INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 7, 2022

Mike Woodson

Postgame Media Conference

Indiana 81, Nebraska 65

Q. Mike, I know a lot of the time you don't want to make it about one player, but Trayce seems to have a keen sort of sense of the legacy he'll leave behind. He's only the third player now in program history with a triple-double. What do you think that means to him and did you bring that up in the postgame locker room?

MIKE WOODSON: I never once addressed it at all. It's a part of our game. When I took this job a year and a half ago and sat down with Trayce and watched him on film and critiqued his game, there's not a lot he can't do. No, he's not shooting jump shots. I get all of that. But he's shown in practice he can make them. He's just got to shoot them in the game.

But he's skilled enough to do the things that he's doing on the floor, and the fact that he's been double- and triple-teamed, he's got to sacrifice the ball. There's nowhere to go with the ball but to get it out and try to find open shooters.

Tonight we were really good in that area, and we made shots tonight. Life it pretty damn good when you can make shots when your best player is being double-teamed.

Q. Mike, going along with that, just the recognition of his teammates, he was being doubled in different areas of the floor, to find the right cutting lanes and all that, to take advantage of his unselfishness, what was your impressions of their recognition of what was being done to him defensively and their ability to take advantage of it?

MIKE WOODSON: Well, we knew about it coming into the game. We watched enough tape on Nebraska, and everybody is going to start playing more zones and double-teaming him. Hey, there's nothing you can do about that. You've just got to make sure that the spacing is correct, guys are cutting properly, and the ball has got to come out. It just can't stick.

I thought tonight we got the ball moved around and guys had some good looks, and they knocked them down.

Q. Sticking on that same theme, we didn't really see the ball move as much with Rutgers. Was there an emphasis on that in practice?

MIKE WOODSON: Did you chart that game?

Q. I did not.

MIKE WOODSON: You didn't. Let me help you out here. We had nine wide-open shots that game, two missed lay-ups to go with those nine missed shots. So there were good looks. We just didn't make them.

Q. Rebounding was a big problem against Rutgers. Tonight you guys seemed to get back on the right track. The numbers were pretty far apart, got closer there toward the end. What was the difference for the team on the floor tonight versus what you saw in Piscataway?

MIKE WOODSON: Well, a lot of it had to do with the two days we had to practice. We went back to our basics in terms of block-out rebounding drills and to try to get their attention in that way, and then to let them know that rebounding is a big part of the basketball game.

My whole theme has always been, hell, if you play defense tough and you rebound the ball, that's the reward. Now you can go down and play offense and have fun. I mean, that's the whole beauty about defending and rebounding.

We lacked in that area at Rutgers. Tonight we were a lot better.

Q. Miller Kopp had a bunch of baskets tonight off the bounce. How important is that aspect of his game to your team and how has he improved in that area?

MIKE WOODSON: He's worked at it. Every day we do ball handling drills and we do drills where you've got to make plays off the bounce. He's starting to get better at it, which is kind of nice to see. Means the work that he's put in is working for him and working for our ballclub.

Q. Trey Galloway has talked about the work he's put in with his three-point shot. This off-season over the summer leading up to the season, what are some of the things you've seen behind the scenes of him putting in extra work in terms of shooting?

MIKE WOODSON: Well, the good thing is getting him back healthy, because he works. I have no problems with that kid. He works his butt off on the floor. In practice he gives you effort. It spills over in the game.

Tonight he was reckless. Defensively he was great, and he made shots, which was kind of nice to see.