INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 3, 2024

Mike Woodson

Postgame Media Conference

Indiana 97, Sam Houston 71

Q. Mike, bench had the season high tonight and 36 and key contributions from Goode. Are you looking for consistency at this point? One game is nice, but you want to see that moving forward, that group do what they did tonight?

MIKE WOODSON: I thought it was a total team effort on everybody's part. Helps when your bench come off and play the way they did. Goode was fantastic tonight, but everybody off the bench played well.

You know, I'm pleased with our play on both ends of the floor. The one thing I, when I look at the box score, giving up 46 points in a half, that's a bit too much for any team.

We really got to focus in on trying to limit teams between 35, 34, 35 points a half. You do that, you put yourself in position to win a lot of games.

Q. On Leal, played five minutes all year; played 25. What sparked that?

MIKE WOODSON: I decided to play him tonight.

Q. Why?

MIKE WOODSON: Because I decided to play him tonight, yeah.

Q. It's kind of a simplistic thing, but we spent a lot of the last season asking you about some struggles at the free throw line. You guys have been really consistent this season. What's the product of that, especially for some bigs, a guy like Malik who shoots a lot of them just by the way he plays the game and is making them at a much higher clip?

MIKE WOODSON: Again, you think back over the last two years, that's really been a problem for us. You know, we've given three, four, five games away over the last few years each season because of missed free throws.

That was one of the things going out into the portal this summer to try to find guys that you feel good about, when they step to the line, they make their free throws.

Ballo has been better this year, so very pleased about that as well.

Q. Going back to Luke Goode's play, 38% or so, career three-point shooter. Took him a few games to get going. What can he do for you guys when he shoots even close to this?

MIKE WOODSON: Again, it opens up everything that you do from an offensive standpoint. You can take 30 threes and only make two or three. That doesn't do you any good.

We been shooting the three ball pretty well. Goode is a big part of it. That was one of the reasons we went out to recruit him. Tonight it showed big time for us. We benefited from it, him making the five threes that he made.

Q. The lineup that you had that had Leal, Tucker, and Goode on the floor at the same time. I think in the first half it was Ballo and Tre, and then the second half might have been Miles and Malik. Very productive lineup. What did you think of what you saw from that particular...

MIKE WOODSON: Just the energy they gave early coming off the bench. I mean, they were into it and did a lot of good things, especially on the defensive end to get us a nice little cushion going into halftime.

I thought they had a lot to do with it.

Q. With Goode tonight, did you try to get him shots any different ways than usual or just...

MIKE WOODSON: No, I ran a few plays for him where he was able to come off, but a lot we were pushing the pace. He got a few in transition. Couple -- one or two he got on kickouts from the post. Couple times I ran plays for him where he came off and made shots.

Kind of how we did in Providence in the Bahamas. Was the same thing. Been trying to get them running and get more screen action to get shots. Goode was good again tonight doing it.

Q. What has Goode meant to the team so far this season off the floor?

MIKE WOODSON: He's meant a lot. He was so happy when we recruited him to bring him back home. Once he got here, he's been everything that we thought he would be.

He struggled early, but it's a long season. I mean, tonight we benefited from Goode making shots, I mean, what we expect him to do when he comes into the game.

Q. Anthony scored just four points but finished plus 39. What allowed him to come into the game and be so impactful tonight?

MIKE WOODSON: Again, we're shorthanded. Gabe is not with us. Kanaan is not with us. So we went deep into the bench. Anthony has always been there when we needed him. I thought tonight he stepped up and played a solid game for us.

Q. Miles kind of had a rough showing in the Bahamas. Tonight was there any urgency to get him going, get him right?

MIKE WOODSON: I mean, miles is still trying to figure out the surrounding pieces, you know what I mean? He's a good pick and roll guy that can get downhill as you saw today. He's capable of making shots.

He struggled in the Bahamas. You know, to see him come back tonight and play the way he did, I'm proud as hell of him. We just got to keep him headed in the right direction.