Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. Jacksonville
12/22/2018 8:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
ARCHIE MILLER: First of all, to finish off non-conference play in that type of crowd was really, really nice to see, the fans that kind of came out. To be able to put that type of attendance in there tonight I thought was really special. Hopefully as we get into early January, we can continue to have that. It's important as we get into the Big Ten.
We played well tonight. We shared the ball. We were much better in terms of moving the ball. I thought our guys did a decent job of playing together.
Defensively we grinded pretty good for about 30 minutes, then obviously we took the foot off the pedal, which was a little disappointing. It's hard to complain when you have a lot of different guys in there contributing, also being down two guys that play an important role on our team.
We feel good about the win. Our non-conference résumé is done, we've gotten through it. A lot of ups and downs. Now, as we press forward after break, we'll get ready for the Big Ten gauntlet, so to speak.
Q. To what degree did you want guys, at least Juwan, focusing on the triple-double toward the end as opposed to just letting it come to him?
ARCHIE MILLER: I didn't realize it until we had the media where he was two points away. We drew up a play underneath out of bounds to make sure he got it.
Guys were definitely going to try to get him the deal. I think that's an incredible accomplishment to do that. At Indiana, so few people have done it. You have to be an unbelievable, complete guy to be able to be that type of efficiency. Took five shots in the game, you know what I mean? You can tell he completely dominated with his unselfish play.
It was good for him to be able to play the way he did tonight. He made us better.
Q. For a guy like that to have 10 assist, how much have you seen him grow as a passer?
ARCHIE MILLER: He's got confidence in his perimeter game right now, more so than anything, handling the ball in the open floor. He's looking for people. He hunts to get guys shots. He's terrific out of the post. He's finding guys out of the post, cutter, shooter.
Tonight when you put him against the zone, he's really dangerous because he can operate in the high post or low post. To be able to deal with that type of zone, playing through the middle, he again sort of picked it apart working the back line, whatnot.
He had all three levels going. He had the transition deal head up. Playing in the post, he created a lot of offense for a lot of different guys. Then once we got into the zone, I thought he was an important piece to cut it up.
Q. 25 assists this game. The ball movement was very good and crisp tonight. Five first half turnovers.
ARCHIE MILLER: We just spent a lot of time watching film of Central Arkansas's first four to eight minutes. We talked about in practice being sharper with your catches, more fundamental with things. We still had some one-arm zingers that come flying, whether that's out of the post. We got to try to tone that down.
I just think we have to be more fundamental, we really do. Less chances, less one-hand passes, whatnot. I thought tonight we were pretty secure in our ball security. Guys made right reads. There were a lot of good passes out there that got guys good shots.
Q. How long after you arrived here did you realize that Juwan could be the player that he is? Had you previously gotten a chance to see him play? How long before you realized how good he could be?
ARCHIE MILLER: Just individual workouts through our first early part of the spring, then getting into the summer, kind of seeing how he played, watching him as an inside-outside type of a player.
As we progressed last year and our team changed, went from big to a little bit smaller, I think you got to see him start to take advantage of his mobility, whatnot.
He can play with the big, he can play without a big. He can pretty much handle himself the entire game without any problems.
But his versatility, how he approaches things, you could pretty much tell he was really developing late last year with his incredible Big Ten season. He work worked hard this summer, then moved into this year's team, and he's taken a leadership role.
He is not greedy by any stretch. He doesn't have any stretches in the season where he complains, I'm not shooting. He just plays. It's good to see.
He's getting as much done as any player in college basketball for our team.
Q. Al Durham, with a career high tonight. Talk about his development as a perimeter shooter over the past year.
ARCHIE MILLER: He's worked hard at it. He's a stronger player, more confidence. He's a year older. Al really loves the game. He works on it. He's the guy that's in before practice, after practice, shoot around. He spends a ton of time.
Good to see him get rewarded. He had a slow stretch for a while where he wasn't hitting. Played right through it. Had a terrific workout yesterday before practice. One of his better practices. He showed. He played nice tonight. He didn't force anything. He was able to, in my opinion, take good shots. A lot of them were assisted, which was good to see. Al earned the right to play well tonight. He has worked hard.
