What Purdue Players Said Ahead of Their NCAA Tournament Matchup Against Texas
MILWAUKEE — Before Purdue basketball's second-round matchup against Texas in the NCAA Tournament, players Jaden Ivey, Mason Gillis and Eric Hunter Jr. met with the media Saturday to discuss the team's matchup with the Longhorns.
Here's the full transcript of Saturday's press conference:
Q. Jaden, I'll begin with you. We saw the graphic that Purdue put out last night and it had your name next to Big Dog. We've drawn those comparisons all year long, I think since your career started, but over 20 points in two NCAA Tournament games. What does that mean to you to have your name mentioned along the likes of Ben Robinson?
IVEY: Honestly, it's just an honor to be recognized with some of the greats at Purdue. You know, I'm just thankful to just be in this position. I put a lot of work in it to be here and to be at Purdue, so I'm just very thankful and humbled.
Q. For Jaden and Eric, just in the scouting you guys have gotten in the last few hours, what are your early impressions of the Texas guards and how tough they guard people in the perimeter?
IVEY: They're very tough, especially offensively. They got some tough guards that can get a bucket. As far as the Big 12, it's a physical conference, so I'm already knowing they're going to be very physical come tomorrow. We just got to be ready for it. And we've been in some physical battles all year, so we just got to embrace it.
Q. Eric, obviously this will be probably the, what, third, fourth, fifth time you've had to guard Marcus Carr? Can you kind of break him down a little bit, how much has your experience with him helped you going into this?
HUNTER: I think it will help me a lot, but players change and people get better, so just being able to touch up on newer film and also watching the past couple times that I've played him, it will be important for me. He's a good player, so it will be a tough matchup.
Q. For Jaden and Mason primarily, can you talk a little bit about Trevion's passing ability; what he does in practice, what he does in games and how he's developed it?
GILLIS: I think he's always been a great passer, ever since he was little, middle school, high school. He has a gift for it. He is a very unselfish person, so I think that helps on the basketball court. We've been telling him to just go get buckets and just trust his instinct to pass second, so whatever he does that, his natural ability shows.
Q. For Jaden, I imagine you're pretty zoned into your own game right now, but will you have time to watch your mom's team tonight? And also, I was just wondering when she sends you a text or something after a game, does she critique your play or does she just say "nice game," or what's it generally like when she kind of responds to how you played yesterday?
IVEY: I'm definitely going to be tuned in tonight. Very excited for her, her first March Madness. I know she's pretty geeked up for it. You know, I know when I have games, have bad games, whether I have good games or not, she always says. "Great game and keep your head high and just stay positive" through all the circumstances that I've been through all season.
Q. For Jaden and Mason, can you guys both kind of share with us what you think of Texas defense from what you've seen so far and what makes them tough?
GILLIS: They're very versatile. They have their guards that can get a bucket anytime that they want, so we're going to have to work on that, shutting them down, making everything tough for them. Then the big men, they're just very agile around the court getting rebounds. I think the biggest thing is just limiting our turnovers and limiting our rebounds.
Q. For Eric, you mentioned that players change, like Marcus Carr. Where have you seen his game maybe evolve as you studied him over the last couple years?
HUNTER: I think now he's like more of a patient player. I think that comes with the nature of, you know, going to a different program. At Minnesota he was asked a lot of him to make plays, put the ball in the basket and now he does a little bit more playmaking than usual. He definitely can put the ball in the basket whenever he wants to. Definitely got to watch out for that.
Q. For any of you, you mentioned being in physical games before. Is there any opponent you can kind of compare Texas' defense to that you've seen earlier this year?
HUNTER: I would say Indiana or Michigan State. Any of those teams that are super physical and try to knock you out of your stuff, well, as far as being physical in the perimeter. Yeah, so basically kind of those two. I don't know who else really.GILLIS: Yeah, I'd agree.
GILLIS: Yeah, I'd agree.
Q. For Mason real quick, this is kind of random, but the last three or four games you've made a bunch of plays off closeouts. Are people covering you differently when you get the ball out on the perimeter? They're maybe running out to you a little harder where you were able to get that dunk at Wisconsin, I think you made a pull up against somebody and you made one, like a little runner yesterday. Are people kind of giving you that?
GILLIS: Yeah, I think so. I had a pretty good shooting season towards the beginning of the season and so people started to just kind of see that and try to take me away from it, so I was able to show some other parts of my game that I work on and I'm just ready for anything that they want to throw at me.
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.