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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2015Melo TrimbleMark TurgeonDez WilliamsCHICAGO, ILLINOIS Maryland – 75 COACH TURGEON: That was a really good win for us. I think Indiana is a really good basketball team. They're really hard to guard. They're really hard to box out because of their speed. I thought our guys were good from the very start tonight. We do what we do. We're pretty good offensively, and then we'll take some possessions off defense, but we were good, and I thought down the stretch, our defense carried us. We couldn't score there for a while, and we defended and rebounded better and played shots and played with great poise down the stretch. Just another really good win for us. Q. You guys have played a lot of close games and won a lot of close games. What makes you guys comfortable in those late‑game situations when the score is so tight? DEZ WILLIAMS: We're used to having to grind it out so that's kind of like the stigma with the Big Ten. It's kind of grind‑it‑out kind of games with the teams‑‑ especially like the teams like Purdue and stuff like that. We're used to grinding it out and having to fight for every possession. This team is battle‑tested. We've been through a lot of adversity this year, whether it be, like, nagging injuries or people not being able to play because of injuries. We've always had to adjust, so we're accustomed to that. Regardless of what type of adjustments we have to make during the game, we're going to make them, and we feel confident, and we know how to maintain our composure throughout the game. MELO TRIMBLE: Yeah, just to pick up on what Dez said, we're used to it and also we just believe in ourselves and believe in what Coach Turgeon tells us? Q. For Dez or Melo, can you talk about the contribution that Evan made off the bench tonight, and how important that is for him as well as for you going forward? MELO TRIMBLE: I mean, Evan played great today. He's was a good leader today. He told me a lot of things that helped me throughout the game, and also just his energy and him just being out there just made me want to play because he was so excited. We all was, but Evan was ‑‑ I've never seen him play like that. DEZ WILLIAMS: Evan is the leader. He's battled, he's been through this. He's been in the Big Ten. He knows what it's all about. He's been in this tournament before, so he understands the magnitude and the window of opportunity that we have to do something really special in this tournament. He understands it and he gets it, so whatever advice he can give any of us on the team, he does that, and he's one of those guys that you know you can always lean on, so Evan, he was a big part of our win today. His impact on the game was second to none. We appreciate that. We're going to need more of that from him. Q. Melo, a lot has been made all year about going head to head with Yogi. Looking back over the last two months, did you become more comfortable playing against him or on the floor against him over the course of the three meetings? MELO TRIMBLE: Yeah, I played him twice, and I saw what he does best which is use his speed. Basically just me having confidence in my defense and stepping up playing defense was going to help me win this game, and that's what happened. Q. Dez, what was kind of the key to slowing down Blackmon? He hasn't played too well against you guys in all three games. DEZ WILLIAMS: You guard and you defend. You take on the challenge. That's what we're all about. Whatever challenge anybody puts in front of us, we accept it and we're going to meet it head on. It's all about competing with us. That's all we want to do. That's really the only thing you have in this game is your competitive edge and your work ethic. So we're ready for whatever challenges that lie ahead of us. He's a great player. He'll be ‑‑ if he decides to stay in college, he'll be a great player for however long he stays to be in college. You know that's what we're about. We were competitive and we want to win each game, but to his defense, I don't think he played his best game today. Q. For Dez or Melo, Damonte got off to a great start today. Was that something conscious going into the game? I think he scored the first five points. DEZ WILLIAMS: Yeah, well, I think the tip play really got him going, the tip play, and I saw how they were lined up in the tip play, and I looked at him and I gave him the look, and I'm glad he got the tip. He got me the ball, and he ran the floor like he was supposed to and got a foul, got to the free‑throw line. We got him the ball early in the game, so that was really big for him, his impact on the game. But Damonte, he's one of those guys, he's always going to be ready for the game, he's always going to be pumped for it, and we need that from him. Q. It seems like you guys can run your offense in the transition or in the half court, too. What's your favorite kind of pace? MELO TRIMBLE: Just us playing fast and pretty much when Coach Turgeon lets me call the card, that's basically the pace that we want to play at. DEZ WILLIAMS: And in practice when we're like going over things, he'll kind of like try to confuse us. He'll call a secondary play and then he'll just throw out, like, one of our set plays and stuff like that, so you've got to be ready for adjustments at any time in the game, so I think that has a lot to do with it. Q. For the players, both teams made a lot of shots in the first half. What was the difference? I think you held them to 20 percent shooting the second half. DEZ WILLIAMS: We were just, I guess, competing as hard as we can, tried not to take any plays off. They're a heck of a team, too, man. They make it really hard for us. But I guess it's just we wanted to win so bad. We're all focused, we all bought into what Coach Turgeon wants from us this year, and it's a special thing that we have. So whatever we have to do, we don't care. We just want to get it done for each other and for Coach Turgeon. MELO TRIMBLE: Yeah, just in the second half we was really dialed in on defense and we just wanted to put together a lot of stops. Q. What was the difference defensively in the second half for you guys? COACH TURGEON: You know, I thought we were better at guarding the basketball in the second half. I thought the first half they got all the way to the rim. I thought we played really smart around the rim, hands back, not fouling, making them make tough shots, didn't help off‑shooters and they had to score over us. I thought we rebounded a little bit better in the second half, and I thought we did a great job of playing shots and trying to run guys off the line. They missed a few they might normally make, but so did we. We were tired. Very physical, up‑and‑down game, but our guys were dialed into personnel. Q. Just to follow up on the question about Evan, how important is it for you guys, how important is it for him and especially with Cekovsky not being able to play? How big was that? COACH TURGEON: Yeah, just so you know Cekovsky had a stomach virus and tried to play, but hopefully we'll have him tomorrow. It was great. You know, Evan hurt his knee in the Wisconsin game, and Evan really hasn't felt comfortable since then, but had his best practice of the year on Wednesday. It was good to see. He's making better decisions, not forcing things. I thought defensively he was very good, played smart defensively, his hands back and all the things that he did defensively was great. So it's important for us, gives us more versatility, and hopefully we'll get Cekovsky back tomorrow and be a little bit deeper basketball team than we were today. Q. In that first game with Indiana, the perimeter defense wasn't great, they hit 15 of 22 threes. Tonight they hit 7 of 24. How much better is your perimeter defense now as compared to that first game in Indiana? COACH TURGEON: Well, it's a combination of things. I'm not sure many teams could have beat them that night. They were really, really good. But since the Indiana game at home, and I think we've won eight in a row now, our defense has gotten better, I think teams are around 37 percent, 36 percent in those eight games, and once we start rebounding the way we're capable of rebounding, that number can go down even further. We've gotten better. Q. I know you're going to find out who you're going to play in a couple hours, but you've got senior leadership versus a freshman phenom. Can you talk about what you'll tell your players when you go back into the locker room? COACH TURGEON: Yeah, we're not going to worry about match‑ups. We're just so darned excited we won a game. Got 27 wins now. This group has been phenomenal. They played with great poise tonight, and things weren't going well, but they knew they were going to win. We'll get out of here, do some ice baths and things like that, we'll go back and eat and hopefully watch the second half. Both two really good teams, big names, Michigan State and Ohio State. I'm just glad we're in the Final Four. That's pretty cool. Q. A lot of coaches are using the Ken Pom numbers now. I don't know if you're into that or not, but the one I wanted to ask you about was the luck number. I wonder if you knew you were the luckiest team in America and what you thought of that particular stat. COACH TURGEON: I'm the luckiest guy in America. If you know anything about me, I've been lucky my whole life. If Ken Pom and his stats are saying I'm lucky, then he's right, so good for him. But we're good, too. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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