What Mike Woodson Said After Indiana Basketball Beat Penn State 83-78

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana snuck away with a much-needed win for its NCAA Tournament hopes, defeating Penn State 83-78 Wednesdsay at Assembly Hall.

Penn State led the game for over 24 minutes, but Trey Galloway and Myles Rice hit key 3-pointers down the stretch to help secure the win. Five Hoosiers finished with double-digit points, led by Oumar Ballo wiht 20. Ace Baldwin led the Nittany Lions with 22 points.

With this win, Indiana improved to 17-11 overall and 8-9 in Big Ten play ahead of Saturday's game at Washington. Here's everything Indiana coach Mike Woodson said after the win.

On how much Myles Rice, Trey Galloway and Anthony Leal are providing a platform for this team...

Woodson: "Well, again, these guys don't get another – the seniors don't get another shot at this. So they know what it's about. Anthony and Gallo have been with me the longest. Goode has had a good run at Illinois, now he's with us. Ballo is a senior. Gotta ride them, see where it leads us."

On what has sparked the toughness Indiana has found lately...

Woodson: "Well, I've never said that my team wasn't mentally tough or physically tough. I think at the end of the day – we've lost some games that, I mean, we were right there. A bounce of the ball here or there, we're probably not even having this conversation. But these guys are playing for something. We're trying to get in the tournament. And we've got three games left. Gotta go out west now tomorrow and we've got a few days to prepare and get ready for Washington."

On how Trey Galloway has handled the adversity of shooting slumps and losing his starting job...

Woodson: "He's had a tough go at it. You guys gave him a hard time at one time. There's a lot of things. But I never stopped believing in Trey. Trey's been with me the longest. He's put up with a lot of shit from me. And I trust him. He does a lot of good things on the floor. Yeah, he makes mistakes. They all do. I make mistakes. But at the end of the day I know he's going to play hard and give 100 percent when he's out there, and that's all you can ask for."

On Penn State having success scoring inside in the first matchup but limiting them in that area tonight...

Woodson: "When we played them up at their place, the first seven minutes they got like 12 points just on backdoor cuts. And that was something -- we gave up two tonight -- that was something that we really focused in on. And we tried to keep their side pick-and-rolls where they weren't rejecting us and sending it back over the top where all the help was. They still had success there. But for the most part I thought our defense was pretty especially solid coming down the stretch. Both teams were scoring at will. And like I told them at halftime, the team that is going to defend and rebound this half is going to end up winning the game. I thought coming down the stretch we made the defensive stops we needed."

On Malik Reneau's absence, and how Indiana's defense performed down the stretch...

Woodson: "Our defense has been solid. Malik, right now, I'm just – I've got to get an update. I know we took him to the hospital, the emergency [room]. He was fine in shoot-around. Then he came down with something. So I don't know where we are with Malik right now. But the sooner he can get back, the better. But it's next man up. Everybody's got to just stay ready."

On Kanaan Carlyle being productive tonight and his conversations with him to keep him going in a positive direction...

Woodson: "Stay ready. I mean, stay ready and focused because you just never know, man. This game is a funny game. And somebody goes down and you are mad at the coach because he hasn't played you. Now you're not mentally and physically ready to play. I just tell guys, stay ready and what minutes you do get, make it the best minutes for our team in terms of helping us win basketball games. If you do that, then I'll come back your way again."

On the importance of sharing the ball and having several scoring options...

Woodson: "It's something we've been searching for all season. I thought the second half of the Purdue game is the best we played all season, defensively. And we scored 48 points. So that meant the ball was moving and guys were sharing the basketball. And tonight, you know, we shared it again. We scored 46 points and the ball was humping. And that's the way it's got to be. We just can't rely on one guy. We've had four, five guys in double figures in two straight games. And we're going to need that going forward."

On how good it felt when Trey Galloway and Myles Rice hit clutch 3-point shots tonight, compared to other games when Woodson is asked why 3-point shots aren't falling...

Woodson: "I've been saying that shit for three years. Guys have been getting good looks but hadn't knocked them down, and tonight we made them. It was nice to see. I hope that's a good sign moving forward."

Related stories on Indiana basketball