CHAMPAIGN, Illinois — Illinois coach Brad Underwood met with local media on Wednesday to provide an outlook on his team’s upcoming home game against Indiana on Thursday.
Illinois goes into the matchup on a four-game winning streak, while Indiana ended a three-game losing streak with a 63-45 win over Wisconsin on Saturday. Underwood discussed everything from guarding Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino to what motivated the Illini for this duel and his experience coaching Lou Henson and Bob Knight in this rivalry match.
Here’s what Underwood said ahead of Thursday’s tip at 8:30 p.m. ET.
On Illinois’ matchup vs. Indiana…
undergrowth: We did a much better job on the boards [against Minnesota], and that will be huge for tomorrow night’s game. The Hoosiers are doing a great job with offensive rebounding. But it goes to Indiana with another pretty quick twist, but that’s the norm in this year’s Big Ten with the condensed calendar. So Indiana obviously chose to win the league. You had a little year with ups and downs. They have the best player in the league, voted in Trayce last season [Jackson-Davis]. He’s having a phenomenal year. Any time you get 24 rebounds in a game is quite a dominant feat. We all know his athleticism. then [Jalen Hood-Schifino] The freshman is having perhaps as good a year as any freshman, not just in the Big Ten but in the country. There are some veterans, obviously Miller Kopp has been in the league for a while, an excellent shot. So we have to play extremely well. A team that protects the rim extremely well, does a great job blocking shots, and a team that can cause you some trouble every time you have Trayce at the post. So we have to be dialed in. We’ve got to keep them off the glass, keep them out of the transition, and it’s going to be another tough Big Ten game.
On a potential Bank of Illinois advantage due to Indiana’s injuries…
undergrowth: I don’t, I didn’t look at it that way. I like our bench against anyone. That’s one of the things that we’ve proven to be productive. It doesn’t always show up in points – Jayden [Epps] offers that, RJ [Melendez] offers that – but it can be an extra defensive stopper mentality, some toughness, some grit. I like our bank. We were very solid.
On Indiana’s strength in scoring in color…
undergrowth: A lot. If I had Trayce I would throw the ball to him too. Yes, I mean, Trayce is a very selfless player. He has evolved into an elite passerby. You choose your poison with him. Trayce is very good at getting a rebound and transitioning it. Again, it’s an offensive rebounding team, you get points the color of offensive rebounds. [Jordan] geronimo, [Malik] Reneau, all these guys do a great job on the glass, so lots of points in the paint and it all starts with Trayce.
Playing Indiana without Race Thompson…
undergrowth: Obviously Race is a good player and he’s older than dirt. He’s a guy who’s already there. He’s played in a lot of games and you know, he’s a guy who worked really hard on his game. He stepped out and did 3s, and early in his career he didn’t have to be guarded out there. That forms a pretty good high-low tandem with him and Trayce. But yes, you lose a veteran, you lose so much experience and so many games, it’s a loss for him.
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On the balance between guarding Trayce Jackson-Davis and not disclosing other Hoosiers…
undergrowth: We do what we do. We do what we do. I think we realized that we’re not – we’re going to do what we do. Obviously he’s a good player. We’ll have some boys. He will collect some points. You’re not going to shut him out, and you need to make things as difficult as possible. But you can’t give him the easy ones. You can’t give him the transition run out dunks. You can’t give him the second chance points. These are the things you must try to eliminate as best you can.
On the challenge for Dain Dainja against Trayce Jackson-Davis…
undergrowth: It’s every night in this league. It’s not just Trayce. You’re talking about two nights ago, a McDonald’s All-American in Dawson Garcia. You’re talking about the three-headed monster that is Michigan State. You’re talking about Wisconsin’s boys. It doesn’t matter, it’s just the next one up. This one happens to be very athletic and a four-year-old starter. His athleticism is unique. He jumps off the ground extremely quickly. His second vault is perhaps as good as any in college basketball, so he needs to guard it without fouling and complicate his opportunities.
About Chester Frazier and the Indiana rivalry…
undergrowth: Chester has the unique advantage of playing in it. But I think they are two great programs. It’s a two story program and I know I used to watch Lou as a kid [Henson] and Bobbi [Knight] go on it That was fun. To have such a history and tradition, both of our fanbases are extremely passionate, they’re awesome. For me, college basketball is fun.
On the education of younger players and transfers on the history and rivalry between Illinois and Indiana…
undergrowth: I think for them try to keep it just one more game. But they know our fans. They’re not keeping gamers and kids off social media today, so they’re embracing that. They know they know Indiana was picked before them and they know Indiana is good. But it’s one of those 20 nights where we have to play and perform and try to get better that night.
On using preseason predictions as a motivational tactic…
undergrowth: It’s the first time I’ve talked about it all year because they were picked to win the league. you are good They are one of the oldest teams in the country. They got back more than 90 percent of their points and we have none or very little. They were picked for a reason and we don’t smack our boys with that, but it’s something that it’s the respect that everyone knows where they were picked.
On defending Trayce Jackson-Davis without fouling…
undergrowth: Sure, it won’t be just one guy guarding him. You have to guard him without fouling. That’s one of the disappointing things we did in the last game. I think we had six shots, six holds, which is totally inappropriate. We have to get out of there, it’s bad. Fouls are defensive mistakes. We had three where we were in a circle in an arc and we didn’t jump. We only tucked one hip. You can’t make these games and you have to create teams and get players to throw the ball in the basket without fouling. So we have to prevent the fouling.
Given the positive results of Illinois’ four-game winning streak, he’s looking to continue…
undergrowth: We must keep watch. defense wins. We didn’t turn the ball that often. We were very picky when choosing our seats in the transitional period. I think that was a help, but I think we’ve started to stack longer periods of good play together and we want to see that continue. We didn’t have the drops where we went to our bench and or we substituted this guy or that guy or we had nasty problems. Whatever the case, we avoided it and that was a big part of what allowed us to keep growing.”
- HOW TO SEE INDIANA ILLINOIS: Indiana Basketball (11-6, 2-4) battles Illinois Fighting Illini (13-5, 4-3) Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. Times and TV info, three leading story arcs, the latest on scoring, the coaching matchup, series history and more. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA SEEKS FIRST BIG TEN ROAD WIN: Indiana basketball has not won a game outside of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall since November 20. The Hoosiers are 0-3 in Big Ten road games and play Thursday in Illinois, winners of four straight games. CLICK HERE
- WOODSON RADIO SHOW: Coach Mike Woodson appeared Tuesday night on his weekly radio show Inside Indiana Basketball along with play-by-play announcer Don Fischer to recap Indiana’s win over Wisconsin, discuss coaching philosophies and preview the upcoming game in Illinois admit. CLICK HERE
- COLUMN – MORE SHOTS FOR MILLER KOPP: When asked if he could get more shots for Miller Kopp, Indiana’s coach Mike Woodson didn’t consider it a high priority. But with two failures in the starting XI, Kopp needs to play a bigger role up front. He played 26 minutes Saturday before making his first shot, and that just can’t happen for Indiana to be at its best offensively. CLICK HERE
