Postgame Quotes – No. 16/18 Purdue 69, Indiana 64
2/9/2017 9:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Indiana vs. No. 16/18 Purdue
Postgame Quotes
Feb. 9, 2017
Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
TOM CREAN: De'Ron (Davis) took a hard blow to the face. He wasn't feeling well. He had to leave the game to be evaluated. He wasn't able to return. We'll continue to evaluate him, and hopefully he'll be okay. That's straight from our doctors.
As far as the game, great battle. We accomplished a lot of the things that we wanted to accomplish, but our margin of error is not very big. We would never get over the hump offensively because we didn't shoot it as well. We played well around the rim but we didn't shoot it as well, and a couple things like miss a block-out. I think it was a two-point game. Was it two-point and it goes to four? Those things are monumental in a game that's coming down to the wire like that.
Highly disappointed. We know we lost to a really -- probably a great team, and when you look at the numbers, which I've just looked at barely, very even in a lot of areas. So when it's like that, it's going to come down to -- obviously we were playing without De'Ron, we were playing without Juwan (Morgan), Thomas (Bryant) at the very end. We haven't used that as an excuse or a burden inside our program, and we're not going to start now. It is what it is.
But we've got to continue to take care of what we can take care of. It doesn't mean we're going to get the ball. We can't miss block-outs. We can't have that. We can't be late on a rotation coming out of a time-out. Those type of things.
But it was a great crowd, great atmosphere. I'm certainly proud of how hard they battled and competed and played through things. But again, like I said, our margin for error is not high at this present time, and we've got to do a better job of handling the details of the game.
Q. Do you have a sense for how the double foul changed things, changed the game towards the end there?
TOM CREAN: Oh, yeah, it was a momentum, no question. I'll have to watch the film, but it was -- no question. It's a one-possession game with that basket, right? Was it a one-possession game? Would it have been one?
Q. Down five.
TOM CREAN: Yeah, potentially if they call a foul, the basket went in, right? You're either getting the two points or you're getting an and-one. So...yep. There's not much more I can add than that, but definitely momentum.
Q. Defensively you were able to contain Haas and contain Swanigan for the most part. Talk about that.
TOM CREAN: Biggest thing was the three-point shooting. They were shooting 45 percent going into the opponent's arena in the Big Ten, and as good as Haas and Swanigan are, you've got to defend the three at a very high level against them and in transition, and for the most part, we did that. But so did they. Our shooting, I think we were 8 of 34, I think; is that right?
Q. 8 of 24.
TOM CREAN: No, with our three guards, 8 of 34 with our three starting guards. That's not good. That's not good.
So again, I go back to our margin for error. We're not just lighting it up, and again, I thought James did a good job for a guy that's practiced sparingly the last couple days, and again, to have an expectation that he's going to come out and play great basketball in his first night back, no, I don't think any of us thought that. He missed shots he usually makes.
But would have been a great win because we got a lot of really good effort plays. Thomas was phenomenal at times tonight, no question about it. Zach McRoberts came in and battled, Freddie McSwain Jr. continues to get better. He came in and battled.
But again, we didn't shoot it as well, and a couple mistakes, a couple momentum changers, and they come out with the win.
Q. The block-out you've mentioned a few times, is that the P.J. Thompson offensive rebound?
TOM CREAN: Yeah, yeah, he should have just been blocked out. It's a tough one, right? You're in the area -- guard rebounding is huge in this game because it's going to be a battle, right, with the front line. And I've even totaled up what our guard rebounds were. When we've been really good, that's part of -- we had 13. We had 13, yeah. That's part of making up for that margin for what we don't have with OG. Juwan is good. He's still not even -- a fact is a fact. He's not even close to being the level of explosive athlete that he is. He's not. But I give a lot of credit for -- he's cleared, and obviously I give him a lot of credit for the way that he's battling and working through things, but he's not the player that he is when he's healthy. Our guard rebounds are huge, and if you're not going to get the ball, you've definitely got to block out. Those things get over-magnified when you're in a close game like this and in the sense that we just don't have that many guys to make up for it during the game.
Q. You talked about -- you said Thomas (Bryant) was phenomenal at times, and I think it's the third out of four games he's scored 24 or 23 points. How important was he tonight going against Haas and Swanigan?
