1/20/2022 basketball Edit

Coach Q&A: Mike Woodson discusses 68-65 win over Purdue

Alec Lasley • TheHoosier

Senior Writer

@allasley

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Indiana head coach Mike Woodson discusses IU's 68-65 win over No. 4 Purdue.

Above is the full Q&A.

Below is the full release.

Q. -- first five shots and obviously the the game-winner at the end.

MIKE WOODSON: I don't normally give inside scoop away, but Rob and I had a beautiful conversation hours before the ball game, and just nice to see how he stepped out and performed. It was beautiful to watch.

Q. Woody, you knew coming into this game, Indiana-Purdue, that it was going to be crazy. Can you reflect back on a game maybe that you played in that ended like this or an Indiana-Purdue game that ended like this? It was like a fairy tale ending.

MIKE WOODSON: There were a lot of games back in the day that I played. Ohio State probably stands out as one of the big moments in winning the Big Ten Title, winner takes all. It was an overtime game. Our fans tonight were just unbelievable. Dog gone, they were great. It's a big win for our team. It's been a while since we beat Purdue, and they have a hell of a team. They're well-coached. We battled from the beginning to the end until we got it done.

Q. I'll try to ask it. The beautiful conversation between and Rob --

MIKE WOODSON: That's in-house. You can't get that. I gave you too much information. (Laughter)

Q. You seemed pretty emotional when you walked off that court tonight. What did it mean to you to see those kids come on the floor, to get a win against Purdue?

MIKE WOODSON: It's all about these guys, these 17 guys that wear the uniform. It's not about me, but any time you can beat Purdue -- and they feel the same about us, and it's been a while since we've beaten them -- it's special. Hell, I didn't dribble one ball or make one shot, man. It was those guys in that locker room that got it done. I couldn't be more proud of a team, boy. They played their hearts out tonight.

Q. Coach, what exactly did you think about Phinisee's performance, and why do you think he was that good in this setting against the number four team in the country?

MIKE WOODSON: Well, again, I don't know. Basketball Gods were looking down upon us because I thought after our conversation, he responded, man. It's nice to see. When you got a coach/player relationship with these guys, sometimes you've got to have a man-to-man talk, and that's what happened hours before the game, and he responded. It's kind of nice to see.

Q. Mike, if I would have told you that Trayce Jackson-Davis would play 11 minutes, score 11 points in this game, what would you have thought your chances would actually be?

MIKE WOODSON: It's the first time he has been in foul trouble with me as the coach, and that's kind of a scary thought, but my mentality is, and I think the players feel the same way, it's next man up. I thought Mike stepped up, and it's the most minutes he has played this year, and he gave us some positive minutes. We're going to need that the rest of the way. There are other teams in the Big Ten that are just as big. Maybe not as big, but got big bodies, and that's why we brought Mike on board, and I thought he answered the challenge tonight.

Q. That stretch after Trayce went out in the first half, I thought your defense was about as good as it had been all year. What made it so good? I think you forced ten Purdue turnovers in the first half.

MIKE WOODSON: Again, our ability to stay aggressive when we have to. If we can make teams go through our half court defense, that's when we're really at our best where we're not giving a lot of things over the top or giving layups up or quick strikes, as we call them, for threes. If you go through our half court, then we've got a chance of defending a possession, and I thought the first half, man, was as good as we defended. Ohio State was pretty damn good too, but tonight the first half was really, really good.

Q. Coach, your bench had more minutes than your starters did tonight. How proud are you of your bench, and what does it say about your depth moving forward?

MIKE WOODSON: I made this statement. Hell, if the bench is rolling, I'm going to ride them until their tongues fall out, and I thought tonight they was doing it in the first half, so I stuck with them as long as I could. Yeah.

Q. Obviously, Rob did great off the bench tonight. Going into the second half, did you consider putting him into the starting five to start the --

MIKE WOODSON: No, I never -- that never entered my mind. Our starters have been pretty good together, and granted, Parker and Miller didn't really sniff that much of it tonight. Their defense was pretty good. I thought Miller played a hell of a defensive game, but the guys that got it going off the bench, you've got to see if they still have it, and I didn't go back with Tamar. I played Geronimo a little bit. I kind of shortened the rotation the second half, and sometimes you've got to do that.

Q. Rob had 17 in the first half. He had not scored in the second half. He missed a shot right before that time-out. Was that the play call for him to shoot the ball there in the quarter?

MIKE WOODSON: I came out of the one time-out, and he said, hey, give me the ball. Run a play for me, and we ran the play out of the first time-out, and he was wide open on the three that he missed, and I told him if he came around, if you are open, shoot it. The next play we just put in a new underneath out of bounds play today, and it worked. He came off. Trayce was wide open as well, but Gallo decided to throw it to Rob, and Rob let it go and he made it. That was probably the biggest shot of the night.

Q. Purdue had ten turnovers in the first half. Is that something you preached from this whole week, preparing for Purdue?

MIKE WOODSON: Again, they're a well-oiled machine. They cut hard. They pass the ball. They've got two big guys that are a major presence inside, and then they've got perimeter guys that can play. Ivey, he is a handful for any team. He got going the second half, but I just thought our defense -- we had a lot of deflections the first half that put us in position to get the ten turnovers, and that's who we are. That's what we've got to do when we're playing. We've got to defend, man, and rebound the ball.

Q. You mentioned Ivey and defense. How important was Trey Galloway tonight? Especially when you put him on Jaden, it seemed like --

MIKE WOODSON: When I took Parker out, we came back with Gallo, and then Gallo slowed him down a little bit, but he still made some tough shots. That guy is pretty damn good, boy.

Q. Considering some of the turnover problems you've had in past games, you had three total turnovers. Only two of those from a player. Just how satisfying is it to see that progress in that area?

MIKE WOODSON: It's great. I don't have to run. (Laughter). A lot. I've got to run a little bit. I've got some sprints. I think we got nine that I've got to do and added on to the six that we haven't gotten in yet, so I've got 15 of them, man. That's a load, but I'll take them when they don't turn it over. I'm happy to run.

Q. When you took over the job here and first started watching film of Rob, what stood out to you?

MIKE WOODSON: The thing when I look at Rob, he is a senior that's been around. He has had his ups and downs, and when I took the job, I sat down with everybody that decided to stay, and I told Rob, hey, what happened in the past is in the past, man. I'm telling you, you can shoot it. You can do your thing, man, and it's okay to be good. It's okay to be great. I told him tonight in the locker room, regardless of what anybody says, I'm always going to be in your corner. That's all he needs right there. When the coach is by your side, you should cherish it and just play not only for Rob, but for the jersey that you wear. He has been great. He has had his ups and downs, but I thought tonight he was on a mission, boy, and it was nice to see.

Q. For all the foul trouble that Trayce had, how impressed were you that last couple of minutes he had two big huge defensive stops and then knocked down the free-throws at the end just to stay in the game?

MIKE WOODSON: I was just buying time. Mike was buying us some good positive minutes, and I was just hoping that he didn't pick up his fifth foul. They went inside, and he got a major stop. We rebounded the ball, but he made the winning plays that we needed him to make in those 11 minutes.

Q. What did you think of Michael Durr's defense in the 24 minutes that he played tonight, the most he has played for you guys?

MIKE WOODSON: I thought he was solid. With Edey and Williams, you can't give those guys angles. You give them angles, then the ball is coming, and you can't catch up to stop them from scoring. You've just got to pretty much make -- and Mike is a big body. I thought he did a good job in battling, trying to keep them in front and making them make plays over the top.