Opening Statement: “Great game. Great environment. Great if you weren’t coaching the game. They play really hard. I have to give Illinois credit. They made a few more plays. I love the way my team fought. It was a great college basketball game; we just came up a little bit short.
On the matchup defensively: “Giorigi was good, obviously, a career night. We tried a lot of different guys on him too. I like their whole team. They have a lot of different options. I thought we did a good job on their guards. Their guards have been killing people. Obviously our defense needs to be better against a team like that. We’re young too, so for us to score that many points, we did some good things. That’s a real difficult matchup.”
On the pace of the game: “I thought the game was up-and down. They’re good defensively, but we scored a lot of points. They played a few good segments, we played a few good segments. They play very different than anyone else. So there was a lot more possessions in this game. You really have to take every one and make the most of it.”
On the team’s offense: “I thought we were in attack mode all day. We made a lot of tough shots. They did too. This game just came down to a couple of tough ones. They made a couple down the stretch and we didn’t. But I thought we did a good job taking care of the ball that forces a lot of turnovers. They were just a few points better.”
Illinois Head Coach Brad Underwood
“I give a lot of credit to Coach Pikiell and his staff for the team they’ve put together. They’re tough and they are physical. I didn’t expect this high scoring a game because of how good they are defensively. Their young guards are really talented. They are well coached. You know when you play Rutgers that it is going to be a tough, physical game.
On the matchup defensively: “Giorigi was good, obviously, a career night. We tried a lot of different guys on him too. I like their whole team. They have a lot of different options. I thought we did a good job on their guards. Their guards have been killing people. Obviously our defense needs to be better against a team like that. We’re young too, so for us to score that many points, we did some good things. That’s a real difficult matchup.”
On the pace of the game: “I thought the game was up-and down. They’re good defensively, but we scored a lot of points. They played a few good segments, we played a few good segments. They play very different than anyone else. So there was a lot more possessions in this game. You really have to take every one and make the most of it.”
On the team’s offense: “I thought we were in attack mode all day. We made a lot of tough shots. They did too. This game just came down to a couple of tough ones. They made a couple down the stretch and we didn’t. But I thought we did a good job taking care of the ball that forces a lot of turnovers. They were just a few points better.”
Illinois Head Coach Brad Underwood
“I give a lot of credit to Coach Pikiell and his staff for the team they’ve put together. They’re tough and they are physical. I didn’t expect this high scoring a game because of how good they are defensively. Their young guards are really talented. They are well coached. You know when you play Rutgers that it is going to be a tough, physical game.
