Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Nebraska
2/17/2016 11:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Nebraska at Indiana
Postgame Quotes
Feb. 17, 2016
Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
TOM CREAN: Our guys were -- we have so much respect for how Nebraska plays and we knew they were getting better, and sit up here and say it, and you never look at the record, you don't look at who they've played, you look at, okay, what do you see on film, and there's no doubt they were playing well. They were playing well before Shavon got hurt and they're doing the same thing, and we knew we were going to have to -- we'd be in a battle and we did not have a great first half. We had a solid first half, we had a very solid ending, but they had something to do with that, too, and we kept telling our guys the last couple days and throughout the huddles that they weren't going to go away, and they don't, because Tim does an excellent job, and that team has got very good older players, and obviously some really good young ones. When you can respond the way that they do without having one of their two best players in that lineup, that's a sign of a really, really good program, you know, one that's going to continue to rise. And what they've done with their individual improvement is really something.
For us to play the way we did in the second half says a lot about the way our guys -- they were in a full fight, and they knew we had to make adjustments. I give Rob Judson tremendous credit for going to the -- telling him it was time to go to the all switching, and I think we had six straight possessions where they didn't score on that. That was absolutely paramount to the game, and they are really fast, and so what they do is they create a lot of movement, and they can play a lot of different ways, so you've got to be really -- you've got to be really locked in.
First half a couple times we made some mistakes, some mistakes where we wanted to switch, and a couple communication mistakes they made us pay. But we came out and did an excellent job in the second half. We went through the paint, which is exactly what we wanted to do, but the most important thing about the night to me is the way the players drove the train. I mean, they absolutely did. They've had -- we had a short turnaround, right? We get home later on Sunday and we can say, well, they're college kids. Well, they're in the midst of a battle right now, and everybody goes through the same thing, and for them to respond the way that they did in a short period of time says a lot. We didn't over-practice, but we made sure we really prepared, and we had to learn from our own film.
But our guys played with tremendous heart, passion, energy, all those adjectives that describe a team that's really connected and together. That's exactly what they did, and we did it different ways. But they understood what the game was giving them, and they went to it and took advantage of it, and we came away with a victory. Really, really proud of the way that they played.
Q. Troy said that the two of you talked about how he needed to have more of an attacking mindset.
TOM CREAN: Among a few other things we visited about. But I love Troy, and I would -- Troy has got unique talents, and sometimes he's his own worst enemy with the things that he tries to do. But what he did in the second half was what we were trying to get him to do in the first half, and he had a couple footwork errors. That's the way Troy needs to play. Troy needs to be aggressive, attacking, but reading the situation, and that's obviously what we want to try to get him to have.
But he was really locked in. He's been very hungry and humble in his improvement, and we don't deal in the whole slump business. We don't get caught up in that. I mean, we've got some three-point numbers earlier in the season that if we were playing it on the percentage, we might not have them take threes, but they're a couple of the leading three-point shooters on our team. What it is is if you're working hard and preparing hard and doing the extra -- you have to do the extra; you can't work on the game in the game. I mean, you've got to work on the game long before you get there, but when he's in that attack mindset and when he's really focused and letting the game come to him in some degrees but also being on the attack in the other degree, then he's pretty good.
Q. How far has he come? How far does he still have to go? You've talked about this before for him, and knowing how to be aggressive but at the same time always kind of be reading the game, always be --
TOM CREAN: That's the thing he has to do. It's one game, right, and it's a long season. It's one game, and he did a really nice job.
But we never -- I try to never coach, and I'll address things obviously, but I'm trying to never coach through the negative of what they're not doing. It's more importantly what they have to do, what they can do, what they need to do, and then every once in a while what they need to do less of. But the bottom line is when you work on it and study the film, and that's the thing that Troy needs to be completely locked into is the mental part of it with the video and the physical part of it with locking into practice the way that he does, doing a few things extra that build that confidence, and then he's good. To me that's the most important thing, and it's really -- I'd say the same about everybody else.
