Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
Post-Game Quotes: Indiana
1/13/2026 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo
Opening statement…
Well, we're a funny team. I said to my staff on the bench. You know, I just don't know why we weren't as consistent early. I gave Tucker (DeVries) that first three. Him and (Lamar) Wilkerson are two hellacious players. I mean, I think they're both really good. We put a lot into those two guys. I thought Coen Carr did a heck of a job when he was on him. That was maybe the highlight. I thought Jeremy (Fears Jr.) did a heck of a job, both defensively and offensively. And Jaxon (Kohler) was consistent. But when you add it all up, we were tied up 53-53, and then our two freshmen hit eight of the next 10 points. And Jordan (Scott) and Cam (Ward), which I say we need to come around, especially Cam because of his injury, he's just coming around. But they made some big plays. We got our running game going because we defended better, we rebounded better. And I thought in general, of course, the last 15 minutes we played awfully well. And the reason we didn't before is that's a damn good team too. Well coached, they do a lot of good things. They moved that ball and, you know, the mismatch, of course, was having (Carson) Cooper guard DeVries, and that wasn't an easy cover for Coop. I thought he did a pretty good job, and we wanted to get the ball into him a little bit more, try to clear up that mismatch, and we didn't do a very good job of that. But in general, got to the free-throw line 24 times. We didn't get enough shots up, still 15 turnovers is too many, especially a couple of them were foolish again. But what's been good for us is our rebounding is still — to be a plus-18 in a game like that has impressed me. And yet I give a lot of credit to them because they battle you, man. With a smaller lineup, they're a hard, hard cover. So if there's questions, I'll take them, but thank God Jeremy and our freshmen kind of carried us a little bit tonight.
On Jeremy Fears Jr. asserting himself early offensively and defensively sparking the team…
Yeah, don't feel his fire. I mean, I'd need him offensively, and I love what he did, but he's still not a 3-point shooter. He's getting better at it. But I think what he did is he defended a lot better and ran our break a lot better. And that's why he got a double-double and deserves one. Even his points he scored, he pushed it. I mean, a couple of times I said to him at halftime — and you ever question me again about not pushing the ball. And we ran a clip of him, and I swear to God, sometimes it takes a lot to get through to somebody, but he did a hell of a job. I'm really proud of him for that. So if he gets the ball moving, just like if he picks up at the top — and I told him in calling all week, you two guys are going to be a key defensively. You're going to have to guard those two guys. And I thought we did a pretty good job of it.
On the game being tied at 53 and the freshmen responding…
I was thinking who I was going to blame the loss on, to be honest with you. But, no, I felt like we were playing good enough, but I thought we were making some mistakes. Remember when we were — I don't know what we were — and we're making a little run, and then (Carson Cooper) Coop gets that rebound and throws it right to, and he hits a three, you know. You figure that he hit that three, and he hit one on an out-of-bounds where we just kind of blew the coverage. Otherwise, we did a hell of a job on, I think, one of the better players in this whole league in (Lamar) Wilkerson. So, yeah, I was concerned, but I was not panicking by any means. I thought we could cover him, and I thought if we do, I thought we maybe could wear him down, and I don't know if that happened. But I think they were missing some shots at the end, like happens when you're shooting a lot of threes and you are tired. So 31 threes — we held them to 30 percent or so. That's pretty good on a team that shoots it as well as they do.
On out-rebounding Indiana's starting five…
It was strange. I looked at that, you know, when their center didn't get one, and (Lamar) Wilkerson and (Conor) Enright didn't get. I mean, they had three guys that got zero, and one guy got two. I guess that's where I'm lucky. You know, my guys get in there and get to the points. Although, still, I thought Coen (Carr) did a hell of a job defensively, but he's still got to rebound the ball better. It definitely has to do a better job than that.
On the shooting from Kur Teng and Jordan Scott…
Well, Kurr (Teng) is starting to play better and better too. Struggles a little bit in a couple areas, but he can make shots, and that really cures a lot of sins. So I was happy for him and proud of him. And if he's making shots, then Jeremy (Fears Jr.) can get the ball running. He got it up to him a couple times, and we nailed some threes on the break, and that was really a good thing for us.
On the lane violations…
It is funny because sometimes — I mean, Jeremy has a little hitch in his shot, but it's been the same shot for three years. Yeah, I'm confused on that, to be honest with you. But I was disappointed because Jeremy's (Fears Jr.) shooting the ball so well from the free throw, and he actually missed some tonight. I guess, only two. He missed four, but two of them he got back, right? And (Carson Cooper) Coop missed one, and Jaxon (Kohler) missed one. But, thank God, Coen (Carr) made his couple of free throws. So, yeah, I don't know why that is. It's not trickery. It's the way he shot it the whole time. So, whatever.
