CROSSROADS CLASSIC: PURDUE VS NOTRE DAME

December 19, 2020

Mason Gillis

Purdue Boilermakers

Postgame Media Conference

Purdue 88, Notre Dame 78

Q. Can you talk about the offensive rebounding there to start the second half, how big of a deal that was and what fueled you in terms of that effort?

MASON GILLIS: I really wanted to come out of the game the second half with energy. I know they had a little bit of a spurt there at the end of the first half, and me and Trey and the big guys, we kind of talked about it and just wanted to kind of get them off the boards.

Not that they were ever really beating us, but we just wanted to put them away in that area, so I was just in the right positions at the right time.

Q. Across the board how come you had so much success on the glass? Was it tenacity? Was it a physical advantage?

MASON GILLIS: Yeah, I would say it's all of the above. Me, Aaron, Trey, and Zach, and then our guards, we do a really good job of crashing the board I think, and whenever we're all working at the same time, it's hard for their team to stop every single one of us.

So we're going to get the ball one way or another. If Purdue gets the ball, that's all that matters.

Q. You seemed to be in a pretty good rhythm from three. Do you feel like things are kind of going your way there right now?

MASON GILLIS: Yeah, for sure. Just staying in the gym, taking the shots whenever they're given to me and staying ready. That's really all it is. I've put in the time, so I'm confident out there shooting the ball. That's pretty much it, just being ready. That's my biggest thing.

Q. What did you see from Eric tonight? Seemed like he was pretty in command of things and obviously did a really good job at the defensive end.

MASON GILLIS: Yeah, I would say that everybody on the team agrees that he's our leader, vocally, energetically. He's a great guy, so we all look up to him and listen to him. He knows what he's doing and he knows what he's talking about. He's a perfect point guard for us right now. He has the energy, and whenever we need to either slow down or speed up, he can do both.

We all go to him if we need to figure something out. If we're messing up or if he's messing up, he's capable of listening to us and we're capable of listening to him.

Q. They tied it at 53 and you guys took control right back. What allowed you guys to kind of flip the switch back in your favor so quickly?

MASON GILLIS: I would say it was probably something we didn't do in Miami. We were up and had a big lead and we kind of just lost our minds toward the end of the game.

But in this game I think that we kept our poise and were able to come together as a team and get the W.

Q. Obviously you were conscious of what happened at Miami. Were other guys on the team kind of the same way?

MASON GILLIS: Yeah, I would definitely say so. We learned from it in practice and film and just moved on it and brought it to this game.

Q. Ever since you got in the starting lineup you seem to have kind of progressed each game. What about starting kind of puts you in a comfortable position to go out there and play well?

MASON GILLIS: I don't really look at it as any different. Any time I get an opportunity to step on the floor I'm just playing my hardest and trying to get Purdue to be able to win.

Q. Do you feel like you and Aaron are really contributing to the 4 spot, especially on the boards? And when you look at the final numbers, is that the kind of production you guys need from a rebounding standpoint from that position?

MASON GILLIS: Most definitely. All of our big guys, we have to rebound, and our goal every game is to out-rebound the other team. We always talk about less turnovers and more rebounds. Whenever we do our job we will most likely win.

Q. You guys only had six turnovers tonight. Is this kind of what this offense can be when you guys take care of the ball?

MASON GILLIS: Yes. We've had too many games where we've had 10 plus turnovers. We've been working on that in practice and trying to limit our turnovers in the games, and today we finally did.