INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 27, 2021

Xavier Johnson

Trayce Jackson-Davis

Postgame Media Conference

Indiana 90, Marshall 79

Q. Trayce, we asked Coach Woodson last week when you had three shots in the first half, if there needed to be emphasis on getting you the ball, and clearly this happens tonight. Did you feel it, too? Did you need to be more aggressive and take what came to you tonight?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Most definitely. It was just a big thing -- really, I don't even think it was necessarily an aggressive thing. It was more of what the defense was giving us, and the last two games they have been doubling a lot, so I have been kicking out for open shots. And this game, they decided to pay single coverage, so we made them pay with that.

Q. Sort of bluntly, do you feel like, for you, a performance like this, would have been quite as possible last year when you had maybe the guys you've added I guess in the off-season, the shooting and creativity from a guy like X; do you feel like this performance is reflective of growth in this team's offense?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Most definitely. I think we spaced the floor a lot better than we did last year, and we have shooters everywhere. So you can't just double-down, triple-down and sag and claw at the lane as much as we could last year.

So they started doing it a little bit in the second half, and then we made them pay with three-point shots.

Q. Xavier, when you were on the bench in the first half when Marshall went on their big run and you came back in and had a bunch of steals and good play on both ends. Curious what Coach said to you on the bench. You had a different kind of spark when you came in?

XAVIER JOHNSON: It actually wasn't coach. It was Trayce. Trayce told me when he came on the bench, he said, "Yo, I need to pick it up when we go back in," and that's what we did.

Q. You talk about improving your vision and passing this afternoon. What has done into that? Is it just getting more reps during practice or how do you work on that?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Most definitely. It's all about reps and repetition. Coach Woodson has us in a flee-flowing offense. You have us doing guard work and they got them doing post moves and stuff of that nature. He wants an NBA-style offense, and you have to be able to do everything.

Q. Did you know when you went in for that dunk at the end that it was the scoring record, and how did that play unfold for you?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: I still don't know what scoring record it is, if I'm being honest.

XAVIER JOHNSON: 43, my man, you had 43. (Laughter).

Q. Most ever in this building.

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Really? I didn't know that.

Q. Is that overall?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: No, because I know Coach Woodson about had 48 at Illinois.

Yeah, I didn't know that. But hey, way to get it, I guess.

Q. You got a chance to watch that 43. How impressive was that? You've never seen anyone get 43 in a game before.

XAVIER JOHNSON: I've never, ever, and I told him, I actually told him, I said, "Yo, don't get fooled. They don't want to double." You All-American. I believe he the best player in America.

So I'm like, "Go get 40, Brother." That's disrespectful to us and to him as well.