On Jeremy Fears Jr. potentially being the next great Spartan point guard…
Well, I've said it all along, I think the injury he had set him back a whole year. And I mean, even today in in our shootaround, he's just dunking more effortlessly than he was. I mean, there's no question that he lost a lot when he lost. And yet he's getting it all back now. And I don't want him to think he's become a e-point shooter until he improves in that a little bit more, but every one he took was a good one. I'm trying to get him to be a little more aggressive getting to the hole on those shot clock plays instead of just settling for a three. But all in all, I thought that was one of Jeremy's best games. He defended pretty well, put the ball exceptionally well. He shot the ball pretty well. So, it was a good win. You know, as I said all along when the head is good, the body's good. When the head dies, the body dies, and he is our head. The better he plays, I think the better we play.
On Jordan Scott's impact when he is on the floor…
Oh, I like Jordan Scott a lot. In fact, as you know, I've talked about what I do with him, and there's times that I wanted to start him, and now I'd like to ask you, because are you a fan of the plus-minus? I never understand it, you know? I see some guy that plays really good and he's a minus five, and then I see some guy that plays really bad and he's a plus 20. So, I'm not a big analytics guy. I'm a kind of a dome guy, like Dick Vitale, when I got two eyes, you know? What I see, I really liked what he did. More than what his plus minus was, but he's getting better all the time. He's starting to make shots now. That big 3 he made and he can guard. He's tough. He can rebound. He's improving every day and Cam [Ward], started out a little sluggish today. Halftime we got after him a little bit. And boy, second half, he answered it, ran better, did some better things. So, he too is coming. You know, he missed some time and he's just got to get that back, get his confidence back.
On his 'Defend, Rebound, Run' motto coming out in this game…
Crowd was rocking, lights were swinging. That was a hell of a deal, man. When we beat Arkansas, my first year, the Great 8, because, when the rebounding thing started, and then we figured we were such a bad shooting team that we better run because we couldn't score any other way, and you have to defend the run. So, the 'Defend, Rebound, and Run' has been our motto now for 30 years. And when we do it right, when Jeremy pushes, like he's pushing, we can be an effective team. We still got to, you know, rake some things out in half court at times. But we're getting better, you know, a couple guys getting better here, a couple of guys there. We just got to get consistently better, and I think that's what every coach hopes for. But if we're defending, rebounding and running and that's going well, then we're getting some things done.
On the difference between this year and last year's team…
I think we sub them. I mean, we do have two guys over 30 [minutes] this time, but for the most part, if you're under 30, that's pretty good, you know, and we played eight, nine guys before and keep them under 30 as long as you keep them fresher, you know? And I think we did a decent job of that. I mean, they played 36, 36, 32. And we had one at 33, 30, but the rest of them are under 28. So, I still think we have to have strength in numbers. You know, Trey Fort, his day will come. The guy that didn't get to play tonight that I think has played pretty well. He played a little bit is Jesse [McCulloch] because of the lineup they had. They were playing small ball the whole night. And so, Jesse was the guy that didn't get to play as much. But Jesse and Trey are still valuable. Denham Wojcik still does his job. He gets Jeremy, you know, hopefully eight, nine minutes rest is what we're hoping for with Jeremy. And he's fresh, better, but he's in better shape too. He's the lightest he's been since he's been here. And things are starting to go his way, which is cool.
On preparing for the upcoming West Coast trip…
You know, the most important thing I learned, they asked me on the radio in my radio show just now, what do you want to do different? What did you learn from last time? I said, only one thing. I'd like to go there and win two games instead of lose two games. There was no fault in how we prepared things and how we traveled. It was all class, and we do a good job of that stuff, and it's not easy. It's not easy. It's different. I mean, these are college guys. When I think about it, the NCAA would probably differ on it now, but these are college guys. They're not used to the West Coast trips and the things like that, and neither are those teams that come back here. But we're going to see it mentally. You know, tomorrow, we're going to talk about it mentally. We got to maybe be tougher and figure out how to grind it out there because we play, I guess now it's a 3 o'clock game, which is good. I was hoping that we didn't play that night game. And so, we play a 3 o'clock game and then we can travel a little bit that night and get places, get some rest, get some practice time. We're going to bring the guys by Nike and practice at LeBron's facility, and so there'll be some good things with it, and there'll be some, there are going to be a lot of work. I mean, we put ourselves in a position now. It is similar than last year, but a little different because it's some of the teams we beaten. And yet the schedule doesn't get easier and we're still one of those teams that our margin of error is still minimal. When we're 22 up, I get confused myself sometimes. So, I'm just going to keep living the dream and try not to wake up and see if we can take another step this week on the road.