Q. Talk about Juwan's big game and the influence that he's gotten from Yogi.
TOM CREAN: Well, where Yogi can -- from when he came in, Yogi could really guard anybody. There were times he would guard the 5 man in a front situation, right, in an emergency switch because he would fight, right, he was athletic, he was quick, he was tough, but he would fight. Those two have that. They're quick, they're athletic, they're long, so where Yogi at his size, and Rob is getting there, but where Yogi at his size can guard, you don't want him 1 through 5, but you don't really -- we didn't mind tonight, right, because that's what the game was giving us, that he can go 1 through 4, those guys can do the same thing. That versatility that they have defensively is huge, and they're both basketball players. They're both bigger young men, but they're not -- I wouldn't characterize those guys with a certain position, right, and Juwan has shown that hitting the three and the way that he played, and OG has shown that this season. So eventually if we can get a team that can really switch constantly like we did tonight, that makes us that much better, and because you have to win the game different ways. Every game is giving you something different.
He answered the bell. He didn't have a great early stretch in the first half, but he really responded in the second half. Again, I give Tim and Rob credit there for recommending that we put him in at that point and then Rob for the call of going 55 minutes. It's a team effort. Those guys ran the halftime, our players. They were so good in the huddles, and the talk at halftime was tremendous. It was a dramatic shot Yogi hit. It didn't count, couldn't even tell. It didn't take the air out of anybody's sails, and they did a fantastic job.
Q. Talk about Collin being aggressive tonight. Are you seeing that manifest itself more?
TOM CREAN: I think so. Yeah, he's got to quit starting the game off with the whirling dervish one-handed passes a little bit. He and Troy are like carbon copies of each other a couple of times when we were starting the game. But letting the game come, being ready to shoot the ball. He can facilitate so many things for us, and I think at some point in time tonight we felt like we'd go back to the old lineup that we had in the past if they were hurting us with the spread game with Collin potentially playing the 5, but it ended up being Juwan in that position. But Collin needs to be -- he needs to feel green light, right, and just make simple passes, keep moving without the ball, find people, but when that ball comes to him, be ready to knock it down, so we need that aggressiveness.
Q. Around the six-minute mark of the second half, I noticed you got pretty animated and tried to get the crowd into it. What was the reason for that, and do you think it worked?
TOM CREAN: Well, I thought the crowd was pretty good, but I thought that was a heck of a scrum for a loose ball, and that's what it's supposed to look like. I just wanted a little help in reminding those guys that's what Indiana basketball looks like, to be honest with you, and I thought the crowd really responded to that. I thought we played extremely hard all night, but that was just one of those moments that let's thank them for what they're doing because these guys, they go at it every day. I mean, they really do. I don't think there's anyway you could have the season we're having without them putting what they put into each day, into each game. There's never a look ahead. There's no hangover effect when you lose, coming into the next one. There's none of that. We respond. That's all that it was. Our crowd was great. It was fantastic.
Q. You talked about getting back on Sunday evening, 27th game now. Nine guys played 11 or more minutes. Are you very pleased with that and did you want to go deep into your bench?
TOM CREAN: Yeah, we want to go deep into the bench. I didn't put a lot of thought into that tonight, but it's really more how you get ready for the game. We do a lot of different things. Some days we don't walk through very long on the day of the game, we met in the film room a lot, or we might practice. We just mix it up. I think it's all about having the pulse of your team, reading them, and then knowing that when it's game time they've got to be at their best. Our guys worked very hard and they were rewarded with it, and they did a great job, but we've got to get better. Thank you.
Indiana Players
Troy Williams
Robert Johnson
Juwan Morgan
Q. Troy, tell us what the mindset was tonight.
TROY WILLIAMS: Just having more of an attacking mindset. After Michigan State, I didn't come out aggressive and I watched -- we watched it, and we just -- me and Coach Crean had talked and we decided it's time to put on an aggressive mindset. Playing like that, I see the results it gets me.
