Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson, guard Trey Galloway and center Oumar Ballo spoke with the media following Indiana's Wednesday night win over Penn State in Bloomington.
Below are their full Q&As, as well as a transcript for each of their conversation—once they become available.
Q. Another night when it seems like you're comfortable riding experienced guards -- Myles, Trey, Anthony -- for big minutes in the second half. How much are those guys kind of providing a platform for this team right now?
MIKE WOODSON: Well, again, these guys are seniors. They don't get another shot at this. So they know what it's about. Anthony and Ballo have been with me the longest. Goode has had a good run at Illinois; now he's with us. Ballo is a senior. Gotta ride them, see where it leads us.
Q. After Wisconsin, you said it was a team that wasn't strong enough up top. Just kind of lacked that real true mental strength. The last however many weeks you guys have really come together, gelled, really fought. What's sparked this late toughness you guys have found?
MIKE WOODSON: I've never said that my team wasn't mentally tough or physically tough. I think at the end of the day -- we've lost some games that, I mean, we were right there. A bounce of the ball here or there, we're probably not even having this conversation.
But these guys are playing for something. We're trying to get in the tournament. And we've got three games left. Gotta go out west now tomorrow and we've got a few days to prepare and get ready for Washington.
Q. Trey had an up and down season. Lost the starting job. When he went into the shooting slump you went back to him. What gave you the confidence that he'd step back up for you? How have you seen him handle the adversity he's faced from the injuries, losing the job to getting it back this season?
MIKE WOODSON: He's had a tough go at it. You guys gave him a hard time at one time. There's a lot of things. But I never stopped believing in Trey. Trey's been with me the longest. He's put up with a lot of shit from me.
And I trust him. He does a lot of good things on the floor. Yeah, he makes mistakes. They all do. I make mistakes.
But at the end of the day I know he's going to play hard and give 100 percent when he's out there, and that's all you can ask for.
Q. Penn State had a lot of success in the first meeting going to the basket and then in the first half. Second half you guys seem to shut them down a lot more. Was that a defensive change at halftime or more execution? What led to that?
MIKE WOODSON: When we played them up at their place, the first seven minutes they got like 12 points just on backdoor cuts. And that was something -- we gave up two tonight -- that was something that we really focused in on.
And we tried to keep their side pick-and-rolls where they weren't rejecting us and sending it back over the top where all the help was. They still had success there.
But for the most part I thought our defense was pretty solid coming down the stretch. Both teams were scoring at will. And like I told them at halftime, the team that is going to defend and rebound this half is going to end up winning the game. I thought coming down the stretch we made the defensive stops we needed.
Q. Could you just real quick, Malik situation? And then secondly, a lot of times people talk about down the stretch of the baskets, but can you talk too just how well your defense has been in closing out games here this last week?
MIKE WOODSON: Our defense has been solid. Malik, right now, I'm just -- I've got to get an update. I know we took him to the hospital, the emergency. He was fine in shoot-around. Then he came down with something.
So I don't know where we are with Malik right now. But the sooner he can get back, the better. But it's next man up. Everybody's got to just stay ready.
Q. Got some productive minutes out of Kanaan Carlyle tonight. What's been your conversation with him to try to keep him going in a positive direction?
MIKE WOODSON: Stay ready. I mean, stay ready and focused because you just never know, man. This game is a funny game. And somebody goes down and you are mad at the coach because he hasn't played you. Now you're not mentally and physically ready to play.
I just tell guys, stay ready and what minutes you do get, make it the best minutes for our team in terms of helping us win basketball games. If you do that, then I'll come back your way again.
Q. Five double digit scores even without Malik, 24 assists. Your first time with more than 20 assists since the beginning of December. How important is it for this team to be able to move the ball to have all these options? And how different does it make your team with that many different options?
MIKE WOODSON: It's something we've been searching for all season. I thought the second half of the Purdue game is the best we played all season, defensively. And we scored 48 points. So that meant the ball was moving and guys were sharing the basketball.
And tonight, you know, we shared it again. We scored 46 points and the ball was humping. And that's the way it's got to be.
We just can't rely on one guy. We've had four, five guys in double figures in two straight games. And we're going to need that going forward.
Q. In the final six minutes, Trey hit a couple of 3s, Myles Rice hit a 3. I think we're always asking you, why aren't the 3s falling? How did it feel to see clutch ones in a moment like that?
MIKE WOODSON: I've been saying that shit for three years. Guys have been getting good looks but hadn't knocked them down, and tonight we made them. It was nice to see. I hope that's a good sign moving forward.
