BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 11, 2022

Brad Underwood

Trent Frazier

Coleman Hawkins

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Illinois Fighting Illini

Postgame Press Conference

Indiana 65, Illinois 63.

MODERATOR: We are joined by the University of Illinois, Head Coach Brad Underwood, Trent Frazier and Coleman Hawkins.

We'll start with an opening statement from Coach Underwood, and then we'll take questions from the students. Coach?

COACH BRAD UNDERWOOD: I'm trying to get my wind. My goodness, that was about an eight-mile walk.

Hats off to Indiana, they were really good. Thought that we just kind of hung in there. We talked about just chopping wood. It's hard sometimes when you play a team that's already played, to just get a feel for the gym, and we hadn't been in here shooting and, you know, it was just to try to get a feel. Sometimes you've just got to hang in there.

They got off to a great start, and I thought we just kind of held our own and maintained. At the end of the day, you can't miss free throws and we missed six layups in the first half, and I don't know how many we missed in the second, and you can't do that and win games.

Coleman was terrific today. He's got a wide-open dunk and lets the ball slip out. I've already talked to him about that, so I'm not afraid to do it here. But you can't do that in the postseason play, you just can't do that. We turned it over a couple of times late.

But, again, now it's rest and for why we really play, which is the NCAA Tournament and we've earned the right as this league's regular season champion to be a pretty high seed. We played a lot of games this year without a lot of people, minus Kofi in a couple games that we ended up losing. So be interested to see where we're seeded.

But again, it was Indiana's day, it's the best league in the country, and that should -- if there was any doubt whether they were in, that should definitely solidify them, which will make this an eight or nine bid league, at least.

Q. Coleman, career high today, you had good looks. How was your confidence level coming into this game in the first place, and just how did you feel as the flow of that game went on?

COLEMAN HAWKINS: I felt extremely confident. I've been in the gym shooting shots and I knew, based on their defense and the way they operate on defense, I knew I'd be open sometimes. So just knowing that the team needs me to step in and knock down shots, that was really my mindset. Yeah, I just went with the flow of the game. Took the open shots that came to me and I had a decent shooting night tonight, so yeah.

Q. For both of you guys, Coach mentioned just trying to maybe hang in there. What did you feel like maybe you could have done more just to maybe push it a little bit, maybe extend the lead you had late?

TRENT FRAZIER: Coach said it best. I mean, layups and free throws. There's nothing else I could think of that could change the outcome. But, you know, said it earlier in the game, you can't miss, you know, easy layups and we can't miss free throws. It's March, you know, we know it's going to be one, two-possession game and we didn't come up with those easy plays. We need to get all the easy plays we can get and we didn't execute on those.

Q. This is for Trent, in particular. You've been here since the beginning, you've been here since the ground floor of this, and this is your last Big Ten game. Can you express to me your feelings on the finale, the finality of this, No. 1, and No. 2, where you leave this program now?

TRENT FRAZIER: I mean, one -- No. 1, I'm very disappointed in myself turning that ball over down the stretch. That's unacceptable, especially being a fifth-year starting guard. Obviously, Coach put the ball in my hands to make a play. He's very highly confident in me to make the right play and I didn't do that. So that's first. I'm very disappointed.

I think this program is in good hands. We have really high-character guys. The freshmen, they've come a long way. We've brought them up with us, they come to practice every day to compete. They're playing with tremendous confidence and they're playing free.

I'm excited for this program and Coach Underwood to keep building and keep continuing going the right way. I'm not really worried about after I leave where this program is headed, I know they're in good hands.

Q. I know you guys, the big thing is the NCAA Tournament this year, but what does this impact of this game leading into the week of preparation? How does it stick with you?

COLEMAN HAWKINS: I mean, we were expecting to be here and we were expecting to win it all. We all had a good feeling going in here, but obviously it didn't happen. So I mean, we've got to look ahead. Like coach was saying, just get some rest, get back to work and change our mindset to the NCAA Tournament and what's next to come for us. It's not going to be a Big Ten team, it's going to be a team in a different conference, at a different venue, so we've got to brace ourselves for that and just move on from this. We can't change anything about this.

TRENT FRAZIER: I mean, just like Coleman said, I mean, obviously, you know, we prepared, you know, to play Sunday, that was our goal. But there's nothing we could do about this game besides learn from it and move on. I think a good thing is we know we're going to be playing in March for the next month.

So I think the next step for us is just get back, regroup, you know, start getting better and just prepare for Thursday or Friday and our next opponent. That's just got to be our mindset. We've just got to wipe this out of the way, let it go and just prepare because you know our goal is the Final Four and that's what we're trying to do. So we've got to move on.

Q. Trent, obviously you brought up the turnover. Just could you take us through that play. What kind of happened there, what did you see, how did you get crossed up?

TRENT FRAZIER: We drove a play for me to get down the hill with a head of steam. I tried to get left, they weaked me. TJ, he did a good job of forcing me off to the side. They help our strong side corners, so I thought Coleman would be in the corner for an open three. That's what they've been doing all game.

We had a little bit confusion right there where he came up on top. But, I mean, I made a bad decision. I'm disappointed in myself on that. I've got to just do a better job of at least getting the ball on the rim and just talking with my teammates. I'm very disappointed in that last turnover I had.