Q. Robert, what does this do for you guys tonight defensively after what happened at Michigan State?
ROBERT JOHNSON: I think we did a better job of making in-game adjustments, and like Troy said, collectively we had a better mindset coming out in this game. And when they made a little run, we came together and made sure that we got a stop right there and didn't let that small run turn into a big run. I think that was one of the keys.
Q. Robert, what does it do for you guys to have an attacking mindset like that?
ROBERT JOHNSON: I mean, it just really opens everything up because when he's playing down the court like that, it's really hard to guard, especially when you have so many shooters like we do. If they come off of us, then he kicks it, and if they don't, then he gets to the rim, so it really opens up things for us.
Q. Troy, you talked about the last couple days. When you have a performance like that, do you want to block out outside noise? Do you want to hear criticism and use it to motivate you or do you just kind of -- does it not matter to you, I guess?
TROY WILLIAMS: Criticism doesn't really matter to me. It doesn't motivate me. My teammates, my coaches, my family all motivate me.
Q. Juwan, career high for you tonight, more points than minutes played. Talk about your performance.
JUWAN MORGAN: It was just teammates setting me up putting me in a position to get easy baskets. I remember the most recent one, Troy drove to the lane hard, like we said, with that attacking mindset, and all I did was move out of the way and he found me. Just them making plays like that just opened up everything for me, and I just can't thank them enough for that.
Q. Juwan, you talked about your teammates setting you up, but it seems like you're more comfortable finding those open spots and things now. Does it feel easier for you to find those openings now?
JUWAN MORGAN: Yeah, it does. Just like I said, when they're in that attacking mindset, everybody is focusing on them, and it's easy to just get behind somebody and then run to an open spot. I think that's one of the best things I do, and I picked that up from Yogi and Rob, just watching film with them constantly. Even over the summer just watching film with them last year and just seeing how they saw the floor, and I think when I saw the floor from their perspective that it was easier to get around the big in my spot.
Q. Troy, you talked about criticism. Are you a guy that just shuts yourself off when things aren't going so well? How do you block that noise out?
TROY WILLIAMS: I just don't pay attention to it, really. It's not like I go up there and search for it. I don't search for criticism, I don't search for positive quotes or anything like that from people. Like I said before, it's just family, team, coaches, all I need to motivate me.
Q. Juwan, what's it been like playing with OG?
JUWAN MORGAN: It's just been great, especially knowing each other so long and seeing each other develop since seventh grade. When OG is out there doing great, I'm cheering him on, just like the rest of the team, and when I'm out there doing the things I have to do, I know he's cheering for me just like the rest of the team. It's just great because that's one of my best friends, and so it's just one of those feelings that you get when you're both developing together, it's just something that can't be stopped.
Q. Troy, you said you were being more aggressive tonight, but you also only missed one shot. Were you maybe picking and choosing your shots a little bit more, too?
TROY WILLIAMS: I didn't even know I missed one shot. (Laughter.) Yeah, just not settling as much and attacking the rim more. I have a quick first step and I need to use it more, so I found that out tonight, and by doing that I found other people, found Juwan on the baseline, got open lay-ups and more.
Q. The Collin Hartman dunk at the baseline, I know, Juwan, you were right there. What was that like and did you ever see Collin do anything like that?
JUWAN MORGAN: In practice I have seen him do a lot of dunks like that, and when he rose up, I'm thinking a finger roll was coming, but then when he pulled on the rim, I was just like, did that just happen? And then I just ran back down the court and I told him, "good dunk," and then we got back on defense.
Q. Rob, Juwan was talking about kind of how he was seeing the game, you guys attacking made things easier for him. How have you kind of seen him develop and make himself more a part of the game?
ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, well, like he said, he's taking an active part in his improvement. Like he said, he's followed in the footsteps -- I followed him from Yogi before I was watching film and getting better mentally, so when you do that, things on the court start to slow down a little bit for you and you start to see where plays can develop and you can make plays.
