Here's What Mike Woodson Said After Indiana's Loss at Iowa

Indiana coach Mike Woodson met with the media on Thursday night after the Hoosiers blew a 21-point lead and lost to Iowa, 91-89. He was upset with the officiating, and also Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. Here's the full video, plus the transcript.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Indiana coach Mike Woodson met with the media on Thursday night after the Hoosiers blew a 21-point lead and lost to Iowa, 91-89. He was upset with the officiating, and also Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. 

Indiana had a 21-point lead but couldn't hold on to it with Kris Murray scoring 30 points for Iowa. They needed every one of them because Tracye Jackson-Davis had 30 for Indiana as well.  They also lost Race Thompson to a knee injury and fell to 10-4 on the season.

Here's the full video, plus the transcript:

QUESTION: Obviously Race's injury had a cascading effect on everything. but how do you feel the main effect was on your defense in the second half?

COACH WOODSON: When you play Malik (Reneau), and I thought (Jordan) Geronimo fought, but Race is a better matchup on Murray and we knew that coming in. But we just didn't play like we played in the first half. Our defense, it just went the other way. And Murray had his way. He was a big part of that. I think he had 21 points in the second half and that's huge when you are trying to win a close game. We didn't hit our free throws. That's kind of been a thorn in our side. We have to make free throws. They made theirs and we missed ours.

QUESTION: We saw Trayce hobble off the court at halftime and get stretched out again. He still played 38 minutes and fought through that. Can you talk about what he gave tonight?

COACH WOODSON: He played a great game tonight. I tried to give him a blow in the second half, but he didn't want to come out and I get it. He was trying his damnedest to help us win it. Telling is going to be how he feels (Friday). I just hope when he wakes up, he is feeling good.

QUESTION: There was a play at the end with Jalen (Hood-Schifino). Was that the plan to get him downhill or did he improvise?

COACH WOODSON: He kind of improvised. The plan was to get it inside and when Trayce broke away from it, it opened the door and he thought he had a crack and I get it. He had a good game and he can make free throws, so maybe he was trying to get fouled.

QUESTION: There was some confusion there at the end when Fran came down your way. It looked like the officials called ...

COACH WOODSON: I'm not even going to comment on that because that's bullshit. That's what it is. And you can print that. Because when you allow coaches to come across half court into your space, that's bullshit. It is.

QUESTION: It actually looked like one of the officials called a technical foul on him ...

COACH WOODSON: He did call the tech and he pulled it back, which is bullshit. The guy should have been thrown out of the goddamn game.

QUESTION: Up 21 points in the first half, what was the biggest change that Iowa did or that you saw from your own guys from that point on?

COACH WOODSON: I thought we moved and did everything we could to build the lead and then I went to the bench and started shuffling a little bit - we can't play everybody 40 minutes and we started having some miscues. Then when Race went out, that was a big blow. I still thought we had a shot at the end. You're up six with three minutes to go on the clock and we can't close it coming out of that timeout.

QUESTION: I know toughness is a trait that you value in your teams. Injuries keep putting your individual games into situations where you have to call on that toughness. How much do these players have the capacity to keep digging when you keep getting thrown adversity like this?

COACH WOODSON: Again, there is nothing you can do about it. It's a part of the game. All I can do is wish X and Race a speedy recovery and that they get back. Until they get back, other guys got to step up and play - and I gotta help them get there.

QUESTION: Just mentally, how hard is it on the rest of the guys to see that moment with Race going down and in pain?

COACH WOODSON: Well it's tough because I thought he had his legs taken out from under him. No call. It's a bad play, it really is.

QUESTION: It seemed like Trayce stepped up as a vocal leader in that second half. Is that something you saw and something you are pulling out of him?

COACH WOODSON: His game spoke for itself. He's trying to do everything he can to help us win. For a guy that hasn't been playing, hasn't been able to practice, to come out and get you 30 and nine, he did pretty damn good for us.

QUESTION: Do you know the extent of Race's injury yet?

COACH WOODSON: No I don't. We will go back and x-ray or do an MRI and see where it is.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

  • GAME STORY: Indiana let a big lead slip away and lost to Iowa 91-89 Thursday night despite a heroic 30-point, 9-rebound night from Trayce Jackson-Davis. It was a painful loss too, because senior forward Race Thompson left with a serious knee injury. CLICK HERE 
  • PHOTO GALLERY: The Indiana Hoosiers traveled to Iowa City to restart their Big Ten season, but lost 91-89 to the Iowa Hawkeyes. The photographers had a great night. Here are 15 images from the game. CLICK HERE
  • WATCH TAMAR BATES: Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis snuck a pass to Tamar Bates under the basket for a layup that gave the Hoosiers a 78-76 lead with less than six minutes remaining. CLICK HERE
  • WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS' DUNK: Indiana freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino made a crisp pass to Trayce Jackson-Davis for an easy dunk against Iowa in the first half. CLICK HERE
  • WATCH HOOD-SCHIFINO'S 3-POINTER: Indiana freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino was in rhythm from 3-point land early on in the Hoosiers' road trip to Iowa. CLICK HERE
  • WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS' AND-ONE: Indiana got out to a strong start on Thursday at Iowa, led by an early and-one from Trayce Jackson-Davis in his return to the lineup. CLICK HERE
  • LIVE BLOG: Indiana was back in action Thursday, playing its first game in 13 days at Iowa. Welcome to our live blog, where you can relive the game in real time. CLICK HERE
  • GUNN, PERKINS REUNITED: Tony Perkins and CJ Gunn were teammates at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis during the 2019-20 season when their dreams of a state title were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now at Iowa and Indiana, respectively, Perkins and Gunn take the court against each other Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. CLICK HERE

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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as a reporter and editor, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the Indianapolis Star and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered college sports in the digital platform for the past six years, including the last five years as publisher of HoosiersNow on the FanNation/Sports Illustrated network.