Postgame Quotes: vs. Nebraska

Postgame Quotes
Indiana vs. Nebraska
Dec. 7, 2022

MIKE WOODSON | HEAD COACH
Q. On Trayce Jackson-Davis' triple-double adding to his legacy…
WOODSON: I never once addressed it at all. It's a part of our game. When I took this job a year and a half ago and sat down with Trayce and watched him on film and critiqued his game, there's not a lot he can't do. No, he's not shooting jump shots. I get all of that. But he's shown in practice he can make them. He's just got to shoot them in the game.

He's skilled enough to do the things that he's doing on the floor, and the fact that he's been double- and triple-teamed, he's got to sacrifice the ball. There's nowhere to go with the ball but to get it out and try to find open shooters.

Tonight, we were really good in that area, and we made shots tonight. Life it pretty good when you can make shots when your best player is being double-teamed.

Q. On the team's ability to find open lanes when Jackson-Davis is double teamed…
WOODSON: Well, we knew about it coming into the game. We watched enough tape on Nebraska, and everybody is going to start playing more zones and double-teaming him. Hey, there's nothing you can do about that. You've just got to make sure that the spacing is correct, guys are cutting properly, and the ball has got to come out. It just can't stick.

I thought tonight we got the ball moved around and guys had some good looks, and they knocked them down.
Q. On if ball movement was an emphasis after the Rutgers game…
WOODSON: Did you chart that game? You didn't.

Let me help you out here. We had nine wide-open shots that game, two missed lay-ups to go with those nine missed shots. So there were good looks. We just didn't make them.

Q. On improved rebounding tonight…
WOODSON: Well, a lot of it had to do with the two days we had to practice. We went back to our basics in terms of block-out rebounding drills to try to get their attention in that way, and then to let them know that rebounding is a big part of the basketball game.

My whole theme has always been, hell, if you play defense tough and you rebound the ball, that's the reward. Now you can go down and play offense and have fun. I mean, that's the whole beauty about defending and rebounding.

We lacked in that area at Rutgers. Tonight, we were a lot better.

Q. On Miller Kopp scoring off the dribble…
WOODSON: He's worked at it. Every day we do ball handling drills, and we do drills where you've got to make plays off the bounce. He's starting to get better at it, which is kind of nice to see. Means the work that he's put in is working for him and working for our ballclub.

Q. On if he's seen the extra work for Trey Galloway paying off…
WOODSON: Well, the good thing is getting him back healthy, because he works. I have no problems with that kid. He works his butt off on the floor. In practice, he gives you effort. It spills over in the game.

Tonight, he was reckless. Defensively he was great, and he made shots, which was kind of nice to see.

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS | FORWARD
Q. On what his teammates were doing to get open when he was double teamed…
JACKSON-DAVIS: In all honesty, it was just we were out there, and we were talking, and my teammates were talking to me and telling me I was playing like a true wizard, like the Wizard of Oz, almost. Just overall they did a great job, and just getting the ball and especially Miller [Kopp], Scoop [Tamar Bates], Trey [Galloway], hitting big shots after big shots and then Race [Stewart] and Scoop cutting to the basket, overall, just a great response from the Rutgers game.

I thought we had a lot of movement that we didn't have in our last game. It was a way to respond, and yeah, that's that.

Q. On what moments like tonight mean as a kid that grew up in Indiana…
JACKSON-DAVIS: It just honestly just solidifies why I came back. I came back to do big things, not only individually but with the team, too, and we have high aspirations this year, and so just continue to play my hardest every game and play for my teammates and the man above, that's what I'm going to do.

Just moments like that make it special to me, and just kind of is a reminder why I came back, especially when the times are getting tough, especially in practice and stuff like, when you're just down on yourself sometimes and think of that and then you get bright moments like this.

Q. On the impact of Trey Galloway and Tamar Bates…
JACKSON-DAVIS: Trey and Tamar, we didn't have a good game against Rutgers, honestly. They obviously took that with a little chip on their shoulder coming into this game because that's not how we play basketball, and Coach Woodson was kind of telling us before the game we've got to get tougher, so I think they took that to heart. They played with a chip on their shoulder this game and played with a lot of confidence, and that's what we need from them.

TREY GALLOWAY | GUARD
Q. On how he has seen Trayce Jackson-Davis improve over the last two years…
GALLOWAY: Yeah, I think each year he's just gotten better and better, but the biggest thing is his unselfishness and his willingness to pass. That's a big part because he knows he can score, and obviously teams are trying to take that away now because he can score at such a high rate.

I think him just being able to pass out of the double and make plays for others has been really special for us and our group. I think we've got to continue to make shots when he's getting double-teamed because they've got to leave us to go get him, so if we're open, we've got to knock them down, and then they can't double, and he goes to work.

Q. On if he is seeing his work in the summer pay off now…
GALLOWAY: I mean, it's good. Just like you said, steady repetition that I've been trying to focus on and game-like shots and just being ready to shoot it and knock it down when it comes out to me. I think just having that confidence and keep building that confidence and have my teammates pick me up when I'm not shooting as well. It's been great, so just keeping that up.

Q. On what went into improving his shot…
GALLOWAY: I mean, I did a lot of time just shooting because I was out with my groin injury, so I couldn't really move much. A lot of it was just stationery shooting and just repetition, the same thing over and over again and try and just shoot it the same way every time.

I think just that alone really helped. Not changing much but just doing the things I needed to do to help my shot.

Q. On what his process was like with the lineup change…
GALLOWAY: Yeah, obviously with Jalen [Hood-Schifino] out it changes a lot of things. He plays a lot of minutes, so we knew we were going to have to step up a little bit and play more minutes.

I think all of the guards really did a great job of stepping in there and playing a high role. I think with those extended minutes, we've got to keep our intensity, the same focus the whole time at the defensive end.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

FRED HOIBERG | NEBRASKA HEAD COACH
Q. On Trayce Jackson-Davis and his overall performance…
HOIBERG: He's a great player, one of the best in the country. He's a lot better than his dad was, who I played with for four years. Just kidding, I love Dale [Davis], but anyway he's a heck of a player and he was just all over the place.

His blocks early affected the game in a big way, as well, two on Derrick [[Walker]. It's hard to block his shot and he had one on Emmanuel [Bandoumel], which got them out in transition. I thought they were the more physical team all night long and a lot of that started with Trayce.

Q. On not having Sam Griesel in the lineup tonight…
HOIBERG: This was a monumental challenge if we had Sam [Griesel] in the lineup and then once we found out about an hour-and-a-half before the game. You know one of the big things it affects from our standpoint is just we become pretty small without Sam out there who gives us a 6-foot-7 point guard, gives us length in the perimeter, is an excellent rebounder for his position.

We've won every game but one I think before tonight on the glass and that was a big difference. I thought they played more physical than we did tonight. That was Mike's [Woodson] message the last two days after Rutgers and I thought they came out and played very physical and a very effective game.

Q. On if there was an emotional high coming into tonight's game after the Creighton game…
HOIBERG: I don't think so. I mean we've had a couple good days of prep and, again, when you find out an hour-and-a-half before the game that your leader isn't going be on the floor it makes it very tough. I was proud of our guys in the second half in the way they came out and had we come out of the gate that same way we might've at least been in the game and had a chance. But give Indiana credit, they were the harder playing team early and really set the tone.

Players Mentioned

Tamar Bates

Trey Galloway

Trayce Jackson-Davis

Miller Kopp

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