HD Video: Zeller, Abell and Ferrell react to win over Iowa

  • 03/02/2013 10:34 pm in

Cody Zeller (22 points, 10 rebounds), Remy Abell (two points) and Yogi Ferrell (19 points, five assists) met with the media following Indiana’s 73-60 win over Iowa on Saturday night at Assembly Hall.

Watch and listen to their comments in the embedded media player below:

Quotes after the jump.

Remy Abell

On how tough it was with the starting and stopping with all of the fouls:

“It was kind of hard with the stopping and going again with the fouls, but we have to continue staying locked in, and like Cody and Yogi said, we have to continue playing (defense). If they’re not scoring then we’re doing our job. Holding a team like Iowa to 14 points (in the first half,) that’s great defense. We’ve just got to continue playing defense and help each other out.”

Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell

On getting to the basket and improving on finishing as the season has gone on:

“I was just pretty much trying to pick my spots in the last game. I definitely missed a lot of layups I could have finished. Tonight I felt I did a better job of taking one more dribble and being more under control.”

On not hitting a 3-point shot until the last minute and if they were aware of that:

“I think we were. We noticed we weren’t really making any shots. We know we’re a good shooting team. We kept shooting them. We were hoping one would go down but if one didn’t, that we needed but I felt like especially getting six three-in-a-row stops in the first half stopped us really. It was pretty much a low scoring game at the beginning. I’d say the defensive tone set us up for the second half.”

On if they learned anything about Iowa from the first time they played them:

“We noticed they’re a very good transition. I feel like people underestimate them and their transition offense. They definitely get the ball out and push. We just wanted to do a better job, especially when we scored, to get back on defense because I remember in the second half when we played at their place they had a lot of inside looks on us and we weren’t getting back. I think it’s a crucial thing is just stops really and just getting down and playing (defense) and we definitely did that better in the first half than the second half. That’s for sure.”

On if there is anything he has worked on to improve his finishing:

“Coach just always talks about, especially driving, just one more dribble. You don’t want to take off too far and kind of get out control. Just when driving take more one dribble to be more in control and just lay it up.”

On being able to move on after losses:

“With a loss, we always have it in the back of our mind, especially watching film with the things we work on. As Coach (Crean) always says, even within the game, just move onto the next play. You can’t do something about the past. You can do something about the future. Coach just says move onto the next game pretty much.”

Cody Zeller

On the physicality of this game:

“The thing that kept us going was our defense. We kept getting stops on the defensive end. We struggled at times on our offense but when you’re getting stops you’re going to win.”

On what they have to do in order to win when the shots aren’t falling:

“It comes eventually. Like I said, when we’re defending they aren’t scoring and we’re still in good shape so that’s when we really start getting behind when we aren’t scoring and getting stops. It doesn’t hurt you as much if you’re defending so we figure they’ll start falling eventually.”

On rebounding:

“I mean me, Christian, and (Victor Oladipo) really all of our guards, even Yogi and Remy, can get in there and get rebounds. Any time you can get an extra possession, whether it’s offensive rebounding or anything like that, you want to take full advantage of it. I thought we did a nice job of that tonight.”

On winning this game pretty much strictly in the paint:

“Really that’s our strategy going into the game. We want to get it in the paint, whether it’s throwing it in the post or driving. That’s where we are most successful, and like you said, we had to do more of that tonight to win.”

On what makes Iowa a tough team:

“They are a tough team. They come out and play hard whether they are up 10 or down 10. They are going to fight you until the end. They have a lot of toughness and they run their stuff well. It’s a good Big Ten team.”

On missing his first four shots and if he felt it was only a matter of time before they started falling:

“I just wanted to be aggressive. I wanted to make those, obviously. I should have made them. We were getting offensive rebounds off of them. It’s still good even if I don’t score and someone else is going to score. That’s our best offense is getting it inside to either me or Christian.”

On the behind-the-back pass from Will Sheehey:

“We used to always do that drill in high school where you would tip from behind. I haven’t used it much but it’s a tribute to Coach Miiller, my high school coach. Will, you know Will, getting fancy with it. It was just a fun play I guess.”

On being able to get to the free throw line 42 times:

“That’s just us being aggressive. We always like getting to the free throw line. It’s a good skill and how aggressive we are being, whether it’s driving or getting it into the post. We got in the bonus early so we were getting all of the one-and-ones and double bonus so that’s always a key for us.”

On how confident they are in winning no matter what the style of play is:

“Like I was saying before, our defense really gets us going. Our defense can be consistent whether are shots are falling or not. It obviously looks a lot better if we are scoring but like you said we can win if it’s a good scoring game just because our defense is playing well.”

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