Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. #18/18 Illinois
2/5/2022 3:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Indiana vs. Illinois
Feb. 5, 2022
RACE THOMPSON | INDIANA FORWARD
Q. What do you think offensively was kind of missing at 46-42…
THOMPSON: Got to give some credit to Illinois. They played us tough. So, I really think that it comes with the defensive plan on us. And, again, we got to slow down and focus on making our shots. And, I mean, that's really all it is, being confident in our shots and running our sets.
Q. Talk about the matchup with De'Monte Williams…
THOMPSON: Yeah, definitely. I missed some chippies. I wish I could have them back. I'm frustrated with myself. We got to get back to work I can't hang my head on that. So, really, that's all it is. I wish I could have them back, but it's late now. We got to go to Northwestern.
Q. How aware are you of Cockburn when you're trying to attack the rim…
THOMPSON: I mean, you see him. He's a big body down there. I mean, I didn't really have him in my way tonight. But, I mean, on the defensive end, he's definitely tough. He's a big body. He's hard to get around. He's heavy, he's strong. So, I mean, respect to him. He's a good player.
Q. How did you slow down Cockburn, especially in that first half…
THOMPSON: Me, personally, I was just trying to give him different looks. Just kind of running circles around him, really. I tried to tell Trayce and Coach that. I mean, they were doing it, too. But overall, I mean, he's a good player. So he was tough coverage tonight -- or today.
Q. Talk about the defense in the first half versus the second half…
THOMPSON: Yeah, the first half we were playing really good on the three-point line and then the second half we faded away a little bit. And that's where we got to be better. It's happened before in the past with us. We really got to put 40 minutes together. The game's not over at halftime. So I think that's one our main things, putting two halves together and continuing to play the game.
MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. How big were the three points shots that they made…
WOODSON: Well, when we've lost games, that's been either rebounding and, you know, not defending the three-point line. And I thought we were pretty good on the boards tonight. It wasn't too bad. The three-point shot got away from us again tonight. I thought the two big threes that Jacob hit was really the turning point in the down spiral of our ball club after he made two threes. Because we never really recovered from it.
Q. What were the issues with Trayce and guarding Cockburn…
WOODSON: Well, he didn't play particularly well. I thought Mike and those guys played well. But, you know, Mike, he was in foul trouble, as well. Ended up fouling out. I thought for the most part, we did a pretty good job on the big guy until late. I thought we played a beautiful first half. I didn't think we executed too particularly well in the first half, but still came in up two. But, you know, you got to give them credit. You know, they put a solid 40-minute ball game together and we put a 20-minute ball game together.
Q. Coach, it didn't look like Kofi was guarding much out beyond the free-throw line. What did you have to do in that situation…
WOODSON: I mean, that's how they play their big guy. And, you know, I mean, you can't make him disappear. He's there in the paint for a reason. He's not going to come out not just on Trayce, but all the big fives that he -- that he goes against. That's their defense. They just sit him back in there, let him clog the middle up and say, Beat me on the perimeter. Which we just didn't make shots again tonight.
Q. You just raised a question, so I'm going to ask two, if you don't mind. One is: Why can't Trayce go outside and shoot threes? Why don't you -- why doesn't he do that?
WOODSON: Well, again, tonight, we needed to have him on the floor. He sat next to me the first half. You know, he's just not comfortable doing it. I mean, he shoots some in practice, but he's -- you know, we're not asking him to shoot threes. I think he can make the 10, to 16, 17-foot shot. But he just won't shoot them. I got to keep working with him. That's on me.
Q. What was the message to the starters towards the end of the game…
WOODSON: I'm not even going to comment on the composure. I took them out because they weren't playing well. That's why I took them out.
Q. How do you survive Miller Kopp not playing well…
WOODSON: Well, again, I -- we're not telling him not to shoot. You know, and again, defensively, they know he can shoot and they won't leave him. So it forces someone else to shoot. I thought Parker had some good looks the first half and didn't make his shots in the second half. So, I mean, listen, you got to give them credit. They played good defense the second half, and they played great defense the first half. I mean, to come in up two, they were scrappy, as well like we were the first half. We just didn't have much going for us the second half.
Q. Talk about Xavier Johnson not playing well…
WOODSON: I didn't think they were playing well. That's why they went to the bench.
Q. Do you guys like what you're doing schematically in terms of running the offense…
WOODSON: I don't think we got into anything. And I may have mentioned that to X when I came in the -- I don't think -- he just never got us in everything. I can't tell you one play we called tonight, you know, unless I was calling it. You know, and I mean, he had kind of turned the corner in that area. But our offense, we struggled tonight because we never got into anything.
