INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

January 16, 2024

Trey Galloway

Postgame Media Conference

Purdue 87, Indiana, 66

Q. Trey, by the way that nature of that game was, did you guys feel like you were swimming uphill trying to keep up with them the way that game was playing out?

TREY GALLOWAY: I mean, I think the first half, it's we get some dumb fouls and unnecessary fouling and stuff. That's the difference between playing hard and like not smart, and I think we had some fouls and we had foul trouble and it got away from us a little bit.

Q. I don't know a better way to ask this than bluntly. Can you guys collectively feel a game getting away from you when you are trying to play hard and you're trying to do the right things but it's leading to mistakes instead of the hustle plays you want? What gets the game back under your control in those moments and what wasn't working tonight in that first half?

TREY GALLOWAY: Like I said, I mean, you just have to stick to your game plan, and I mean, obviously they are a physical team, and have a very big post presence down low. But I think just at the end of the day, just going out there, competing, and finding ways to get stops, that's the biggest thing. We didn't do that.

Q. Coach Woodson talked about a lack of toughness today. Do you sense that? Is it disappointing to hear that at this stage of the season?

TREY GALLOWAY: For sure. I mean, especially when it's a big game like this. You've got to find ways to fight and be tough.

Q. As the fouls were adding up, did you talk to the guys and try to get them refocused? Was it hard to do that as you guys had three starters on the bench and things started adding up? How do you think you handled poise-wise things going against you in the first half?

TREY GALLOWAY: We didn't really handle it great. I mean, that's the reason there was I think 16 free throws to -- I'm not sure what we had in the first half.

But like I said, we've got to be more smart and know that they are going post a lot. But we can't have silly fouls. And just know that it's going to be a war, and it was. But we're competing.

Q. You guys cut it to nine in the second half there, and seemed like you led that charge to be more aggressive. What was the mindset coming out of the locker room and what was said at halftime?

TREY GALLOWAY: I mean, it wasn't over, and that was our mindset going into the second half. I mean, like you said, we got it to under ten but we just didn't have that next gear to really keep going, keep cutting into the lead.

I had a bad turnover and some quick shots that we could have got a better shot on, so I take responsibility for that.

Q. Is it hard as a player to try to be aggressive, and then know what is and isn't a foul? Seems like some of these games, the same stuff can't a foul one day and is the next. Is it hard to play that way knowing or not knowing what's going to be hard?

TREY GALLOWAY: I think so. But the biggest thing is just playing physical all the time because I can't call every foul. So if we can be smart and not foul like we don't need to, but be physical, that's the biggest thing.

Obviously with Edey down there, it's going to be tough for anybody. But we get another chance to play them again at Mackey, and we'll be ready then. But we've got to focus on our next game against Wisconsin and try to get a real win.