TOM CREAN: Well, he's grown confidently. They're really all getting better. I know it doesn't show up in the won-loss record. They're really improving. Our freshmen, Freddie (McSwain Jr.), these guys are improving, and Thomas is improving. You want your best players to continue to get better throughout the year. James (Blackmon Jr.) was really getting better -- look at the Michigan State game, he was moving at such a high level in that game, I mean, his separation ability was so good, he was defending well, and then he gets hurt early in the Michigan game. It's not the same, and we've dealt with all that. Devonte (Green) gets hurt Friday lifting a bar, okay, gets a back spasm in the weight room, lifting a 35-pound bar to put it on the rack. You can't make this up. It is what -- he hasn't been the same since because he's in and out of practice, he's recovering from the back spasm. It just is what it is.
Guys like Thomas (Bryant) have to continue to get better, and it's really hard because De'Ron (Davis) is a freshman and we didn't have him as much tonight, but he's playing without his partners out there in the sense that OG (Anunoby) could cover a lot of ground and make up for things, especially on the glass, and a healthy Juwan (Morgan) can do that. I think the way Thomas is playing, when you look at an individual thing, is really, really impressive because he just keeps getting better and better, and he had the foul trouble in the first half, he recovered from that, I mean, look, the way he's shooting the ball, he's doing a lot of good things for us, but he needs some rest, too, at times, and we weren't able to do that as much tonight.
Q. You mentioned you guys have a small margin for error. When you need to get some wins down the stretch to get to the NCAA Tournament --
TOM CREAN: Well, you know what, I don't mean to cut you off. We've got to get ready to play Michigan, okay. I really -- I'm not smart enough to think past that in all honesty. We've got to get ourselves ready to play that game, and we've got to keep making the improvements that we have to make, and that's our next game, and they shoot it phenomenally well, and we'll put our game plan together, and that's what our focus has got to be.
Q. That play when (De'Ron) Davis was hurt, is there any sportsmanship issue with Purdue going -- or is that just the way it goes?
TOM CREAN: That's the referee's call. Yeah, I don't think they can stop the flow. I mean, I don't know. It's a good question. That's a good question. I don't know what the exact rule is on that. But they did score the basket, right. They did score.
Really in all honesty, for that to not be anything -- I mean, call the foul on De'Ron, right? When you end up on the floor, something happened.
Q. Call it on both maybe?
TOM CREAN: Or call it on De'Ron. I don't even mind that. Yeah, you can't be on the floor and there not be some sort of contact that came. It is what it is. I expressed that.
But I could have lived with a foul on him at that point. But no, that's -- I don't know the answer to that. I should, but maybe they can't stop the flow. I'm not going to look at it as sportsmanship, though. I mean, you've got to follow the referee's whistle on that. They played hard. They earned the victory. They're really good. They are really good. He's done a great job building that, putting shooters around those big kids, and again, as good as those guys are, our number one focus was defending the three.
Q. You've lost twice in a row to really experienced teams and both of them were really close games. Is that where it really makes a difference in games like this?
TOM CREAN: Sure. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, down the road this really helps the team. It just doesn't feel very good right now. James (Blackmon Jr.) is out, and we started two different freshmen. Two different freshmen got starts. We just -- we have one of those -- we won these games a year ago, right, for the most part. We won those close games because experience really does matter. But we've just got to continue to understand how important the details are, and again, I've said it maybe a couple times. It gets over-magnified in a game like this because it is so close and because that margin is so small. Again, when you've got your full front line the way we've had it, there's so many things we can do defensively, there's so many things that it makes up for, there's so many rebounds that you get that guards don't have to get, and that's not where we're at now, so we've just got to keep getting better with that. But I'm not down on them at all, at all. They were ready to fight.
Our week was great. The preparation was excellent. They were ready to go. They weren't too hyped in the sense of losing their mind because of the rivalry. They were ready to go. They said all the right things because that's how we try to do it. It's always extra tough when you lose to a team that's close in proximity that's got the rivalry like that, but it was the same on Sunday, came down to a couple plays, and we've got to figure out how to get over the hump on that. Okay? Thank you.
Indiana Players – James Blackmon Jr. and Thomas Bryant
Q. James, two-part question. One, how did you feel after the injury? And second, what was the key to their success down the stretch?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: I felt good. I felt like I'm back out there to 100 if not close. Down the stretch I felt like they got us a little bit on the rebounds and just a couple plays down the stretch that we didn't make.
Q. Thomas, what did you remember about the play that led to the double foul?
THOMAS BRYANT: I don't remember really any of it, just getting to the rim, and it just didn't go my way.
