INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 9, 2024

Kanaan Carlyle

Bryson Tucker

Postgame Media Conference

Indiana 82, Minnesota 67

Q. Kanaan, coming off the bench tonight first time all season coming off the bench. What worked for you tonight?

KANAAN CARLYLE: Just taking my time. My teammates and my coaches threw a lot at me, just telling me to be more aggressive offensively and defensively, so just went out there and do whatever I can to win.

Q. Kanaan, your defensive intensity is very apparent but it also seems kind of infectious, like your teammates pick up on it. Is that something you're kind of communicative about or is it just kind of the vibes of how they take that?

KANAAN CARLYLE: Yeah, I mean, it's both. Every day we take pride in our defense. Woody preaches defense every single, so I knew when I came here my job us going to be to be that two-way player, so I take pride in that individually and my teammates all encourage me and they be up there with me, so it's easy for me to bring that energy when you got teammates behind you who bring the same energy.

Q. Bryson, after the UNC Greensboro win, coach said we didn't play hard and that's unacceptable, that's on me. What did he do to help you guys get motivated for tonight?

BRYSON TUCKER: Just kept talking to us, making sure he was in all of our heads, making sure we all had the same mindset going into each game and so I think it just instilled that in us and then we just kept going and just kept working and kept going and going and going, but we still have a long way to go, but we're going to get there for sure.

Q. Kanaan, what have the last few weeks been like for you as you worked through your injury around came back to action and how are you feeling now?

KANAAN CARLYLE: I'm feeling good. It was just rehab treatment, a lot of form shots, a lot of shooting just to get me confidence back, my jump shot back. It felt good to perform the way I did today and all the hard work paying off.

Q. Bryson, the toughest part of being a freshman sometimes is getting through the ups and the downs, last game, 0-4, then tonight you got it rolling. Do you have to worry about your confident level a little bit or how much did it help just to get off to a good start?

BRYSON TUCKER: I mean, I would say it's definitely a lot for my player, but after that game, I just had to keep my mind right and know that there's plenty of games to come, so if I have a bad game one game, I know I can change it. I know everything can change the next game. So I just have to stay focused and keep my mind right and keep going.

Q. Kanaan, you got the chance kind of against your will to watch this team from the bench a little bit while you were hurt. Defensively, what do you think -- what are your impressions of when things are going well what you guys are doing well and then when things are going wrong, tonight there were stretches of both, that the team needs to improve on?

KANAAN CARLYLE: I feel like when we're playing fast, when we're all sharing the rock and we all play together, it works magic. When we're all scoring the ball, when we all up playing defense and bring high energy, I don't think there's no team in the country that can beat us. When we do get comfortable, that's when stuff starts to fall off and that's when teams start to make their runs back, so we just got to make sure we put a good 40 minutes together where we play hard all 40 and not in spurts.

Q. Kanaan, you came off the bench tonight. Are you okay? Mike said obviously somebody has to but is that role fine with you if that ends up you being the sixth man guy for the team? And did you feel like it took some pressure off you offensively, I don't know, you got more in a rhythm today than you had in the early part of the season.

KANAAN CARLYLE: No, I don't think it has nothing to do with the pressure, it's just reps and just getting back in the rhythm of playing, especially a new team and new environment, just getting comfortable again, but, yeah, I'm perfectly fine with coming off the bench. I want to win games, whether it's being the sixth man, eighth man, tenth man starting two guard, I don't care. As long as we win, I'm here to do my job, to play defense and provide what I can on offense. That's it.

Q. Yeah, Kanaan, when you're playing at your best, what are two or three things you feel you're doing really well on offense and what are two or three things you're doing really well on defense?

KANAAN CARLYLE: Um, on defense, just energy playing well and just picking up 94 feet. I feel like that gets my whole game going, just my defense, my energy, so I feel like that's what I need to bring every single night because that's also what gets my offense going. Then on offense, just taking my time, letting the game come to me and just playing off my teammates, taking open shots, taking the first shot they give me and shooting the ball with confidence, so, yeah.

Q. Bryson, I've got two quick ones for you guys. 58% from the field today, what's working when you guys are shooting that well?

BRYSON TUCKER: I would say when all on the same page. Like today, we all came out and we were all on the same page. We knew the first Big Ten game we have to make a statement. I mean, yes, we definitely could have done better, but I think we did a good job just coming in and staying focused and working super hard. I think that's one thing we did stay focused on.

Q. And just for both you guys, do you guys feel the football buzz around here right now? What's that been like?

KANAAN CARLYLE: It's crazy, hey, we're proud of them. We watch every game, so keep going and hopefully they keep winning. We're here to support all the time.