Postgame Quotes: Rutgers
1/2/2025 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Indiana vs. Rutgers
Jan. 2, 2025
MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. On Oumar Ballo's status…
WOODSON: I thought he played great. He's a big part of our team winning tonight. He had 17 and three rebounds, a few blocked shots, plugged the hole up for us like he's supposed to so I thought he played well.
Q. On Ace Bailey's performance…
WOODSON: He's special. He's a good player and he's young. If he continues to work, he could be pretty special. I mean, we kind of threw a few things at him, but he made some tough shots tonight and that's what great players do.
Q. On Ballo coming off the bench…
WOODSON: Let's just talk about his 17 (points) and 12 (rebounds). That's what I like to focus in on. He came off the bench and he got 17 and 12 for us and two blocks, which is fantastic.
Q. On Malik Reneau's absence after the injury…
WOODSON: Well, right now, we just got to evaluate him tomorrow. He couldn't come back in the game, and you know he's a big piece to the puzzle. Going into this game, he was our leading scorer, so we'll evaluate him tomorrow through our medical staff and see where he is and if he can't play, it's next man up. We just got to continue to go whoever is in uniform.
Q. On the success shooting from deep…
WOODSON: Guys stepped up, they made 'em, which was kind of nice to see. That's probably the most threes we've made this season so far and I just hope it continues to be a carryover because I thought in the Winthrop game we got some good looks, we just didn't make them. Tonight, guys stepped up and they knocked them down which we're going to need moving forward.
Q. On the burst of momentum from three-point shooting, second-chance points and offensive rebounds…
WOODSON: Well, I think the fact that they played a lot of zones. It's kind of hard to block out in zone situations. We were able to sneak guys in and get putbacks or kick it back out for threes. That's just how it goes when you play zone. You gamble because you do have to rebound out of the zone in order to get down the floor and play offense and we were able to capitalize on it a little bit.
Q. On bouncing back from last game's poor 3-point shooting performance…
WOODSON: No, like I told you guys, I mean, as a coach, every time they shoot it, I think it's going in, especially if you got the right guy shooting it and we did in our last game. You had Gallo (Trey Galloway) shooting some and (Luke) Goode and Mac (Mackenzie Mgbako). They just didn't knock them down and tonight they had some of those same looks and they put it in the hole which is kind of nice to see.
Q. On Anthony Leal guarding Ace Bailey…
WOODSON: No, Anthony (Leal) is one of our best defenders and when I got to go to someone off the bench to guard a key guy, because I thought in that one stretch right before the half, I think he only scored one point against Anthony. He had done all his damage early and... but again, he's a hell of a player. He did a lot of good things for his ball club tonight.
Q. On the depth's strength after losing Malik…
WOODSON: I think so, but we got a long way to go. I got to help our bench more somehow. I just got to get them comfortable having fun and flying around and doing things on both ends of the floor that we're supposed to do and we're not there yet.
Q. On the team rallying together after Malik Reneau got hurt…
MGBAKO: Yeah, it was really scary when Malik went down. We were all worried for him. It's good that he's doing okay now, but, you know, the goal was to play together, play as a team, take the right shots, move the ball, play team defense and I feel like we accomplished that goal today, you know, just being able to be in the right spots at the right time, knock down open shots like we did and then stick to our cues and make the right plays.
Q. On seeing the 3-ball drop…
MGBAKO: We practice them every day so to see them going in, that's what we're supposed to do, so it's not a surprise. We're going to keep hitting shots and we're going to stay with it for the rest of the season.
Q. On how Oumar Ballo played…
Q. It was great. He played dominant. We know that what he can do. That's why we brought him here to be a dominant presence down there and that's where we needed him today, just continue to build on that and stay focused on what we're doing.
Q. On the offensive rebounding and second-chance points…
LEAL: Yeah, early on in the game we kind of noticed that they weren't really boxing out so we saw opportunities to go get offensive rebounds and luckily I was able to get some and with our team and how deep we are, we're able to wear teams down and you could tell they got tired and we're not really focused on rebounding so we were all mindful of trying to get extra shots and extra opportunities and just seeing what could come from it.
Q. On how Myles Rice's effort stands out and if that's contagious…
LEAL: It's great. We try to make it to where everybody is doing that. So someone has to come out and set the tone every game and you hope that happens in the first few possessions where somebody makes a hard play like that and it kicks in with everyone else and it becomes contagious ands everybody is like okay, we got to really match that energy or else we're just going to be letting them down. It's becoming contagious and it's selfless team basketball and that's what we're about.