Q. Chemistry was a little bit different, the game in Bloomington, personal differences for Trent. How much did it change Indiana's chemistry to have Phinisee this time for Coleman, how much did it change your chemistry to not have Jake?

COACH BRAD UNDERWOOD: I mean, the game plan was the game plan, to be honest. I mean, with guys or without guys, we try to go with the mindset of next man up. As you could see, that's what our season's been about, next man up mentality. Besides them, we've just got to make free throws and layups, that was the game. We didn't make shots and in March you've got to make shots and take care of the ball, and we didn't do that.

Besides them having chemistry or us having chemistry, it's next man up and we've got to make layups for free throws, and we didn't do that.

Q. The missed layups, was that something Indiana was doing or was that just kind of on your guys' end, what do you think was behind those?

COLEMAN HAWKINS: I think it was, mainly in the first half, coach touched up on it a little bit in the locker room, just getting our feet wet. We haven't played in this arena. They played before us the day before, but we practiced with those balls, but game balls are different.

You can make all these excuses, but I think it was mainly just trying to get a feel for the game based on the environment, the arena. And, yeah, I think honestly that's the main thing because it's very rare we're just out there missing layups.

TRENT FRAZIER: Piggyback off what he said. Like I said, we can't make up excuses, but we missed a lot of easy bunnies that I thought could have helped us in the outcome of the game. We just got to be better.

Like Coach talked about at the beginning, it's March, so when we can score an easy bucket, we've got to get it because we know it's going to be a one, two-possession game and guys are going to make it tough on us. So when we get an easy bucket, we've got to capitalize on that and just make shots.

Q. Coach, the foul line Trayce with 26 seconds left, it almost looked like it was maybe intentional to get the last shot, was that the case or did you want to play out that defensive possession?

COACH BRAD UNDERWOOD: No, we wanted to play it out.

Q. Your thoughts on Trayce Jackson-Davis' second half against you guys, I'm sure you saw what he did yesterday. What do you think led to him being that impactful?

COACH BRAD UNDERWOOD: He's a good player. You guys -- I mean, on just about every All-American list. I don't know what you guys expect him to play like crap for 40 minutes? He's a really good player. He just played good. Simple.

Q. You've competed against Indiana now for four, five years, however long you've been there. Mike Woodson's a first-year coach. Watching them this year, do you sense any ways that he's improved the team or how he's had his impact on the team?

COACH BRAD UNDERWOOD: Sure. Mike's a terrific coach. He's got tremendous experience. This is a team that has really good players. I think it's been -- I've enjoyed watching X play. He's, in my opinion, one of the more underrated guards in our league. He's found his way through this, in terms of finding out, understanding your own team. You don't just snap your fingers and say we're going to win. And he's done a terrific job of feeling his way through, where shots come, who they're coming from. And then you're starting to see some leadership, especially from X, step in to help that team win.

Q. Coach, you talked about the opportunity to go home and get rest. Is there any positive in that at this time of the year with how hectic the month of February was for you?

COACH BRAD UNDERWOOD: A lot, yes. A ton, a ton. Not that I -- after winning this last year, a ton. We were an exhausted basketball team last year. And more mentally than anything, and I think it's great to push the "refresh" button. We came here to win it, we didn't, but it's not the end of the world.

I don't think Baylor won their conference tournament last year. I think UCLA got beat in theirs. I think they still found a way to make it to the Final Four.

Yeah, it will be refreshing to get a couple days away. And, no, we're not playing another Big Ten team. I'm tired of this league right now. I'm tired of these guys.

Q. You mentioned X, it seemed like you guys really focused on taking away what he's been doing lately off the pick-and-roll stuff. What did you guys think he did well there, how did you guys see him adjust, though, to what you guys were doing?

COACH BRAD UNDERWOOD: Yeah, it's a pretty lethal duo when you get him and you get Trayce going downhill. You know, I think that that's -- I think we're second or third in the country in ball screen defense and I thought, for the most part, we did a pretty good job. It's really hard to make enough 2s in college basketball to win. Unfortunately, we didn't make any 2s or free throws, but I thought that was fine.

But he's terrific, he's done a great job there. You let him get to his left hand and he's a very effective mid-range shooter from there as well.

Q. Brad, I think today was maybe the first game opportunity you had a chance to win on your final possession with the ball. A couple turnovers, a couple opportunities. Anything you can take away from that as you move into the NCAA Tournament to try and build on that for future reference?

COACH BRAD UNDERWOOD: Yeah, we'll try not to do it again. I think we've won a pretty fair share over the last few years of last-second possession opportunities. But, again, we had two or three bad turnovers, just silly turnovers. And I went to the post and gave the ball to Trent. I had given it the possession before to Curbelo, we got a foul drawn, but they went under him.

And also, it was a possession where I figured that they would -- they couldn't foul us, and they really couldn't foul Trent. So that's why I made the switch there with Trent getting downhill. He's a 90 percent free-throw shooter. If he gets to the rim, he's going to make two free throws if he gets fouled. It didn't work, wasn't our day. It was Indiana's day, give them all the credit, and wish them nothing but the best the rest of the way in the tournament.