Q. This break you have coming up, anything specifically as a staff you're looking to get accomplished with the extra practice time?
ARCHIE MILLER: Yeah, I mean, obviously we have a chance to tie some things up. We have to get a lot better offensively, as we've stated here in the last couple weeks, taking care of the ball.
You're going to see a lot of different styles in the Big Ten. One of the things you have to do is make sure you're getting a good shot, not turning it over. We're going to look at some things offensively where we can tidy it up, clean it up. Defensively we've got to keep getting better. Hopefully we get two of our best perimeter defenders back at some point in time. That will help our cause there, not having to play as many minutes.
Defensively I think we're going to have to take it to another level as we get ready to get into the Big Ten. I think every coach in the league would be lying if they didn't tell you, You got to strap it on coming out in the next couple weeks.
Once it gets started, every team you play, in my opinion, has a chance to win the league, make a Sweet 16. You're looking at top 10, 15, 25 teams. It's going to be difficult.
So I think we just got to take our time here after break, take it one day at a time, cross our fingers and hopefully get healthy as we enter league play. One day at a time.
Q. You said you aren't where you want to be offensively. Talking about Juwan, for a guy who scored so many points, how important has that been this year as you've had to adapt in a lot of new guys?
ARCHIE MILLER: He's just coachable. He's trying to do what we ask him to do. He knows when you play in the thick of it, he's going to have to make more plays, try to attempt more shots.
But he goes out of his way to play the right way. To me he doesn't really care how many points he scores. I think Juwan is looking at the big picture, saying, This is my last go, I want to have the best possible season as I can, I want to be remembered for a heck of a run as a senior, a good two-year run with us.
He has kind of changed the complexion of not only his own game, his own reputation, but he's had an opportunity to have a real big imprint on this group. He's a coachable guy, plays the right way. Good things are going to come to him.
Q. Devonte didn't shoot the ball like the other night. Played 35 minutes, five assists, two steals. Plus-minus of 30. How do you think he handled the extra minutes tonight?
ARCHIE MILLER: I thought he made good plays. I mean, he was very aggressive. He got downhill quite a bit off the ball screens, which we encouraged him to do.
Shooting the ball is one thing. As long as he takes good shots, he's going to have a chance to make him. Need him to be pretty solid taking care of the ball. I think he's 11 assists to three turnovers in his last two games, three steals a game.
He's doing a good job. He just needed to make a couple more shots tonight. His line looks good. He had a good week. He knows right now with Rob being out, he's back in there, going to play a lot of minutes. I think he's playing freedom.
Q. Clifton, Jake and Damezi, how valuable was this week to maybe get some young guys some confidence, let them see a payoff?
ARCHIE MILLER: I mean, you always want guys who work hard every day to have an opportunity to contribute. Those guys have been hungry to do so. All three of them had opportunities to do it.
Damezi is going to be vital moving forward with our perimeter group, where he is going to be able to make less mistakes, take great shots. When he does take great shots, be another guy that can stretch the floor for us.
The other two guys have to keep hanging in there. You never know with injuries and fouls who is going to get their number called. I suspect we are going to be in some real dogfights in the next couple months which is going to require our bench to go deeper. We'll keep trying to develop them. They just got to stay with it.
Thank you. Merry Christmas.
Juwan Morgan
Aljami Durham
Q. Juwan, I don't know if you're into mathematical symmetry or not. You had the triple-double today. You played 30 minutes, your plus-minus was 30 and your team won by 30. Any comment?
JUWAN MORGAN: No comment (smiling).
No, I just think it was a great offensive scheme throughout the whole game. I think we really had trust in each other throughout the whole game, trust in them for finding me, reciprocating that, finding them and getting open shots.
Q. What does it mean to you to be one of only two guys in this school to ever do that here?
JUWAN MORGAN: It means a lot. Triple-double is very hard to come by. You don't see too many people do that. This is the second one in school history. I really don't know what to say.