On the impact of Jaxon Kohler…
Well, Jaxon Kohler deserves everything he's got. And I told you guys that, there's not a guy in my team that works harder than him. Offseason, he got himself in the best shape. He's changed his body, his body fat, all that stuff. He eats it. I got the 3 L's: Do you like it? Do you love it or do you live it? He lives it. He lives it every day.
Indiana Head Coach Darian DeVries
On the big scoring drought in the second half…
I think it got tied up there at the end with about 11:30 to go. After that, I thought we had some poor offensive possessions which was the same thing that happened to us the other day at home, where we had some turnovers, maybe a couple non-quality shots, and that led to their transition. And you can't give them transitions, especially here. That's where the game just flipped.
On what they did to get the lead after being tied at 53…
We talked in the huddle; we even had a few threes there that were back-to-back that we just missed. I liked the way we were playing, I liked the way we were guarding. Then, just like we talked about, just stringing a few bad possessions together and they just come pound at themselves. We used a couple timeouts to try and slow it down, but we just never got back to getting stops on the half court or in the open floor.
On keeping MSU off the foul line…
Yeah. I mean we knew there were going to be some issues there with some of the interior play, like we were going to have some matchup problems with some of the rebounding things, and obviously we got crushed in the glass there. So that was a big part of it too.
On 29 points off the team's 14 turnovers…
That's something you prioritize every day in practice. It's something that is very fixable. We talked repeatedly about where are these turnovers coming from, who's causing them, and in most of the cases they're decision-making turnovers. It wasn't because we're getting trapped, and they aren't getting deflections that way, a lot of them are self-inflicted. Good activity obviously by Michigan State, but there's still decision-making turnovers that we have to do a better job, especially when you're in that portion of the game. It's like when you're in a tie game and there's eleven minutes to go. Being able to play off of two feet and make those sound decisions, still run a good offense, still be aggressive, but prioritize the basketball more. Like I said, it's disappointing for a veteran of a group as we have, to be turning the ball over in these types of situations.
On improving turnovers between last game and today's game…
Yeah, I really thought we would. I mean the guys get it, they understand it, they know the importance of it. In both areas of defensive rebounding and turnovers. We said it from day one. Those are the two biggest factors, in my opinion, in winning and losing basketball games. Tonight we got beat in both.
On Jeremy Fears Jr.'s performance and how his performance changed the tone of the game…
I thought in the first half, we were up 17-10 and he (Jeremy Fears Jr.) picked Conor's (Enright) pocket and was able to get a layup there. The second one I don't remember quite as well. In the second half, but I thought his ability and transition to get from A to B, when we weren't able to get him under control, was a problem for us. He was really dynamic in that way. For turnovers and long shots, whatever, if you can't get him to slow down early, it's really hard cause these bigs are running and they're stealing, it's hard to give a lot of help because you're wrestling down there with the bigs. I thought he did a really good job of being aggressive and getting into the paint and finishing.
On going up against Tucker DeVries and how foul trouble affected the game overall…
In the first half, I thought it was actually more of a problem for us because we had to sell-up a lot more to try and protect those guys. I know Tucker (DeVries) picked up his third pretty early, but I don't think it really impacted a whole lot. We took him out for a while, but not long enough, I thought that we were able to play through the fouls. I don't think the second half really had a lot to do with fouls necessarily because playing through those last 10 minutes and that fatigue, that's something we've got to fight more."
On Tucker Devries going 0-for-6 after hitting his first three and the struggle of B1G conference play…
He's obviously going through a little bit of a shooting slump right now. For him, it's a longer one than he's had. He's been putting in time-after-time-after-time, he actually shot it great today and shot around great in our practice yesterday, hit that first one, felt good, maybe that would be the start of it, but it's going to happen. He's got to find his way back up out of it.
How the coaching staff gets the offense going when momentum is down…
I thought they did a good job at making us catch and stuff. We had some things to try slip out of some screens and create some opportunities there. A few of them were there, we just didn't finish the play, ended up turning it over instead of getting a layup out of it, and ended up in their hands going the other way.
