VIDEO: Here's What Trayce Jackson-Davis Said After Indiana's Loss to Maryland
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 18 points and 20 rebounds, but Indiana's five-game winning streak came to an end with a 66-55 loss on Tuesday at Maryland.
Here's what Jackson-Davis said after the game.
QUESTION: Not that you guys haven't seen zone this year, but it feels like Minnesota and Maryland almost slowed you guys down offensively and didn't let you find a rhythm against it. What's been different the last couple times when opponents really go zone-heavy against your offense?
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: I just think the biggest thing for us is we've just got to hit shots. It's the same 2-3 zone that we played against Iowa and scored almost 90 points against, so we've just got to hit shots. Tonight we weren't hitting them. I think they were more physical with us, got us off our rhythm and that was big. So at the end of the day, we have another game on Saturday, but it hurts. They shot a lot of free throws. I think we were fouling too much, but we have to move on to the next one.
Q: In some of the lower-possession games, the opponents' free throw numbers have gotten up there into the 20s. Is it how games are getting called? Is that you guys need to defend more without fouling? What do you see?
JACKSON-DAVIS: I'm never one to blame the officials. I think sometimes we grab and hold too much, and I think we let them get into the bonus too quickly, so that's really big for us. They're in the bonus with about 14 minutes left, and that's going to cause a lot of free throws regardless, so just playing without fouling is key moving forward.
Q: I'm not looking for anything controversial here, but as a senior and as a captain, when you're in a game like that where it feels like the fouls are piling up a little bit, do you try to have a conversation with the officials and say, 'What are were doing? What can we change? How can we adjust?'
JACKSON-DAVIS: I don't really talk to the officials about it, but I just talk to our guys because if I see it, I'll tell them to stop grabbing or stop holding on the cuts because they're calling it. We like playing physical, we like getting up into guys, but we still got to be able to be smart and make the right play.
Q: What do you say to Jalen [Hood-Schifino] after a game like this when he's been really good all year but struggled tonight to get shots to fall?
JACKSON-DAVIS: Obviously, you've just got to learn from your mistakes, but at the same time he's been one of our rocks this year. He's been a great, great guard, especially just being a freshman. So we've got to put this behind us because we've got a big game Saturday, and we're going to need him to step up.
Q: 55 points, obviously you guys have had a lot better success than that. What do you feel the issues were offensively tonight?
JACKSON-DAVIS: I just feel like in our win streak that we were in, we were hitting shots and I feel like just tonight they weren't dropping. We just can't dwell on it. We've got to get back in the gym and just get them up and get ready for the next one.
Q: Do you feel like a lot of those missed shots were kind of forced bad looks by Maryland's defense, or just what was kind of leading to all of that?
JACKSON-DAVIS: I think it was a little bit of both. I think sometimes we were rushing a little bit coming off of screens, instead of making one more pass we're shooting contested jumpers. Then sometimes we had open shots and we just weren't shooting them. I remember a few pump fakes by Miller that I thought he could have got up, but at the same time I trust him to make the right play, so if he doesn't feel like he was open, that's him. I just feel like overall, just wasn't our night and we just got to brush it off.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- GAME STORY: Indiana freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino had a rough night, going just 1-for-14 from the field and missing his first 11 shots in a 66-55 loss to Maryland in College Park. The points total was the second-lowest of the year and snapped the Hoosiers' five-game winning streak. CLICK HERE
- WHAT WOODSON SAID: Indiana coach Mike Woodson met with the media after Tuesday night's loss to Maryland. Here's the full video of his press conference, plus the transcript to read. CLICK HERE
- LIVE BLOG: Welcome to our live blog, where you can relive all the action between Indiana and Maryland in real time live from press row at the Xfinity Center. CLICK HERE
- WATCH RACE THOMPSON BLOCK: Maryland point guard Jahmir Young leapt to dunk the ball in transition, but Race Thompson met him at the rim and rejected the shot. Watch it here. CLICK HERE
