Postgame Quotes vs. Ohio State

POSTGAME QUOTES
Indiana vs. Ohio State
March 8, 2025

MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH

Q. On his legacy…
WOODSON: Well, you know, the one thing I look at it is, you know, we've been in the tournament a few years. We've been able to recruit players. Been able to graduate players.

You know, I just want the program to be successful. That's all. That's all I ever thought about when I took the job, and that's how I feel now, you know.

Q. On the emotions of the day…
WOODSON: Just focused on the game. It's a very emotional game. You know, I think back to 1980 playing this same team for the Big Ten title. That's the only thing that was going through my head throughout the day, and wanted it so much for these seniors to win because I knew how special that night was for me my senior year, and walking off that floor as a Big Ten Champion.

You know, we still have an opportunity to win the Big Ten Tournament. Just like the other 14 teams that will be in it. Is that's all I'm thinking about at this point. You know, nothing else.

Q. On Trey Galloway…
WOODSON: I couldn't be more proud because he's caught so much hell, and it was only fitting that he hit the biggest shot of the game tonight, you know, to really seal it and give us the cushion that we needed to win.

So I couldn't be more proud of Trey Galloway and his career he's had here on this basketball floor. You know, I mean, as a group, we haven't experienced very many losses in this building.

I mean, we've won a lot of games in this building, and Trey has been a big part of that because he's been with me from day one. Anthony has been a part of it from day one.

So I'm proud of all of our players, but I'm proud of those two guys, especially, because they have been with me the longest.

Q. On the 3-pointer from Galloway…
WOODSON: I think we got caught, you know, not really knowing the rule, you know what I mean. It was a loose ball. They came out -- went out on our end. All you get is 20 seconds on the clock. We were screaming that the clock was wrong, but Trey kept focused and once the pick-and-roll broke down and the guy kind of went up under the screen, he stepped up and made a big shot, which is kind of nice.

Q. On Galloway's legacy…
WOODSON: I mean, the only way -- thing you can remember Trey is that he plays hard. He competes. And you would be fooling yourself if you think anything else. That's all I've never known him as. I nicknamed him "Crazy Man" when I first started coaching him because he was all over the place. Didn't know what you were going to get from him but he competed. That's all he's ever done.

For the fans to sit in here and boo him during the time that they booed him, it just wasn't right. It just wasn't. Because that kid competes. He gives his heart. Have nothing but respect and love for Galloway.

Q. On the rebounding effort…
WOODSON: Seniors that didn't want to lose. You know, and I rode them. I've been riding them.

I wasn't going to take them out at the end. I mean, if you lose, you want to lose with your seniors on the floor. I wasn't thinking that way. I mean, I think once we -- Malik hit the two free throws to give us the two-point lead, we never looked back from that point on. Our defense really got stiff. We made play after play and made some good offensive plays. Made our free throws, a few of them, and enough to give us the cushion to win the game.

Q. On the staff…
WOODSON: All my coaches have been special. I took this job after spending 34 years of my life in the NBA, it was a different move for me. The fact that I had some college guys that had done it awhile, and they always reminded me of that, called me a rookie coach when I first started, and which I was like, hell, I coached a lot longer than a lot of you guys.

But at the end of the day, they have helped me recruit. They have helped me coach on the floor. They have helped me put film sessions together, practice sessions together.

I mean, there's a lot that goes into coaching, a lot that you guys will never, ever know because you don't sit in the day-to-day grind that we sit in. But it's a part of what we do.

But they have been very special to me, a big part of what we've done over the last four years.

Q. On maybe leaving too soon…
WOODSON: I mean, there's always going to be that thought. But you know at the end of the day, it's not -- it's not about me right now. It's still about this team, and us going up to Indianapolis and trying to win the Big Ten Tournament.

SENIORS TREY GALLOWAY, LUKE GOODE, & ANTHONY LEAL
Q. On the jumbled possession…
GALLOWAY: Yeah, we didn't know the rule. I don't think anybody around the court really knew the rule that it resets to 20. So I thought it might have been a clock malfunction or something. That's why I was trying to get the ref's attention.

So we knew we had to go and then we just kind of called for a high ball screen. And then the play design kind of broke down and trusted my shot and it went in, so it was good.

Q. On the team fight heading into the postseason…
GALLOWAY: I mean, yeah, just the seasons, they are always so long, and like things -- there's times where things look worse and looked like everything is just not going your way, and there's times where you feel like you're on top of the world.

And so the good teams are able to balance that and able to stay even keel. We've done a great job of that recently to be able to bounce back from big wins or bounce back from big losses. And so we weren't doing that early on in the season, and now we're starting to figure that out. And it's helping us and we're winning games.

So we've just got to stick to that, and be ready to go because we're not done yet. That's a big win but we are going to the Big Ten Tournament, so we've got to focus on that?

LEAL: I'll just add, all three of us take a lot of pride in wearing this jersey and representing it the right way, and we know what it means growing up as kids here. We love that challenge and knowing that with us as leaders and us as a foundation, like we are going to be willing to overcome a lot of things if we just keep chipping away.

For us, it's almost like a dream come true, being senior guards coming down the end of the year going into March. It's the opportunity to make those sort of plays and trust in each other and all the work we've put in and give it our best.

Q. On the defensive effort…
LEAL: Yeah, obviously we were dealing with them going on a run at the time, and we needed something to get things going the right way.

You know, for me, it's just trying to play as hard as I can and trusting that good things will happen in that moment, just causing a little bit of frustration throughout the game and eventually it leads to something good for us.

