Here's What Mike Woodson Said After Indiana's Win Over Purdue
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Whether it was Indiana head coach Mike Woodson's suit or not, the Hoosiers' pulled out their twelfth home win of the season defeating rival Purdue 68-65.
Indiana hasn't beat its Boilermaker foe since 2016, so naturally, hundreds of fans rushed the court to greet the players in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall following the buzzer.
Here's what Woodson said in a post game press conference following the win. Read along, or watch the attached video.
Q. On what gave Rob Phinisee an edge...
MIKE WOODSON: I don't normally give inside scoop away, but Rob and I had a beautiful conversation hours before the ball game, and just nice to see how he stepped out and performed. It was beautiful to watch.
Q. On if Woodson has ever played a game like this...
MIKE WOODSON: There were a lot of games back in the day that I played. Ohio State probably stands out as one of the big moments in winning the Big Ten Title, winner takes all. It was an overtime game.
Our fans tonight were just unbelievable. Dog gone, they were great. It's a big win for our team. It's been a while since we beat Purdue, and they have a hell of a team. They're well-coached. We battled from the beginning to the end until we got it done.
Q. On the conversation between Woodson and Phinisee...
MIKE WOODSON: That's in-house. You can't get that. I gave you too much information.
Q. On what it meant to get a win over Purdue...
MIKE WOODSON: It's all about these guys, these 17 guys that wear the uniform. It's not about me, but any time you can beat Purdue -- and they feel the same about us, and it's been a while since we've beaten them -- it's special.
Hell, I didn't dribble one ball or make one shot, man. It was those guys in that locker room that got it done. I couldn't be more proud of a team, boy. They played their hearts out tonight.
Q. On why Phinisee was so good in this setting...
MIKE WOODSON: Well, again, I don't know. Basketball Gods were looking down upon us because I thought after our conversation, he responded, man. It's nice to see.
When you got a coach/player relationship with these guys, sometimes you've got to have a man-to-man talk, and that's what happened hours before the game, and he responded. It's kind of nice to see.
Q. On Trayce-Jackson Davis...
MIKE WOODSON: It's the first time he has been in foul trouble with me as the coach, and that's kind of a scary thought, but my mentality is, and I think the players feel the same way, it's next man up. I thought Mike stepped up, and it's the most minutes he has played this year, and he gave us some positive minutes.
We're going to need that the rest of the way. There are other teams in the Big Ten that are just as big. Maybe not as big, but got big bodies, and that's why we brought Mike on board, and I thought he answered the challenge tonight.
Q. On Indiana's strong defense...
MIKE WOODSON: Again, our ability to stay aggressive when we have to. If we can make teams go through our half court defense, that's when we're really at our best where we're not giving a lot of things over the top or giving layups up or quick strikes, as we call them, for threes.
If you go through our half court, then we've got a chance of defending a possession, and I thought the first half, man, was as good as we defended. Ohio State was pretty damn good too, but tonight the first half was really, really good.
Q. On Indiana's bench play...
MIKE WOODSON: I made this statement. Hell, if the bench is rolling, I'm going to ride them until their tongues fall out, and I thought tonight they was doing it in the first half, so I stuck with them as long as I could. Yeah.
Q. On if Woodson considered starting Phinisee in the second half...
MIKE WOODSON: No, I never -- that never entered my mind. Our starters have been pretty good together, and granted, Parker and Miller didn't really sniff that much of it tonight.
Their defense was pretty good. I thought Miller played a hell of a defensive game, but the guys that got it going off the bench, you've got to see if they still have it, and I didn't go back with Tamar. I played Geronimo a little bit. I kind of shortened the rotation the second half, and sometimes you've got to do that.
Q. On the play call for Phinisee in the final minutes...
MIKE WOODSON: I came out of the one time-out, and he said, hey, give me the ball. Run a play for me, and we ran the play out of the first time-out, and he was wide open on the three that he missed, and I told him if he came around, if you are open, shoot it.
The next play we just put in a new underneath out of bounds play today, and it worked. He came off. Trayce was wide open as well, but Gallo decided to throw it to Rob, and Rob let it go and he made it. That was probably the biggest shot of the night.
Q. On Purdue's turnovers...
MIKE WOODSON: Again, they're a well-oiled machine. They cut hard. They pass the ball. They've got two big guys that are a major presence inside, and then they've got perimeter guys that can play.
Ivey, he is a handful for any team. He got going the second half, but I just thought our defense — we had a lot of deflections the first half that put us in position to get the ten turnovers, and that's who we are. That's what we've got to do when we're playing. We've got to defend, man, and rebound the ball.
Q. On Trey Galloway guarding Jaden Ivey...
MIKE WOODSON: When I took Parker out, we came back with Gallo, and then Gallo slowed him down a little bit, but he still made some tough shots. That guy is pretty damn good, boy.
Q. On seeing progress regarding less turnovers...
MIKE WOODSON: It's great. I don't have to run. A lot. I've got to run a little bit. I've got some sprints. I think we got nine that I've got to do and added on to the six that we haven't gotten in yet, so I've got 15 of them, man. That's a load, but I'll take them when they don't turn it over. I'm happy to run.
Q. On what stood out from Phinisee when Woodson first started at Indiana...
MIKE WOODSON: The thing when I look at Rob, he is a senior that's been around. He has had his ups and downs, and when I took the job, I sat down with everybody that decided to stay, and I told Rob, hey, what happened in the past is in the past, man. I'm telling you, you can shoot it. You can do your thing, man, and it's okay to be good. It's okay to be great.
I told him tonight in the locker room, regardless of what anybody says, I'm always going to be in your corner. That's all he needs right there. When the coach is by your side, you should cherish it and just play not only for Rob, but for the jersey that you wear. He has been great. He has had his ups and downs, but I thought tonight he was on a mission, boy, and it was nice to see.
Q. On Jackson-Davis staying in the game despite foul trouble...
MIKE WOODSON: I was just buying time. Mike was buying us some good positive minutes, and I was just hoping that he didn't pick up his fifth foul. They went inside, and he got a major stop. We rebounded the ball, but he made the winning plays that we needed him to make in those 11 minutes.
Q. On Michael Durr's defense...
MIKE WOODSON: I thought he was solid. With Edey and Williams, you can't give those guys angles. You give them angles, then the ball is coming, and you can't catch up to stop them from scoring.
You've just got to pretty much make — and Mike is a big body. I thought he did a good job in battling, trying to keep them in front and making them make plays over the top.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- INDIANA STUNS NO. 4 PURDUE: Lafayette native Rob Phinisee had the game of his life on Thursday night, scoring 20 points and hitting the game-winning three-pointer to beat No. 4 Purdue 68-65. It snapped a nine-game losing streak to his hometown school, and finally gave him some bragging rights. CLICK HERE.
- IU VS. PURDUE LIVE BLOG: It's Indiana against No. 4-ranked Purdue in the biggest game of the year so far for both teams. The Hoosiers are 13-4 and unbeaten at home and the Boilermakers are 15-2. Here is our live blog, with news and views right from press row at center court. CLICK HERE.
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