Mike Woodson Said 'We've Got to Keep Fighting' After Hoosiers' Loss to Rutgers
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana head coach Mike Woodson expressed his disappointment over Indiana's 66-63 loss to Rutgers in a post game press conference.
It looked good for Indiana until late in the second half when Rutgers pulled ahead to shut down the Hoosiers on their senior night and last regular season home game.
Read Woodson's full transcript, or watch the attached video of the entire press conference.
Q: On how proud Woodson is of the seniors...
MIKE WOODSON: I'm very proud of them. They've been a big piece of the puzzle this year. We knew that coming into the season, so they're going to be missed.
Parker being able to make shots, and Race has just been a workhorse all season long man on the boards and scoring, double-doubles. We're going to miss that.
Q. On Rutgers coming back in the second half...
MIKE WOODSON: Again, he (Jackson-Davis) was beating the double-teams early, and then they just basically sagged and forced us to make shots. We had a lot of good looks tonight, guys. Miller had some good looks. Parker had a bunch of good looks. We just didn't knock them down.
Q. On getting the ball to Thompson...
MIKE WOODSON: A couple times, he had good looks down low. I thought he made a couple moves at the bucket that he just didn't finish as well. But I was just basically using him knowing that they were going to sag to get shots. That was a good way of getting wide open looks, and I thought we got a lot of wide open looks.
Parker missed a big three up two at the top that was huge, but then he comes back and he makes a big three to tie it. So I mean, go figure.
Q. On looking to the bench...
MIKE WOODSON: Again, guys, I went with my senior guys tonight in a critical game, and we fell a little short.
Q. On if Indiana could've handled Ron Harper Jr. better...
MIKE WOODSON: I think our missed cues up top. We came in, I thought early on, when they ran the four-one or four-two pick-and-roll, Race did a good job in stabbing, and we were able to keep the matchup. That's what I was basically trying to do. I thought the first half we played him pretty well.
Second half he got away because we stopped stabbing, and now it's a scramble to get back to him. And he hit a couple threes — one three, a big three that way, and then he hit the big three coming down the stretch to secure it for him.
Q. On drawing confidence from Indiana's win over Purdue...
MIKE WOODSON: Again, we've got to go back and clean up this game tonight and see where we can get better before we actually start thinking about Purdue, which is tomorrow sometime.
So we'll spend the early part of tomorrow cleaning up this game, and then we'll start on Purdue.
Q. On what Woodson left the team with tonight...
MIKE WOODSON: It hurts because you want to win for Race and then Parker. This is a special night for those guys. I remember 43 years ago, man, today playing my last game in this building and winning a Big Ten title. I wanted nothing more for them to at least experience winning on Senior Night, and we fell short.
That's the tough part about tonight. Again, you've got to give Rutgers credit. They've been playing well although they've lost three in a row. They've beaten some good teams in the Big Ten this year.
Q. On where this game puts Indiana heading into postseason...
MIKE WOODSON: Don't know. Again, Purdue is next. If we go down to Purdue and win a big game there, it puts us back in the mix. Again, this is my first go around. I have no idea the selection and all that. We're going to have to win some games probably in the tournament as well, but it's not over. We've got to keep fighting.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- HOOSIERS FALL TO RUTGERS: Once again, favored Indiana let a double-digit lead slip away, and wound up losing to Rutgers 66-63 when Ron Harper Jr. hit a three-pointer with 2 seconds to go in the final regular-season home game of the season at Assembly Hall. CLICK HERE.
- WHAT JACKSON-DAVIS SAID: Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis had a great night against Rutgers putting up 19 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn't enough to stop the Scarlet Knights who won 66-63. Here's what Jackson-Davis had to say in a postgame press conference. Read his transcript, or just watch the attached video. CLICK HERE.
- LIVE BLOG: For the last regular season home game, Indiana hosts Rutgers on Wednesday night. The Hoosiers need this win to feel secure in landing an NCAA tournament berth. Here is tonight's live blog of news sprinkled in with some opinion from the game in real time. CLICK HERE.
- HOW TO WATCH INDIANA VS. RUTGERS: Indiana enters the final home game of the regular season still desperately needing a win over Rutgers to improve their NCAA Tournament resume. It won't be easy, because Indiana has lost four straight games to the Scarlet Knights. CLICK HERE.
