Rutgers Basketball Head Coach Steve Pikiell talks with the media following the win over No. 23 Illinois on Wednesday afternoon inside of Jersey Mike's Arena.
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Coach Pikiell Opening Statements:
“Thank you guys for being here. This was a great game. Illinois is terrific and they have a terrific coach. It was nice to have almost all of our players available to us. These guys (Illinois) were good, but all of our guys chipped in and gave us great minutes. We played well against a team with terrific players.”
Coach Pikiell on Dylan Harper being back:
“Before he got the flu, he was the best guard in the country. We struggled without him at times but found ways to get through it. Ace Bailey did an unbelievable job. To have Dylan (Harper) back, we had his steals, rebounds, assists, points, etc. He does a lot of things for us. But, he helps Ace (Bailey) and Ace (Bailey) helps him. To not have Dylan Harper for the whole month of January made a difference.”
Coach Steve Pikiell on the future of this season:
“We need to stay healthy. We have another ranked team game coming up. All of the teams in our league are good. We will have more winning opportunity if we keep playing this way. We made a bunch of free throws which is huge for us.”
Coach Steve Pikiell on today’s lineup:
“Bryce Dortch has helped us. His activity and the things he can do has helped us. But, Lathan (Sommerville) hit a big runner in the middle lane. Dylan Grant has been getting better and better too. I love to see the new guys grabbing so many rebounds. Our younger guys are getting good. They just have to stay the course.
Coach Steve Pikiell on Dylan Harper’s injury:
“He has had the flu, he has been a bit snake bitten with all of that. Even in the games he played, he was not at full strength. He had a good practice yesterday so that made me feel good.”
Coach Steve Pikiell on offensive performance:
“We made free throws and getting Dylan Harper back opens up a few things for everyone. We have been a good offensive team so far. We have scored a lot of points this year. Whether it be our defense or our rebounds that won us the game. Illinois averages 85 points a game so we held them well below their average and they are a really good team.”
Coach Steve Pikiell on having everyone on the roster back (mostly):
“We have mostly everyone. We are missing Emanuel. He is someone we could have used. It is nice to have our complimenting players here. We can do a lot of things with them and we are getting better.”
Coach Steve Pikiell on concerns of Illinois roster height:
“Being able to make free throws was our strong point. We were in a ton of foul trouble too so we had to fight through a lot of obstacles too. They (Illinois) are a real physical team and pose a lot of problems for a lot of people. They have size, and they have unbelievable rebounders. But, we were in attack mode and it was good to see.”
On Response to Fouls: “ Just getting downhill and being able to make free throws. We were in a ton of foul trouble too so we had to fight through a lot of obstacles. They’re a real physical team (Illinois). They cause a lot of problems for a lot of people. Their bigs can shoot the ball. Johnson is an unbelievable rebounder and they have one of the best point guards in the country.”
Ace Bailey On Rebounding: “I hear it in practice everyday. We got Dylan Harper back so that opens up a lot for me. I don’t have to worry about two or three people boxing me out at the same time so that leaves me to think about rebounding. It also opens up for a lot of my other teammates too. PJ (Hayes) hit the big time three. Lathan (Sommerville) hit the pick and pop. Zach (Martini) had a big time three. It gives us a lot of options in the game. But I was just thinking about rebounding. I hear it everyday.”
Dylan Harper On how he rehabbed his ankle quickly: “The people around me have been helping me like my trainer, Rich. I’m in the treatment room about two or three hours a day just trying to get the ankle back and ready to go for starts like this. Coach Pike having the trust in me knowing I’ve been out for a while with this injury. He just instilled trust in me and helped me be the best player I can be out there.”
On Jeremiah Williams: “He was terrific. He had great energy about him. He was in attack mode. Terrific defense too. They (Illinois) have some hard players to guard and he took it upon himself and he fought through some foul trouble too. He’s had the flu. He’s had it badly. He played in two games where he really couldn’t play. He was in a winter jacket at half time shivering. He couldn’t practice the other day. He said he felt a lot better yesterday so I’m thankful for that. We need him to be like that too. He’s a Veteran guy for us. He had a huge steal at the end too to wrap things up.
On Rutgers Defense: “I watched all the tape of them. They average 86 points per game so they score against everybody. Whenever you have a 7’1 guy that can step out and make threes. We did a really good job on a lot of their players and down the stretch we were able to lock in and execute on offense and get those big stops. It was all about rebounds and we were even with them on the backboards. That was a huge key for us.”
Illinois Coach Underwood Opening Statements:
“I give Rutgers all the credit. They deserve the win, they played much harder and they were much more focused then we were. We did some things well enough to fight back into the game. I thought we did a much better job off the glass after the first 6 minutes. Ended up with 18 offensive rebounds in a game that we were awful in the first 6/7 minutes. I give them credit, we got a few stops late. Couldn’t get a defensive rebound. Very thin once Tommy went down, and we were in foul trouble. Dylan had a nice night. But we got to get to a point where you understand you're not going to win. On the road we can’t put the team on the line 34 times and then turn it over as many times as we turned it over in the first 5 minutes of the game”.
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