lot of open looks and knocked them down.

ZACH MCROBERTS: Yeah, just coming out and playing hard, being ready, working with each other, moving the ball and knocking down shots. That was big for us.

Q. Juwan, how central was Zach to the start of the second half?
JUWAN MORGAN: He's always a huge help, and it's nothing he doesn't do in practice. Every day he's always working hard. We always say Zach is the person you hate to have going against him, but love to have him on your team, and he showed why tonight -- all the hustle plays, all the things people don't like to do Zach does them.

Q. Do you feel like you've been able to utilize this break as a chance to improve?
ZACH MCROBERTS: Yeah, I think it's always a good opportunity for us when we don't have to worry about classes or finals like we just had. Guys get in the gym more, either watch film or work on their game. That's important for guys. It can only help having more time in the gym, more time available.

Q. Juwan, it seems that the tendency has been maybe to have too many first half turnovers, and then the second half you have like almost none. What's been the difference, what's the key between that? And what can you do to have the first half equal the second half?
JUWAN MORGAN: That just coming out to making plays and just trying to hit singles. Just coming out and getting careless with the ball. And sometimes I just think people are moving too fast and sometimes just take slower, slow it down, let's get inside, look to get the good shot, things like that.

I think that just falls on the responsibility of the older guys, and we just have to take that and pretty much preach to the younger guy so we can get turnovers now.

Q. You had 15 assists to five turnovers in the second half. That's kind of the way it's always been -- the second half has always been a dramatic difference?
ZACH MCROBERTS: Yeah.

Q. Zach, you weren't playing a whole lot at the beginning of the year. What was your mindset in practices?
ZACH MCROBERTS: Working every day in practice whether it's me or pushing guys in practice. It's not really about me, just staying ready and coming every day, be ready for the opportunity, really.

Q. Juwan, this is the second year I'm following up on that, that Zach, it feels like it's coming on that way, where Zach didn't play a lot initially, then he started to build a spot for himself in the rotation and you guys kind of sat in here and said it's nothing he's not doing behind the scenes. What in your mind is allowing him to keep coming back and forcing his way?
JUWAN MORGAN: I guess if it's not broke, don't fix it. Every time he's just working hard he gets more and more playing time. He just consistently does that, day in and day out, and as he does it would just make more and more plays for the team going forward.

Q. Juwan, you said earlier that people hate going against Zach in practice. Why?
JUWAN MORGAN: Pretty much what you see in the games. He's always getting all the loose rebounds. When guarding him, you see he has quick hands. If you try to cross him over, nine times out of ten he's going to get it away from you. Just things you just, I guess, what De'Ron said earlier, dog points, Zach does it all of that.

Q. Talk about your 3-point shooting defense. How fun was it to play against a team that didn't hit every 3-pointer like you've seen a couple of times this year?
ZACH MCROBERTS: That was big for us. I think just ball pressure has been a big thing we've been talking about, just making guys uncomfortable. Just continue to have hands up, hopefully miss some shots, make them miss shots.

Q. Zach, do you like making people feel uncomfortable? Do you get a lot of satisfaction, maybe don't score a whole lot of points but you generate a whole plus points?
ZACH MCROBERTS: Yeah, just causing chaos out there, just anything I can do -- get steals, rebounds, whatever. Just helping the team make plays.

Youngstown State Head Coach Jerrod Calhoun

Talk a little bit about how both teams struggled from the 3-point line?
It was unusual for us to shoot that bad and even for Indiana, you know both teams have really struggled with shooting the ball from the perimeter but with four days off I think it really showed today that both teams were off, it was hard to watch during the first half. I think the talent, the size, and the physicality of the game, Indiana just wore us out in the second half and you see that a lot during Christmas break.

You guys have played a really tough schedule with you guys only playing three home games, what do you take away from a game like this?
We are ready to get home and we are ready to get into conference play. We have had 10 away games and they say they were neutral sites, but South Dakota is an away game to me. We have been to Idaho, we have been to Utah, we have been to DePaul, we have been to Indiana, but that is the life of a low to mid-major basketball team, we got to bring in dollars. Tonight was awesome. I am a huge Archie Miller fan and he will get this thing going. I have followed his entire career and I hope they win here.

You said before this game that 3-pointers were going to be important to win this game?
Yeah, Indiana makes five and we hold them to 79 points. Think about that, if we don't mess up the end of the first half, they got twenty-some points. I give our kids a lot of credit. We have never given up and we played really well against Utah State, and tonight during the second half they wore us out. You could see the difference between high-major guys and low to mid-major guys.

Players Mentioned

Zach McRoberts

Juwan Morgan

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