Q. At what point did you realize you were working on it?
JUWAN MORGAN: Johnny was keeping me up to date on it. He told me I only needed two more assists to get to 10, one more basket. When I threw it to Al, I just kept telling him to shoot. We were going down the court, Regardless, as soon as I throw it, shoot it. He made it. Give all glory to God.
Q. Al, what does it say about Juwan?
ALJAMI DURHAM: You just see all the hard work come into the light really. He's a hard worker. He does everything for us. He's just a great guy. I feel like, if anybody, he deserves this. It's an honor to be a part of it with him.
Q. Al, career high 18 points for you tonight. What was working for you offensively?
ALJAMI DURHAM: My teammates finding me and trusting me. I feel like they had the confidence in me. I was just knocking it down, as Juwan would say.
Q. Al, how comfortable are you in knowing where your shots are?
ALJAMI DURHAM: We go over this in practice. Nothing new to me. We just get the reps in practice. I feel like it translates to the game for me right now.
Q. Juwan, you have this 12-day layoff coming up. What do you feel this team needs to fine-tune before you get back into Big Ten play?
JUWAN MORGAN: I think everything can use a little fine-tuning. I think specifically starting off strong. We had a couple games where we didn't do that as well. I think tonight we were really coming out, weren't just throwing the ball away the first 10 possessions. I think we really ran our stuff. Just continuing to build off that.
Also just staying connected on the defensive end, getting the stops early on, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Q. Why was the passing as good as it was tonight?
JUWAN MORGAN: We had a couple games where we didn't do that, as well. I really don't know. I kind of feel like I always just pass that way. Sometimes I pass more than others. I think guys were doing good of finding gaps in the defense. I was just finding them in those gaps.
Q. That bounce pass you threw, best pass you've ever thrown, top five, top ten?
JUWAN MORGAN: Top three (smiling).
Q. Do you remember what else?
JUWAN MORGAN: I've done that pass a couple times. I just say all three of those are tied.
Q. You had a 15-point lead at halftime, then came out and scored the first 10 points of the second half. Was there an emphasis at halftime of a fast start in the second half?
ALJAMI DURHAM: We didn't want to let up. We wanted to keep our intensity up from the first half. We wanted to come out strong, make sure we didn't miss a beat, I would say.
Q. The team has really picked up the sharing of the ball. The ball movement seems to really be improving for you guys.
JUWAN MORGAN: Yeah, I would say it's just been a point of emphasis in practice. The ball moves faster than anybody on the court. I think finding open guys as quick as possible, advance pass, things like that, it really gives people confidence. Confidence is contagious.
ALJAMI DURHAM: To piggyback off of what he said, coach emphasized it into our offense. I feel like we do it so much in practice, it's just translating over.
Q. Juwan, I presume when you were sitting on eight points, coach called that inbounds play for you, did you know that was coming?
JUWAN MORGAN: Yeah, he kind of said he wanted to get another triple-double. So he called that up and we executed it.
Q. Juwan, how valuable was it for a week like this when other guys were able to get a run? How valuable was it to go into that holiday break building confidence?
JUWAN MORGAN: I think you said it at the latter part of your statement, building confidence going into the Big Ten season. We're going to need those guys at any time for them to step up, like Cliff at Penn State. Whenever their number is called, they have to be ready.
Q. Some guys, especially some young guys, have had to play a lot of minutes. How important is this long break going to be for some of the younger guys to get fresh again?
ALJAMI DURHAM: Say one more time.
Q. A lot of the young guys on this team have had to play a lot of minutes in this season. How important has this week been, then this break?
ALJAMI DURHAM: I feel like a break from this will do them very well because they've been playing real hard, a lot of minutes. This break will do good. A couple days off, then when we come back, we're right back to it.
Q. Juwan, back to the assist portion. How much pride do you take in that number? How have you developed that part of your game to become the passer you are?
JUWAN MORGAN: I really don't know how. I've never really done it, all the way up until I pretty much got here where I was not like the man any more. I never passed. I don't know where that came from (smiling).
It's just something I've really taken pride in, getting other people shots. I love when other people shine. I love when those guys have great nights.
Jacksonville Head Coach Tony Jasick
Q: You guys looked a little bit tired at the end of the second half, did you feel the legs?
