Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. Rutgers
3/2/2022 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Indiana vs. Rutgers
March 2, 2022
MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. What did Rutgers do to turn it around in the second half…
WOODSON: Again, he was beating the double-teams early, and then they just basically sagged and forced us to make shots. We had a lot of good looks tonight, guys. Miller had some good looks. Parker had a bunch of good looks. We just didn't knock them down.
Q. You called a timeout about ten minutes left, and then it went like you went to Race almost every single time after that. Was that your way of saying we don't care what you do…
WOODSON: A couple times, he had good looks down low. I thought he made a couple moves at the bucket that he just didn't finish as well. But I was just basically using him knowing that they were going to sag to get shots. That was a good way of getting wide open looks, and I thought we got a lot of wide open looks. Parker missed a big three up two at the top that was huge. But then he comes back and he makes a big three to tie it. So I mean, go figure.
Q. Talk about Parker Stewart and Miller Kopp…
WOODSON: Again, guys, I went with my senior guys tonight in a critical game, and we fell a little short.
Q. What could you have done to guard Ron Harper Jr. better…
WOODSON: I think our missed cues up top. We came in, I thought early on, when they ran the four-one or four-two pick-and-roll, Race did a good job in stabbing, and we were able to keep the matchup. That's what I was basically trying to do. I thought the first half we played him pretty well. Second half he got away because we stopped stabbing, and now it's a scramble to get back to him. And he hit a couple threes -- one three, a big three that way, and then he hit the big three coming down the stretch to secure it for him.
Q. Do you draw any confidence from the fact that you guys have already beaten Purdue…
WOODSON: Again, we've got to go back and clean up this game tonight and see where we can get better before we actually start thinking about Purdue, which is tomorrow sometime. So we'll spend the early part of tomorrow cleaning up this game, and then we'll start on Purdue.
Q. What did you leave the team with tonight…
WOODSON: It hurts because you want to win for Race and then Parker. This is a special night for those guys. I remember 43 years ago, man, today playing my last game in this building and winning a Big Ten title. I wanted nothing more for them to at least experience winning on Senior Night, and we fell short. That's the tough part about tonight. Again, you've got to give Rutgers credit. They've been playing well although they've lost three in a row. They've beaten some good teams in the Big Ten this year.
Q. Where do you think this puts you now heading into the last week of the season…
WOODSON: Don't know. Again, Purdue is next. If we go down to Purdue and win a big game there, it puts us back in the mix. Again, this is my first go around. I have no idea the selection and all that. We're going to have to win some games probably in the tournament as well, but it's not over. We've got to keep fighting.
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS | INDIANA FORWARD
Q. Talk about the last shot from Harper Jr…
JACKSON-DAVIS: Honestly, I thought Race played a really good defense. I almost think he tipped the ball honestly. He was right there. Then Ron hit a tough shot. There's only so much you can do.
Q. What does it say about Parker that he can miss five threes in a row and step into that last one…
JACKSON-DAVIS: That's the first thing I told him when he got into the locker room. He was down on himself already, and I told him you missed three or four before then and you come up and hit a big shot like that, we're going to need that the rest of the year. Play with that confidence all the time.
Q. What was it like to see Race Thompson get emotional after the game…
JACKSON-DAVIS: Race is my guy. To see him maybe playing his last game here, I mean, we were trying to pull for him. We were trying to pull that one out. We were sad for him, and my heart hurts for him. But at the same time, Coach Woodson says you've got to enjoy this last moment and soak it all in. Just playing with him the last few years, that's my brother for life, man, and I can't say enough good things about him.
Q. What turned around for Rutgers in the last minute…
JACKSON-DAVIS: I just think that they hit free throws, then that flagrant whatever that happened -- I saw X get punched, and I didn't know if he retaliated. They hit two free throws, we hit two free throws. Then we come down, we miss one, but we get it back and hit a three. Then they come down. I think we should have probably come back and not pressed the ball in that situation, but at the same time, it's a learning experience for next time. But Rob hit a tough shot and then bobbled the out of bounds, and that's that.
Q. Your thoughts on the NCAA Tournament…
JACKSON-DAVIS: We have the NCAA Tournament, but that's not until after Purdue. So Purdue's the next game on our schedule. So that's what I'm going to worry about right now. Then after Purdue, I'll worry about the Big Ten Tournament. After all that's said and done, we can talk about what's going on with the NCAA Tournament.
Q. Talk about what changed in the next half…
JACKSON-DAVIS: I think it was the zone. I think that we should have probably got the ball inside and then kicked it to the other corners like we do. We usually don't struggle with the zone very much, but for some reason tonight we were just holding it at the top of the key too long, and I don't think the ball moved quick enough. So that was a big emphasis. I think the ball and the movement wasn't there. So that was that.