On Indiana's struggle on the road despite having an experienced group…
Yeah to a degree for sure. I think it's been a little bit of the turnovers, that's been more of a common theme. There's always something a little else though. I thought the turnovers tonight was what flipped it again and in the second half, once we went from that tie game to all of a sudden they're playing their transition and now you've got the crowd going and the energy. You just can't allow those types of runs if you're going to beat a good team.
Redshirt-freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr.
On how he sees himself evolving over the next few years…
I just try to win games. Whatever I need to do to help the team win, I'm willing to do and that's the only thing that matters. The only thing that matters to me is helping the team win.
On the Spartan freshmen key to the 19-0 run when they were holding Indiana scoreless…
They are growing. Obviously some of these match-ups that they're playing, they're playing fifth-year, fourth-year seniors and they're kind of doing solid. Obviously, they'll make some mistakes, they'll be a little late on things, foul when you're not supposed to, but at the same time, this is helping us for the long run and they're going to be a big part of what we do. Especially with KG (Kaleb Glenn) going out, was huge so they're stepping up every game they're still growing, they're still getting better and they're just developing.
On working through the first half when he had to score a little more…
I think the first half the offense was a little stagnant. They were switching everything, they were doubling, it was a lot of stuff that they haven't done in film in their past couple games, so obviously you try to game plan and try to scout it, switch some of their stuff up, so it was a little different for us. We weren't really expecting them to switch five or them to double certain people or players so saying that, it was like alright so just taking what they gave me.
Freshman forward Jordan Scott:
On scoring double digits…
It feels good, finally able to break double-digits, I think I had 11. It's only going to go up, so it was a good game for us.
On he is getting his comfort level to rise as the season progresses…
Yeah, I think it's just confidence in reps. Getting extra shots in is helping, and it's kind of opening up the offense.
On the defensive mindset…
I think we're just trying to lock down every single game. Home or away, just going out there knowing that our defense needs to be elite every single game. So, like, offense, shots aren't going to fall sometimes, but you've got to be able to play defense and when you get those stops, it definitely helps fool your opponents.
On seeing his shots fall…
Yeah, I think just finding myself offensively. Just taking the right shot and just knowing that they want me shooting those threes, so it's not going to be a bad shot, and it's building my confidence with reps as well.
Senior Center Jaxon Kohler:
On the defensive adjustment the team made…
They (Indiana) have some scorers at different positions, and we have to kind of adjust a little bit before (the game). They kind of started coming at us early and then we adapted. Sometimes they slipped and we had to adjust to that. So, throughout the entire game, we were adjusting, and we only do that because of good teams. But there was a stretch in the 2nd half where we really turned up, and I think we went on a 19-0 run, I think. And when we do that, I think there really is nobody that can stop our momentum like that. When we get our running game going, and when Fears (Jeremy Fears Jr.) initiates the offense by pushing it, everyone becomes a threat. You got Coop (Carson Cooper) on the first post, Coen (Carr) on the wing ready to dunk it, and me trailing. Fears (Jeremy Fears Jr.) is getting way better at getting to the basket and scoring, kick out threes for Divine (Ugochukwu) and Kur (Teng), and all the shooters. So, when we get into that rhythm and that flow state, we just become, I feel like we just kind of become unbeatable.
On redshirt-sophomore point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. …
Man, tonight, it was Jeremy Fears' world, and we were just living in it. I mean, from the tip, from his first couple of points in the first half, like everything he was doing, it was just like, 'there he goes again'. And I'm like, 'it's his game'. I gave him a shoutout too, because I saw that in pre-shoot-around today. He just had a different look in his eyes. And, I think it has a lot to do with the history against that team. Last year they came into our place and beat us. And that was one of our few losses that year. And that didn't sit right with us, guys who were there for that. So, I think when we were doing practice before the game, I just saw that look in his eyes, that fire in his eyes, and I even knew. I'm like, 'this is going to be his game today'.
On the mindset heading into the West Coast road trip…
We just have to remember what happened to us last year, to be honest. I mean, for all the guys that remember going to USC and UCLA, and we had momentum. Like everyone was talking about how we've been doing so great. We were undefeated until then and we went there and we lost. We just have to remember,what happened to us last year can't be what happens to us this year, we can't let history repeat itself. Otherwise, there is no growth. And I think this is a huge chance for the people returning not only to learn from our mistakes, but also encourage the younger guys to say, 'hey, we're going to enemy territory, there's going to be a lot changes, timezone, different locations, different teams, and all that stuff. We cannot lose sight of our goals, how we play, and what to expect.
