MINNESOTA (16-8, 5-6 Big Ten) 66, INDIANA (14-9, 4-6 Big Ten) 60

Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino

Opening Statement…
“Great job of “walling up” a couple possessions. Defensively I thought we played tremendous, I thought that’s what won us the game. We turned them over, not just on the press but in the half court and I give a lot of credit to my staff. They did a great job of scouting. We sniffed out a lot of their actions. More than anything the most impressive thing about DeAndre Mathieu was, he misses the shot versus Northwestern, he misses the shot versus Purdue and he comes back with this fearlessness and hits a huge shot that basically won the game. Very, very proud of our guys, that was a great team win.

On that last sequence with DeAndre making the shot and getting rebound on defensive end…
“He put us up four; it was huge. It was a two point game, we made a silly turnover and should have called a timeout; I made a mistake there. Then DeAndre makes an unbelievable move to get to the rim. It was a tough move against a very good defender and then he comes in traffic and gets a big time rebound. It just shows the type of heart he has. He’s 5’9”, 160 but he believes he’s about 6’8”, 230.”

On Mo Walker and his ability to score…
“Mo was really good offensively, but Elliott was great defensively as well. That was kind of that two-headed monster we wanted. Mo is settling in to be one of the tougher guys to guard on the block in this conference. He’s a tough out, (shooting) 7-11, he’s so big and wide and has great confidence right now.”


 
 
 

On evolving game plan from the outside to more of an inside presence…
“It’s changed and evolved since the Wisconsin game into more of a low-post threat. He (Walker) gives us great confidence. We’re looking for him more. Especially with Andre Hollins not healthy enough just yet, we need to go inside. We’re too easy to guard with Andre not at 100 percent. They (Walker and Eliason) give us great confidence. Joey King is starting to get great confidence on the low block as well.”
Minnesota Player Quotes

Junior Guard Andre Hollins
On playing well down the stretch…

“We are one of those teams who learn from our mistakes. After a bad game, we will come back and practice hard the next day…I think our hard work showed today.”

On coming out strong after halftime…
“We always talk about fixing our mistakes. ...We talk and work things out with the coaches and our defense really played great in the second half. We were able to contain the parts of their game that really make their offense run.”

Junior Center Maurice Walker
On playing with confidence…
"We just need to play hard and control the other team off the dribble and away from rebounds. If we are able to execute our game plan, like we did in the second half, good things will happen.”

On attacking the Indiana defense in the post…
"I have a big body and I have to take advantage of that as much as possible. …I just kept going after it and the shots were falling. I got a few dunks and that really built some confidence.”

Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean

On the difference between the first and second half
“We competed the entire game. I think looking for a difference between the two halves would not be telling the whole story. (The game) was nip-and-tuck. You knew Minnesota would make a run. We still shot in the mid-40 percent for the second half. We had some turnovers in the second half and we had some awareness issues at the end of possessions.”

On not fouling when the Gophers had the ball late in the game
“We wanted to play it out. There was enough time. We wanted to trust the defense on that play. We wanted to get into the zone. The bottom line is (DeAndre Mathieu) is one of the quickest guards in the country and he is that much faster when you reach. You have to do everything possible to keep the ball in front of you. (Minnesota) went small. I would not change the call. You have to keep that kid in front of you.”

On the play of Troy Williams and Jeremy Hollowell
“They have had a great week. They are getting better all the time. The bottom line is they are very competitive. We are trying to improve and we work very hard at it. (Stanford Robinson) did not have a great night, but he is a guy who found a gym on the sixth floor of our hotel. He was there last night and he was there before the game. Our guys want it. I have no trouble with their competitiveness.”