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INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 9, 2018Robert JohnsonJuwan MorganCollin HartmanBloomington, Indiana Indiana - 74, Penn State - 70 Q. Obviously it's tough down the stretch for you guys, pulled out a win what does it say about this team and the resiliency it has? COLLIN HARTMAN: I think we worked day in, day out for times like these. And we have a lot of older guys that have been in situations like this. And guys stepped up. Josh and Devonte made big shots, but we've got to finish every play, finish games strong. And we'll continue to work on that, but I'm proud of our guys and how we dug that win out. JUWAN MORGAN: Just repeating what Collin said, they had some big free throws late, and I think we just closed out the game strong. We didn't really back down even when they went on the run and took, I think, it was like a one or two point lead. We got together and we fixed it right there on the court. We didn't need a timeout. I think it speaks to volumes of leadership that's come a long way since the beginning of the Big Ten. To go off that, I just thank God for the growth of this team. I think this is the first time all season we was able to string together two consecutive, what we felt were 40 minute efforts, and I think that's big for us moving forward; if we can continue to do that we'll continue to do better. Q. Juwan, obviously your season is well underway now, you've faced a lot of talented big men, so to go up against a guy like Watkins tonight, are you more comfortable facing the more talented post players? JUWAN MORGAN: I've always been confident. The work that we've put in every day, I still think that when I'm going against other bigs I still feel like I have the advantage, no matter how tall they are or how much stronger they are than me. And I think that just goes to the testament of the work we put in every day. And even if I don't have it, I know my guys will knock down shots, and I can just kick it out to them. Q. Guys (inaudible) but all the hard work, no turnovers, the second chance points (inaudible) is that kind of (inaudible) play into? COLLIN HARTMAN: Yeah, just we always trying to do in practice is just play your heart out every play. Don't take plays off. We've got guys that are ready to go. And if you're not ready to go someone else is going to sub you in. So you just gotta come in ready. And that hard working and that scrappy mindset is what we have to have every day and carry over to these games. Q. Collin, could you talk about you guys had came off a good game against Duke and then you lost, came off a good victory against Notre Dame and lost, and then played well against Minnesota. Were you worried at all that this might be the same thing? COLLIN HARTMAN: We addressed that, that we have done that twice -- had the big win and then a fall-off. And we addressed that and that's something that we have to get better at and continue to work on and concentrate as you have to come ready for every day. You can't get too high. You can't get too low. You can't listen to the outside noise. It's what we do every day and it's who we are every day. And we can't get away from that. Q. To that point, what did it look like when you addressed that? Who led that discussion and maybe what do you all feel positive came out of it? COLLIN HARTMAN: Coach brought it up first, and I think it trickled down through all the guys, older guys all the way down. And our mental preparation our physical preparation, everybody getting extra treatment, doing whatever you have to do, getting up extra shots. We watch film, prepare. It's just mentally locking into everything that you do and not taking any steps back in any area of the game. Q. Juwan, I think Collin mentioned about you guys getting ready somebody else coming in. (Inaudible)? JUWAN MORGAN: Definitely. It could be anybody's night on any given game. And I think just being ready to go, mentally preparing to go into the game, seeing the game in your mind, all that goes into just the mental preparation of playing. And then once they get into the game they're ready, and they can get right into the flow of things and not have like a really bad play just to get acclimated. And I think that just goes to the work they put in every day. Q. (Inaudible)? ROBERT JOHNSON: I think it just came down to constant communication. I think we're doing a better job of when we see problems within a game, instead of everybody going our separate ways and just them trying to figure it out on their own, I think we come together and try to find a solution and not try to stack negative plays but positive plays on top of each other. And then I think with that we have more stretches of positive play instead of negative. Q. Did you guys talk at halftime about the 3-for-17 on threes and going inside more and kind of changing that approach? JUWAN MORGAN: Yeah, we talked about it, but I don't think really much, but, like, probably two or three of those 3s were bad shots. I think we were just getting -- we were getting good looks and open looks but we just weren't knocking them down. And with good looks come driving lanes, and I think that we just have to get inside a few more times and just get a little confidence of seeing the ball go through the hoop and we'll be able to knock those shots down. Q. Zach McRoberts plays 26 minutes, doesn't score but still has a huge impact in the game. Just talk about his kind of his roll and how he's helping the team right now? ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, he's been huge for us, especially since he's been starting. He just plays within himself and gives everything that he has. And I think if we can all recognize what we need to give for the betterment of the team, I think we'll all be better. Q. Juwan, you mentioned (indiscernible) three points. Just under four minutes to play, you take one from the right wing (inaudible). The fact that you have shown (inaudible) does that help your overall game now that defense has stepped up? JUWAN MORGAN: I think it does definitely. Like you said, he had to respect that I could hit that shot and he had to close out, and when he left his feet I had an open drive lane to take it the way I did or pass it to an open teammate. Q. (Inaudible)? ROBERT JOHNSON: I think tonight he just was poised. He wasn't really rushing anything. He let the game come to him and was being a good point guard first. And I think when he did that I think things opened up for him. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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