So that was able to turn the tides and get us momentum. And then Trey hits a huge shot down the stretch where we get some stops. It's a great way to go out.

Q. On the crowd…
GALLOWAY: I mean, I think just the biggest thing, like my dad's always telling me, if you listen to the crowd, you're going to be sitting with them.

That really hit home. I was like, you can't really worry about what's going on the outside.

All I care about is what's in the locker room with me, and really just trusting that my teammates trust me to make plays and no matter what was said, or what was going on, it doesn't really matter.

Because all that matters is, like I said, my teammates and trying to help them be better and help myself get better.

Q. On Trey Galloway…
LEAL: It's awesome. He knows I'm here supporting him through the highs and the lows, and we've had a lot of highs and a lot of lows through our career.

For him to continue working and doing what he does well and just being super reliable for our team has been really big, not just this year, but in previous years.

So I mean, I'm always supporting him trying to find ways to get him going, to make the game easier for him; and I know when he does what he does well, our team plays a lot better.

It's just a culmination of all the work he's putting in, and I'm really proud of him and I know he's going to do really good things coming down the stretch.

Q. On winning despite poor shooting…
GOODE: Something that I tried to emphasize to the team early in the season when we were going through our scoring ruts was it doesn't matter how much we score, how well we shoot. We should still be able to win games when it's ugly.

For us to be in a must-win game for our postseason hopes, first, Senior Night at home, too, and to come out and play the defense we did. It's a testament to how much we've grown as a team together.

Q. On facing adversity this season…
LEAL: Yeah, definitely. Obviously we wanted to win all those games. We put ourselves in positions to be in the game going down the stretch there.

But yeah, I mean, we hope to start playing our best basketball right now because this is when it really counts going into the Big Ten Tournament and March Madness. For us, it's learning from those little things and knowing our goals are all still right front of us.

Q. On his big shot…
GALLOWAY: Yeah, it was great. I mean, happy that we got the win on senior day. That's what I'll remember the most is winning and going out as a winner at Assembly Hall. That's what I'll remember.

Q. On Galloway's big shot…
GOODE: Yeah, well, I didn't believe that. I said to myself out loud, I said, "Oh," and then "s---," and I was pretty, you know, happy, because it was a big shot. I feel like some of the games we've lost earlier, other teams have hit big shots against us. You think Maryland. You know, you think Purdue with Trey Kaufman jumping up from the free throw line. It was good to see one of them go down for us.

And for Trey that's been here for five years, you know, through ups and downs, both these guys, I've only been here for a year. So I'm getting the back end of their careers at this university.

So I couldn't be more happy, more proud for these two guys, especially Trey, hitting that shot.

Q. On turning the season around…
GOODE: We've always known we have what it takes in the locker room. We have the guys with the right mentality, and coaches have really put a lot of trust in us; a lot of times in the huddles we're calling the plays, helping Coach out and telling him what we see.

When we have a collective effort from everybody involved, coaches, guys that are in the rotation, out of the rotation, walk-ons, it all comes together to be something good. Since that moment, we have all come together really well.

We all have a common goal now. I think everybody is all bought into what we want to do, and you know, we're reaping the benefits now.

LEAL: Quick shoutout to Coach. It was his last game here, too, before he steps down. We're just really happy for him to be able to send him out on a win. He means the world to us. Shoutout, Coach Woodson.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

JAKE DIEBLER | OHIO STATE HEAD COACH
Q. On the last five minutes of the game…
DIEBLER: We had one defensive breakdown where we lacked communication, got confused, and (Trey) Galloway hit a big three that was costly. Outside of that, I thought our mistakes were aggressive. We played aggressive. We got a little too deep in the paint a couple of times and maybe didn't trust the kick-out like we have done so well these last couple of games. I thought our mistakes were aggressive, aside from that one defensive possession. Give Galloway credit. Those two threes were huge. The three he hit at the end of the clock, he misses that, who knows. It was a big time shot. I felt like as well as we played offensively, and really thought we did some good things offensively for a majority of this game, down the stretch we didn't quite have the movement that we have had that has helped us be really successful and made us really hard to guard. (Indiana) was really physical on the perimeter with our guards to disrupt our rhythm. It was a very physical game. We fought. We adjusted. We attacked the paint. I though there were a couple of times we deserved to get to the free throw line with the way the game was being called, but we didn't and ultimately at the end we didn't quite trust that extra pass while it was there.

Q. On the lack of movement on the court…
DIEBLER: It's been something we have been fighting for all year because it's not instinctual for a couple of guys. We have improved significantly in that regard. I didn't feel looking out there that we were any tired than we have been the last couple games at the end of games. I feel like our recovery and how we have managed the time in between games has been really good. You have to give Indiana some credit defensively. I thought their physicality defensively was really good. Ultimately again, they stepped up and hit some big time shots. We just couldn't quite make enough plays offensively. Aside from that one defensive breakdown, I thought we were pretty connected down the stretch.

Q. On Indiana's defense against Bruce Thornton and John Mobley Jr.…
DIEBLER: (Indiana) played really physical with them. They fought with physicality to prevent them from getting separation f=on ball screens and forced them into crowds in the paint. Again, you have to give them credit because I thought their physicality on the ball was really impactful. Those two guys have been our highest usage playmakers. We weren't able to get them into rotation as much as we wanted to, and we needed to do a better job of fighting that. We had some counters to things to help loosen us up a little bit. Without watching the film, it felt like a majority of their threes were solid looks. Those two guys battled really hard all game.

Indiana University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Trey Galloway

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