Indiana State vs. Louisville Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach Chris Mack

(Opening Statement) "Really pleased with our response from Sunday. I thought we played a pretty complete game. Coming into the game, I felt that Indiana State's guards, mainly (Tyreke) Key and (Jordan) Barnes, really attack the lane. They get in the paint and make guys better. Their front court is awfully new for the most part. But those two, along with Christian Williams, in terms of what they did at Dayton was really impressive. And I thought we did a pretty good job on those guys for most of the game. I know Key ended up getting 20 and he shot a pretty decent percentage. A couple of them were deep, deep bombs. You can't cover everything. We just wanted to keep the ball out of the lane. I thought our big guys did a great job hedging ball screens and keeping that lane as clean as we have all year. Really pleased with our rebounding difference. To double them on the glass, despite how we shot from the floor offensively. We still grabbed a bunch of offensive rebounds. This was really good progress I think from the Youngstown State game until today."

(About improved rebounding) "It's just one game. And I thought our effort was much greater tonight on both ends of the floor. I don't think we had anybody leaking out like we did against Youngstown. I thought our guys were battling for some. There were a couple car crashes underneath because guys were going hard after the ball. And that's who we have to be. Complete teams do that. To give up as many offensive rebounds as we did the last two games, I'm just not used to seeing that. We've got a lot of fifth-year seniors on the floor and guys that've been in the weight room. It's just a matter of carving out that position and out-toughing your opponent for the ball."

(About the poise that the freshmen showed in the closing minutes) "Much better. We talked about it the last 'four minute war' in the huddle. Specifically, I think we were up 27 at Miami when they went in with under four minutes to go. And it was what it was. And then tonight we were up 28, ironically, when all of them were in there with Fresh (Kimble). And we win that last war by one. We weren't perfect. We weren't great in transition defense, but I thought our freshmen gave much better effort. They didn't play the score. And that's some growth for them."
(About what led to Fresh Kimble's game getting more comfortable) "He is a good player I think it's just a matter of him getting more games under his belt, learning his teammates, and learning what his coaches are asking of him. He is a good player and I think that everybody remembers the last 15 or 20 games at CC (Christen Cunningham) here were some moments where he did not play very well early on and especially in practice. Fresh is coming along just fine. I thought his defense was outstanding. Not just on the ball but covering for teammates and closing driving lanes. I can't say enough good things about Fresh tonight. I'm happy for him."

(About Indiana State making it it an 11-point game. What happened to open it back up?) "We had a TV timeout and I told those guys that I can't lose my cool. I lost my cool and I think they were losing their cool a little bit. Just to take a deep breath and gain the momentum back with our play and not worry about some of the outrageous things that were happening out of our control."

(About getting good looks and knocking them down making UofL difficult to defend) "We can get so much better offensively. A good offense isn't when shots go in, but it's what shots you are creating. Sometimes you can run a play just like you drew it up guys can screen, execute, and get the best look for the guy who has a hot hand. The ball can still go in and out. The rebound goes to the wrong side of the floor even though you have three guys in great offensive rebounding position. I don't want our team to think that everything is fine on the offensive end. I think we have to share the ball a little bit more and get a little bit more patient. Sometimes when the ball just keeps going in guys get a little antsy. We have a very unselfish group and we have a together group. We have to get a group who really understands our best offense is going to be when we are a little bit more patient."

(About Ryan McMahon shooting and making good passes for easy buckets) "I'm going to miss that kid. He is a game-changer. I had a kid like that when I was at Xavier, Brad Redford, where if he shoots the ball you feel like it's just three more points right there when it goes up. As I said here in the beginning of the season, what he really has done is he has grown off that shot and being able to get his guy in the air and create for his teammates. He is making better decisions with the ball in his hands. I think he is doing well with what he can defensively. He did a great job tonight on that end."

(About being dialed in and step on the gas. Was that a concern coming into this game) "I'm still concerned about that every time we step on the floor. Practice, games, I mean it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter who you play, you get one opportunity. We always talk about no regrets when you're back in the dorm at 11 that night. No regrets when you look back. No, I wish I done this, when you had the opportunity to when the clock has 20 minutes on it, and we start the game. That onus are on the first five on the floor and whoever comes into the game must pick up that energy. We talked a lot about that. We must have unmatched energy when we hit the floor and I really felt as if our guys were dialed in tonight ready to go."

(Third straight game with 21 or more for Jordan Nwora, does he seem more aggressive this year?)
"We need him to be aggressive, we need our team to be aggressive. We need to get that ball into the lane and not just settle. I think Jordan is really letting the game come to him. He is a prolific scorer. Maybe if he played for a different coach, he would average 30, 35 points per game. But the best players allow their teams and help their teams win. I know he believes in that. He has become a different guy on the defensive floor, and if he continues that, we are going to be a tough out."