Opening statement…
Well, we're a funny team. I said to my staff on the bench. You know, I just don't know why we weren't as consistent early. I gave Tucker (DeVries) that first three. Him and (Lamar) Wilkerson are two hellacious players. I mean, I think they're both really good. We put a lot into those two guys. I thought Coen Carr did a heck of a job when he was on him. That was maybe the highlight. I thought Jeremy (Fears Jr.) did a heck of a job, both defensively and offensively. And Jaxon (Kohler) was consistent. But when you add it all up, we were tied up 53-53, and then our two freshmen hit eight of the next 10 points. And Jordan (Scott) and Cam (Ward), which I say we need to come around, especially Cam because of his injury, he's just coming around. But they made some big plays. We got our running game going because we defended better, we rebounded better. And I thought in general, of course, the last 15 minutes we played awfully well. And the reason we didn't before is that's a damn good team too. Well coached, they do a lot of good things. They moved that ball and, you know, the mismatch, of course, was having (Carson) Cooper guard DeVries, and that wasn't an easy cover for Coop. I thought he did a pretty good job, and we wanted to get the ball into him a little bit more, try to clear up that mismatch, and we didn't do a very good job of that. But in general, got to the free-throw line 24 times. We didn't get enough shots up, still 15 turnovers is too many, especially a couple of them were foolish again. But what's been good for us is our rebounding is still — to be a plus-18 in a game like that has impressed me. And yet I give a lot of credit to them because they battle you, man. With a smaller lineup, they're a hard, hard cover. So if there's questions, I'll take them, but thank God Jeremy and our freshmen kind of carried us a little bit tonight.
On Jeremy Fears Jr. asserting himself early offensively and defensively sparking the team…
Yeah, don't feel his fire. I mean, I'd need him offensively, and I love what he did, but he's still not a 3-point shooter. He's getting better at it. But I think what he did is he defended a lot better and ran our break a lot better. And that's why he got a double-double and deserves one. Even his points he scored, he pushed it. I mean, a couple of times I said to him at halftime — and you ever question me again about not pushing the ball. And we ran a clip of him, and I swear to God, sometimes it takes a lot to get through to somebody, but he did a hell of a job. I'm really proud of him for that. So if he gets the ball moving, just like if he picks up at the top — and I told him in calling all week, you two guys are going to be a key defensively. You're going to have to guard those two guys. And I thought we did a pretty good job of it.
On the game being tied at 53 and the freshmen responding…
I was thinking who I was going to blame the loss on, to be honest with you. But, no, I felt like we were playing good enough, but I thought we were making some mistakes. Remember when we were — I don't know what we were — and we're making a little run, and then (Carson Cooper) Coop gets that rebound and throws it right to, and he hits a three, you know. You figure that he hit that three, and he hit one on an out-of-bounds where we just kind of blew the coverage. Otherwise, we did a hell of a job on, I think, one of the better players in this whole league in (Lamar) Wilkerson. So, yeah, I was concerned, but I was not panicking by any means. I thought we could cover him, and I thought if we do, I thought we maybe could wear him down, and I don't know if that happened. But I think they were missing some shots at the end, like happens when you're shooting a lot of threes and you are tired. So 31 threes — we held them to 30 percent or so. That's pretty good on a team that shoots it as well as they do.
On out-rebounding Indiana's starting five…
It was strange. I looked at that, you know, when their center didn't get one, and (Lamar) Wilkerson and (Conor) Enright didn't get. I mean, they had three guys that got zero, and one guy got two. I guess that's where I'm lucky. You know, my guys get in there and get to the points. Although, still, I thought Coen (Carr) did a hell of a job defensively, but he's still got to rebound the ball better. It definitely has to do a better job than that.
On the shooting from Kur Teng and Jordan Scott…
Well, Kurr (Teng) is starting to play better and better too. Struggles a little bit in a couple areas, but he can make shots, and that really cures a lot of sins. So I was happy for him and proud of him. And if he's making shots, then Jeremy (Fears Jr.) can get the ball running. He got it up to him a couple times, and we nailed some threes on the break, and that was really a good thing for us.
On the lane violations…
It is funny because sometimes — I mean, Jeremy has a little hitch in his shot, but it's been the same shot for three years. Yeah, I'm confused on that, to be honest with you. But I was disappointed because Jeremy's (Fears Jr.) shooting the ball so well from the free throw, and he actually missed some tonight. I guess, only two. He missed four, but two of them he got back, right? And (Carson Cooper) Coop missed one, and Jaxon (Kohler) missed one. But, thank God, Coen (Carr) made his couple of free throws. So, yeah, I don't know why that is. It's not trickery. It's the way he shot it the whole time. So, whatever.