Q. Robert, you guys are now tied for first and there's four games left. Thoughts on that?
ROBERT JOHNSON: Well, that's a good thing. Well, we just are going to try to take it one game at a time and try to take it one game at a time, one play at a time, and let the results come as they may.
Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
On the swing at the end of the first half….
Miles: They had 17 possessions and they scored 33 points from 5:22 to 14 whatever. At the end of the first half I thought that we maybe didn't have the best lineups on the floor. In the second half I think they were just downhill. They were coming at us and especially Troy Williams. Troy Williams was just shot out of a cannon and we didn't handle that very well, ends up 8-for-9 and it really hurt us bad.
On the momentum shift from the technical foul…
Miles: When we went zone, I think that affected us a lot more because ewe were doing fine, we had some foul trouble and tired guys. We go zone and they get 6 points in three possessions and from there was a downhill slide. At the end of the day, maybe it did but I thought the zone idea was a bad one by me.
On if he warranted the technical…
Miles: I don't know. I was mad that we fouled, I was mad that the type of foul was called because I thought that we got bumped before that. I turned my back and slammed the floor, tried to do it crouching down, not a very good athlete so I ended up falling down. It is what it is, whether that hurts the team or not I don't know.
On involving F Jack McVeigh early on…
Miles: I thought all those guys were aggressive early on. Jack (McVeigh), Michael (Jacobson), they were moving the ball. We were getting what we wanted and it was good for us, but Jack really played well that way. He got tired out defensively towards the end of the game and that hurt us. Glynn (Watson Jr) really hurt us defensively, Andrew (White III) hurt us defensively. At the end of the day, the story of the game was we didn't play good enough defense. We didn't control tempo, they got quick scores. That's a death sentence against Indiana, especially here.
On stopping Indiana when they get on a roll…
Miles: The biggest thing is, they were scoring in the first eight seconds and that's completely an effort deal. Are you back? Are you set? How smart are you playing on offense also? We didn't turn it over a lot, they were just coming after us. That's effort, that's getting back and mentally focused to take on the challenge. It's hard to coach those first seconds of defense, after that it's a lot easier as a coach.
On stopping the many different weapons Indiana brings…
Miles: You have to do a good job. I saw them up 35 points on Ohio State, they can just embarrass you when they get going. I think (Nick) Zeisloft, (Collin) Hartman both were 4-for-4 at halftime from 3, Juwan Morgan throws one in. That's five threes' that I don't know we gave up last time. I guess Zeisloft had two late against us but I don't know what Hartman did at our place. Those are the guys you have to take some of that away, it's hard to take everything away from especially with a play maker like Yogi (Ferrell), he can hurt you in a lot of ways.
On letting the game slip away when it was a single digit deficit…
Miles: A couple of timely turnovers, a missed inside shot. We missed a couple of inside shots, we never got to the foul line all night and pretty soon you look up and it's 14 again. I think that's when we lost a lot of confidence and it was a little bit disheartening for us and we lacked leadership and talk out there too at that point in time. Tai (Webster) was trying, Benny (Parker) was trying but that's probably where we missed (Shavon) Shields more than anything at those point.
On the difference of Indiana since the Jan. 2 matchup…
Miles: Troy (Williams) played really well tonight, he had been in a bit of a funk. They are hard to prepare for because I think Tom Crean does a great job. They run a lot of actions, missed direction stuff, they are coming at you in transition in a big way. I thought they defended really well late in that first half as well. They took Drew away as much as they could, some other guys made some nice plays like Jack McVieg and Tai Webster did a good job driving the ball. But Tai's turnover late in the second half, Glynn has one. We miss a inside shot, we missed a dunk. You can't do so much missing at the rim, mistakes right there at three feet and in and expect to be in the game.
On how the team handled the pressure of Assembly Hall…
Miles: I kind of feel like they lost confidence and panicked a little bit. Not panicked as much as tried too hard to make something happen. It doesn't take much of a mistake for these guys to hurt you. I just regret those three possessions in zone, I know it was three out of 65 but I regret those. I think it kind of opened up a can of worms we didn't need to open.