"You are dead right. We did not show the same level of energy, toughness and discipline that we did to start the game. It's something that we got to evaluate and fix moving forward."
Q: Can you tell me about Morgan's play? You have obviously seen him play before on tape, but to see him in person and get a triple double, the first one in 47 years here.
"I think he is obviously a load. They do a really good job of getting him the ball in spots where he doesn't need much time to score the ball. When the double team can't quite get there, he has already got the ball on the rim. He is a talent. It will be interesting to watch him and Romeo Langford go through Big Ten play."
Q: Al Durham had 18 points tonight, is that a product of maybe two guys that you had to spend a lot of time on?
"I think so. Obviously, those guys are the highlight of every scouting report that they're in. You have to give credit to their other guys who played really well. I thought they got the ball downhill a ton off of ball screens. We didn't do a great job at closing the gaps and limiting the ways that they could get the ball downhill which leads to good rhythm shots."
Q: You have played different teams this year such as Notre Dame, so how do you compare Indiana to what you have played for fun?
"Obviously, they are good. They are talented. I think they will be able to really defend and put you in bad spots with Morgan and Langford. I think they are really good, so it will be interesting to watch them the rest of the year."
Q: Are you getting away from many of the things you did in the nice streak that you had coming in to this game?
"Yeah, we are playing Notre Dame and Indiana. A little bit. If you watch the Notre Dame game on Thursday, we did a lot of really good things. But they just shot the mess out of it. Some of those were because they got to feeling good, and some of those were tough shots, and some of those were defensive break downs. Here tonight, I thought we competed for most of the first half and did an okay job. The good news is that we got these two games out of the way. Our guys got a couple of great experiences, and now we can give them a day or two for Christmas and get back to what we do and what we need to do to win the rest of the way."
Q: Talk about the experience of playing in this building.
"The experience is cool for them. If you are picking historical college basketball venues, this is one of them. There is no doubt. It doesn't feel great now, but in about 10-12 years they will reflect on this and be able to tell great stories."
ARCHIE MILLER: First of all, to finish off non-conference play in that type of crowd was really, really nice to see, the fans that kind of came out. To be able to put that type of attendance in there tonight I thought was really special. Hopefully as we get into early January, we can continue to have that. It's important as we get into the Big Ten.
We played well tonight. We shared the ball. We were much better in terms of moving the ball. I thought our guys did a decent job of playing together.
Defensively we grinded pretty good for about 30 minutes, then obviously we took the foot off the pedal, which was a little disappointing. It's hard to complain when you have a lot of different guys in there contributing, also being down two guys that play an important role on our team.
We feel good about the win. Our non-conference résumé is done, we've gotten through it. A lot of ups and downs. Now, as we press forward after break, we'll get ready for the Big Ten gauntlet, so to speak.
Q. To what degree did you want guys, at least Juwan, focusing on the triple-double toward the end as opposed to just letting it come to him?
ARCHIE MILLER: I didn't realize it until we had the media where he was two points away. We drew up a play underneath out of bounds to make sure he got it.
Guys were definitely going to try to get him the deal. I think that's an incredible accomplishment to do that. At Indiana, so few people have done it. You have to be an unbelievable, complete guy to be able to be that type of efficiency. Took five shots in the game, you know what I mean? You can tell he completely dominated with his unselfish play.
It was good for him to be able to play the way he did tonight. He made us better.
Q. For a guy like that to have 10 assist, how much have you seen him grow as a passer?
ARCHIE MILLER: He's got confidence in his perimeter game right now, more so than anything, handling the ball in the open floor. He's looking for people. He hunts to get guys shots. He's terrific out of the post. He's finding guys out of the post, cutter, shooter.
Tonight when you put him against the zone, he's really dangerous because he can operate in the high post or low post. To be able to deal with that type of zone, playing through the middle, he again sort of picked it apart working the back line, whatnot.
He had all three levels going. He had the transition deal head up. Playing in the post, he created a lot of offense for a lot of different guys. Then once we got into the zone, I thought he was an important piece to cut it up.