On Jeremy Fears Jr. potentially being the next great Spartan point guard…
Well, I've said it all along, I think the injury he had set him back a whole year. And I mean, even today in in our shootaround, he's just dunking more effortlessly than he was. I mean, there's no question that he lost a lot when he lost. And yet he's getting it all back now. And I don't want him to think he's become a e-point shooter until he improves in that a little bit more, but every one he took was a good one. I'm trying to get him to be a little more aggressive getting to the hole on those shot clock plays instead of just settling for a three. But all in all, I thought that was one of Jeremy's best games. He defended pretty well, put the ball exceptionally well. He shot the ball pretty well. So, it was a good win. You know, as I said all along when the head is good, the body's good. When the head dies, the body dies, and he is our head. The better he plays, I think the better we play.
On Jordan Scott's impact when he is on the floor…
Oh, I like Jordan Scott a lot. In fact, as you know, I've talked about what I do with him, and there's times that I wanted to start him, and now I'd like to ask you, because are you a fan of the plus-minus? I never understand it, you know? I see some guy that plays really good and he's a minus five, and then I see some guy that plays really bad and he's a plus 20. So, I'm not a big analytics guy. I'm a kind of a dome guy, like Dick Vitale, when I got two eyes, you know? What I see, I really liked what he did. More than what his plus minus was, but he's getting better all the time. He's starting to make shots now. That big 3 he made and he can guard. He's tough. He can rebound. He's improving every day and Cam [Ward], started out a little sluggish today. Halftime we got after him a little bit. And boy, second half, he answered it, ran better, did some better things. So, he too is coming. You know, he missed some time and he's just got to get that back, get his confidence back.
On his 'Defend, Rebound, Run' motto coming out in this game…
Crowd was rocking, lights were swinging. That was a hell of a deal, man. When we beat Arkansas, my first year, the Great 8, because, when the rebounding thing started, and then we figured we were such a bad shooting team that we better run because we couldn't score any other way, and you have to defend the run. So, the 'Defend, Rebound, and Run' has been our motto now for 30 years. And when we do it right, when Jeremy pushes, like he's pushing, we can be an effective team. We still got to, you know, rake some things out in half court at times. But we're getting better, you know, a couple guys getting better here, a couple of guys there. We just got to get consistently better, and I think that's what every coach hopes for. But if we're defending, rebounding and running and that's going well, then we're getting some things done.
On the difference between this year and last year's team…
I think we sub them. I mean, we do have two guys over 30 [minutes] this time, but for the most part, if you're under 30, that's pretty good, you know, and we played eight, nine guys before and keep them under 30 as long as you keep them fresher, you know? And I think we did a decent job of that. I mean, they played 36, 36, 32. And we had one at 33, 30, but the rest of them are under 28. So, I still think we have to have strength in numbers. You know, Trey Fort, his day will come. The guy that didn't get to play tonight that I think has played pretty well. He played a little bit is Jesse [McCulloch] because of the lineup they had. They were playing small ball the whole night. And so, Jesse was the guy that didn't get to play as much. But Jesse and Trey are still valuable. Denham Wojcik still does his job. He gets Jeremy, you know, hopefully eight, nine minutes rest is what we're hoping for with Jeremy. And he's fresh, better, but he's in better shape too. He's the lightest he's been since he's been here. And things are starting to go his way, which is cool.
On preparing for the upcoming West Coast trip…
You know, the most important thing I learned, they asked me on the radio in my radio show just now, what do you want to do different? What did you learn from last time? I said, only one thing. I'd like to go there and win two games instead of lose two games. There was no fault in how we prepared things and how we traveled. It was all class, and we do a good job of that stuff, and it's not easy. It's not easy. It's different. I mean, these are college guys. When I think about it, the NCAA would probably differ on it now, but these are college guys. They're not used to the West Coast trips and the things like that, and neither are those teams that come back here. But we're going to see it mentally. You know, tomorrow, we're going to talk about it mentally. We got to maybe be tougher and figure out how to grind it out there because we play, I guess now it's a 3 o'clock game, which is good. I was hoping that we didn't play that night game. And so, we play a 3 o'clock game and then we can travel a little bit that night and get places, get some rest, get some practice time. We're going to bring the guys by Nike and practice at LeBron's facility, and so there'll be some good things with it, and there'll be some, there are going to be a lot of work. I mean, we put ourselves in a position now. It is similar than last year, but a little different because it's some of the teams we beaten. And yet the schedule doesn't get easier and we're still one of those teams that our margin of error is still minimal. When we're 22 up, I get confused myself sometimes. So, I'm just going to keep living the dream and try not to wake up and see if we can take another step this week on the road.