Postgame Quotes
Feb. 17, 2016
Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
TOM CREAN: Our guys were -- we have so much respect for how Nebraska plays and we knew they were getting better, and sit up here and say it, and you never look at the record, you don't look at who they've played, you look at, okay, what do you see on film, and there's no doubt they were playing well. They were playing well before Shavon got hurt and they're doing the same thing, and we knew we were going to have to -- we'd be in a battle and we did not have a great first half. We had a solid first half, we had a very solid ending, but they had something to do with that, too, and we kept telling our guys the last couple days and throughout the huddles that they weren't going to go away, and they don't, because Tim does an excellent job, and that team has got very good older players, and obviously some really good young ones. When you can respond the way that they do without having one of their two best players in that lineup, that's a sign of a really, really good program, you know, one that's going to continue to rise. And what they've done with their individual improvement is really something.
For us to play the way we did in the second half says a lot about the way our guys -- they were in a full fight, and they knew we had to make adjustments. I give Rob Judson tremendous credit for going to the -- telling him it was time to go to the all switching, and I think we had six straight possessions where they didn't score on that. That was absolutely paramount to the game, and they are really fast, and so what they do is they create a lot of movement, and they can play a lot of different ways, so you've got to be really -- you've got to be really locked in.
First half a couple times we made some mistakes, some mistakes where we wanted to switch, and a couple communication mistakes they made us pay. But we came out and did an excellent job in the second half. We went through the paint, which is exactly what we wanted to do, but the most important thing about the night to me is the way the players drove the train. I mean, they absolutely did. They've had -- we had a short turnaround, right? We get home later on Sunday and we can say, well, they're college kids. Well, they're in the midst of a battle right now, and everybody goes through the same thing, and for them to respond the way that they did in a short period of time says a lot. We didn't over-practice, but we made sure we really prepared, and we had to learn from our own film.
But our guys played with tremendous heart, passion, energy, all those adjectives that describe a team that's really connected and together. That's exactly what they did, and we did it different ways. But they understood what the game was giving them, and they went to it and took advantage of it, and we came away with a victory. Really, really proud of the way that they played.
Q. Troy said that the two of you talked about how he needed to have more of an attacking mindset.
TOM CREAN: Among a few other things we visited about. But I love Troy, and I would -- Troy has got unique talents, and sometimes he's his own worst enemy with the things that he tries to do. But what he did in the second half was what we were trying to get him to do in the first half, and he had a couple footwork errors. That's the way Troy needs to play. Troy needs to be aggressive, attacking, but reading the situation, and that's obviously what we want to try to get him to have.
But he was really locked in. He's been very hungry and humble in his improvement, and we don't deal in the whole slump business. We don't get caught up in that. I mean, we've got some three-point numbers earlier in the season that if we were playing it on the percentage, we might not have them take threes, but they're a couple of the leading three-point shooters on our team. What it is is if you're working hard and preparing hard and doing the extra -- you have to do the extra; you can't work on the game in the game. I mean, you've got to work on the game long before you get there, but when he's in that attack mindset and when he's really focused and letting the game come to him in some degrees but also being on the attack in the other degree, then he's pretty good.
Q. How far has he come? How far does he still have to go? You've talked about this before for him, and knowing how to be aggressive but at the same time always kind of be reading the game, always be --
TOM CREAN: That's the thing he has to do. It's one game, right, and it's a long season. It's one game, and he did a really nice job.
But we never -- I try to never coach, and I'll address things obviously, but I'm trying to never coach through the negative of what they're not doing. It's more importantly what they have to do, what they can do, what they need to do, and then every once in a while what they need to do less of. But the bottom line is when you work on it and study the film, and that's the thing that Troy needs to be completely locked into is the mental part of it with the video and the physical part of it with locking into practice the way that he does, doing a few things extra that build that confidence, and then he's good. To me that's the most important thing, and it's really -- I'd say the same about everybody else.
