NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR

March 15, 2022

Jeff Linder

Hunter Maldonado

Graham Ike

UD Arena

Wyoming Cowboys

Postgame Media Conference

Indiana - 66, Wyoming - 58

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Wyoming.

COACH LINDER: In the locker room afterwards, I told the guys, first thing I told them was just how excited I was, even though we were obviously disappointed that we lost a game, but just really excited for these guys to feel what the NCAA Tournament feels like, to know what we do on a daily basis. Sometimes the monotony of just the little things that you have to do over and over and over again to put yourself in a position to win games in March. And it really boils down to fundamentals.

And we knew we were going to have our hands full on the glass. Been a really good defensive rebounding team all year, but give them credit. Those 15 extra possessions they got on the glass. And then we were a team for most of the year up until about the last two, three weeks where we were Top 25 in the country in turnover percentage. But to give that team 19, 19 empty possessions when I thought for the most part we were getting the shots we wanted to get.

They're a really good defensive team. But I thought we did a good job attacking. I thought the first half, Maldonado and Graham got to their spots and they just happened to miss some shots there.

When the ball's in the hands of those two guys there's almost not two guys in the country that have the usage rate that they do. So that put a lot of pressure on them every single game with the amount of times the ball's in their hands and how many times they've got to make decisions.

That's why we're 25-9 is those two guys in terms of playing through those guys and building our system around them and around their strengths. And I know Maldo is disappointed anybody with the 10 turnovers, but we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Maldonado and Ike and along with the guys in the locker room.

Now they know what it feels like, what it feels like to play a Big Ten team. They made a run in the Big Ten Tournament and got some big players. And Coach Woodson does a great job with those guys.

But I'm really excited what the future has in store for us because we have most of these guys coming back. Now they know in the spring when they're in the weight room -- and hopefully some of those guys will be in the weight room starting the next couple days -- you want to go beat a Big Ten team on the road in the NCAA Tournament, you've got to find a way to make sure your body is ready to go to play against a Race Thompson, a Xavier Johnson, a Trayce Jackson-Davis.

I think it's just going to allow us to take another step, a big step as a program. And I'm just really excited to see where that goes.

Q. Hunter, Graham, for both of you guys, I know this is fresh but you guys weren't expected to be here. You were picked to finish tied for eighth in the Mountain West Conference. Does that help put this in perspective a bit?

HUNTER MALDONADO: Yeah, coming into the season with that chip on our shoulder, knowing that we were picked eighth, when we were in the summer workouts, because obviously it comes out before the season, just pushing as hard as we can, and the non-conference, just seeing how special a team we had, it definitely puts it in perspective to be here, because for most of this it's been seven years since we've been in the tournament at all. So no one here's been in it except for Coach. So like I said before it definitely puts in perspective how special the season it was.

GRAHAM IKE: Yes just going with what Maldo said, it added fueled fire to the fire. And just with us being here, just a great experience itself. And to play on this stage is a great opportunity.

I'm really just proud of this team and all that we've been through over the season and all that we've worked for just to get up to this point.

Q. Hunter, obviously you guys played some good defenses this year -- Arizona, SDSU, Boise. What was it like facing Indiana's defense? Was it disappointing they got you guys in terms of the pressure and forcing that many turnovers?

HUNTER MALDONADO: I think they're all great players. Obviously they're at Indiana for a reason. That's a school with great history. I don't think any one thing was what made the difference. But collectively they sat down; they're one of the better defenses in the Big Ten. Over the course of the game they were able to muck it up a little bit, more than some of the teams in our conference. And at the end of the day it is what it is.

Q. Hunter, to square in on the turnovers themselves, what do you think led to those? Was it something they were doing defensively, whether it was bringing a trap? Or whatever or were there mistakes you made? In your analysis how did it lead to 10 turnovers?

HUNTER MALDONADO: I think throughout the course of the game -- I've seen traps and doubles all year. It wasn't anything too special. But I think I tried to force it a little more than I probably should have, especially knowing that if I did slow down, we were basically scoring almost every time. So I think just in the sense of trying to force almost making the home run play instead of taking the singles was what led to those 10 turnovers.

Q. Graham, Trayce obviously had a big night for them. What was it like guarding him? And for you personally what was the thing that stood out to you the most about defending him?

GRAHAM IKE: Trayce is a great player, and it was a great matchup, a great battle, just to play against a player like that, a really physical battle. I had a lot of fun in that battle, honestly.

Q. Graham, you did a lot of your damage in the second half. How did the foul trouble impact you during the course of the game and what was different about your mindset offensively in the second half?

GRAHAM IKE: Well, the foul trouble, when I got the two I sat the rest of the half. That's how that affected me. Not that -- my mentality didn't really change. I just missed five shots in the first half. That's all. They started to fall in the second half. That's what that was.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach.

