INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 4, 2023

Jalen Hood-Schifino

Trayce Jackson-Davis

Postgame Media Conference

Indiana 79, Purdue 74

Q. You obviously know what this rivalry means, but they are No. 1, you knock them off when they are No. 1. Put into context what we saw today?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: I think you saw two great teams going at it honestly. They are a great team. They run their system very, very well. Zach is a load inside. Honestly we just played hard and we played together and we really feeded off the crowd, and a lot of the second half didn't go our way but we still fought through and found a way to win.

Q. Jalen, Coach Woodson said at the end that you wanted the ball and to take that shot, so when they draw it up for you to go down the lane against a 7-4 guy to score, how did all that happen, and how did you feel from a comfort level to make that get done?

JALEN HOOD-SCHIFINO: Yeah, I mean, obviously I didn't know the play was going to go like that but when he called a time-out I told coach, I'm going to get this last bucket and as you can see, that's what happened. Yeah, I was happy with it.

Q. Jalen, you had a tough game on Tuesday. I mean, just kind of illustrate the composure that you towed today to bounce back on the big stage.

JALEN HOOD-SCHIFINO: Yeah, I mean, games like that, your shots not falling, I don't really look at it as a bad game for me. I went 1 for 14 but in my head I still shot the ball. I took a positive from that. Some games are going to be ups and downs and you're going to miss shots and you have to find ways to impact the game.

Tonight is one of them nights where I felt like I played well; and obviously Trayce played well, and the rest of the guys played well, and it was a good team effort.

Q. Knowing coming into this game, it was a big matchup, wasn't just you and Edey, but obviously that was going to play a big part in this game and the defense seemed to level up. You guys moved it up a notch today. Everybody was flying around, arms flying. You forced Purdue into ten first half turnovers. How important was that to getting your game going today?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: It was huge. Just relying on my teammates, our game plan, just doubling the posts, and they did an excellent job in the first half. It really brought us out to that lead and we cared it through the second half and rode it. Obviously had he hit back but all around it was a great team effort.

Q. Trayce, Jalen scores I think 12 of his 16 in the second half. Obviously he's had to shoulder a much bigger load with X out for a sustained period. What can you say about his growth over the last couple months as a player and the fact that he's a freshman making plays like that down the stretch against a team like Purdue?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: It's huge, honestly. He lives for these big moments. In the first half, I was kind of carrying the load a little bit and then the second half he was carrying the load and that's something that we can do. We've got a lot of pieces on our team that are just interchangeable and they can do big things. He's a great player and I love it when he gets to that many because it's really unguardable.

Q. Trayce, it's kind of a cliché but we've asked you after a lot of games like this why you guys couldn't make the little plays, the steal, the put back where Race gets two free throws. How has this team grown into being able to make plays in games like this?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: It's a toughness factor. I feel like teams in the past I've been on weren't that tough honestly and we kind of played with a chip on our shoulder since the beginning of the year since we got pumped by Rutgers. We kind of found our niche, and that's what we're doing and that's how we've got to play the rest of the year.

Q. What happened on the play when you had a breakaway? And I don't know if you got fouled or what but you went down to the ground and looked like you were hurting for a second?

JALEN HOOD-SCHIFINO: Yeah, my knee buckled a little bit. Was a little scary at first but I'm good.

Q. Trayce, I don't think we have a stat for this, but how many points was the crowd worth for you guys today?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: They were our sixth man, honestly. We fed off that, especially in the first half. I feel like just shot after shot after shot were dropping and that was the most electric crowd I've been a part of since I've been here. They did a great job, so props to them. They really helped us.

Q. Earlier this year, you said that beating Rutgers was one of your goals going into this year because it's one of the teams you haven't beat during your time here at IU. Woodson just said your focus was shifting towards Rutgers already. What can you guys take from this game and carry over into that one?

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Just our defensive intensity, honestly. They are a great team and they play very, very hard on defense and they kind of bring that trap kind of like Purdue did today. We have to make adjustments and watch film and get ready for them tomorrow?