Q. 25 assists this game. The ball movement was very good and crisp tonight. Five first half turnovers.
ARCHIE MILLER: We just spent a lot of time watching film of Central Arkansas's first four to eight minutes. We talked about in practice being sharper with your catches, more fundamental with things. We still had some one-arm zingers that come flying, whether that's out of the post. We got to try to tone that down.
I just think we have to be more fundamental, we really do. Less chances, less one-hand passes, whatnot. I thought tonight we were pretty secure in our ball security. Guys made right reads. There were a lot of good passes out there that got guys good shots.
Q. How long after you arrived here did you realize that Juwan could be the player that he is? Had you previously gotten a chance to see him play? How long before you realized how good he could be?
ARCHIE MILLER: Just individual workouts through our first early part of the spring, then getting into the summer, kind of seeing how he played, watching him as an inside-outside type of a player.
As we progressed last year and our team changed, went from big to a little bit smaller, I think you got to see him start to take advantage of his mobility, whatnot.
He can play with the big, he can play without a big. He can pretty much handle himself the entire game without any problems.
But his versatility, how he approaches things, you could pretty much tell he was really developing late last year with his incredible Big Ten season. He work worked hard this summer, then moved into this year's team, and he's taken a leadership role.
He is not greedy by any stretch. He doesn't have any stretches in the season where he complains, I'm not shooting. He just plays. It's good to see.
He's getting as much done as any player in college basketball for our team.
Q. Al Durham, with a career high tonight. Talk about his development as a perimeter shooter over the past year.
ARCHIE MILLER: He's worked hard at it. He's a stronger player, more confidence. He's a year older. Al really loves the game. He works on it. He's the guy that's in before practice, after practice, shoot around. He spends a ton of time.
Good to see him get rewarded. He had a slow stretch for a while where he wasn't hitting. Played right through it. Had a terrific workout yesterday before practice. One of his better practices. He showed. He played nice tonight. He didn't force anything. He was able to, in my opinion, take good shots. A lot of them were assisted, which was good to see. Al earned the right to play well tonight. He has worked hard.
Q. This break you have coming up, anything specifically as a staff you're looking to get accomplished with the extra practice time?
ARCHIE MILLER: Yeah, I mean, obviously we have a chance to tie some things up. We have to get a lot better offensively, as we've stated here in the last couple weeks, taking care of the ball.
You're going to see a lot of different styles in the Big Ten. One of the things you have to do is make sure you're getting a good shot, not turning it over. We're going to look at some things offensively where we can tidy it up, clean it up. Defensively we've got to keep getting better. Hopefully we get two of our best perimeter defenders back at some point in time. That will help our cause there, not having to play as many minutes.
Defensively I think we're going to have to take it to another level as we get ready to get into the Big Ten. I think every coach in the league would be lying if they didn't tell you, You got to strap it on coming out in the next couple weeks.
Once it gets started, every team you play, in my opinion, has a chance to win the league, make a Sweet 16. You're looking at top 10, 15, 25 teams. It's going to be difficult.
So I think we just got to take our time here after break, take it one day at a time, cross our fingers and hopefully get healthy as we enter league play. One day at a time.
Q. You said you aren't where you want to be offensively. Talking about Juwan, for a guy who scored so many points, how important has that been this year as you've had to adapt in a lot of new guys?
ARCHIE MILLER: He's just coachable. He's trying to do what we ask him to do. He knows when you play in the thick of it, he's going to have to make more plays, try to attempt more shots.
But he goes out of his way to play the right way. To me he doesn't really care how many points he scores. I think Juwan is looking at the big picture, saying, This is my last go, I want to have the best possible season as I can, I want to be remembered for a heck of a run as a senior, a good two-year run with us.
He has kind of changed the complexion of not only his own game, his own reputation, but he's had an opportunity to have a real big imprint on this group. He's a coachable guy, plays the right way. Good things are going to come to him.
Q. Devonte didn't shoot the ball like the other night. Played 35 minutes, five assists, two steals. Plus-minus of 30. How do you think he handled the extra minutes tonight?
