Here's What Players Said After Indiana's Win Over Michigan State

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Tamar Bates and Trey Galloway met with the media on Sunday after Indiana beat Michigan State 82-69 at Assembly Hall. Here is the full video of their interview, plus the transcript.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Trayce Jackson-Davis had 31 points and 15 rebounds on Sunday in Indiana's 82-69 win over Michigan State, and Tamar Bates and Trey Galloway each added 17. It was the third-straight win for Indiana, which is now back to 4-4 in the Big Ten and 13-6 overall.

The three of them met with the media after the game. Here's the transcript from their press conference:  

QUESTION: "Trayce, you knew coming in that Michigan State would play you different from this past week. You still got yours, but these two guys (Tamar Bates and Trey Galloway) came up big today. Talk about them contributing so much, not only from three, but drives and everything else.''

TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: "It just opens the floor early. I missed a few bunnies early and they were sitting, but we were moving the ball around and they were hitting shots. In the second half. They spaced the floor and allowed me to go one-on-one. I feel like there's not a person in the country that can honestly guard me. So it is what it is when we hit shots, and everything is clicking. We're a great team and we're tough to beat.''

Q. ''You guys had lost three in a row and there was some grumbling and people were questioning this team. You've now beaten Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan State by an average of 15 points. What's changed?''

JACKSON-DAVIS: "I think we have finally gotten acclimated to the new unit that we had in. We're just playing for each other, and that's the biggest thing for us. Like I said about (Jordan Geronimo), he didn't have a great game today but Malik (Reneau) came in and stepped up. That's what we've got to do. Guys are starting to step up. Race (Thompson) came back, so that's good. We're going to try to get him in, and with (Xavier Johnson) hopefully coming back here soon, we've just got to keep rolling and guys have to keep stepping up.''

Q. "Trey, we saw you do some primary ball handler stuff last season when guys were injured or out or whatever. Coach said he challenged both of you this summer to step up your ability to kind of bring the ball up the floor, get the team into the offense and you had a lot of that today. What has that journey been like for you in terms of being not an out-and-out point guard, but doing a lot of point guard type stuff?''

TREY GALLOWAY: ''Just running that second unit, it helped me out to get ready for the season. It was really hard going against Jalen and Xavier in the fall. They made me a lot better, being able to handle the ball and practice against each other and getting that experience in practice, really helped out and it showed today.''

Q. ''Tamar, did you see what Leilani did at halftime?''

TAMAR BATES: "I did see that she got the dub. The comeback win, and really because she was ready to get picked up. I saw she was crying the whole time, but we'll take it, first competition ever. She's undefeated.''

Q. "My real question is, when you went into this game, Michigan State is playing a lot of three-guard lineups. Were you being prepared that you might have outside role in this game because of that?''

BATES: ''No doubt. And the way Trayce is playing, we knew we had to stay ready, whether it's to be able to shoot or drive but more so just being ready on the defensive end because we knew with them playing three guards. Our three guards had to be able to make up for everything that they bring on both ends of the floor. We were all definitely ready to go.''

Q. "Tamar, what's it like playing in an ultra competitive atmosphere against such a well-coached Tom Izzo team? Coach said you knew that you had to bring a little extra energy today?''

BATES: "It's literally what we do it for, all the work we put in as individuals and as a team up to this point. That's what you play college basketball for. We look forward to every game, but especially when we have a really good opponent coming in, every raises their level of play.''

Q. "Trey, I wanted to get your thoughts on Trayce, kind of big picture. He ties Jeff Newton for the IU block record, back-to-back 30-point games and 40 career double-doubles now. What are we looking at when we look at him playing this well?''

GALLOWAY: "I mean, it's a good question, it's pretty special. I mean, because just the improvement that he's made from last year, just taking the pressure and handling it so well, I think because our backs are against the wall early in the Big Ten season and he stayed composed. I know he was hurting and he's battling through that, and now he's finally kind of healthy. It's showing. So I think just him sticking with it and I think just him being a willing passer, too. They can't, they are not doubling as much. He's been able to create so many more options for himself or others. I think it's honestly just incredible just to watch him keep performing like this, and I'm glad he's on my team.''