Q. Oumar, tell us how fun that game was to play in and just how important it was for the way you guys are actually finishing game now.
OUMAR BALLO: You know, at this point in the season every game is important, but this one is special because we know we're playing for something big. And it was super fun to have our fans backing us up and keeping us in the game to the point that we took over. Anytime we get a home win, super fun.
Q. Oumar, did you feel like coming into this you could use your strength and your body to get inside and core regularly?
OUMAR BALLO: Yeah, for sure. Whenever you have couple of pounds on the defender, you need to take advantage of that. So I was trying to put my body -- even though I missed some shots, but at the end of the day we got the job done. So that's what matters.
Q. Trey, how have you managed the emotions of the season? You start coming back from knee injury, have a shooting slump, faced a lot. How have you stayed steady and now back in the starting lineup to kind of manage this resurgent team?
TREY GALLOWAY: I mean, it's been challenging. Every season has its own challenges. But I think just really just focusing on how can I make my team better and getting every day is the biggest thing I've been trying to do because everyone on our team has to make sacrifices for us to be successful.
Just really buying into the team and buying into everybody else is the biggest thing.
Q. Trey, where is this team's fight coming from right?
TREY GALLOWAY: I think we're coming together and we know we're a better team than we've shown. And we still have a chance and we're fighting for a spot in the tournament and we're fighting for just getting better and pushing our record in the Big Ten.
We're taking it one game at a time. We've got to keep focusing on the next game, which is Washington. So I think just us really just buying in and really pushing each other to get better.
Q. Trey, I know you just said you're sort of focusing one game at a time, but there are a lot of you on this team knowing it's your last year no matter what. You've got a head coach who knows he's done at the end of the season no matter what. Is there freedom in that -- there's a sense of urgency but is there freedom in everybody being able to say this is our last ride. Let's take it together. Let's make the most of it?
TREY GALLOWAY: Yeah, I think we just have to keep reminding each other to cherish every moment because wins and losses, it's all special because you're learning through it all.
So I think just really cherishing these moments because when it's over we're all going to miss it and it's going to be tough to really understand what it meant to put this uniform on and to go to war with our brothers every day.
So I think just really just cherishing every moment, highs and lows.
Q. Trey, you guys go 10-of-15 from 3 tonight. What kind of led to that? And your two big 3s that put you guys ahead, were you hunting those shots, or did they just come through the offense?
TREY GALLOWAY: I think just we knew that they're a heavy team that closes in on gaps. And I think we were going to be able to get open shots. And keep shooting the ball with confidence. That's the biggest thing we've been kind of preaching.
So I think the shots really just came out of the offense. Couple of mine -- one was in transition, but just guys setting screens and moving the ball.
I think we're doing a great job of sharing it. Guys are being unselfish and really wanting to find ways for us to score. So it's been good.
Q. Trey, you brought it up, 24 assists on 29 made field goals tonight, where is that connectivity coming from right now?
TREY GALLOWAY: I think, like I said, guys trusting each other and making the right reads and making the right play because there's times where you might think an open shot is a good shot but we can always lead to better shots. I think we're doing that and being really unselfish.
It starts with obviously Ballo and getting the ball in the middle and making the right reads and us just being able to make reads, pick-and-rolls and making extra passes.
Q. Oumar, I know, in your case, obviously the sands are running out of the hourglass a little bit on your college career, but they are for Trey as well. For somebody, from a teammate's perspective, for somebody like Trey who has been here at Indiana the whole time, what's kind of your appreciation level of how he wants to finish from a teammate perspective?
OUMAR BALLO: You know, I've been in college for quite a long time now. I know this moment, man, they go fast. And for guys like Trey and Leal that have been here for five years, I know every single game means the world to them.
And for me too because this thing goes fast, and we have to take every game as important and we have to finish the season strong, not just for us but for the fans. And I feel like they deserve that, and we're pushing forward for that.
Q. Trey, you guys combined for 14 assists, but as a team you had an astounding 24 assists on 29 made baskets. Is that just the team coming together more? You talked about making the right reads, but there were six guys who had two assists or more.
TREY GALLOWAY: Like I said, we've really preached on sharing the ball and making the right play. And I think it really -- obviously it helps when you're making shots, too. Looks a lot better with 24 assists.
But we got great shots out of our offense flowing and being able to move the ball because we knew they were going to hard hedge and put two on the ball. There's going to be open reads out of it.
We prepped it. We did a great job on our preparation for this game to find the right spots and put guys in the right spots to make plays.
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