Postgame Quotes: vs. Minnesota

Postgame Quotes
Indiana vs. Minnesota
Jan. 12, 2024

MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. On what he saw from Mackenzie [Mgbako]…
WOODSON: I thought he was aggressive right from the start. I thought our whole team was aggressive on both ends of the floor.

He got some good looks early that he made. I ran a couple plays for him that he was able to knock shots down, and the way they double-team, it opened him up on the backside, as well, to get shots.

Q. On what led to good start…
WOODSON: Well, again, I thought the scouting report was perfectly fit going into the game, and they followed it right from the start. We really defended the ball. We didn't let their guards really get away from us in terms of getting downhill, so we really focused in on not giving straight-line drives where we had to help as much. I thought our bigs did a pretty good job of battling inside with their bigs. It was a total team effort tonight.

Q. On handling the stretch of sitting with foul trouble…
WOODSON: Well, I thought Walker came in and gave us some great minutes off the bench. They were shuffling guys in and out, so we were able to match with them, but Walker was huge off the bench for us when Malik had to go to the bench. Then everybody else just kept pitching in, doing their job, and we were able to come in up 10 after the half.

Q. On the trust of Gabe [Cupps] to play really good defense…
WOODSON: Well, he's done it before. He's been doing it pretty much all season when we stick him out on real quick guards. The Michigan guard was kind of an example, I guess, of him going out, and all we're asking him to do is just put heat on the ball and maintaining it and not letting him get downhill, and for the most part he did a hell of a job doing that.

Q. On how one night can be good and one can be bad…
WOODSON: Well, it's the road. It's tough on everybody in the Big Ten on the road. It's just not our team.
Everybody is kind of having a tough time winning on the road. We've got to figure it out. Our safe haven is here at home. I get that. We've got to continue to win our games here at home.

But somehow, I've got to help us get over the hump and get us feeling good about playing on the road.
I really thought that wouldn't be a big problem for us after winning the Michigan game right off the bat, but it has been, and we've got to fix it as we move forward.

Q. On putting together a complete performance…
WOODSON: Well, I thought we were solid in the Ohio State game. I really did. That was a battle game, back and forth. Rutgers game, we just -- when you miss free throws, you turn it over, you don't rebound it, you set yourself up to lose.

Tonight we didn't make our free throws again, but we rebounded pretty well, and we didn't turn it over. We kept our turnovers down. It was a solid game.

But we've got to somehow convert how we play here at home on the road. That's going to be the difference moving forward.

Q. On Mackenzie being aggressive…
WOODSON: Well, it's just not Mackenzie. You've got to understand that these young guys, they take a while to develop. They come out of high school, out of the AAU programs that they play in, and it's not just that easy to walk into college basketball and be great. If it was that easy, everybody would be doing it.

But he's put the work in. He's continuing to work, along with the rest of our young players. All we can do as coaches is continue to teach and push and try to get as much out of them as we can as we continue this journey.

Q. On starting Gabe over Xavier…
WOODSON: I mean, in-house stuff. I decided to go with Gabe, and Gabe came in and played extremely well. I thought the minutes X played were positive minutes to help us win.

MACKENZIE MGBAKO | INDIANA FORWARD
Q. On the increased aggression…
MGBAKO: It started from the tip-off. I felt like once we started the game aggressive, it could carry over on to our defense, and then defense creates offense. Just being aggressive on both sides of the floor is what created the win tonight.

Q. On the progression of his defense…
MGBAKO: I feel like I started off a little bit slow because the offense we're running is a little bit different than what I learned in high school, so just being able to just grow under Coach Woodson is really good.

Q. On the points from Coach [Mike] Woodson that have transitioned to his game…
MGBAKO: Most definitely just locking up on defense. I feel like defense is the No. 1 thing he's been trying to harp on because I feel like defense creates offense, and that's really it.

Q. On what has gotten better to allow him to score at a high level…
MGBAKO: My defense, keeping my head on a swivel, talking on defense, and just being confident. I feel like those are the things that are helping me out.

Q. On feeling more comfortable at the college level…
MGBAKO: It was really important because it just helps the team start off with intensity, and that's what Kel'el was saying, going back to intensity and just starting the game off the right way.

KEL'EL WARE | INDIANA CENTER
Q. On seeing Mackenzie develop…
WARE: Even in practice I always encourage Mac just to go to the rim, get fouled, try to create anything that can get us a bucket, even in game. So he works on it in practice and it translates to the game and just being more aggressive.

Q. On what was different tonight from Tuesday…
WARE: I mean, well, you seen the intensity in the game -- from this game and the Rutgers game. I feel like if we bring out the intense at the we had at the start of this game and even throughout the game to every game, I feel like we'll be good.

Q. On the last few days of practice that led to turnaround against Minnesota…
WARE: The last few days of practice, it's been hard going at each other because we've just got to get better on defense and offense. Y'all seen a glimpse of that tonight, and we've just got to keep bringing it every game.

BEN JOHNSON | MINNESOTA HEAD COACH
Q. On if playing zone was part of the gameplan…
JOHNSON: Not really, but it worked in the first half so we went back to it a little in the second half. Obviously, it was not as effective, but we had to figure something out. We tried to throw (Indiana) off balance. I felt like their rhythm, offensively was pretty good.

Q. On the issue of turnovers…
JOHNSON: I think that some of it was Indiana. They did a good job of pressing up and taking some stuff away and being physical, being the aggressor. Some of it was us when we didn't play with the pace we normally do. The ball felt like it was sticking on the side and never got reversed. We played late into the shot clock too much. They did a good job dictating and we didn't handle the pressure very well. We never got into our normal offensive flow and that ball wasn't swinging like it has been.

Q. On Mackenzie Mgbako…
JOHNSON: He's a good player. We talked about him a lot. We got him started early. (Indiana) ran an action for him early and he buried a shot, which got him into his rhythm. The thing that is unique about him is that he has such great size. When you are that big at the wing spot, it's going to be a mismatch. He had it going today, and it puts you into a bind because you are so worried about (Kel'el) Ware and (Malik) Reneau that he can be a lost guy at times. But he can make you pay at the same time. That is a really big frontline when you throw him in there that's got versatility. They can all score one-on-one, and he shot the ball today.

Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Mgbako

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