Q. "Tamar, it seems like every Big Ten team has gone through the stretch that you guys have gone through, a number of wins followed by a number of losses or vice versa. You guys can only control your own house, so how do you keep things going and avoid that trap that some of the other teams in the league have fallen into?''

BATES: "For us, it's about staying locked in, solely focusing in on every opponent one at a time and then just sticking to what's working. We can tell from playing a game and watching film what's winning us these games and everything is starting on the defensive end. Just sticking to our habits and like you said, controlling what we can control. I feel like if we do what we do best, we'll live with the results.''

Q. "Trey, one of the things talked about with the losses is the lack of fire, and now you guys have won three straight and the defense has come back. Something I saw today, it seemed like a lot more emotion and not just tenacity, but emotion. What has been the difference between the three-game losing streak and the three-game winning streak? What changed for you guys?''

GALLOWAY: "We just kind of looked at ourselves in the mirror and knew what we had to do, and it was play defense and play harder. I think getting back to what we did last year, we were really good defensively last year, and we watched some of those games and we saw some of that. But obviously it's a new team but we had to go back to our principles and what Coach Woodson preaches, and that's defense. We weren't doing that in those losses. Now we are finally coming together and playing harder on the defensive end and it's leading to more offense since we are getting stops.''

Q. "Was there anyone on the team after that three-game losing streak that said, we've got to make changes, and what were those conversations like when you guys kind of had to do some soul searching and figure things out as a team?''

GALLOWAY: "I mean, we all just kind of came together. Nobody panicked because like I said, there was no reason to panic because it's a long Big Ten season and there's still a lot of games left. We can't get too high and we cant get too low. We just have to stay even keel the whole time and know that we have a lot more games to be played. We just have to take it one game at a time and keep focusing on the task at hand.''

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• INDIANA BEATS MICHIGAN STATE (Game story): Michigan State couldn't figure out a way to guard Indiana on Sunday, and it led to another convincing victory for the Hoosiers, this time 82-69 for their third straight win. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 31 points and 15 rebounds, and Tamar Bates and Trey Galloway each added 17. It's their longest Big Ten winning streak in four years. CLICK HERE
• WHAT WOODSON SAID: Indiana won its third straight game by double digits on Sunday, beating Michigan State 82-69. Coach Mike Woodson was thrilled with the win, which he called a total team effort. Here is the full video of his postgame press conference, plus the transcript. CLICK HERE
• FAMILY DAY FOR BATES: It was a big day for the Bates family, with sophomore guard Tamar scoring 17 points and his daughter Leilani winning the halftime baby race. CLICK HERE
• PHOTO GALLERY: Here are 25 pictures from Indiana's win over Michigan State on Sunday. It's a terrific collection of images for you to enjoy. CLICK HERE
• WATCH MILLER KOPP DUNK: Indiana forward Miller Kopp beat the Michigan State defense to the basket for an easy dunk, leading to roars from the Assembly Hall crowd. Watch the highlight. CLICK HERE
• WATCH TREY GALLOWAY'S 3-POINTER: Indiana junior guard Trey Galloway had the hot hand early on, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers to give the Hoosiers the lead. CLICK HERE
• WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS DUNK ON HAUSER: Indiana star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis caught a pass in transition and dunked all over Michigan State's Joey Hauser. CLICK HERE
• LIVE BLOG: Relive all the play-by-play from the game in Tom Brew's live blog straight from press row. CLICK HERE
• THOMPSON RETURNS AGAINST MICHIGAN STATE: Indiana sixth-year forward Race Thompson has been out since suffering a knee injury on Jan. 5 at Iowa, but he returned to action on Sunday against Michigan State. CLICK HERE