Q. Talk about Juwan's big game and the influence that he's gotten from Yogi.
TOM CREAN: Well, where Yogi can -- from when he came in, Yogi could really guard anybody. There were times he would guard the 5 man in a front situation, right, in an emergency switch because he would fight, right, he was athletic, he was quick, he was tough, but he would fight. Those two have that. They're quick, they're athletic, they're long, so where Yogi at his size, and Rob is getting there, but where Yogi at his size can guard, you don't want him 1 through 5, but you don't really -- we didn't mind tonight, right, because that's what the game was giving us, that he can go 1 through 4, those guys can do the same thing. That versatility that they have defensively is huge, and they're both basketball players. They're both bigger young men, but they're not -- I wouldn't characterize those guys with a certain position, right, and Juwan has shown that hitting the three and the way that he played, and OG has shown that this season. So eventually if we can get a team that can really switch constantly like we did tonight, that makes us that much better, and because you have to win the game different ways. Every game is giving you something different.
He answered the bell. He didn't have a great early stretch in the first half, but he really responded in the second half. Again, I give Tim and Rob credit there for recommending that we put him in at that point and then Rob for the call of going 55 minutes. It's a team effort. Those guys ran the halftime, our players. They were so good in the huddles, and the talk at halftime was tremendous. It was a dramatic shot Yogi hit. It didn't count, couldn't even tell. It didn't take the air out of anybody's sails, and they did a fantastic job.
Q. Talk about Collin being aggressive tonight. Are you seeing that manifest itself more?
TOM CREAN: I think so. Yeah, he's got to quit starting the game off with the whirling dervish one-handed passes a little bit. He and Troy are like carbon copies of each other a couple of times when we were starting the game. But letting the game come, being ready to shoot the ball. He can facilitate so many things for us, and I think at some point in time tonight we felt like we'd go back to the old lineup that we had in the past if they were hurting us with the spread game with Collin potentially playing the 5, but it ended up being Juwan in that position. But Collin needs to be -- he needs to feel green light, right, and just make simple passes, keep moving without the ball, find people, but when that ball comes to him, be ready to knock it down, so we need that aggressiveness.
Q. Around the six-minute mark of the second half, I noticed you got pretty animated and tried to get the crowd into it. What was the reason for that, and do you think it worked?
TOM CREAN: Well, I thought the crowd was pretty good, but I thought that was a heck of a scrum for a loose ball, and that's what it's supposed to look like. I just wanted a little help in reminding those guys that's what Indiana basketball looks like, to be honest with you, and I thought the crowd really responded to that. I thought we played extremely hard all night, but that was just one of those moments that let's thank them for what they're doing because these guys, they go at it every day. I mean, they really do. I don't think there's anyway you could have the season we're having without them putting what they put into each day, into each game. There's never a look ahead. There's no hangover effect when you lose, coming into the next one. There's none of that. We respond. That's all that it was. Our crowd was great. It was fantastic.
Q. You talked about getting back on Sunday evening, 27th game now. Nine guys played 11 or more minutes. Are you very pleased with that and did you want to go deep into your bench?
TOM CREAN: Yeah, we want to go deep into the bench. I didn't put a lot of thought into that tonight, but it's really more how you get ready for the game. We do a lot of different things. Some days we don't walk through very long on the day of the game, we met in the film room a lot, or we might practice. We just mix it up. I think it's all about having the pulse of your team, reading them, and then knowing that when it's game time they've got to be at their best. Our guys worked very hard and they were rewarded with it, and they did a great job, but we've got to get better. Thank you.
Indiana Players
Troy Williams
Robert Johnson
Juwan Morgan
Q. Troy, tell us what the mindset was tonight.
TROY WILLIAMS: Just having more of an attacking mindset. After Michigan State, I didn't come out aggressive and I watched -- we watched it, and we just -- me and Coach Crean had talked and we decided it's time to put on an aggressive mindset. Playing like that, I see the results it gets me.