On the impact of Jaxon Kohler…
Well, Jaxon Kohler deserves everything he's got. And I told you guys that, there's not a guy in my team that works harder than him. Offseason, he got himself in the best shape. He's changed his body, his body fat, all that stuff. He eats it. I got the 3 L's: Do you like it? Do you love it or do you live it? He lives it. He lives it every day.
Indiana Head Coach Darian DeVries
On the big scoring drought in the second half…
I think it got tied up there at the end with about 11:30 to go. After that, I thought we had some poor offensive possessions which was the same thing that happened to us the other day at home, where we had some turnovers, maybe a couple non-quality shots, and that led to their transition. And you can't give them transitions, especially here. That's where the game just flipped.
On what they did to get the lead after being tied at 53…
We talked in the huddle; we even had a few threes there that were back-to-back that we just missed. I liked the way we were playing, I liked the way we were guarding. Then, just like we talked about, just stringing a few bad possessions together and they just come pound at themselves. We used a couple timeouts to try and slow it down, but we just never got back to getting stops on the half court or in the open floor.
On keeping MSU off the foul line…
Yeah. I mean we knew there were going to be some issues there with some of the interior play, like we were going to have some matchup problems with some of the rebounding things, and obviously we got crushed in the glass there. So that was a big part of it too.
On 29 points off the team's 14 turnovers…
That's something you prioritize every day in practice. It's something that is very fixable. We talked repeatedly about where are these turnovers coming from, who's causing them, and in most of the cases they're decision-making turnovers. It wasn't because we're getting trapped, and they aren't getting deflections that way, a lot of them are self-inflicted. Good activity obviously by Michigan State, but there's still decision-making turnovers that we have to do a better job, especially when you're in that portion of the game. It's like when you're in a tie game and there's eleven minutes to go. Being able to play off of two feet and make those sound decisions, still run a good offense, still be aggressive, but prioritize the basketball more. Like I said, it's disappointing for a veteran of a group as we have, to be turning the ball over in these types of situations.
On improving turnovers between last game and today's game…
Yeah, I really thought we would. I mean the guys get it, they understand it, they know the importance of it. In both areas of defensive rebounding and turnovers. We said it from day one. Those are the two biggest factors, in my opinion, in winning and losing basketball games. Tonight we got beat in both.
On Jeremy Fears Jr.'s performance and how his performance changed the tone of the game…
I thought in the first half, we were up 17-10 and he (Jeremy Fears Jr.) picked Conor's (Enright) pocket and was able to get a layup there. The second one I don't remember quite as well. In the second half, but I thought his ability and transition to get from A to B, when we weren't able to get him under control, was a problem for us. He was really dynamic in that way. For turnovers and long shots, whatever, if you can't get him to slow down early, it's really hard cause these bigs are running and they're stealing, it's hard to give a lot of help because you're wrestling down there with the bigs. I thought he did a really good job of being aggressive and getting into the paint and finishing.
On going up against Tucker DeVries and how foul trouble affected the game overall…
In the first half, I thought it was actually more of a problem for us because we had to sell-up a lot more to try and protect those guys. I know Tucker (DeVries) picked up his third pretty early, but I don't think it really impacted a whole lot. We took him out for a while, but not long enough, I thought that we were able to play through the fouls. I don't think the second half really had a lot to do with fouls necessarily because playing through those last 10 minutes and that fatigue, that's something we've got to fight more."
On Tucker Devries going 0-for-6 after hitting his first three and the struggle of B1G conference play…
He's obviously going through a little bit of a shooting slump right now. For him, it's a longer one than he's had. He's been putting in time-after-time-after-time, he actually shot it great today and shot around great in our practice yesterday, hit that first one, felt good, maybe that would be the start of it, but it's going to happen. He's got to find his way back up out of it.
How the coaching staff gets the offense going when momentum is down…
I thought they did a good job at making us catch and stuff. We had some things to try slip out of some screens and create some opportunities there. A few of them were there, we just didn't finish the play, ended up turning it over instead of getting a layup out of it, and ended up in their hands going the other way.