Q. James, just how important was Thomas tonight, particularly -- everybody talks about their front court. How important was it having him so aggressive?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: Very important. Tonight he was very reliable. We always could go to him at any point in time and he would bail us out. The rest of us just got to bring that fight that he did.
Q. Thomas, what was working so well for you offensively tonight?
THOMAS BRYANT: Just staying aggressive, just taking what the defense gives me. If they collapsed on me, my teammates know that I'll find them.
Q. James, you guys get a chance to play them in a couple of weeks. What did you learn and what were you able to take away as you guys get set for the rematch?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: Just the mistakes we made. We've got to be better with the ball, taking care of the ball, knowing their tendencies now. We'll be prepared for the next time we play them.
Q. You guys were extremely effective against Isaac Haas. What was going well for you?
THOMAS BRYANT: We knew what they wanted to do down low. Haas is a real big body down there, so we just had to try to take the fight to him, just try and meet him.
Q. Thomas, what was the message from Coach Crean tonight after you guys went back into the locker room? I know it's still a long season, but what did he tell you guys?
THOMAS BRYANT: Just to stay together. We've just got to keep fighting through the thicks and thins, ups and downs. We just have to steady it and keep coming together and fighting for one another.
Q. Obviously it's a long season and you guys still have a lot more games to go, but what's the frustration level when you guys lose to a rival like Purdue at home?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: It's definitely tough to swallow, but you know, we've got a lot more games left, and we've just got to have a short memory because we get a chance to play them again. We know their tendencies now, and we've got to just come out with more wins.
Q. Just how big of an adjustment was it playing without De'Ron Davis after he went down with that injury?
THOMAS BRYANT: It was a little difficult, but it just means that everybody else had to step up even more, including me, James, everybody on the team. Just had to step up that much more.
Q. James, kind of talk about where you guys are record-wise and NCAA Tournament picture, do you guys feel like it's a backs against the wall situation? How do you approach it as a player?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: Just approach it like we're trying to get better. We've got to stay together. We know the talent in the room is never going to be a problem for us, it's just going to be figuring out ways and just staying together throughout the whole game.
Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter
On the double foul:
"The referees get together and they try to figure out first, so the last thing you think is that you're going to get a double foul. We were just trying to black out and try to make sure we had our press off. It takes away a guy who is productive for the them also but it also took (Caleb) Swanigan from us who scored a lot of us this game and grabbed offensive rebounds for us when we needed them. There is no doubt that there is going to be a change in the game play, they get the call (Thomas) Bryant's is going to be at the line, if we get the call we are taking the ball out of bounds.
When asked about recent key road wins:
"We've shown mental toughness which I didn't think we had in the first half, I thought we didn't get a couple loose balls, we broke on some things, I thought we were getting hut a little bit on the interior but that's just part of it. Our guys were complaining about it, but that's just part of playing basketball. You have to be able to finish around the rim and we didn't do a good job but I thought we showed some toughness in the second half, got a couple loose balls, got some offensive rebounds, got some stops and at the end we made our free throws."
What this win over Indiana means:
"Anytime you can win on the road in this league, especially in an environment like this, is going to help you. You can't have enough road wins trying to build your resume to get into the NCAA Tournament. This was a tough game but you also have to understand that Indiana doesn't have a lot of their guys. Collin Hartman is a good player, he affects winning and OG (Anunoby) is a really good player, so now when they get into foul trouble it's not normal foul trouble, now it's two guys are out, one just came back from an injury and then you have a couple guys in foul trouble. So you have to keep that in perspective if you're an Indiana fan.
On Carson Edwards consistency:
"I didn't think (Vince) Edwards wasn't very good to start the second half and then we he subbed back in I thought he was great. He goes through those stretches where he's really good, it's almost like he has a good start of the game and then has a tough stretch when he subs back in, so just trying to get that consistency and concentration."
When asked about Dakota Mathias defending Blackmon:
"Dakota has been great, he did a good job defending guys the past couple of games, and he has found his way as a defensive player in terms of being where is he is supposed to be, following the scouting report, and just being detailed. As a junior you expect that he understands what is going on at all times and I thought he did a good job on James tonight. In James (Blackmon Jr.)'s defense we have all seen him make all the shot he took, he's that type of player. Sometimes when you see him dribble into the three and shoot, you would think it's a hurried shot but he makes those, and that's his rhythm shot once he gets his legs under him and gets 100% percent healthy."
