What Darian DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball's 71-51 Loss at Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Indiana men's basketball coach Darian DeVries and senior forward Sam Alexis met with the media after the Hoosiers (17-9, 8-7 Big Ten) suffered a 71-51 loss at Illinois (21-5, 12-3 Big Ten) on Sunday at State Farm Center in Champaign.

Here's what DeVries and Alexis said in their six-minute press conference.

Q. Second half, you guys are in the game at halftime, only 20 points in the second half. What happened with the offense and how much was it just the offense kind of stalled out?

DARIAN DEVRIES: “There was a combination of both. I actually thought we had some really good possessions. Got some pretty clean looks by guys we want taking them and we didn't make them. The problem was we couldn't get enough stops to withstand it during that time and specifically the offensive rebounding on their end. It was really too much for us to overcome. So, we had to clean up the glass better so we could get our own transition opportunities and stuff. We had to play against a set defense so much of the time. So, that second half caught up to us.”

Q. You mentioned the rebounding. What did you want to see kind of different? It kind of seemed the first 15, 17 minutes things were going fine and then kind of escalated from there.

DARIAN DEVRIES: “We knew it was the number one thing that we had to do a good job of if we were to come in here and win. Illinois is one of the best rebounding teams in the country, and for good reason. They got great size, they go with some physicality, they go with effort. If we were going to stay with them, we were going to have to limit that. I thought as the game wore on, they wore into us a little bit and those opportunities became too many.”

Q. Yeah, it was obviously a hard one from three. Was that the shot selection or was that them? Just what do you think happened there?

DARIAN DEVRIES: “I thought our shot selection from three was really good. We had some great opportunities. We had a couple late shot clock ones that are just whatever — we had to get something up at the rim. But the ones we took within possession were good looks. Just didn't knock them down.”

Q. Coach, with a team with that much size and length, where do you feel you guys have to be that much better?

DARIAN DEVRIES: “We really thought the broken floor was the best opportunity. Again, you let that much size get set up and keep you in front of us, it's hard to get finishes at the rim because they have great rim protection and size everywhere. The more we could get them moving and playing in space, we thought was our opportunity. We just didn't get enough of those.”

Q. Yeah, Darian. You only managed 20 points in the second half, but it seemed like you were getting the shots you wanted for the most part. What kind of led to the inability to make those shots when you did get the looks you wanted?

DARIAN DEVRIES: “You just got to get the shots you want. We've got guys shooting them that are good shooters. They just didn't make them.”

Q. Sam, this is the 14th game this season you guys have given up double-digit offensive rebounds. You guys are 8-6 in those games. What's happening in that aspect and what needs to improve?

SAM ALEXIS: “We just got to be tougher and more physical.”

Q. Darian, I don't know if you thought Boswell was going to go for them today. I know Mirkovic had a big game, but how did Boswell impact the game?

DARIAN DEVRIES: “We had kind of guessed that he was going to play. We heard he'd been practicing and stuff and was getting really close. I think the biggest thing with him is just his defensive ability that he brings. So, his physicality to chase guys around. I thought he did a really good job of making things hard on Lamar a lot of the time, but even on switches and all those things. I thought what he brings and adds to the team in his return is just another defensive guy that can really be kind of that shut-down guy.”

Q. Darian, you seemed to shorten your bench even further today. In the minutes with Lamar and a couple of these overtime games, you worry at all about guys getting tired with Tucker. They're averaging over 35, kind of mess over the stretch especially.

DARIAN DEVRIES: “No, not really. We had a whole week off, but we won't play again until Friday. They played seven guys, so they seem to do pretty good.”

Q. Darian, just two turnovers in the first half, but three in the early stages in the second half. How much does that stunt a team's reach to try to get back into a game when you're down entering the second half?

DARIAN DEVRIES: “Turnovers are always a huge deal. I thought ours led to some transition baskets for them, too. They were live-ball turnovers. We didn't turn it over a ton, only nine for the game, but typically, Illinois doesn't create a lot of them. They don't get overextended themselves. They kind of just try to stay between you and the basket. The ones we did have, I thought we were just a little careless with it. Again, I thought they made us pay for those few turnovers.”

Q. Coach, another slower night, I think it was just one point tonight, for Nick. What's behind those recent slow performances from him in your eyes?

DARIAN DEVRIES: “I think getting some good quality ones and stuff is part of it. Maybe a little anxious at times, but Nick's a great shooter. He's 0-for-4. We'd love to see those get knocked down, and he will. He'll come back.”

Q. Darian, they have so much size, really at all five positions a lot of times. You see that in rebounding, things like that. How much does that matter to you once they cover the floor and how difficult it is to score against them?

DARIAN DEVRIES: “I think they do a great job schematically with what they do. They do a good job of hunting matchups, but also when those shots go up, they do take a lot of threes, so you get long shots, long rebounds. They've done a terrific job of creating those habits of guys going and going with force to go get the ball. There's a few of them where they come off long and you've got 6-10, 7-foot everywhere where they're able to just grab it over the top of you. They are a reason why they're one of the best teams in the country, and I think you saw a lot of that today.”