On Indiana's struggle on the road despite having an experienced group…
Yeah to a degree for sure. I think it's been a little bit of the turnovers, that's been more of a common theme. There's always something a little else though. I thought the turnovers tonight was what flipped it again and in the second half, once we went from that tie game to all of a sudden they're playing their transition and now you've got the crowd going and the energy. You just can't allow those types of runs if you're going to beat a good team.
Redshirt-freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr.
On how he sees himself evolving over the next few years…
I just try to win games. Whatever I need to do to help the team win, I'm willing to do and that's the only thing that matters. The only thing that matters to me is helping the team win.
On the Spartan freshmen key to the 19-0 run when they were holding Indiana scoreless…
They are growing. Obviously some of these match-ups that they're playing, they're playing fifth-year, fourth-year seniors and they're kind of doing solid. Obviously, they'll make some mistakes, they'll be a little late on things, foul when you're not supposed to, but at the same time, this is helping us for the long run and they're going to be a big part of what we do. Especially with KG (Kaleb Glenn) going out, was huge so they're stepping up every game they're still growing, they're still getting better and they're just developing.
On working through the first half when he had to score a little more…
I think the first half the offense was a little stagnant. They were switching everything, they were doubling, it was a lot of stuff that they haven't done in film in their past couple games, so obviously you try to game plan and try to scout it, switch some of their stuff up, so it was a little different for us. We weren't really expecting them to switch five or them to double certain people or players so saying that, it was like alright so just taking what they gave me.
Freshman forward Jordan Scott:
On scoring double digits…
It feels good, finally able to break double-digits, I think I had 11. It's only going to go up, so it was a good game for us.
On he is getting his comfort level to rise as the season progresses…
Yeah, I think it's just confidence in reps. Getting extra shots in is helping, and it's kind of opening up the offense.
On the defensive mindset…
I think we're just trying to lock down every single game. Home or away, just going out there knowing that our defense needs to be elite every single game. So, like, offense, shots aren't going to fall sometimes, but you've got to be able to play defense and when you get those stops, it definitely helps fool your opponents.
On seeing his shots fall…
Yeah, I think just finding myself offensively. Just taking the right shot and just knowing that they want me shooting those threes, so it's not going to be a bad shot, and it's building my confidence with reps as well.
Senior Center Jaxon Kohler:
On the defensive adjustment the team made…
They (Indiana) have some scorers at different positions, and we have to kind of adjust a little bit before (the game). They kind of started coming at us early and then we adapted. Sometimes they slipped and we had to adjust to that. So, throughout the entire game, we were adjusting, and we only do that because of good teams. But there was a stretch in the 2nd half where we really turned up, and I think we went on a 19-0 run, I think. And when we do that, I think there really is nobody that can stop our momentum like that. When we get our running game going, and when Fears (Jeremy Fears Jr.) initiates the offense by pushing it, everyone becomes a threat. You got Coop (Carson Cooper) on the first post, Coen (Carr) on the wing ready to dunk it, and me trailing. Fears (Jeremy Fears Jr.) is getting way better at getting to the basket and scoring, kick out threes for Divine (Ugochukwu) and Kur (Teng), and all the shooters. So, when we get into that rhythm and that flow state, we just become, I feel like we just kind of become unbeatable.
On redshirt-sophomore point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. …
Man, tonight, it was Jeremy Fears' world, and we were just living in it. I mean, from the tip, from his first couple of points in the first half, like everything he was doing, it was just like, 'there he goes again'. And I'm like, 'it's his game'. I gave him a shoutout too, because I saw that in pre-shoot-around today. He just had a different look in his eyes. And, I think it has a lot to do with the history against that team. Last year they came into our place and beat us. And that was one of our few losses that year. And that didn't sit right with us, guys who were there for that. So, I think when we were doing practice before the game, I just saw that look in his eyes, that fire in his eyes, and I even knew. I'm like, 'this is going to be his game today'.
On the mindset heading into the West Coast road trip…
We just have to remember what happened to us last year, to be honest. I mean, for all the guys that remember going to USC and UCLA, and we had momentum. Like everyone was talking about how we've been doing so great. We were undefeated until then and we went there and we lost. We just have to remember,what happened to us last year can't be what happens to us this year, we can't let history repeat itself. Otherwise, there is no growth. And I think this is a huge chance for the people returning not only to learn from our mistakes, but also encourage the younger guys to say, 'hey, we're going to enemy territory, there's going to be a lot changes, timezone, different locations, different teams, and all that stuff. We cannot lose sight of our goals, how we play, and what to expect.
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