Q. With Graham specifically, how do you think this experience will help him this offseason just in terms of pushing him towards things he needs to work on?

COACH LINDER: Yeah, I mean, he's the guy when you walk into the Arena-Auditorium at 7:30 in the morning he's the guy you see in there, whether he's by himself or with a coach. There's a reason why he's such a good player. He puts in the work.

And when your better players are your hardest workers, it makes my job really easy. But I think for him he knows, and we've talked at length about the areas that he needs to grow in. But you look at it, he was going up against one of the better players in the country tonight. He went right at him. He missed some shots, which Trayce's length and athleticism, it's not like he hadn't seen that against Christian Koloko and some other guys. He's as good an offensive post player in the country.

Unfortunately for him he had to battle through foul trouble. I think for him that's the next step is understanding just how to minimize some of the damage with the fouls. But also, too, it's the way that we're designed and the way that we have to play to be 25-9 and play in the NCAA Tournament -- and Graham Ike's usage rate was number one in the country most of the year.

And that doesn't include when you watch the film and you see the number of times the ball's in his hands. It's upwards to 30 times in the game. There's not that many post players in the country that have the ball in their hands like that.

And for him to have those many touches, those many possessions, to see every single type of coverage known to man in terms of doubles, he's going to continue to grow as a player. And he's going to expand his game and be able to shoot the ball from outside. Just excited just to continue to watch him grow.

Q. You look at what you guys were able to do defensively. A lot of their main guys you managed to quiet down. Obviously Trayce gets his. But when a guy like Jordan Geronimo does what he did, how much does that change the dynamic of a game?

COACH LINDER: Yeah, I mean, as I told Jordan as we were walking out, I was hoping he didn't play today. But luckily for them he did. But we knew in terms of -- Jordan, talking to other coaches and having watched them on film, what we've watched, he just provides just a level of toughness and grit.

And that's basically what he made was a bunch of winning plays. He's an unbelievable athlete. You kind of have to pick your poison. It's like, okay, do you start doubling? Trayce is a lot like Graham. You want to start doubling Trayce. He's a really good passer, and now you start allowing Stewart and Kopp and those guys start getting 3s and that's when things get away from you. You have to pick your poison. We were kind of going to let Trayce -- and probably, he got 29, but a lot of those points, too, when Graham Ike was in foul trouble. But he's a great player, though. There's a reason why he's gotten the accolades he's had. But Jordan is going to continue -- as I said, he's a really good player that made a lot of winning plays that helped them win the game.

Q. I know we're in Dayton, but it sounded a lot like Bloomington to me. Did it to you? And number two, what happened with the tech there in the first --

COACH LINDER: It was like deja vu for me, because in 2015, I had a play when I was at Boise State, assistant coach, we had to play Dayton here. It was a sea of red at that time.

I've been in some loud gyms, The Pit, at times back in the day when it was rolling, you can't think yourself, that night back in '15 was the same thing here. We knew coming out that there was going to be a lot of red and a lot of Indiana fans, but our guys embraced that. And we weren't going to use that as an excuse.

And Nate, the official, I've known for a long time. We hung out on the beach in Hawaii over, Diamond Head, when we were out there, reffing there. And I was actually -- I was getting after Drake because Drake was putting his hands up and I've talked to Drake about that before. So I was yelling at Drake to, like, shut up and get down the floor. But he obviously saw me being demonstrative, which was towards Drake and he had to do what he had to do. So it's unfortunate, but it's the first time I've gotten a T for yelling at my own guy.

Q. (Off microphone).

COACH LINDER: Just doing his job.

Q. You touched on it a little bit, but the turnovers and the miscues, how unfortunate is that to happen right now at this time against that team?

COACH LINDER: I mean, it's unfortunate. I mean, for the most part most of the season we averaged under ten turnovers a game. And as the season goes on and the toll that it takes on Maldo and Graham in terms of how much we use them in those situations. And it wasn't really anything Indiana was doing. I knew they were going to play it straight up. They allowed us to create switches to get the matchups that we wanted.

Maldo, for the most part, picked them apart. But my thing with Maldo all year long, when he tries to play fast, he's not near as effective as a player. That's when a lot of his turnovers come into play. I was, like, they couldn't stop you just playing slow, just continue to back him down.

But it's easy to say. It's easy to say as a coach, it's another thing when you actually have to go out there and do it and you've got Big Ten-level athletes guarding you, one of the better teams defensively in the Big Ten.

So it's one of those deals where hopefully, as I said, he'll continue to grow. He'll have to make a decision in terms of what he's going to do, if he's going to come back for next year or if he's going to make his way.

But I'll support him whatever he does. But I do think that if he did come back, we've got a lot of the right pieces and could be really special again.