Postgame Quotes
Feb. 9, 2017
Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
TOM CREAN: De'Ron (Davis) took a hard blow to the face. He wasn't feeling well. He had to leave the game to be evaluated. He wasn't able to return. We'll continue to evaluate him, and hopefully he'll be okay. That's straight from our doctors.
As far as the game, great battle. We accomplished a lot of the things that we wanted to accomplish, but our margin of error is not very big. We would never get over the hump offensively because we didn't shoot it as well. We played well around the rim but we didn't shoot it as well, and a couple things like miss a block-out. I think it was a two-point game. Was it two-point and it goes to four? Those things are monumental in a game that's coming down to the wire like that.
Highly disappointed. We know we lost to a really -- probably a great team, and when you look at the numbers, which I've just looked at barely, very even in a lot of areas. So when it's like that, it's going to come down to -- obviously we were playing without De'Ron, we were playing without Juwan (Morgan), Thomas (Bryant) at the very end. We haven't used that as an excuse or a burden inside our program, and we're not going to start now. It is what it is.
But we've got to continue to take care of what we can take care of. It doesn't mean we're going to get the ball. We can't miss block-outs. We can't have that. We can't be late on a rotation coming out of a time-out. Those type of things.
But it was a great crowd, great atmosphere. I'm certainly proud of how hard they battled and competed and played through things. But again, like I said, our margin for error is not high at this present time, and we've got to do a better job of handling the details of the game.
Q. Do you have a sense for how the double foul changed things, changed the game towards the end there?
TOM CREAN: Oh, yeah, it was a momentum, no question. I'll have to watch the film, but it was -- no question. It's a one-possession game with that basket, right? Was it a one-possession game? Would it have been one?
Q. Down five.
TOM CREAN: Yeah, potentially if they call a foul, the basket went in, right? You're either getting the two points or you're getting an and-one. So...yep. There's not much more I can add than that, but definitely momentum.
Q. Defensively you were able to contain Haas and contain Swanigan for the most part. Talk about that.
TOM CREAN: Biggest thing was the three-point shooting. They were shooting 45 percent going into the opponent's arena in the Big Ten, and as good as Haas and Swanigan are, you've got to defend the three at a very high level against them and in transition, and for the most part, we did that. But so did they. Our shooting, I think we were 8 of 34, I think; is that right?
Q. 8 of 24.
TOM CREAN: No, with our three guards, 8 of 34 with our three starting guards. That's not good. That's not good.
So again, I go back to our margin for error. We're not just lighting it up, and again, I thought James did a good job for a guy that's practiced sparingly the last couple days, and again, to have an expectation that he's going to come out and play great basketball in his first night back, no, I don't think any of us thought that. He missed shots he usually makes.
But would have been a great win because we got a lot of really good effort plays. Thomas was phenomenal at times tonight, no question about it. Zach McRoberts came in and battled, Freddie McSwain Jr. continues to get better. He came in and battled.
But again, we didn't shoot it as well, and a couple mistakes, a couple momentum changers, and they come out with the win.
Q. The block-out you've mentioned a few times, is that the P.J. Thompson offensive rebound?
TOM CREAN: Yeah, yeah, he should have just been blocked out. It's a tough one, right? You're in the area -- guard rebounding is huge in this game because it's going to be a battle, right, with the front line. And I've even totaled up what our guard rebounds were. When we've been really good, that's part of -- we had 13. We had 13, yeah. That's part of making up for that margin for what we don't have with OG. Juwan is good. He's still not even -- a fact is a fact. He's not even close to being the level of explosive athlete that he is. He's not. But I give a lot of credit for -- he's cleared, and obviously I give him a lot of credit for the way that he's battling and working through things, but he's not the player that he is when he's healthy. Our guard rebounds are huge, and if you're not going to get the ball, you've definitely got to block out. Those things get over-magnified when you're in a close game like this and in the sense that we just don't have that many guys to make up for it during the game.
Q. You talked about -- you said Thomas (Bryant) was phenomenal at times, and I think it's the third out of four games he's scored 24 or 23 points. How important was he tonight going against Haas and Swanigan?
