What Mike Woodson Said After Indiana's 79-59 Loss at Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Indiana and Purdue renewed their in-state rivalry Saturday night at Mackey Arena, and the Boilermakers proved why they're ranked No. 2 in the nation.
After a back-and-forth start, Purdue dominated most of the final 30 minutes of the game on its way to a 79-59 win over Indiana. Zach Edey finished with 26 points, and Braden Smith had 19.
Here's everything Indiana coach Mike Woodson said after the loss.
On the reasons for multiple 20-point losses this year, what needs to be fixed for future seasons...
Woodson: "Well, we've got to continue to work and build with our team. I mean, we're a very young team when it comes to those two teams, UConn and Purdue. Not having X, that hurts because it puts a lot of pressure on Gabe to get some things done, and I thought he played okay tonight. But I thought the difference was Smith and the big fella for them."
On how the team can learn to defend through stretches where shots aren't falling...
Woodson: "We just got to continue to grow as a team, and we're going to have to add some pieces. But the season's not over with guys, we still have seven more games I believe to go and anything can happen. We have four of those seven at home, which we got to take care of our home court. We've got to win at home and then we got three games out on the road that we got to go and win. It's just that simple. So I mean, we're still in the thick of things. We're in the middle of the pack. This was a tough game tonight because you're out on the road playing the No. 2 team in a hostile environment. I thought we played well early. And from the 15, 10 minute mark going into the half, we just couldn't score, we threw the ball away and that gave them the cushion going into halftime. Then we were so awful coming out the second half, couldn't make shots and they capitalized on it."
On if the team was rattled at the start of the second half...
Woodson: "No, I wouldn't call it rattled. You've got to make shots, and we threw the ball away, had some turnovers. I thought Malik tonight, he just wasn't Malik and they had a lot to do with that from a defensive standpoint. I think he was trying to do it himself and just looked out of character. He's been pretty solid for us this season, but tonight it just wasn't his night."
On his level of frustration over the variance between the team's performance at Ohio State and its loss at Purdue...
Woodson: "I don't think it's something – I'm not frustrated. I mean, we have a young team that's still trying to figure each other out. Not having X has been huge for this team. A point guard, a senior point guard that can help lead, so that's been missing. But for the most part, we had fault this season in spurts. We haven't been able to just put 40-minute ballgames together like we have in the past. And that's been some of the frustration. But again, for me as a coach, I've just got to continue to teach. We've got to continue to work and put the guys in the best position possible to win, and tonight was just not our tonight. You've got to give Purdue credit, they're a pretty damn good team."
On what worked early on offense and why that didn't continue...
Woodson: "Ball movement. It's great when you run offense and you make shots. That cures a lot of problems. But when you start missing them, it puts so much heat on your defense to get stops and rebound the ball. With them having the big fella inside, it cost us again early because we picked up a couple fouls on Ware where he had to sit down. I thought he played [Edey] well. I thought Ware played a hell of a game tonight considering he didn't get to play much in Bloomington against him. That was promising."
On the catalyst for what has made Purdue so successful...
Woodson: "Well, I thought our team the last two years was right there. I think we beat Purdue the last three out of four outings prior to this season. So I thought our team was pretty special last season and the season before. So [Purdue has] grown together. We revamped our team this summer with 10 new faces on our ball club and we're young. I'm not using that as an excuse. I still expect to win, but it's kind of caught us a little bit. But we've still got a lot of basketball still left."
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- IU-PURDUE GAME STORY: Coach Matt Painter and the Purdue Boilermakers showed why they're the No. 2 team in the country and a legitimate national title contender, blowing out Indiana 79-59 behind 26 points from Zach Edey. Indiana leading scorer Malik Reneau fouled out with 7:09 left, and Indiana scored its third-fewest points of the season. CLICK HERE
