Post-game press conference notes

[lou v]

Mark Turgeon

Obvously, I'm proud of my team tonight...Our ball-screen defense on McIntosh, which is hard to do, was tremendous...

On Melo Trimble: Melo is a great player, and he showed it tonight...I just told Melo to play with confidence...He's gotta be borderline cocky out there...

Creating Melo opportunities: We were just trying to run our system and it was pretty obvious he had another gear tonight. He looked fast...We ran the same system, but our guys are smart enough to know that Melo was feeling it tonight...I thought we screened better.

NU's defense: Their defense the first 10 minutes were great...Told my guys to keep doing it (going to the rim)...We're pretty guard when everybody's shooting.

McIntosh: He's still a great player...He didn't score the way he wanted, but he got his guys layups.

NU buzz coming into the game: How about this (media) room? It's a little different than the last time I was here.

11-1 on the road (counting neutral): I don't know...Didn't play well and beat Georgetown, and it just kinda carried over...Our guys have felt really comfortable on the road...We've got some guys that are tough mentally.

Collins at NU: They're winning now, but it started with recruiting when he got the job. We're lucky Lindsey didn't play...The development of those guys from last year to this year is amazing...Going to be a great story moving into March. They should be an NCAA tournament team.

Brown: He's good. I told my guys that this is one confident kid...this kid's got some confidence...He made a lot of big plays for him, and he's really good defensively too.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

Nasty shooting all day!

 

[lou v]

Chris Collins

Tough loss for us...I thought Trimble was fantastic...We just couldn't get anything doing...I thought we were a step slow with everything tonight...They were really good, they beat us, they deserved to win.

Lindsey: No excuses, but he averages 16 points a game...We're not capable of throwing up 75-80 points. We have to win games 65-60...Maryland is a potent offensive team...We just couldn't put it in the basket. Against a really good team, you're not going to be able to get away with that.

Trimble rolling: He hasn't been shooting as well from 3...You gotta do a good job of staying between him and the basket...He was able to get layups...Sometimes a really good player is going to have a night like that.

Rally late: Crowd was great tonight...I could feel that the crowd really wanted to get into the game...We're gonna fight, we're gonna compete...We're not gonna lay down...Isiah gave us a big lift tonight...BMac and Law have been playing a lot of minutes.

Hangover from Wisconsin game? I don't think so...We moved on...Just tonight we were a little bit slow...On rotations sometimes, missing shots...We were a little big slower to the ball than we normally are...Our margin is small. We have to be sharp, we have to be good on both ends.

Rutgers next: They played a lot of games really close...Our guys know that these guys are tough.

Brown: I thought he was confident tonight...We needed him to be aggressive, we needed him to attack.

 

[lou v]

Vic Law

What changed after getting down 20 and rallying: When you're a good team, you never quit on a game...Every time we made a run, (Trimble) would make a 3 or a basket to cut it.

Facing a tough team: They're deep, they're good, they're super-aggressive...They can put you in a hole like they put us in.

Tired after playing 40 vs. Wisconsin: Everyone's tired at this point of the season...I'm pretty sure Trimble plays 35-40 minutes a game...I don't want to make excuses that fatigue was the reason.

What miss about Scottie: Little more balance on the floor offensively...Teams have to play us more honestly...Don't have to play as much 1-on-1...He allows us to play more aggressively defensively with his length.

Guarding Trimble: I couldn've guarded him a lot better...Early I did a good job keeping him out of the lane...Later I let him go, I got tired...It was hard for Dererk to make decision to come out on Trimble or stay on his man.

 

[lou v]

Isiah Brown

Coming off bench again: My main focus anytime I'm out there make a positive contribution...(Once again, it's really hard to hear him.)

Have to rely on D without Scottie: Scottie is a big part of our defense, as well...We miss him on offense, but we miss him on defense, too...Lose a guy that scores 15-20 points per game, that's going to change your team.

Top 25 teams two games in a row: It's the Big Ten. That's the normal when you play in this conference...We get another opportunity to (defend our home court) on Saturday.

Rally from 20 down: It's gut check time...We got some defensive stops, got some transition baskets...We're not going to quit...Tonight we fell a little short but I was proud of the way we fought back.