Indiana defeated Rutgers 82-59 in New Jersey Friday evening.
Here’s what IU basketball coach DeVries said to Don Fischer on postgame radio:
On the getting the win…
“Yeah I was really proud of the guys, a Big Ten road win, they’re hard to get. And there have been a lot of teams that have come in here and either gotten beat or had to fight it out right to the end. And I thought our guys, from start to finish, really controlled the game, I thought they set the tone with their effort and their intentionality with some of the things that we had really talked about. To see it break out and for us to be able to get a win, and a badly needed one, I was really proud of those guys. They’ve continued to fight like I said. They’ve been great, and then you get some shot making going tonight, we had Tucker going early, then Lamar going, then Nick going. Sam Alexis with six blocks tonight, I thought he really covered a lot of ground. It was great effort by everybody. I just love the team mentality this group has and they’re continuing to give us a great effort. You’ve got so many opportunities in the Big Ten, and tonight was one, and now you get ready for another back at home. It’s a big game for us, and we’re excited to get back and get our prep ready.”
On the low turnover total…
“Yeah I think we only had one at halftime, and it’s a great 40 minute game to just turn the ball over five times. I thought our offense really did a good job of executing, not only sets, but then break down into our free motion, they were very strong with the ball. And then defensively that was a big part of it too. We were able to get stops and create some transition opportunities. We slowed the game down real late and took some clock because the game was a little more in hand, but great overall performance by all the guys.”
On Sam Alexis and the rebounding margin…
“We wanted to be aggressive on the offensive glass, we that there were some opportunities there. We had a goal of 15, we got 11, but that was a pretty good effort by the guys to go get them. I thought Sam just all around with his blocks, his activity, his motion, was really big tonight.”
DeVries also met media after the game. Here’s what he said in his during his press conference.
Pretty quick start tonight. Offense looked really good to start. How much of a relief was that after the last couple games where it was a slow start and kind of a struggle offensively?
“Yeah, we’ve had a couple games here recently where we really struggled to get out of the gate in a strong way, but I thought the guys did a great job tonight with their actions. I thought their cutting was much crisper and cleaner tonight. The guys did a good job of finding it, and then you got to make them. I thought guys did a great job of taking advantage of the opportunities when they presented themselves, and you know, multiple different guys that we had during different stretches of the game. We were able to feed them, kind of keep them hot, and then the next guy kind of got going a little bit. So overall, I just thought our ability to take care of the ball too was a big part of it. Only one turnover at half and five for the game. That’s a good night. You’re going to give yourself a chance on most nights.”
It seemed like the ball movement was a little bit more crisp, and finding guys, skip passes, things like that. Was that something you saw, or how did you see it in terms of passing tonight?
“Yeah, I thought our passing was pretty good. I thought the guys did a good job of knowing how Rutgers tries to defend, and you know, they’re able to try to, you know, ‘Okay, here’s where they’re really good, and here’s where we can try to find some advantages,’ and I thought they did a good job of finding those guys when those opportunities presented themselves as well.”
It got down to about 12 with like 8-10 minutes to go. Crowd started getting into it. It seemed like Rutgers was picking up their defensive intensity, but Conor, he got to the bucket for two. Sam Alexis made some hustle plays. What did it mean in that circumstance that you guys stepped up and kind of did not allow them to get back in the game?
“Yeah, it was a big stretch. They were on a little bit of a run there. I thought our defense had lacked maybe quite the tenacity that we had had for most of the game for a few possessions there. They were just attacking downhill, downhill, downhill, getting to the rim, and then had a transition three in there, but Tayton coming in, doing us a couple big layups there. As you mentioned, Sam, a couple big hustle plays, effort plays, some blocks during those stretches, so I thought the guys stayed really composed. We were able to kind of settle back in and get that lead pushed back a couple more.”
Nick Dorn’s first start tonight obviously hit a bunch of threes, but what did you see from him overall tonight?
“I thought, again, Nick’s a really good shooter and very confident. He doesn’t need a lot of time and space to get it off, but you still got to find them, and I thought the guys did a really good job of finding them. A lot of times in those corners and things, and Nick was able to get them off and convert on a good high percentage of it.”
Big picture, you guys were on a losing streak. You come in, pretty much lead throughout, never trail in this one. What does that mean for the season and going forward from here?
“I don’t know if it means a lot for the season, but for this game, it was great. I thought the guys came out really focused. They came out defensively. I loved the energy that we came out with. I love the offensive kind of identity that we were trying to get on that side of the ball as well, and then to be able to control it for a whole game and sustain it, that was probably even more important.”
Three guys with 20-plus points. I believe it was Tucker with a double-double. What can you say about him and the guys who have been shooting really well to have three guys with 20-plus points coming into this game? What worked for you guys offensively?
“Again, I think the guys do such a good job of trying to find those guys when they know when Tucker hits one or Lamar hits one or Nick hits one, to try to keep them hot and keep them in action. They did that throughout the game, and there’s different stretches for each guy a little bit. I thought all those guys made some big plays. They’re very confident and aggressive, and I like that mentality out of them.”
Big atmosphere here, big time atmosphere. What was it like coming in here? What did you guys expect coming into the game?
“This is my first time here. Great arena, good atmosphere, great place to play a game. When it is your first time, you don’t know really what to expect, but I thought the crowd was really good and they were into the game. Road wins are hard, and to be able to come in and be able to pretty much lead from start to finish, I think it says a lot that the guys had a great performance tonight.”
Last one, Tariq Francis. What can you say about a guy like that and a guy like some of those teammates that Pikiell likes to go after?
“He’s a hard guard. He’s so dynamic with the ball. He can score at all three levels, so he puts a lot of pressure on your defense because he is so good in isolations, even just creating his own, and makes it tough on you.”
Going into face Purdue, one of the best teams in the country, what’s going to be your mindset? What are you guys going to continue to do? Maybe work on certain things? What are you going to do to get ready for Purdue?
“Our mindset in the game is always the same. Your approach is your approach. To make sure we go home and be very intentional with the details of the game prep and understand what we need to do to win that next game. We’ll get started with that as soon as we can.”
