BLOOMINGTON, Ind – Indiana head coach Mike Woodson and senior guard Trey Galloway met the media after the Hoosiers' loss to Purdue Tuesday.
Above are their full Q&As.
Woodson Transcript
Q. I guess at least in a broad-strokes way, what do you say to your team in the locker room at halftime to try and pull them back together to try and kind of get them back on their feet after a half like that first 20 minutes?
MIKE WOODSON: Well, we got smacked the first half, and you've got to give them credit. I thought they were more tougher. Yeah, there were a lot of fouls called against us, but they set the tone. I thought we came out with good intentions back and forth there, eight, nine, ten points. And then we couldn't make shots. You know, that was a big difference in the first half, and they made shots and they got to the free throw line and Edey had a lot to do with that.
Q. When you make good intentions there, were you trying to play defensively that way and just sort of weren't allowed to, or just how would you describe that?
MIKE WOODSON: I can't sit here and complain about the officiating. It's what it is. You know, we couldn't get to Edey quick enough. I thought the way they set him up versus how we played him last season.
You know, again, Trayce and Race, they are not here. I've got to get my two big guys a little more tougher. That's got to help. I didn't think we played tough enough, and Edey kind of had his way. We've got to work on that. It's a work in progress.
Q. You're not talking about the officials but in terms of navigating the foul trouble, how tough was that when you had Mgbako and then Ware, but then Cupps as well. Was that difficult for you to figure out how you wanted to approach as they stacked up like that?
MIKE WOODSON: Well, again, you know, you just -- it's kind of like the Next Man Up. I probably should have played not Ware, but Mac a little more even with the two fouls, but I elected not to do that.
You know, that's hindsight. I hate coaching that way. Or thinking back to what I should have done. But at the end of the day, you know, they played extremely well the first half. I thought we came out with big-time energy the second half to cut it to nine, but when you dig a hole like that, you know, against a pretty good team, it's hard to dig your way out.
Q. You said you thought about or you should have brought Mackenzie back a little bit earlier and sat for 12 minutes. When did you start to think about bringing him back in the game since he was one of the only ones making shots early?
MIKE WOODSON: Again, it's a long game, but we fell back so quickly, you know, I figured I brought him back I think around the two- or three-minute mark right around the half, and when I think back to it, I probably should have brought him back a lot sooner, but I didn't.
Q. Seeing Edey over the last three years, where is his biggest point of improvement this season?
MIKE WOODSON: You know, I think the fact that his angles that from a defensive standpoint you can't give him, ` he's getting the angles. Really, the last four times we played him, I thought our pressure on the ball helped us. Whoever caught it, we had really intense pressure to the point where they just couldn't make pinpoint passes, and once it goes from the angle or top down to the big fella, it's tough to get help there quick enough.
I think Ware could have done a better job in battling but he didn't, and you know, it's something to learn from. The beauty about this, we've got to still go to Purdue and see him again, so maybe we can regroup and see what happens when we get there.
Q. The way you guys played at the start of the second half, do you feel like that's something that's repeatable or is that you guys taking more risks or chances because of the situation?
MIKE WOODSON: Again, you'd like to think that -- I thought we came out ready to play. I think the fouls kind of slowed us down a little bit. But you know, again, I don't call the game. You've got to try to overcome it, but we didn't. We fell in the hole and it was tough digging out.
Q. You kind of mentioned falling into a hole there offensively. When offense goes stagnant like that, is there something that you're seeing that isn't happening versus when the ball is going in the basket?
MIKE WOODSON: I thought in the first half we got some good looks. I charted, there were eight or nine open shots that we just didn't make. Those empty possessions that you leave on the table, and you come down and either we fouled or they scored, I mean, it wasn't a good combination for us the way we were playing. You know, so we've got to move forward and get ready for Wisconsin now, and see where we go from here.
Galloway Transcript
Q. Trey, by the way that nature of that game was, did you guys feel like you were swimming uphill trying to keep up with them the way that game was playing out?
TREY GALLOWAY: I mean, I think the first half, it's we get some dumb fouls and unnecessary fouling and stuff. That's the difference between playing hard and like not smart, and I think we had some fouls and we had foul trouble and it got away from us a little bit.
Q. I don't know a better way to ask this than bluntly. Can you guys collectively feel a game getting away from you when you are trying to play hard and you're trying to do the right things but it's leading to mistakes instead of the hustle plays you want? What gets the game back under your control in those moments and what wasn't working tonight in that first half?
TREY GALLOWAY: Like I said, I mean, you just have to stick to your game plan, and I mean, obviously they are a physical team, and have a very big post presence down low. But I think just at the end of the day, just going out there, competing, and finding ways to get stops, that's the biggest thing. We didn't do that.
Q. Coach Woodson talked about a lack of toughness today. Do you sense that? Is it disappointing to hear that at this stage of the season?
TREY GALLOWAY: For sure. I mean, especially when it's a big game like this. You've got to find ways to fight and be tough.
Q. As the fouls were adding up, did you talk to the guys and try to get them refocused? Was it hard to do that as you guys had three starters on the bench and things started adding up? How do you think you handled poise-wise things going against you in the first half?
TREY GALLOWAY: We didn't really handle it great. I mean, that's the reason there was I think 16 free throws to -- I'm not sure what we had in the first half.
But like I said, we've got to be more smart and know that they are going post a lot. But we can't have silly fouls. And just know that it's going to be a war, and it was. But we're competing.
Q. You guys cut it to nine in the second half there, and seemed like you led that charge to be more aggressive. What was the mindset coming out of the locker room and what was said at halftime?
TREY GALLOWAY: I mean, it wasn't over, and that was our mindset going into the second half. I mean, like you said, we got it to under ten but we just didn't have that next gear to really keep going, keep cutting into the lead.
I had a bad turnover and some quick shots that we could have got a better shot on, so I take responsibility for that.
Q. Is it hard as a player to try to be aggressive, and then know what is and isn't a foul? Seems like some of these games, the same stuff can't a foul one day and is the next. Is it hard to play that way knowing or not knowing what's going to be hard?
TREY GALLOWAY: I think so. But the biggest thing is just playing physical all the time because I can't call every foul. So if we can be smart and not foul like we don't need to, but be physical, that's the biggest thing.
Obviously with Edey down there, it's going to be tough for anybody. But we get another chance to play them again at Mackey, and we'll be ready then. But we've got to focus on our next game against Wisconsin and try to get a real win.
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