TKR TV: Rutgers Basketball HC Steve Pikiell talks Indiana postgame
Rutgers Basketball HC Steve Pikiell talks with the media following the program's 66-57 win over Indiana inside of Jersey Mike's Arena on Tuesday night.
Opening Statements
“Thank you guys for coming, our crowd was awesome and I appreciate everyone who came. I’m happy for our guys, Indiana is a really good team with a really good coach and talent at every position. We were connected today and we were healthy today. Mawot [Mag] keeps getting better and better and Austin’s [Williams] knee is better, we had some good practices from them. We played great defense, we outrebounded a really tall team. We can enjoy this win for one day but now we are onto Michigan State. This team has really fought through stuff and were really active today”.
On Austin Williams’ performance
“Austin has been playing great and he’s been practicing well. He really has earned the position. You see what he can do rebounding wise and finishing at the rim. Steals and defensively too, you see what he can do against Big Ten competition. I loved our bench today too, though. We have a lot of starters and I try not to get too caught up in that”.
On Big Ten standings
“This was a great win. Playing in this league was tough and we tend to go on winning and losing streaks. We played Illinois who was ranked seventh and we went on the road against Ohio State. We’re getting healthy and really figuring everything out. It was really great to be at home too. This team has a ton of size and ability to be on draft boards. Now we head to Michigan State, one of the toughest places to play. We have a lot of season left”.
On defense performance
“We had 19 offensive rebounds, our defense has been doing a really good job. This team has been scoring a lot of points, especially in the paint. We have 2 big guys that average around 30-35 points a game every night, and as for the 19 turnovers, we’re leading the league in forcing turnovers, we have to finish on some of those but we’re getting better. I like the defensive effort. Our defense has been pretty solid all year, we have to finish more lay-ups; that’s been an issue for us. But, tonight we did a pretty good job and we made free throws down the stretch too”.
On Rebounds
“I think there's a couple things we’ve learned from our issues, we’ve emphasized this in practice. These guys have taken it upon themselves. Our guards are rebounding, if you look at our guard numbers, Austin, J Mike, it's very important because its team rebound. It’s not just Cliff although Cliff has 800 rebounds, he's moving up in 7th place and pretty soon he’ll be top 4 or 5. So, Cliff is a guy we depend on in the 5 block shots too. But as a team, we’ve done a better job collectively rebounding, we’ve out-rebounded all of our big 10 opponents in the last 3 games, so it’s a good trend for us moving forward.”
On Emmanuel’s return:
“He’s close. There’s no longer coaches' decisions on injuries, but he’s getting close. He’s practicing, I like it.”
On Gavin’s playing time:
“Gavin’s going to be terrific. Freshmen go through a lot of different things. He’s going to be terrific. But these guys played really well. When you look at who didn’t play, these guys played really well, so they played minutes and he will have his turn too. He’s doing a real good job. He works hard, he watches film, I’m real proud of him.
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