BRAD UNDERWOOD | ILLINOIS HEAD COACH
Opening Statement:
UNDERWOOD: Great Big Ten basketball game today. Give Mike (Woodson) and his team credit. That's a really good basketball team today that was really well prepared. We knew we were going to be in for a fight, we knew we were going to have some punches thrown at us, we knew it was going to be a sell out crowd and it's what makes this program what it is. I was really pleased at half to only be down by two. I thought we withstood their energy, their emotion. I'm never really comfortable when Jake (Grandison) isn't on the court. He does so many things for us. Shooting it, and passing. But we survived with him. We got out of sorts a little bit in stretches in the first half, but I thought in the second half our defense was terrific. We hold a team to 21 points. I thought our offense allowed our defense to be great simply because we kept them out of transition. We start talking about Trent Frazier. How spectacular was he? He eats up pressure. Xavier Johnson is as good as there is in our league at pressuring. He's a really good player. They had success early in their ball screens, but again, that takes a lot of energy to do that. It was feed Kofi (Cockburn) late and Kofi made great passes and made extra passes. We made six threes, Jake's two early ones were huge. We just went to some high low stuff during that sequence, kind of open the paint up. Trent got downhill, got a few layups and broke the game open with a few stops.
Q. On what allowed them to escape from first half struggles…
UNDERWOOD: I thought it was that sequence there. It's a really close game and Jake hits a couple of threes and it's just kind of a grind it. They're so good defensively. We got a couple of good looks and missed them. We liked what we were running. Luke (Goode) got a clean look and Jake had had one earlier and went to that. And then defensively, we got stops and forced some tough shots. I thought we did a terrific job on Parker (Stewart). He had an elite first half. He's a really good player and really good shooter. I thought we minimized his looks. And then Kofi did a good job of one on one isolation defense against Trayce (Jackson Davis).
Q. On getting Indiana into foul trouble…
UNDERWOOD: Kofi attracts a lot of attention. You've got to decide whether you're going to double him. You've got to decide if you're going to play him one on one. His game has grown so much. Two years ago he was catching and had to lay it in and had to have an angle. Now he doesn't have to have any of that. That's an important piece for us. He gets fouled a lot. I thought there were some that didn't get called. But again, he's a challenge because he's so big at 300 pounds.
Indiana vs. Illinois
Feb. 5, 2022
RACE THOMPSON | INDIANA FORWARD
Q. What do you think offensively was kind of missing at 46-42…
THOMPSON: Got to give some credit to Illinois. They played us tough. So, I really think that it comes with the defensive plan on us. And, again, we got to slow down and focus on making our shots. And, I mean, that's really all it is, being confident in our shots and running our sets.
Q. Talk about the matchup with De'Monte Williams…
THOMPSON: Yeah, definitely. I missed some chippies. I wish I could have them back. I'm frustrated with myself. We got to get back to work I can't hang my head on that. So, really, that's all it is. I wish I could have them back, but it's late now. We got to go to Northwestern.
Q. How aware are you of Cockburn when you're trying to attack the rim…
THOMPSON: I mean, you see him. He's a big body down there. I mean, I didn't really have him in my way tonight. But, I mean, on the defensive end, he's definitely tough. He's a big body. He's hard to get around. He's heavy, he's strong. So, I mean, respect to him. He's a good player.
Q. How did you slow down Cockburn, especially in that first half…
THOMPSON: Me, personally, I was just trying to give him different looks. Just kind of running circles around him, really. I tried to tell Trayce and Coach that. I mean, they were doing it, too. But overall, I mean, he's a good player. So he was tough coverage tonight -- or today.
Q. Talk about the defense in the first half versus the second half…
THOMPSON: Yeah, the first half we were playing really good on the three-point line and then the second half we faded away a little bit. And that's where we got to be better. It's happened before in the past with us. We really got to put 40 minutes together. The game's not over at halftime. So I think that's one our main things, putting two halves together and continuing to play the game.
MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. How big were the three points shots that they made…
WOODSON: Well, when we've lost games, that's been either rebounding and, you know, not defending the three-point line. And I thought we were pretty good on the boards tonight. It wasn't too bad. The three-point shot got away from us again tonight. I thought the two big threes that Jacob hit was really the turning point in the down spiral of our ball club after he made two threes. Because we never really recovered from it.