ARCHIE MILLER: I thought he made good plays. I mean, he was very aggressive. He got downhill quite a bit off the ball screens, which we encouraged him to do.
Shooting the ball is one thing. As long as he takes good shots, he's going to have a chance to make him. Need him to be pretty solid taking care of the ball. I think he's 11 assists to three turnovers in his last two games, three steals a game.
He's doing a good job. He just needed to make a couple more shots tonight. His line looks good. He had a good week. He knows right now with Rob being out, he's back in there, going to play a lot of minutes. I think he's playing freedom.
Q. Clifton, Jake and Damezi, how valuable was this week to maybe get some young guys some confidence, let them see a payoff?
ARCHIE MILLER: I mean, you always want guys who work hard every day to have an opportunity to contribute. Those guys have been hungry to do so. All three of them had opportunities to do it.
Damezi is going to be vital moving forward with our perimeter group, where he is going to be able to make less mistakes, take great shots. When he does take great shots, be another guy that can stretch the floor for us.
The other two guys have to keep hanging in there. You never know with injuries and fouls who is going to get their number called. I suspect we are going to be in some real dogfights in the next couple months which is going to require our bench to go deeper. We'll keep trying to develop them. They just got to stay with it.
Thank you. Merry Christmas.
Juwan Morgan
Aljami Durham
Q. Juwan, I don't know if you're into mathematical symmetry or not. You had the triple-double today. You played 30 minutes, your plus-minus was 30 and your team won by 30. Any comment?
JUWAN MORGAN: No comment (smiling).
No, I just think it was a great offensive scheme throughout the whole game. I think we really had trust in each other throughout the whole game, trust in them for finding me, reciprocating that, finding them and getting open shots.
Q. What does it mean to you to be one of only two guys in this school to ever do that here?
JUWAN MORGAN: It means a lot. Triple-double is very hard to come by. You don't see too many people do that. This is the second one in school history. I really don't know what to say.
Q. At what point did you realize you were working on it?
JUWAN MORGAN: Johnny was keeping me up to date on it. He told me I only needed two more assists to get to 10, one more basket. When I threw it to Al, I just kept telling him to shoot. We were going down the court, Regardless, as soon as I throw it, shoot it. He made it. Give all glory to God.
Q. Al, what does it say about Juwan?
ALJAMI DURHAM: You just see all the hard work come into the light really. He's a hard worker. He does everything for us. He's just a great guy. I feel like, if anybody, he deserves this. It's an honor to be a part of it with him.
Q. Al, career high 18 points for you tonight. What was working for you offensively?
ALJAMI DURHAM: My teammates finding me and trusting me. I feel like they had the confidence in me. I was just knocking it down, as Juwan would say.
Q. Al, how comfortable are you in knowing where your shots are?
ALJAMI DURHAM: We go over this in practice. Nothing new to me. We just get the reps in practice. I feel like it translates to the game for me right now.
Q. Juwan, you have this 12-day layoff coming up. What do you feel this team needs to fine-tune before you get back into Big Ten play?
JUWAN MORGAN: I think everything can use a little fine-tuning. I think specifically starting off strong. We had a couple games where we didn't do that as well. I think tonight we were really coming out, weren't just throwing the ball away the first 10 possessions. I think we really ran our stuff. Just continuing to build off that.
Also just staying connected on the defensive end, getting the stops early on, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Q. Why was the passing as good as it was tonight?
JUWAN MORGAN: We had a couple games where we didn't do that, as well. I really don't know. I kind of feel like I always just pass that way. Sometimes I pass more than others. I think guys were doing good of finding gaps in the defense. I was just finding them in those gaps.
Q. That bounce pass you threw, best pass you've ever thrown, top five, top ten?
JUWAN MORGAN: Top three (smiling).
Q. Do you remember what else?
JUWAN MORGAN: I've done that pass a couple times. I just say all three of those are tied.
Q. You had a 15-point lead at halftime, then came out and scored the first 10 points of the second half. Was there an emphasis at halftime of a fast start in the second half?
ALJAMI DURHAM: We didn't want to let up. We wanted to keep our intensity up from the first half. We wanted to come out strong, make sure we didn't miss a beat, I would say.
