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INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 24, 2017Zach McRobertsJosh NewkirkFreddie McSwain Jr.Bloomington, Indiana Indiana - 87, Eastern Michigan - 67 Q. I thought that when I heard Juwan Morgan squeal on floor about six minutes left in the half, that kind of summed it up for me. Looked like a really hustling game from you guys. Archie has been saying, get on the floor, bring that out. Do you feel it's your best performance today in that regard? JOSH NEWKIRK: We definitely play hard. Coach Miller emphasizes playing hard. Out there doing all the dirty things I think we did a good job today but we could always get better at it. Q. Second time I think that back-to-back games Josh with single digits turnovers, how encouraging is that to you? JOSH NEWKIRK: It means a lot. We pride ourselves on taking care of the ball. Limited turnovers. It makes our offense a lot better and it stops us from having to play a lot of defense and getting back on defense and defensive transition. Q. Josh, you looked really comfortable with your shot today. The last couple of games been feeling a little more in rhythm? JOSH NEWKIRK: I credit my teammates. They've been doing a good job of finding me, and I just knock down the shots. Q. (Indiscernible) the ten points, you got some stuff done against guys who are pretty legit size wise -- 6-10, 245 or whatever. What was working well for you today? FREDDIE MCSWAIN JR.: Just keeping my body on my opponent, trying to use my quickness around them, boxing them out and trying to beat them to the ball, and hustle plays, just trying to get my team an opportunity to get an offensive possession. Q. Coach talked Wednesday night about really needing to respect maybe even fear Eastern Michigan's 2-3 zone. You started both halves strong against that zone. How do you critique your own performance not just against their length but the overall defense today? ZACH MCROBERTS: I think that's something we've got to look at the film at. I thought we did a good job but obviously we can build from this, learn from it, practice what we need to get better at. I think we can only improve. Q. Josh, the game at one point, it was 49-47 and then all of a sudden a few minutes later it's 80-60. What did you feel were the two or three most important things (indiscernible)? JOSH NEWKIRK: We just stayed composed. We stayed together. We got defensive stops, we got turnovers and we just stayed true to what we did on offense and it worked out. Q. Josh, do you feel that this team is getting more comfortable game by game? Do you (indiscernible) comfort level (indiscernible)? JOSH NEWKIRK: Definitely, everybody is getting comfortable with the offensive style, the defensive schemes. We've just been practicing a lot. I think everybody is feeling more comfortable understanding that we're all helping each other. I think it's coming along. Q. One of the things that's been missing is the 3-point shooting. Tonight you guys were lights out. Shot 50-something percent tonight. Tonight it was 12, the most you hit all season. Where did that come from, that big jump? JOSH NEWKIRK: I think we did a good job on offense, getting it to the middle of the zone. And then our big guys did a good job of finding us on the perimeter. I credit them, I think that's what helped us. Q. Josh, you said just that everybody is getting more comfortable. What do you attribute it to? Is it just time on task and being able to have actual game time or there may be some specific things you can point to? JOSH NEWKIRK: Just practice. We are like five, six games in, so everybody is getting more comfortable. Everybody is understanding what's needed of them. And we're holding each other accountable. I think that's the biggest part. Q. Josh, (indiscernible) third straight game without a turnover. For a freshman to come in have that kind of ball security what does that say? JOSH NEWKIRK: That says a lot about him. He takes pride in taking of the ball and making the right decision. We're going to need him to keep doing that. Q. What did you do guys do on Thanksgiving? You came out ready to play. Can you talk about that a little bit. FREDDIE MCSWAIN JR.: We just enjoy each other's company. Had Thanksgiving with our coach and our team and just had a bonding experience with each other. And I guess it took over to the court. ZACH MCROBERTS: About Thanksgiving? We had practice and got to go over to Coach Miller's house and just hang out, eat food. It was a good time. Q. You know you don't get an assist if you rebound your own miss? ZACH MCROBERTS: Why was testing it out. FREDDIE MCSWAIN JR.: That's my spot. Q. Josh, what does it mean to have Collin back in (indiscernible)? JOSH NEWKIRK: It meant a lot. His spark, his energy, all that definitely helped us out. Gave us a big spark off the bench. He played hard and gave us some quality minutes. So it definitely helped us. Q. Did you think that first one was going in? JOSH NEWKIRK: Yeah. FREDDIE MCSWAIN JR.: Yeah, most definitely. Q. How important is it to -- Collin only played six minutes -- how important is it to have him back in the mix especially with a team like Duke coming in next week? JOSH NEWKIRK: It means a lot. He has a lot of experience. He brings a lot of value to the team. He knocks down the open shots, plays great defense. So to have him out there is a big contribution. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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