TOM CREAN: Well, he's grown confidently. They're really all getting better. I know it doesn't show up in the won-loss record. They're really improving. Our freshmen, Freddie (McSwain Jr.), these guys are improving, and Thomas is improving. You want your best players to continue to get better throughout the year. James (Blackmon Jr.) was really getting better -- look at the Michigan State game, he was moving at such a high level in that game, I mean, his separation ability was so good, he was defending well, and then he gets hurt early in the Michigan game. It's not the same, and we've dealt with all that. Devonte (Green) gets hurt Friday lifting a bar, okay, gets a back spasm in the weight room, lifting a 35-pound bar to put it on the rack. You can't make this up. It is what -- he hasn't been the same since because he's in and out of practice, he's recovering from the back spasm. It just is what it is.
Guys like Thomas (Bryant) have to continue to get better, and it's really hard because De'Ron (Davis) is a freshman and we didn't have him as much tonight, but he's playing without his partners out there in the sense that OG (Anunoby) could cover a lot of ground and make up for things, especially on the glass, and a healthy Juwan (Morgan) can do that. I think the way Thomas is playing, when you look at an individual thing, is really, really impressive because he just keeps getting better and better, and he had the foul trouble in the first half, he recovered from that, I mean, look, the way he's shooting the ball, he's doing a lot of good things for us, but he needs some rest, too, at times, and we weren't able to do that as much tonight.
Q. You mentioned you guys have a small margin for error. When you need to get some wins down the stretch to get to the NCAA Tournament --
TOM CREAN: Well, you know what, I don't mean to cut you off. We've got to get ready to play Michigan, okay. I really -- I'm not smart enough to think past that in all honesty. We've got to get ourselves ready to play that game, and we've got to keep making the improvements that we have to make, and that's our next game, and they shoot it phenomenally well, and we'll put our game plan together, and that's what our focus has got to be.
Q. That play when (De'Ron) Davis was hurt, is there any sportsmanship issue with Purdue going -- or is that just the way it goes?
TOM CREAN: That's the referee's call. Yeah, I don't think they can stop the flow. I mean, I don't know. It's a good question. That's a good question. I don't know what the exact rule is on that. But they did score the basket, right. They did score.
Really in all honesty, for that to not be anything -- I mean, call the foul on De'Ron, right? When you end up on the floor, something happened.
Q. Call it on both maybe?
TOM CREAN: Or call it on De'Ron. I don't even mind that. Yeah, you can't be on the floor and there not be some sort of contact that came. It is what it is. I expressed that.
But I could have lived with a foul on him at that point. But no, that's -- I don't know the answer to that. I should, but maybe they can't stop the flow. I'm not going to look at it as sportsmanship, though. I mean, you've got to follow the referee's whistle on that. They played hard. They earned the victory. They're really good. They are really good. He's done a great job building that, putting shooters around those big kids, and again, as good as those guys are, our number one focus was defending the three.
Q. You've lost twice in a row to really experienced teams and both of them were really close games. Is that where it really makes a difference in games like this?
TOM CREAN: Sure. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, down the road this really helps the team. It just doesn't feel very good right now. James (Blackmon Jr.) is out, and we started two different freshmen. Two different freshmen got starts. We just -- we have one of those -- we won these games a year ago, right, for the most part. We won those close games because experience really does matter. But we've just got to continue to understand how important the details are, and again, I've said it maybe a couple times. It gets over-magnified in a game like this because it is so close and because that margin is so small. Again, when you've got your full front line the way we've had it, there's so many things we can do defensively, there's so many things that it makes up for, there's so many rebounds that you get that guards don't have to get, and that's not where we're at now, so we've just got to keep getting better with that. But I'm not down on them at all, at all. They were ready to fight.
Our week was great. The preparation was excellent. They were ready to go. They weren't too hyped in the sense of losing their mind because of the rivalry. They were ready to go. They said all the right things because that's how we try to do it. It's always extra tough when you lose to a team that's close in proximity that's got the rivalry like that, but it was the same on Sunday, came down to a couple plays, and we've got to figure out how to get over the hump on that. Okay? Thank you.
Indiana Players – James Blackmon Jr. and Thomas Bryant
Q. James, two-part question. One, how did you feel after the injury? And second, what was the key to their success down the stretch?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: I felt good. I felt like I'm back out there to 100 if not close. Down the stretch I felt like they got us a little bit on the rebounds and just a couple plays down the stretch that we didn't make.
Q. Thomas, what did you remember about the play that led to the double foul?
THOMAS BRYANT: I don't remember really any of it, just getting to the rim, and it just didn't go my way.