(About Dwayne Sutton getting a double double) "He's a warrior. When he has nights like tonight, we're difficult to contend with. When Dwayne (Sutton) has a night where statistically he doesn't really post. We miss it. Seeing him drive the lane, come up with those rebounds where there are three blue shirts, in this case tonight, around him. When he comes up with it and draws a foul, I'm use to those type of things from Dwayne. The more we get of that, the harder we are going to be to contend with."

(On Samuell Williamson's play after getting four assists tonight) "Sam really knows how to play the game on offense. He's really learning on defense. I thought he did a great job of fronting post players tonight. Keeping the ball out of the lane better than he has all year. He will continue to grow in that area. Offensively, you see him curling and making some high arcing shots off the glass, floaters. He's got a wide array of offensive moves and touch. He's fun to coach."

(About the signees from today) "Yeah I'm going put out a statement I think on Thursday or Friday. But we're excited about all three of those guys. You got J.J. Traynor, a local guy here. Obviously his dad played at Louisville. Kids really come a long way. A long way. A meteoric rise and he needs some weight and some strength and I got a guy who could help him with that here. He's got a chance to be a special player. D'andre Davis, a kid out of Indianapolis at Lawrence Central where Kyle Guy went. He's a winner. He's a lot like Dwayne Sutton. He's maybe not the quickest, the tallest, the best jumper. But he really knows how to play and he does it inside and out. Really versatile and comes from a great family. Then obviously the home town guy Jay Scrubb, who I was recruiting when I was at Trinity. He needed to do a better job in the classroom and that's what he is at John Logan for. He's one of the premier junior college players in the country and he's awfully excited to wear that Louisville Cardinal jersey."

Indiana State Head Coach Greg Lansing
(On the team getting stops tonight) "I'm giving them all the credit. I don't think we were near resilient enough and they got right in the flow really quick. I think they made their first six threes, but they were ready to go. They're a very good basketball team with no weaknesses and they're very well coached and they came out and played well. I thought we'd fight them a little harder there to start. We let them get comfortable right away. We fought them a little harder in the second half. We wanted to take away threes and not give them second shots and they dominated the first half in both of those things."

(On changing up the lineup) "Yeah, it's nothing against Bronson (Kessinger). We just wanted to be a little bit smaller. Try and spread the floor on them a little bit. De'Avion (Washington) is a physical and hardworking kid and just switched it up there a little bit. So, it was nothing against Bronson not starting. There's nothing he wasn't doing, it's just kind of a different way for them to guard that matchup to us."

(On cutting the lead to seven) "We cut the game down into four-minute segments and we want to hold teams to seven and below. I think they had 18 in the first five minutes. We had a few of those four-minute segments where we held them to seven and below and that gives you a chance to get in the game. We're usually going to score. We didn't shoot it very well. I thought we missed some open shots tonight. We only turned it over 11 times but they're very good. They can score the basketball in a lot of different ways and come at you in a lot of different ways. They did that very well tonight."

(How do you try and pick your poison against a team that throws that much at you?) "Give (Jordan) Nwora a lot of attention obviously, because he is really talented and can score in so many ways but, they beat us off the dribble. McMahon with the catch and shoot three from deep. They are throwing the ball into the post and those guys are a load to go in there and score. A very physical, they are a very physically imposing when you watch them on film and on TV, close-up they are much more physically imposing than they look on TV. They are good, they are the real deal, no question."

(How many takeaways from this game can you take into the rest of the season?) "We've got to get a lot better. We've got to quit talking about we need to get better defensively, it's a mindset like (Dwayne) Sutton has. That dude comes out, he may not be able to make a bunch of 3s or be great off the drive or be real flashy but, that is a workhorse that's all about defending and rebounding. We've got to get some guys with that kind of mindset."

(On UofL's defense) "They pack it in there pretty good. They do a good job and they fight the dribble. We are pretty good at beating people off the dribble and that gets their defense scrambling. They got really good on the ball defenders that fight that and are very physical. I thought they were very physical and it hurt us."

(On the play of Tyreke Key tonight) "Everybody was a little bit off in the first half. It wasn't just defensively. We were off and I thought them hitting those big shots affected us and got a little more tentative on the offensive end. Tyreke is a good basketball player and I think they'd tell you he's a pretty tough matchup to guard. We need the other guys to step up. I know Jordan Barnes didn't shoot very good and he had some open three's but, we've still got to play inside out."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Christen Cunningham

Ryan McMahon

Jordan Nwora

Dwayne Sutton

Samuell Williamson

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