#12 Kyler D'Augustino
Q: After the first five-second call against the Raiders on the inbounds play, what did you say in the huddle afterwards?
KD: "We have to stay composed, keep doing what got us in that position. Keep moving the ball, sharing the ball and eventually we got a good shot which kept our momentum going."
Q: You finished with 31 points, which was another high finishing game for you offensively. What more do you think you could have done defensively personally and overall for the team?
KD: "We could have pressured the ball a little bit more in the first half in the paint. We got shoved around in the first half and should have rebounded more, they got more rebounds as well off of free throws. If as a team we got in there and fought a little harder for those rebounds, we would have probably won the game."
Q: Seeing the team start and finish with a full-court press, was that in the gameplan specially for this team or an every game day plan?
KD: "Yes, I love a full-court press because as a team, I feel like our endurance is better than our opponent, so it was a lot of fun."
#0 Jaxon Edwards
Q: Coming into the game knowing that this team had just beat the previous top team in the league and now leads (the Horizon League), were you surprised at the momentum of the second half?
JE: "No not really, I knew we were going to get a couple of runs going on. I knew that they're missing one of their better players tonight, which meant that their intensity and chemistry wouldn't be the same. Also the fact that they were coming off of three wins, they were already in a groove, so disrupting that was a good feeling for the team going into the second half. The fact that we're last in the conference, I feel like they thought it was going to be an easy win and lower the guard which I feel like is what happened in the first half going into the second."
Q: Going into the second half, the defense and offense escalated significantly. What words of wisdom did coach give you during halftime?
JE: "Really, just to keep getting down the court as fast as possible. I kept telling myself to just keep playing my game and taking my time. A lot of times when I've been in those tough moments, I'll speed myself up. He just told me that, he tells me that a lot actually. The assistants tell me when I get the ball, you're matching the game at that point. Everybody's going to look at you, just relax and take your time."
#7 Finley Woodward
Q: What did the coach tell the team specifically during halftime to motivate you in the second half?
FW: " I think it started with him telling us what we did wrong in the first half. He also said to pick up our intensity, and especially rebounding the basketball."
Q: Was the game plan for the first half to shoot that many three pointers rather than going into the paint and getting rebounds, or were you all matching the tempo of the game as it went?
FW: "We play each game depending on how the teams defend. We also have a lot of capable shooters. I kept telling them to shoot if they were open, especially when we had great ball movement too. Then I think we started cutting them more, so we gained confidence to go into the paint. We began doing a lot more pick-and-rolls in the second half, which helped us close the gap."
Q: You all are a young team with a lot of freshmen and sophomores as well as for the Raiders. Do you feel that the team lacks chemistry or is still progressing and building?
FW: "Yeah, definitely, we are a young team. I feel like a lot of guys just need to get more reps together and hopefully we will find another groove. That will help to get to know how guys play, so we can make fewer mental mistakes and buy into our system as a whole."
Quotes compiled by Hannah Hodge for IUIndyJags.com
