Postgame Quotes: Indiana at Minnesota
1/16/2016 3:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes following the Hoosiers 70-63 win at Minnesota on Saturday afternoon:
Tom Crean after Minnesota
Opening Statement...
"We're really proud of this win because we had to earn it. We knew that we would have to here. I don't get caught up in people's records, as much as you look at what they're capable of. You look at their potential and they have that. Richard [Pitino] is an excellent coach. There's no question about that.
"We didn't have an great start, but it wasn't because we weren't prepared and it wasn't because we took it for granted. We took too many jump shots, and we have to establish our game for us in the paint. We got some turnovers and they got some baskets in transition, which is where they're best. And then we settled in, certainly Nick Zeisloft had a lot to do with that. We knew we were playing an aggressive, dangerous team, a team that is young, but they're going to win. I don't have any doubt about that. I just didn't want it to be today.
"For us, we are really, really proud of this win because we found different ways and we grew up inside of the game. I thought our leadership, especially by our seniors and juniors, was tremendous. We played over some mistakes. We had guys continue to get better inside of the game, despite some mistakes. We kept them off the offensive glass, for the most part, which was huge. We played through the foul difference, which, to win on the road, and to have that few of free throw attempts even when we were getting fouled at the end, that's big.
"The leadership and the response of the seniors was huge. Max and Nick did a great job in the huddles. Troy's leadership when things weren't going well for him was tremendous. And Yogi led the whole day. To me, as a coach, that's when you feel really good about the progress. You know it could have been played better but I'm not sure they could have led better today. Obviously I will feel differently tomorrow, and we will have to be even better on Tuesday.
"I'm proud of the way they responded when it wasn't going well for us offensively. And then Nick just lit everybody up for us. Obviously it's three points on the scoreboard, but our guys see Nick make shots, that's a big thing to them. We don't treat Nick like he's the kicker and tell him to go off on the side and get ready to do your thing. We coach him and his teammates know that we need him. He had not been shooting it great in the games but he spends a lot of time at it and it was great to see that first one go in for him. His confidence grew from it and I think our team's confidence grew as well."
On Kevin Yogi Ferrell stepping up in the remaining minutes...
"He's played so much basketball. He's two assists away from being the all-time leader at Indiana. He makes great passes. His decision making is good. I'm always saying he's a great defender. He's playing with a lot of confidence, and he's got a lot of confidence in the team, because the team has a lot of confidence in him."
On Max Bielfeldt's contributions off the bench…
"It was big. He and Nick have really improved. When we signed both of them, we knew there was a lot of level for improvement that could be made. Then it's a matter of making it and them buying into it and spending that time doing it. And those guys do. Max has had a good week of practice. We did not have a overly taxing week of practice but we had a lot of improvement inside of the week. It didn't look like that at time, but we did. They are both improving in different aspects all the time and we are fortunate to have them."
On Joey King...
"He was outstanding and we prepared for that. We had to figure it out a little bit because they did a great job of moving him around. I thought Collin Hartman did a good job on him early in the second half when they kind of put him inside more. He's good. I mean he's really good because he can keep backing up, he can get fouled and he's tough. He's one of the tougher matchups in this league because I think he's one of the tougher players in this league. "
