Tuesday night, Indiana overcame Iowa thanks to a career game from senior Anthony Leal, a clutch three-pointer from rookie Gabe Cupps in the closing seconds, and 23 points and 10 rebounds from an injured Kel’el Ware. Following, Indiana coach Mike Woodson had a meeting with the media.
Tuesday night, Indiana overcame Iowa thanks to a career game from senior Anthony Leal, a clutch three-pointer from rookie Gabe Cupps in the closing seconds, and 23 points and 10 rebounds from an injured Kel’el Ware.
Following, Indiana coach Mike Woodson had a meeting with the media. The video and transcript are available here:
QUESTION. Naturally, you’ve had a lot of strong performances, and we’ll talk more about the injuries to a few of your players later, but I wanted to start with Anthony Leal, who entered off the bench. The threes he gave you, the effort he put forth, and your opinions of his performance today and its level of impact?
MIKE WOODSON: I gave him the game ball after the game. He had 13 points and 7 rebounds, and I felt he was huge. I mean, he had his ass defended. Since I thought he played well in the Illinois game, it was a good carry-over. We chose him to play him early because of this, and it was kind of wonderful that he answered on our behalf.
Q. Kel’el came back. Could you discuss his influence on the squad, both on the court and emotionally? It appeared that he was playing a little injured himself. What does that indicate for him to overcome this game’s early obstacles?
WOODSON: We desperately needed him back. Man, these kinds of games are huge for our ball team. 23 and 10 and three blocks are his total. We missed his length and shot-blocking prowess. Simply put, we lacked it. It was good to see him return. For our ball club tonight, he was fantastic. And ever since I’ve been here, we haven’t defeated this team. This ball club is kind of Fran’s to run. They always have good coaching, and they pursue you. However, I believe that as the game was coming to a close, we persevered and executed the necessary plays to win.
Q. Is there any news at all on X or Malik? And second, what does it say about your team that they saw you go down with injuries that appeared to be serious, losing a few starters and a few players who they would have looked to in a close game, but you still managed to persevere?
WOODSON: I salute our group. Ever since coming here, I’ve always said that the next man up. At this point, I’m not sure how serious X and Malik are. But they both kind of hurt themselves out. When I return there, I’ll check in here to see how that turns out. However, we are forced to wait on them if we must. Still, he’s the next man up. All we need to do is prepare the next man to play. At the end of the day, winning basketball games is what matters, so the players who have been sitting over there and haven’t played much need to step up and help us do that.
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