Q. On what not being able to close it out in the second half…
JACKSON-DAVIS: I think it's -- obviously, we're not finishing games, but at the same time, we're in every game. It just comes down to the last, almost the last four minutes of the game. You've got to get that one stop. You've got to get that one possession because one possession can beat you. Down the stretch, that's what we've got to hone in on, and we've got to focus on that last possession. We've got to get one stop. We've got to get one bucket to finish the game. That's big on my teammates, and I think when we watch film, we're going to see that.
STEVE PIKIELL | RUTGERS HEAD COACH
Opening Statement:
PIKIELL: Obviously a great college basketball game. Seems like every game in our league is like this. It's an unbelievable environment. Coach Woodson's done a great job with Indiana and the respect for that program and for the fans is off the charts. Just happy for our guys. It's been a brutal stretch for us. I don't know if I've ever played a stretch like this. And now you're here on senior night in a real tough place to play, and outrebounded them, came and made plays when we had to. Cliff (Omoruyi) huge free throws, Aundre Hyatt, huge free throws. Ron (Harper Jr.) obviously. Geo (Baker) (had) huge plays, Paul, you know all the guys that subbed in. It was a great team win, but I really got to (thank) my assistants. Great job preparing. Brandon Knight, awesome. TJ Thompson with the scout, awesome. Carl Hobbs. I got really good assistants, and I'm blessed that way.
Q. On the last 42 seconds of the game…
PIKIELL: It was just a lot going on. Obviously big, intense basketball game, like every game in this league. We made some plays. Got to remember to stay poised, especially on the road. Cliff with the big free throws. Then back and forth. We had some big stops, we didn't corralled a couple rebounds, so we kind of gave them some opportunities there. But we made the big stops when we had to, made the big plays. Proud of our guys.
Q. On the scuffle with Xavier Johnson and Paul Mulcahy…
PIKIELL: I was talking to the referees. It's just that time of the game. Lot of emotion. Just happened. I'll have to see it on film and stuff. It was directly down the bench from me, so I didn't get a great vantage point of it. But you know, they said, can't act that way. Paul's been great. He's been great all year. Btu we stepped up in light of that and made some plays down the stretch. And that's what good teammates do. Paul's been a great teammate his whole career.
Indiana vs. Rutgers
March 2, 2022
MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. What did Rutgers do to turn it around in the second half…
WOODSON: Again, he was beating the double-teams early, and then they just basically sagged and forced us to make shots. We had a lot of good looks tonight, guys. Miller had some good looks. Parker had a bunch of good looks. We just didn't knock them down.
Q. You called a timeout about ten minutes left, and then it went like you went to Race almost every single time after that. Was that your way of saying we don't care what you do…
WOODSON: A couple times, he had good looks down low. I thought he made a couple moves at the bucket that he just didn't finish as well. But I was just basically using him knowing that they were going to sag to get shots. That was a good way of getting wide open looks, and I thought we got a lot of wide open looks. Parker missed a big three up two at the top that was huge. But then he comes back and he makes a big three to tie it. So I mean, go figure.
Q. Talk about Parker Stewart and Miller Kopp…
WOODSON: Again, guys, I went with my senior guys tonight in a critical game, and we fell a little short.
Q. What could you have done to guard Ron Harper Jr. better…
WOODSON: I think our missed cues up top. We came in, I thought early on, when they ran the four-one or four-two pick-and-roll, Race did a good job in stabbing, and we were able to keep the matchup. That's what I was basically trying to do. I thought the first half we played him pretty well. Second half he got away because we stopped stabbing, and now it's a scramble to get back to him. And he hit a couple threes -- one three, a big three that way, and then he hit the big three coming down the stretch to secure it for him.
Q. Do you draw any confidence from the fact that you guys have already beaten Purdue…
WOODSON: Again, we've got to go back and clean up this game tonight and see where we can get better before we actually start thinking about Purdue, which is tomorrow sometime. So we'll spend the early part of tomorrow cleaning up this game, and then we'll start on Purdue.
Q. What did you leave the team with tonight…
WOODSON: It hurts because you want to win for Race and then Parker. This is a special night for those guys. I remember 43 years ago, man, today playing my last game in this building and winning a Big Ten title. I wanted nothing more for them to at least experience winning on Senior Night, and we fell short. That's the tough part about tonight. Again, you've got to give Rutgers credit. They've been playing well although they've lost three in a row. They've beaten some good teams in the Big Ten this year.