Q. What were the issues with Trayce and guarding Cockburn…
WOODSON: Well, he didn't play particularly well. I thought Mike and those guys played well. But, you know, Mike, he was in foul trouble, as well. Ended up fouling out. I thought for the most part, we did a pretty good job on the big guy until late. I thought we played a beautiful first half. I didn't think we executed too particularly well in the first half, but still came in up two. But, you know, you got to give them credit. You know, they put a solid 40-minute ball game together and we put a 20-minute ball game together.
Q. Coach, it didn't look like Kofi was guarding much out beyond the free-throw line. What did you have to do in that situation…
WOODSON: I mean, that's how they play their big guy. And, you know, I mean, you can't make him disappear. He's there in the paint for a reason. He's not going to come out not just on Trayce, but all the big fives that he -- that he goes against. That's their defense. They just sit him back in there, let him clog the middle up and say, Beat me on the perimeter. Which we just didn't make shots again tonight.
Q. You just raised a question, so I'm going to ask two, if you don't mind. One is: Why can't Trayce go outside and shoot threes? Why don't you -- why doesn't he do that?
WOODSON: Well, again, tonight, we needed to have him on the floor. He sat next to me the first half. You know, he's just not comfortable doing it. I mean, he shoots some in practice, but he's -- you know, we're not asking him to shoot threes. I think he can make the 10, to 16, 17-foot shot. But he just won't shoot them. I got to keep working with him. That's on me.
Q. What was the message to the starters towards the end of the game…
WOODSON: I'm not even going to comment on the composure. I took them out because they weren't playing well. That's why I took them out.
Q. How do you survive Miller Kopp not playing well…
WOODSON: Well, again, I -- we're not telling him not to shoot. You know, and again, defensively, they know he can shoot and they won't leave him. So it forces someone else to shoot. I thought Parker had some good looks the first half and didn't make his shots in the second half. So, I mean, listen, you got to give them credit. They played good defense the second half, and they played great defense the first half. I mean, to come in up two, they were scrappy, as well like we were the first half. We just didn't have much going for us the second half.
Q. Talk about Xavier Johnson not playing well…
WOODSON: I didn't think they were playing well. That's why they went to the bench.
Q. Do you guys like what you're doing schematically in terms of running the offense…
WOODSON: I don't think we got into anything. And I may have mentioned that to X when I came in the -- I don't think -- he just never got us in everything. I can't tell you one play we called tonight, you know, unless I was calling it. You know, and I mean, he had kind of turned the corner in that area. But our offense, we struggled tonight because we never got into anything.
BRAD UNDERWOOD | ILLINOIS HEAD COACH
Opening Statement:
UNDERWOOD: Great Big Ten basketball game today. Give Mike (Woodson) and his team credit. That's a really good basketball team today that was really well prepared. We knew we were going to be in for a fight, we knew we were going to have some punches thrown at us, we knew it was going to be a sell out crowd and it's what makes this program what it is. I was really pleased at half to only be down by two. I thought we withstood their energy, their emotion. I'm never really comfortable when Jake (Grandison) isn't on the court. He does so many things for us. Shooting it, and passing. But we survived with him. We got out of sorts a little bit in stretches in the first half, but I thought in the second half our defense was terrific. We hold a team to 21 points. I thought our offense allowed our defense to be great simply because we kept them out of transition. We start talking about Trent Frazier. How spectacular was he? He eats up pressure. Xavier Johnson is as good as there is in our league at pressuring. He's a really good player. They had success early in their ball screens, but again, that takes a lot of energy to do that. It was feed Kofi (Cockburn) late and Kofi made great passes and made extra passes. We made six threes, Jake's two early ones were huge. We just went to some high low stuff during that sequence, kind of open the paint up. Trent got downhill, got a few layups and broke the game open with a few stops.
Q. On what allowed them to escape from first half struggles…
UNDERWOOD: I thought it was that sequence there. It's a really close game and Jake hits a couple of threes and it's just kind of a grind it. They're so good defensively. We got a couple of good looks and missed them. We liked what we were running. Luke (Goode) got a clean look and Jake had had one earlier and went to that. And then defensively, we got stops and forced some tough shots. I thought we did a terrific job on Parker (Stewart). He had an elite first half. He's a really good player and really good shooter. I thought we minimized his looks. And then Kofi did a good job of one on one isolation defense against Trayce (Jackson Davis).
Q. On getting Indiana into foul trouble…
UNDERWOOD: Kofi attracts a lot of attention. You've got to decide whether you're going to double him. You've got to decide if you're going to play him one on one. His game has grown so much. Two years ago he was catching and had to lay it in and had to have an angle. Now he doesn't have to have any of that. That's an important piece for us. He gets fouled a lot. I thought there were some that didn't get called. But again, he's a challenge because he's so big at 300 pounds.
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