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INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 2, 2016Juwan MorganDe'Ron DavisBloomington, Indiana Indiana - 83, SIU Edwardsville - 60 Q. Talk about OG being hurt. JUWAN MORGAN: I think it goes across the board for everybody on the team. When somebody goes down, we all have to be ready to step up. I don't think it takes just one person to do everything that OG does for us. But I think collectively we all have to do that for him. DE'RON DAVIS: Same thing. We've all got to do our own aspect of the game, 1 through 16 we've all got to contribute to the game. Q. De'Ron, how do you get in such a rhythm; didn't miss a shot the whole game. DE'RON DAVIS: I think just mentally I've been thinking too much about shooting, things like that. I just got back to what I was at last year and things that helped the team and I didn't have to make plays or anything. And if I ran hard and set a screen, I knew my teammates would find me and things like that. Q. You both had career highs. Is it a night to remember or do you feel like -- JUWAN MORGAN: For me I feel like for me scratching the surface. My teammates look to give me the ball. And I look to have big games. But it was just a good night for us as a team. DE'RON DAVIS: I just think we have to continue to grow and build and the aspects of the game, I don't think that would be the last time that will happen for either one of us. And I think any given night, it can be anybody's time. Like for James and Rob, their shots were contributing. Rob was locking it on the defensive end. James was finding all the bigs in the post. Just those little things, when you're not able to do one thing, you have another thing to contribute to the team. I think that's really important. Q. De'Ron, how big was the game against North Carolina for your confidence, made some big plays against arguably one of the best teams in the nation. How big was that for your confidence? DE'RON DAVIS: Really big. That just shows that I can play on this level. And I go against great players every day in practice. And JMO and Thomas Bryant, they all push me in practice. Coming down the court, makes the game easier. Q. Talk about fatigue in this game. JUWAN MORGAN: I think it's pretty taxing as far as our stamina and things go, but I think it's more mental than physical. Of course the games are hard. The practices, we're not killing each other or anything, but being able to lock on what each and every player does, what team does, and having that mental part of the game is really important just as important as the physical part of the game. DE'RON DAVIS: Same what JMO said. Coaches do a good job on our preparation towards the game. Like JMO said, we're not killing each other in practice. We do extra stretching, watch a lot of film, and treat our bodies right just because of the long week we have. Q. James thought the other night that you guys need to bring your own energy, not really rely on the crowd or whatever. But when the atmosphere is not like it was the other night, is it harder to get into the game against an opponent like that? JUWAN MORGAN: No, we have respect for every team, and we have respect for the game. Just like you said, when the crowd isn't into it like they are against North Carolina or teams like that, we still have to play our game. We can't let that get to us. We have to bring our own energy and we have to get stops. We still have to hit the post and things like that, just like we would if North Carolina was in here. Q. De'Ron, are you starting to find your own rhythm? DE'RON DAVIS: Yes, I am. But like I said earlier, my teammates is finding me, everybody was moving and cutting around me. And as the season is going, I'm going to continue to get better and so is my team. Q. De"Ron, talk about Juwan being locked in tonight. DE'RON DAVIS: Yeah, I'm looking at that. He was locked in. I've been focusing all week really being on the boards and just being locked into everything we're doing, being the great leader he was, he came out and led us today as you can see. He was all over the boards today. It was a big accomplishment. Q. Eight for eight, tied for second best for the most shots made without a miss. Goes back nine years ago, Jared had eight for eight. That was there. Where have you seen De'Ron grow the most? JUWAN MORGAN: I think just his confidence. I've had the pleasure of playing against De'Ron since I was in eight grade and he was in seventh grade. He was playing up, and I played him in a tournament in Kansas City. And even then he was just, you could tell the potential that was there. And when he first got here, he was talking about how down he was about not being able to score sometimes because we didn't take it easy on them. Like every time he got the ball, I was attacking him every single time. And during the heat of the moment I was telling him he can't guard me and stuff, but after practice I was telling him, yo, we've got to work on this because we need you, we're going to need you to play right away. He took that to heart and he started going against himself, looking at himself in the mirror, saying this is what I've gotta do. And I think that's really showed up in these last few games. Q. Free throws, you guys were 19 for 19 at one point. Does that kind of focus help you knock them down? DE'RON DAVIS: It felt good. But that's a focus throughout the whole season. When it comes down to the clutch, you've gotta make free throws. And as far as the team collectively, I think after practice we just really get free throws in, just late-game situations. Q. De'Ron, you've been very successful. What do you think has been the key? DE'RON DAVIS: Well, you know, just having two bigs that can play inside out. Trying to work on moving around the perimeter, making my way into shape. Towards the end of the season, when I'm in better shape and better conditioning and we can do more things on the outside, we're unstoppable. We've got JMO. We've got a pretty big team, but me and Thomas, and Thomas knocking down the 3. If they throw it into me, they're going to double or leave Thomas open. So it's a pick-your-poison-type thing. Q. De'Ron, what accounts for your number of post moves? DE'RON DAVIS: Just like JMO said, when I first got here, I couldn't really score. So that's what we do. We go out and practice. Granted, today, I should have used my left hand a little bit more. But you spin back left, your left hand is there. So I'm just trying to -- how do you say -- expand my game and continue to get myself in a little bit better shape. Q. De'Ron, talk about enthusiasm with Thomas; you were a little fired up. DE'RON DAVIS: Yeah, TB is a very energetic dude. We all need that. It goes back to the point of bringing our energy. We were just trying to hype everyone up. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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