Here's What Xavier Johnson and Rob Phinisee Said After Indiana's Win Against Minnesota
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Hoosiers secured a 73-60 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
This improves the Hoosiers' undefeated home record to 11-0 with their road record at a sharp contrast of 0-3.
With more than 17,000 fans in attendance at Sunday's game, it's clear the Hoosiers love their fans and thrive off the noise alongside their talent Coach Mike Woodson has sharpened since his arrival this season.
Senior guard Xavier Johnson led the Hoosiers with 14 points. Senior guard Rob Phinisee and junior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis came close with 13 points a piece.
Here's what Johnson and Phinisee had to say about their second conference win in a row.
Q: On getting things back in gear after a few tough games for Johnson...
JOHNSON: Yeah, I've been having pretty bad games. I'm not mad about it, but it's something that I've got to push through because I'm working every day, and I work on my craft every day, and my team believes in me, and I'm going to continue to work for them.
Q. On Coach Woodson believing in Johnson...
JOHNSON: It means a lot. I mean, when I first came in he told me he had my back, and that was just the case scenario today, that he really had to have my back. That's the only person that I need to believe in me because he's my coach, and he's the only person that matters.
Q. On seeing change in Minnesota's approach...
PHINISEE: Yeah, obviously he tells us to shoot the ball if you're wide open. I knocked down those shots in the first half, and I feel like they weren't sagging off as much in the second half, so I didn't really get as many looks as I did, but yeah, Coach really just builds our confidence, tells us to shoot it whenever we're open, so I made shots this game.
Q. On noticing Minnesota gave Phinisee time to shoot...
PHINISEE: Really I felt like just coming off the bench, I saw how they were guarding X, so I mean, usually that's how teams usually guard us the same a little bit. When I came in, I really just was shot ready, and I knocked down the shots.
Q. On Johnson and Phinisee's joint defense...
JOHNSON: It's effective a lot. I feel like we get a lot of stops with me and him on the floor because it's hard to beat us all off the dribble. We both pick up 94 feet, and we just let it play defense because we know it gets the team going.
Q. On closing out the game defensively...
PHINISEE: Yeah, that's all what Coach really preaches to us in practice is defense. I know we're, I think, first in the Big Ten in maybe field goal percentage, defensive field goal percentage. Yeah, we just try to keep teams under 60 points and just try to shut off their best players. I know they got some buckets, Willis and Battle, but I feel like we did a pretty decent job with them as a team defense.
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- HOOSIER GUARDS LEAD INDIANA TO WIN OVER MINNESOTA: With Trayce Jackson-Davis blanketed inside, it was up to Indiana's guards to hit shots on Sunday against Minnesota, and Xavier Johnson and Rob Phinisee did just that. They led the team in scoring in the 73-60 win, the Hoosiers' 11th straight at home under first-year coach Mike Woodson. CLICK HERE.
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