Penn State Men's Basketball
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
vs. Indiana – December 4, 2018
Opening Statement
"[That was] a really hard fought game. I give Penn State a lot of credit. They're a really tough-minded group. It caused a lot of problems with their defense in terms of pressure, and forced us into a lot of really tough plays in the second half when we had a nice little cushion. Anytime you go on the road, especially, this is our third time on the road, and to be able to fight through a bad start and to find a way to hang in there and grab the lead at half was a positive. I thought for the first eight to ten minutes of the second half we played well and then composure, poise and execution sort of come into the play, and that's where we have to get better. This league is really tough, so to find a way to win any game is going to be a feat, and we will take this and get back to work."
Q. Archie, as much as we talk about the offensive side for Romeo Langford and Rob Phinisee, the defensive side the last two games, key moments with Romeo against Northwestern and Rob at the end there. How meaningful is it for those two guys to surface on big moments on that end?
A: They're doing a good job. Both guys have played a lot of minutes. They're working very hard. I think we trust them as must as we trust anybody on the team. I thought Romeo [Langford] did a really nice job against Northwestern. I thought he did a really good job tonight on Josh Reaves, for the most part. Rob [Phinisee] was really good tonight. He played a bigtime game on the road, stepped up, made shots, didn't turn it over, defensively hung in there, and then made a huge key play late with the switch out being able to deflect the ball and come up with it. He also got five defensive rebounds at the guard slot which was good. So, those two guys continue to work. They have a great attitude like a lot of our guys right now, and hopefully we can continue to get better.
Q. To expand a little bit on Rob, you talked about on Friday wanting to see him a little bit more aggressive. Did you see a lot of what you were asking for tonight?
A: Yeah, he was a lot more aggressive. He had a lot better pace about him. In transition, he was downhill a lot more in the second half being aggressive at the rim. I thought he got into the paint much more than he had been getting into the paint. He made plays. He did a nice job for us. He got to the basket. Transition, he got to the basket late. He made some really big plays for us in the middle of that second half where he was able to score the ball, which he hadn't been doing as much. He hadn't been as aggressive shooting the ball. He'd been passive. So, to watch him step up and make the three, nail the free-throws, and get to the basket a couple of times was good.
Q. Can you talk a little more about the slow starts and why did you decide to play Clifton Moore tonight?
A: I just think when you're on the road you know you're going to deal, especially the first four to eight minutes, with some type of punch. We're not doing a very good job of handling that right now. We're soft coming out of the gate. I think they had 9-to-1 rebound advantage. We were 1-for-11 in the first eight minutes of the game. We're soft around the rim. We're soft on the glass. The 50-50 plays, again, crept in. For whatever reason, we started to get back to it a little bit. We inched our way in. At the end of the day, Clifton [Moore] deserved a trial. Jake [Forrester] will probably get in here eventually as well. Guys have to be able to make tough plays. I thought when Clifton got in there it gave us a spark. He offensive rebounded, blocked some shots and got some defensive rebounds. He contributed to a good portion of the first half where we needed him.
Q. You're going to pick up conference play with Michigan early on in January. To have this leap on conference play what does it do for the guys going forward.
A: It's good. Everybody in the league has one home or away, and there's some teams in the league that are 0-2, 1-1 or 2-0. For our team to be 2-0, we're very fortunate. You take them any which way you can get them. Once January starts to roll around you look back on it and say, "man those things counted just the same as the ones in January and February did." For us to be able to get our first two is really good, especially the one on the road. It's hard to win on the road. It's hard in this league if you just watch it right now it's going to be a bear once we get into January and February. But for us, we're happy about it. We have to finish off non-conference play right now, and then once January rolls around we'll get back into it.
Q. Just recapping Juwan Morgan, what exactly was he dealing with and what was his availability the last couple days with practice?
A: He didn't do anything the day after the game and then probably went a little more half-court related yesterday. The first half, maybe there is a little bit direct relation with just not being in there or what not. But, second half he was back. I think 10-6 in the second half. Finished for us when we needed to down the stretch. Just have to keep him out of foul trouble the best we can. He picked up a couple more tough ones. But, it's going to be that way. It's not always your night, but he played through it. I thought, in the second half, he gave us a presence down there a couple times when we really needed it.