Q. The team has really picked up the sharing of the ball. The ball movement seems to really be improving for you guys.
JUWAN MORGAN: Yeah, I would say it's just been a point of emphasis in practice. The ball moves faster than anybody on the court. I think finding open guys as quick as possible, advance pass, things like that, it really gives people confidence. Confidence is contagious.
ALJAMI DURHAM: To piggyback off of what he said, coach emphasized it into our offense. I feel like we do it so much in practice, it's just translating over.
Q. Juwan, I presume when you were sitting on eight points, coach called that inbounds play for you, did you know that was coming?
JUWAN MORGAN: Yeah, he kind of said he wanted to get another triple-double. So he called that up and we executed it.
Q. Juwan, how valuable was it for a week like this when other guys were able to get a run? How valuable was it to go into that holiday break building confidence?
JUWAN MORGAN: I think you said it at the latter part of your statement, building confidence going into the Big Ten season. We're going to need those guys at any time for them to step up, like Cliff at Penn State. Whenever their number is called, they have to be ready.
Q. Some guys, especially some young guys, have had to play a lot of minutes. How important is this long break going to be for some of the younger guys to get fresh again?
ALJAMI DURHAM: Say one more time.
Q. A lot of the young guys on this team have had to play a lot of minutes in this season. How important has this week been, then this break?
ALJAMI DURHAM: I feel like a break from this will do them very well because they've been playing real hard, a lot of minutes. This break will do good. A couple days off, then when we come back, we're right back to it.
Q. Juwan, back to the assist portion. How much pride do you take in that number? How have you developed that part of your game to become the passer you are?
JUWAN MORGAN: I really don't know how. I've never really done it, all the way up until I pretty much got here where I was not like the man any more. I never passed. I don't know where that came from (smiling).
It's just something I've really taken pride in, getting other people shots. I love when other people shine. I love when those guys have great nights.
Jacksonville Head Coach Tony Jasick
Q: You guys looked a little bit tired at the end of the second half, did you feel the legs?
"You are dead right. We did not show the same level of energy, toughness and discipline that we did to start the game. It's something that we got to evaluate and fix moving forward."
Q: Can you tell me about Morgan's play? You have obviously seen him play before on tape, but to see him in person and get a triple double, the first one in 47 years here.
"I think he is obviously a load. They do a really good job of getting him the ball in spots where he doesn't need much time to score the ball. When the double team can't quite get there, he has already got the ball on the rim. He is a talent. It will be interesting to watch him and Romeo Langford go through Big Ten play."
Q: Al Durham had 18 points tonight, is that a product of maybe two guys that you had to spend a lot of time on?
"I think so. Obviously, those guys are the highlight of every scouting report that they're in. You have to give credit to their other guys who played really well. I thought they got the ball downhill a ton off of ball screens. We didn't do a great job at closing the gaps and limiting the ways that they could get the ball downhill which leads to good rhythm shots."
Q: You have played different teams this year such as Notre Dame, so how do you compare Indiana to what you have played for fun?
"Obviously, they are good. They are talented. I think they will be able to really defend and put you in bad spots with Morgan and Langford. I think they are really good, so it will be interesting to watch them the rest of the year."
Q: Are you getting away from many of the things you did in the nice streak that you had coming in to this game?
"Yeah, we are playing Notre Dame and Indiana. A little bit. If you watch the Notre Dame game on Thursday, we did a lot of really good things. But they just shot the mess out of it. Some of those were because they got to feeling good, and some of those were tough shots, and some of those were defensive break downs. Here tonight, I thought we competed for most of the first half and did an okay job. The good news is that we got these two games out of the way. Our guys got a couple of great experiences, and now we can give them a day or two for Christmas and get back to what we do and what we need to do to win the rest of the way."
Q: Talk about the experience of playing in this building.
"The experience is cool for them. If you are picking historical college basketball venues, this is one of them. There is no doubt. It doesn't feel great now, but in about 10-12 years they will reflect on this and be able to tell great stories."
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballIUVB vs. Michigan: Highlights
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