Q. Robert, what does this do for you guys tonight defensively after what happened at Michigan State?
ROBERT JOHNSON: I think we did a better job of making in-game adjustments, and like Troy said, collectively we had a better mindset coming out in this game. And when they made a little run, we came together and made sure that we got a stop right there and didn't let that small run turn into a big run. I think that was one of the keys.
Q. Robert, what does it do for you guys to have an attacking mindset like that?
ROBERT JOHNSON: I mean, it just really opens everything up because when he's playing down the court like that, it's really hard to guard, especially when you have so many shooters like we do. If they come off of us, then he kicks it, and if they don't, then he gets to the rim, so it really opens up things for us.
Q. Troy, you talked about the last couple days. When you have a performance like that, do you want to block out outside noise? Do you want to hear criticism and use it to motivate you or do you just kind of -- does it not matter to you, I guess?
TROY WILLIAMS: Criticism doesn't really matter to me. It doesn't motivate me. My teammates, my coaches, my family all motivate me.
Q. Juwan, career high for you tonight, more points than minutes played. Talk about your performance.
JUWAN MORGAN: It was just teammates setting me up putting me in a position to get easy baskets. I remember the most recent one, Troy drove to the lane hard, like we said, with that attacking mindset, and all I did was move out of the way and he found me. Just them making plays like that just opened up everything for me, and I just can't thank them enough for that.
Q. Juwan, you talked about your teammates setting you up, but it seems like you're more comfortable finding those open spots and things now. Does it feel easier for you to find those openings now?
JUWAN MORGAN: Yeah, it does. Just like I said, when they're in that attacking mindset, everybody is focusing on them, and it's easy to just get behind somebody and then run to an open spot. I think that's one of the best things I do, and I picked that up from Yogi and Rob, just watching film with them constantly. Even over the summer just watching film with them last year and just seeing how they saw the floor, and I think when I saw the floor from their perspective that it was easier to get around the big in my spot.
Q. Troy, you talked about criticism. Are you a guy that just shuts yourself off when things aren't going so well? How do you block that noise out?
TROY WILLIAMS: I just don't pay attention to it, really. It's not like I go up there and search for it. I don't search for criticism, I don't search for positive quotes or anything like that from people. Like I said before, it's just family, team, coaches, all I need to motivate me.
Q. Juwan, what's it been like playing with OG?
JUWAN MORGAN: It's just been great, especially knowing each other so long and seeing each other develop since seventh grade. When OG is out there doing great, I'm cheering him on, just like the rest of the team, and when I'm out there doing the things I have to do, I know he's cheering for me just like the rest of the team. It's just great because that's one of my best friends, and so it's just one of those feelings that you get when you're both developing together, it's just something that can't be stopped.
Q. Troy, you said you were being more aggressive tonight, but you also only missed one shot. Were you maybe picking and choosing your shots a little bit more, too?
TROY WILLIAMS: I didn't even know I missed one shot. (Laughter.) Yeah, just not settling as much and attacking the rim more. I have a quick first step and I need to use it more, so I found that out tonight, and by doing that I found other people, found Juwan on the baseline, got open lay-ups and more.
Q. The Collin Hartman dunk at the baseline, I know, Juwan, you were right there. What was that like and did you ever see Collin do anything like that?
JUWAN MORGAN: In practice I have seen him do a lot of dunks like that, and when he rose up, I'm thinking a finger roll was coming, but then when he pulled on the rim, I was just like, did that just happen? And then I just ran back down the court and I told him, "good dunk," and then we got back on defense.
Q. Rob, Juwan was talking about kind of how he was seeing the game, you guys attacking made things easier for him. How have you kind of seen him develop and make himself more a part of the game?
ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, well, like he said, he's taking an active part in his improvement. Like he said, he's followed in the footsteps -- I followed him from Yogi before I was watching film and getting better mentally, so when you do that, things on the court start to slow down a little bit for you and you start to see where plays can develop and you can make plays.
Q. Robert, you guys are now tied for first and there's four games left. Thoughts on that?
ROBERT JOHNSON: Well, that's a good thing. Well, we just are going to try to take it one game at a time and try to take it one game at a time, one play at a time, and let the results come as they may.
Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
On the swing at the end of the first half….
Miles: They had 17 possessions and they scored 33 points from 5:22 to 14 whatever. At the end of the first half I thought that we maybe didn't have the best lineups on the floor. In the second half I think they were just downhill. They were coming at us and especially Troy Williams. Troy Williams was just shot out of a cannon and we didn't handle that very well, ends up 8-for-9 and it really hurt us bad.
On the momentum shift from the technical foul…
Miles: When we went zone, I think that affected us a lot more because ewe were doing fine, we had some foul trouble and tired guys. We go zone and they get 6 points in three possessions and from there was a downhill slide. At the end of the day, maybe it did but I thought the zone idea was a bad one by me.
On if he warranted the technical…
Miles: I don't know. I was mad that we fouled, I was mad that the type of foul was called because I thought that we got bumped before that. I turned my back and slammed the floor, tried to do it crouching down, not a very good athlete so I ended up falling down. It is what it is, whether that hurts the team or not I don't know.
On involving F Jack McVeigh early on…
Miles: I thought all those guys were aggressive early on. Jack (McVeigh), Michael (Jacobson), they were moving the ball. We were getting what we wanted and it was good for us, but Jack really played well that way. He got tired out defensively towards the end of the game and that hurt us. Glynn (Watson Jr) really hurt us defensively, Andrew (White III) hurt us defensively. At the end of the day, the story of the game was we didn't play good enough defense. We didn't control tempo, they got quick scores. That's a death sentence against Indiana, especially here.
On stopping Indiana when they get on a roll…
Miles: The biggest thing is, they were scoring in the first eight seconds and that's completely an effort deal. Are you back? Are you set? How smart are you playing on offense also? We didn't turn it over a lot, they were just coming after us. That's effort, that's getting back and mentally focused to take on the challenge. It's hard to coach those first seconds of defense, after that it's a lot easier as a coach.
On stopping the many different weapons Indiana brings…
Miles: You have to do a good job. I saw them up 35 points on Ohio State, they can just embarrass you when they get going. I think (Nick) Zeisloft, (Collin) Hartman both were 4-for-4 at halftime from 3, Juwan Morgan throws one in. That's five threes' that I don't know we gave up last time. I guess Zeisloft had two late against us but I don't know what Hartman did at our place. Those are the guys you have to take some of that away, it's hard to take everything away from especially with a play maker like Yogi (Ferrell), he can hurt you in a lot of ways.
On letting the game slip away when it was a single digit deficit…
Miles: A couple of timely turnovers, a missed inside shot. We missed a couple of inside shots, we never got to the foul line all night and pretty soon you look up and it's 14 again. I think that's when we lost a lot of confidence and it was a little bit disheartening for us and we lacked leadership and talk out there too at that point in time. Tai (Webster) was trying, Benny (Parker) was trying but that's probably where we missed (Shavon) Shields more than anything at those point.
On the difference of Indiana since the Jan. 2 matchup…
Miles: Troy (Williams) played really well tonight, he had been in a bit of a funk. They are hard to prepare for because I think Tom Crean does a great job. They run a lot of actions, missed direction stuff, they are coming at you in transition in a big way. I thought they defended really well late in that first half as well. They took Drew away as much as they could, some other guys made some nice plays like Jack McVieg and Tai Webster did a good job driving the ball. But Tai's turnover late in the second half, Glynn has one. We miss a inside shot, we missed a dunk. You can't do so much missing at the rim, mistakes right there at three feet and in and expect to be in the game.
On how the team handled the pressure of Assembly Hall…
Miles: I kind of feel like they lost confidence and panicked a little bit. Not panicked as much as tried too hard to make something happen. It doesn't take much of a mistake for these guys to hurt you. I just regret those three possessions in zone, I know it was three out of 65 but I regret those. I think it kind of opened up a can of worms we didn't need to open.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballFB: Nico Radicic - Spring Practice No. 11
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FB: Drew Evans - Spring Practice No. 11
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