Illinois Coach Brad Underwood Previews Matchup With Indiana
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois coach Brad Underwood met with local media on Wednesday to preview his team's upcoming home game against Indiana on Thursday.
Illinois enters the matchup with a four-game win streak, while Indiana ended a three-game losing streak by beating Wisconsin 63-45 on Saturday. Underwood discussed everything from guarding Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino to how he's motivating the Illini for this matchup and his experience watching Lou Henson and Bob Knight coach in this rivalry game.
Here's what Underwood said before Thursday's 8:30 p.m. ET tipoff.
On Illinois' matchup against Indiana...
Underwood: We did a much better job on the boards [against Minnesota], and that will be huge for tomorrow night's game. The Hoosiers do a great job of offensive rebounding. But it's on to Indiana with another fairly quick turn, but that's the norm in this year's Big Ten with the shortened calendar. So Indiana obviously picked to win the league. They've had a little bit of an up and down year. They do have the best player in the league as voted on in the preseason in Trayce [Jackson-Davis]. He's having a phenomenal year. Anytime you get 24 rebounds in a game is a pretty dominant performance. We all know his athleticism. Then [Jalen Hood-Schifino] the freshman is having maybe as good a year as any freshman, not just in the Big Ten but in the country. There's some veterans, obviously Miller Kopp has been around the league for a while, excellent shooter. So we're going to have to play extremely well. A team that protects the rim extremely well, does a great job blocking shots and a team that anytime you've Trayce on in the post, he can cause you some problems. So we'll have to be dialed in. We'll have to keep them off the glass, keep them out of transition and it'll be another tough Big Ten game.
On a potential advantage Illinois' bench has due to Indiana's injuries...
Underwood: I don't, I haven't looked at it in that way. I like our bench against anybody's. It's one of the things we've shown productivity. It doesn't always show in points – Jayden [Epps] provides that, R.J. [Melendez] provides that – but it can be an added defensive stopper mentality, some toughness, some grit. I like our bench. We've been very solid.
On Indiana's strength of scoring in the paint...
Underwood: A lot. If I had Trayce, I'd throw him the ball, too. Yeah, I mean Trayce is a very unselfish player. He's turned into an elite passer. You kind of pick your poison with him. Trayce is very capable of getting a rebound and bringing it in transition. It's a team, again, that offensive rebounds, you get points in the paint off offensive rebounds. [Jordan] Geronimo, [Malik] Reneau, all those guys do a great job on the glass, so a lot of points in the paint and it all starts with Trayce.
On Indiana playing without Race Thompson...
Underwood: Obviously Race is a good player, and he's older than dirt. He's a guys that's been around. He's played in a lot of games and you know, he's a guy that's worked really hard on his game. He was stepping out and making 3s, and early in his career you didn't have to guard him out there. That sets up a pretty good high-low tandem with him and Trayce. But yeah, you lose a veteran, you lose that much experience and that many games, it's a loss for them.
On the balance between guarding Trayce Jackson-Davis and not leaving other Hoosiers open...
Underwood: We do what we do. We do what we do. I think we've established that we're not going to be – we're going to do what we do. Obviously, he's a good player. We're going to have some guys. He's going to score some points. Not going to shut him out, and you've got to make things as difficult as you can. But you can't give him the easy ones. You can't give him the transition run-out dunks. You can't give him the second-chance points. Those are the things that you've got to try to eliminate as best you can.
On the challenge for Dain Dainja against Trayce Jackson-Davis...
Underwood: It's every night in this league. It's not just Trayce. You're talking about two night ago, a McDonald's All-American in Dawson Garcia. You're talking about the three-headed monster that is Michigan State. You're talking about Wisconsin's guys. It doesn't matter, it's just the next one up. This one just happens to be really athletic and a four-year starter. His athleticism is unique. He's extremely quick twitch off the ground. His second jump is maybe as good as anybody in college basketball, so got to guard him without fouling and make his opportunities tough.
On Chester Frazier and the Indiana rivalry...
Underwood: Chester's got the unique advantage of playing in it. But I think it's two great programs. It's two storied programs, and I know as a kid I used to watch Lou [Henson] and Bobby [Knight] go at it. That was fun. To have history like that and tradition, both our fanbases are extremely passionate, they're great. To me, this is what makes college basketball fun.
On educating younger players and transfers on the history and rivalry between Illinois and Indiana...
Underwood: I think for them, you try to keep it just another game. But they know our fans. You're not keeping players and kids today off social media, so they pick up on that. You know they know Indiana was picked ahead of them, and they know Indiana is good. But it's one of those 20 nights we've got to go play and perform and try to be better on that night.
On using preseason predictions as a motivation tactic...
Underwood: It's the first time I brought it up all year because they were picked to win the league. They're good. They're one of the oldest teams in the country. They've got 90-plus percent of their scoring back, and we've got none or very little. They were picked one for a reason, and we don't beat our guys up with it, but it's something that it's the respect where everybody knows where they were picked.
On defending Trayce Jackson-Davis without fouling...
Underwood: Sure, it won't just be one guy guarding him. You've got to guard him without fouling. It's one of the disappointing things we did the last game. I think we had six slaps, six reaches, which is totally uncalled for. We've got to get out of that, it's bad. Fouls are defensive mistakes. We had three where we were in the circle in the arc and we didn't jump. We just stuck a hip. You can't make those plays, and you've got to make teams and make players put the ball in the basket without fouling. So we've got to keep from fouling.
On positives from Illinois' four-game win streak he wants to continue...
Underwood: We've go to keep guarding. Defense wins. We haven't turned the ball over as much. We've been very selective in terms of picking our spots in transition. I think that's been a help, but I think we've started stacking longer periods of good play together and that's what we want to keep seeing. We haven't had the drops where we've gone to our bench and or we've subbed this guy or that guy out or we've had foul trouble. Whatever the case may be, we've avoided it and that's been a big piece that's allowed us to continue to grow."
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