Q. James, just how important was Thomas tonight, particularly -- everybody talks about their front court. How important was it having him so aggressive?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: Very important. Tonight he was very reliable. We always could go to him at any point in time and he would bail us out. The rest of us just got to bring that fight that he did.
Q. Thomas, what was working so well for you offensively tonight?
THOMAS BRYANT: Just staying aggressive, just taking what the defense gives me. If they collapsed on me, my teammates know that I'll find them.
Q. James, you guys get a chance to play them in a couple of weeks. What did you learn and what were you able to take away as you guys get set for the rematch?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: Just the mistakes we made. We've got to be better with the ball, taking care of the ball, knowing their tendencies now. We'll be prepared for the next time we play them.
Q. You guys were extremely effective against Isaac Haas. What was going well for you?
THOMAS BRYANT: We knew what they wanted to do down low. Haas is a real big body down there, so we just had to try to take the fight to him, just try and meet him.
Q. Thomas, what was the message from Coach Crean tonight after you guys went back into the locker room? I know it's still a long season, but what did he tell you guys?
THOMAS BRYANT: Just to stay together. We've just got to keep fighting through the thicks and thins, ups and downs. We just have to steady it and keep coming together and fighting for one another.
Q. Obviously it's a long season and you guys still have a lot more games to go, but what's the frustration level when you guys lose to a rival like Purdue at home?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: It's definitely tough to swallow, but you know, we've got a lot more games left, and we've just got to have a short memory because we get a chance to play them again. We know their tendencies now, and we've got to just come out with more wins.
Q. Just how big of an adjustment was it playing without De'Ron Davis after he went down with that injury?
THOMAS BRYANT: It was a little difficult, but it just means that everybody else had to step up even more, including me, James, everybody on the team. Just had to step up that much more.
Q. James, kind of talk about where you guys are record-wise and NCAA Tournament picture, do you guys feel like it's a backs against the wall situation? How do you approach it as a player?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: Just approach it like we're trying to get better. We've got to stay together. We know the talent in the room is never going to be a problem for us, it's just going to be figuring out ways and just staying together throughout the whole game.
Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter
On the double foul:
"The referees get together and they try to figure out first, so the last thing you think is that you're going to get a double foul. We were just trying to black out and try to make sure we had our press off. It takes away a guy who is productive for the them also but it also took (Caleb) Swanigan from us who scored a lot of us this game and grabbed offensive rebounds for us when we needed them. There is no doubt that there is going to be a change in the game play, they get the call (Thomas) Bryant's is going to be at the line, if we get the call we are taking the ball out of bounds.
When asked about recent key road wins:
"We've shown mental toughness which I didn't think we had in the first half, I thought we didn't get a couple loose balls, we broke on some things, I thought we were getting hut a little bit on the interior but that's just part of it. Our guys were complaining about it, but that's just part of playing basketball. You have to be able to finish around the rim and we didn't do a good job but I thought we showed some toughness in the second half, got a couple loose balls, got some offensive rebounds, got some stops and at the end we made our free throws."
What this win over Indiana means:
"Anytime you can win on the road in this league, especially in an environment like this, is going to help you. You can't have enough road wins trying to build your resume to get into the NCAA Tournament. This was a tough game but you also have to understand that Indiana doesn't have a lot of their guys. Collin Hartman is a good player, he affects winning and OG (Anunoby) is a really good player, so now when they get into foul trouble it's not normal foul trouble, now it's two guys are out, one just came back from an injury and then you have a couple guys in foul trouble. So you have to keep that in perspective if you're an Indiana fan.
On Carson Edwards consistency:
"I didn't think (Vince) Edwards wasn't very good to start the second half and then we he subbed back in I thought he was great. He goes through those stretches where he's really good, it's almost like he has a good start of the game and then has a tough stretch when he subs back in, so just trying to get that consistency and concentration."
When asked about Dakota Mathias defending Blackmon:
"Dakota has been great, he did a good job defending guys the past couple of games, and he has found his way as a defensive player in terms of being where is he is supposed to be, following the scouting report, and just being detailed. As a junior you expect that he understands what is going on at all times and I thought he did a good job on James tonight. In James (Blackmon Jr.)'s defense we have all seen him make all the shot he took, he's that type of player. Sometimes when you see him dribble into the three and shoot, you would think it's a hurried shot but he makes those, and that's his rhythm shot once he gets his legs under him and gets 100% percent healthy."
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballFB: 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
FB: D'Angelo Ponds Media Availability (9/2/25)
Tuesday, September 02