Q. On matching up on Ace Bailey…
LEAL: Yeah, obviously super skilled, tough match-up, as you could tell, but we knew he liked to favorite his right hand, so any time I was on him I just tried to take away space, get physical on him and force him to his left hand knowing he's going to make some tough shots. He's projected to go where he's going to go, so just tried to make it tough on him and tried to make him hit contested shots, which today he did, but it's a team game so we were able to get the win.
Q. On what the message was from the staff after the poor shooting night last game…
MGBAKO: Just keep shooting the ball. We got to trust in ourselves, trust in our ability to make shots and know that they're going to fall down when thaw need to. Just keep shooting the ball and keep looking for the open man.
Q. On his circus shot at the end of the first half…
LEAL: Yeah, I got nothing for you on that (chuckling). I saw him shoot it and I tried to go get a tip in and it got blocked. I chased it down, peeked at the clock and saw there wasn't much time so I just kind of turned around and shot it. Weird things like that seem to happen for me, so I'll take it. I would rather be lucky, so.
Q. On what was his mental reaction to the shot and the crowd …
LEAL: No, honestly, it was how much hurry up, we got to go to halftime, figure some stuff out and try to get a win. I'm never really focused on my own success or stats or anything. It's cool that it went in, cool to celebrate for a second but next play, we got to make sure we get a win.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
STEVE PIKIELL | RUTGERS HEAD COACH
Q. Opening Statement…
PIKIELL: I appreciate you guys being here. Obviously (Indiana is) 10-0 at home. Tough place to play. We were down a guy too (Dylan Harper). Tip of the hat to (Indiana). They outrebounded us. We have been inconsistent in that area. We had some good minutes. (Ace Bailey) played fantastic. He played hard. We just have to play better on the road. You can't give up 84 points to a really good team in an undefeated gym.
Q. On Dylan Harper not playing today…
PIKIELL: He's sick. (We found out) right before. He's been sick and feeling under the weather. He hadn't practice in a few days. We're hoping that he gets better real quickly here. He's just sick.
Q. On how much changed with not playing Dylan…
PIKIELL: It's hard. He hasn't practiced in a few days since the Columbia game. We started preparing. That's the journey of the season. Guys get sick. I thought some guys stepped up and played well. That's what you have to do sometimes is foul trouble, sometimes it's an ankle sprain, sometimes it's sickness. You just have to figure it out.
Indiana vs. Rutgers
Jan. 2, 2025
MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. On Oumar Ballo's status…
WOODSON: I thought he played great. He's a big part of our team winning tonight. He had 17 and three rebounds, a few blocked shots, plugged the hole up for us like he's supposed to so I thought he played well.
Q. On Ace Bailey's performance…
WOODSON: He's special. He's a good player and he's young. If he continues to work, he could be pretty special. I mean, we kind of threw a few things at him, but he made some tough shots tonight and that's what great players do.
Q. On Ballo coming off the bench…
WOODSON: Let's just talk about his 17 (points) and 12 (rebounds). That's what I like to focus in on. He came off the bench and he got 17 and 12 for us and two blocks, which is fantastic.
Q. On Malik Reneau's absence after the injury…
WOODSON: Well, right now, we just got to evaluate him tomorrow. He couldn't come back in the game, and you know he's a big piece to the puzzle. Going into this game, he was our leading scorer, so we'll evaluate him tomorrow through our medical staff and see where he is and if he can't play, it's next man up. We just got to continue to go whoever is in uniform.
Q. On the success shooting from deep…
WOODSON: Guys stepped up, they made 'em, which was kind of nice to see. That's probably the most threes we've made this season so far and I just hope it continues to be a carryover because I thought in the Winthrop game we got some good looks, we just didn't make them. Tonight, guys stepped up and they knocked them down which we're going to need moving forward.
Q. On the burst of momentum from three-point shooting, second-chance points and offensive rebounds…
WOODSON: Well, I think the fact that they played a lot of zones. It's kind of hard to block out in zone situations. We were able to sneak guys in and get putbacks or kick it back out for threes. That's just how it goes when you play zone. You gamble because you do have to rebound out of the zone in order to get down the floor and play offense and we were able to capitalize on it a little bit.
Q. On bouncing back from last game's poor 3-point shooting performance…
WOODSON: No, like I told you guys, I mean, as a coach, every time they shoot it, I think it's going in, especially if you got the right guy shooting it and we did in our last game. You had Gallo (Trey Galloway) shooting some and (Luke) Goode and Mac (Mackenzie Mgbako). They just didn't knock them down and tonight they had some of those same looks and they put it in the hole which is kind of nice to see.