Q. Where do you think this puts you now heading into the last week of the season…
WOODSON: Don't know. Again, Purdue is next. If we go down to Purdue and win a big game there, it puts us back in the mix. Again, this is my first go around. I have no idea the selection and all that. We're going to have to win some games probably in the tournament as well, but it's not over. We've got to keep fighting.
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS | INDIANA FORWARD
Q. Talk about the last shot from Harper Jr…
JACKSON-DAVIS: Honestly, I thought Race played a really good defense. I almost think he tipped the ball honestly. He was right there. Then Ron hit a tough shot. There's only so much you can do.
Q. What does it say about Parker that he can miss five threes in a row and step into that last one…
JACKSON-DAVIS: That's the first thing I told him when he got into the locker room. He was down on himself already, and I told him you missed three or four before then and you come up and hit a big shot like that, we're going to need that the rest of the year. Play with that confidence all the time.
Q. What was it like to see Race Thompson get emotional after the game…
JACKSON-DAVIS: Race is my guy. To see him maybe playing his last game here, I mean, we were trying to pull for him. We were trying to pull that one out. We were sad for him, and my heart hurts for him. But at the same time, Coach Woodson says you've got to enjoy this last moment and soak it all in. Just playing with him the last few years, that's my brother for life, man, and I can't say enough good things about him.
Q. What turned around for Rutgers in the last minute…
JACKSON-DAVIS: I just think that they hit free throws, then that flagrant whatever that happened -- I saw X get punched, and I didn't know if he retaliated. They hit two free throws, we hit two free throws. Then we come down, we miss one, but we get it back and hit a three. Then they come down. I think we should have probably come back and not pressed the ball in that situation, but at the same time, it's a learning experience for next time. But Rob hit a tough shot and then bobbled the out of bounds, and that's that.
Q. Your thoughts on the NCAA Tournament…
JACKSON-DAVIS: We have the NCAA Tournament, but that's not until after Purdue. So Purdue's the next game on our schedule. So that's what I'm going to worry about right now. Then after Purdue, I'll worry about the Big Ten Tournament. After all that's said and done, we can talk about what's going on with the NCAA Tournament.
Q. Talk about what changed in the next half…
JACKSON-DAVIS: I think it was the zone. I think that we should have probably got the ball inside and then kicked it to the other corners like we do. We usually don't struggle with the zone very much, but for some reason tonight we were just holding it at the top of the key too long, and I don't think the ball moved quick enough. So that was a big emphasis. I think the ball and the movement wasn't there. So that was that.
Q. On what not being able to close it out in the second half…
JACKSON-DAVIS: I think it's -- obviously, we're not finishing games, but at the same time, we're in every game. It just comes down to the last, almost the last four minutes of the game. You've got to get that one stop. You've got to get that one possession because one possession can beat you. Down the stretch, that's what we've got to hone in on, and we've got to focus on that last possession. We've got to get one stop. We've got to get one bucket to finish the game. That's big on my teammates, and I think when we watch film, we're going to see that.
STEVE PIKIELL | RUTGERS HEAD COACH
Opening Statement:
PIKIELL: Obviously a great college basketball game. Seems like every game in our league is like this. It's an unbelievable environment. Coach Woodson's done a great job with Indiana and the respect for that program and for the fans is off the charts. Just happy for our guys. It's been a brutal stretch for us. I don't know if I've ever played a stretch like this. And now you're here on senior night in a real tough place to play, and outrebounded them, came and made plays when we had to. Cliff (Omoruyi) huge free throws, Aundre Hyatt, huge free throws. Ron (Harper Jr.) obviously. Geo (Baker) (had) huge plays, Paul, you know all the guys that subbed in. It was a great team win, but I really got to (thank) my assistants. Great job preparing. Brandon Knight, awesome. TJ Thompson with the scout, awesome. Carl Hobbs. I got really good assistants, and I'm blessed that way.
Q. On the last 42 seconds of the game…
PIKIELL: It was just a lot going on. Obviously big, intense basketball game, like every game in this league. We made some plays. Got to remember to stay poised, especially on the road. Cliff with the big free throws. Then back and forth. We had some big stops, we didn't corralled a couple rebounds, so we kind of gave them some opportunities there. But we made the big stops when we had to, made the big plays. Proud of our guys.
Q. On the scuffle with Xavier Johnson and Paul Mulcahy…
PIKIELL: I was talking to the referees. It's just that time of the game. Lot of emotion. Just happened. I'll have to see it on film and stuff. It was directly down the bench from me, so I didn't get a great vantage point of it. But you know, they said, can't act that way. Paul's been great. He's been great all year. Btu we stepped up in light of that and made some plays down the stretch. And that's what good teammates do. Paul's been a great teammate his whole career.
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