Q. On Anthony Leal guarding Ace Bailey…
WOODSON: No, Anthony (Leal) is one of our best defenders and when I got to go to someone off the bench to guard a key guy, because I thought in that one stretch right before the half, I think he only scored one point against Anthony. He had done all his damage early and... but again, he's a hell of a player. He did a lot of good things for his ball club tonight.
Q. On the depth's strength after losing Malik…
WOODSON: I think so, but we got a long way to go. I got to help our bench more somehow. I just got to get them comfortable having fun and flying around and doing things on both ends of the floor that we're supposed to do and we're not there yet.
Q. On the team rallying together after Malik Reneau got hurt…
MGBAKO: Yeah, it was really scary when Malik went down. We were all worried for him. It's good that he's doing okay now, but, you know, the goal was to play together, play as a team, take the right shots, move the ball, play team defense and I feel like we accomplished that goal today, you know, just being able to be in the right spots at the right time, knock down open shots like we did and then stick to our cues and make the right plays.
Q. On seeing the 3-ball drop…
MGBAKO: We practice them every day so to see them going in, that's what we're supposed to do, so it's not a surprise. We're going to keep hitting shots and we're going to stay with it for the rest of the season.
Q. On how Oumar Ballo played…
Q. It was great. He played dominant. We know that what he can do. That's why we brought him here to be a dominant presence down there and that's where we needed him today, just continue to build on that and stay focused on what we're doing.
Q. On the offensive rebounding and second-chance points…
LEAL: Yeah, early on in the game we kind of noticed that they weren't really boxing out so we saw opportunities to go get offensive rebounds and luckily I was able to get some and with our team and how deep we are, we're able to wear teams down and you could tell they got tired and we're not really focused on rebounding so we were all mindful of trying to get extra shots and extra opportunities and just seeing what could come from it.
Q. On how Myles Rice's effort stands out and if that's contagious…
LEAL: It's great. We try to make it to where everybody is doing that. So someone has to come out and set the tone every game and you hope that happens in the first few possessions where somebody makes a hard play like that and it kicks in with everyone else and it becomes contagious ands everybody is like okay, we got to really match that energy or else we're just going to be letting them down. It's becoming contagious and it's selfless team basketball and that's what we're about.
Q. On matching up on Ace Bailey…
LEAL: Yeah, obviously super skilled, tough match-up, as you could tell, but we knew he liked to favorite his right hand, so any time I was on him I just tried to take away space, get physical on him and force him to his left hand knowing he's going to make some tough shots. He's projected to go where he's going to go, so just tried to make it tough on him and tried to make him hit contested shots, which today he did, but it's a team game so we were able to get the win.
Q. On what the message was from the staff after the poor shooting night last game…
MGBAKO: Just keep shooting the ball. We got to trust in ourselves, trust in our ability to make shots and know that they're going to fall down when thaw need to. Just keep shooting the ball and keep looking for the open man.
Q. On his circus shot at the end of the first half…
LEAL: Yeah, I got nothing for you on that (chuckling). I saw him shoot it and I tried to go get a tip in and it got blocked. I chased it down, peeked at the clock and saw there wasn't much time so I just kind of turned around and shot it. Weird things like that seem to happen for me, so I'll take it. I would rather be lucky, so.
Q. On what was his mental reaction to the shot and the crowd …
LEAL: No, honestly, it was how much hurry up, we got to go to halftime, figure some stuff out and try to get a win. I'm never really focused on my own success or stats or anything. It's cool that it went in, cool to celebrate for a second but next play, we got to make sure we get a win.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
STEVE PIKIELL | RUTGERS HEAD COACH
Q. Opening Statement…
PIKIELL: I appreciate you guys being here. Obviously (Indiana is) 10-0 at home. Tough place to play. We were down a guy too (Dylan Harper). Tip of the hat to (Indiana). They outrebounded us. We have been inconsistent in that area. We had some good minutes. (Ace Bailey) played fantastic. He played hard. We just have to play better on the road. You can't give up 84 points to a really good team in an undefeated gym.
Q. On Dylan Harper not playing today…
PIKIELL: He's sick. (We found out) right before. He's been sick and feeling under the weather. He hadn't practice in a few days. We're hoping that he gets better real quickly here. He's just sick.
Q. On how much changed with not playing Dylan…
PIKIELL: It's hard. He hasn't practiced in a few days since the Columbia game. We started preparing. That's the journey of the season. Guys get sick. I thought some guys stepped up and played well. That's what you have to do sometimes is foul trouble, sometimes it's an ankle sprain, sometimes it's sickness. You just have to figure it out.
Players Mentioned
Center
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Forward
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Forward
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Guard
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