Postgame Q&A: Darian DeVries, Tayton Conerway and Sam Alexis discuss Indiana's loss vs Iowa

Indiana basketball head coach Darian DeVries, Tayton Conerway, and Sam Alexis discuss Indiana’s 74-57 loss vs Iowa on Saturday afternoon.

Below is the full postgame Q&As and transcripts.

Q. This is, I think, over the last three games, you guys have been outscored 36 points combined in the second half. What is happening in these second halves that’s leading to these lopsided results?

DARIAN DeVRIES: It’s been pretty similar, and we’ve got to figure out a way to get a little more rest probably for those guys. As we get into the middle of the second half, there’s 10, 12 minutes to go — and it’s been consistent the last three games — we look fatigued. That’s where some of that maybe sloppiness and the turnovers, and that’s where you start to see some of that showing up.

It’s something we talked about a good amount with the foul trouble and stuff. Where do you get some of those, especially the guard minutes, from when one of them goes out? It certainly showed up again today.

Q. On paper it seemed like a really crucial game coming into today. How disappointed were you with that start, and what kind of led to the slow offensive start?

DARIAN DeVRIES: I thought really for a good portion of the game, I thought Iowa did a good job of making our movements tough and being physical with them. We didn’t get into our actions very well.

Then we got in a little bit of isolation middle of the first half because it was working, getting Tayton in some space and getting him downhill to the rim. Then I think we kind of fell in love with that as the game went on and in the second half.

For us, when our offense is good, we get a lot of movement, a lot of cutting, a lot of action. Again, it probably comes back to a little bit of that fatigue as they get tired or movement gets less. We’ve got to be able to fight through that a little bit better.

Q. In that same vein with the movement, early in the season you had a team that was connected, communicated well, cut well, really moved well without the ball. That really hasn’t been there for the last couple of games. It’s a veteran team. How do you find that again basically?

DARIAN DeVRIES: Right. Yeah, that’s exactly what we just talked about in the locker room was guys for the first 15 games of the year our offense was movement, cutting, like we were getting and playing the way that we think makes us most successful. I felt like the last two or three games we’ve gotten away from that action.

They’ve been doing it obviously in practice, but I haven’t seen it, from the practice standpoint, that they haven’t still been buying into all that and things. Obviously the biggest difference is now you’re playing your opponent that is bigger, more physical than maybe what you’re going up against from the practice squad. They’ve got to be able to continue to do that as the game wears on, and that just didn’t happen.

Q. Are you surprised a veteran team is doing that at this point in the season?

DARIAN DeVRIES: I’m not surprised that there’s some guys that get a little fatigued out there at times, but we do got to find ways to get them a little bit more rest so we can be a little fresher as we get into that middle of the second half.

Q. Tucker obviously struggled again tonight. The last five games he’s averaging less than 10 points a game, averaging 9 points a game in Big Ten play, shooting only 25 percent from 3. Is it something the defense is doing to take away some of the early looks he saw at the beginning of the season? Is it him forcing a little bit? Is it a combination of both? I guess maybe what are you seeing from him over the last month or so?

DARIAN DeVRIES: He’s certainly in one of those shooting slumps that everybody goes through at some point in time, but his, for him, has been an extended one here for a good chunk of time.

He’s certainly been putting in the work in our practices and stuff. He’s shooting the heck out of it. It’s just one of those things. He’s just got to get it going and got to continue to find those better looks and opportunities that we can get him free a little bit more.

Q. You mentioned just the fatigue and stuff. How big is kind of the inability to develop some depth on this team beyond like the eight guys is that playing a factor in that? Also, just defensively, I think you guys are giving up 1.15 points per possession now in Big Ten play. Pretty big drop-off from where you were in nonconference. How big is the fatigue and maybe the lack of depth playing into the defensive slide?

DARIAN DeVRIES: It’s hard to say for sure. Even today, the first half they shoot 54 percent. That had nothing to do with any fatigue or anything. That’s just us not doing a good enough job from a scouting standpoint and us executing that and also just getting it done. There’s a big piece of that.

For us, other guys play 35 minutes too on other teams. I’m not giving our guys that are playing heavy minutes — there’s some fight through fatigue that has to happen as well, and that’s something we’ve got to be able to do.

Q. It seemed like Stirtz had a control on the game. Defensively what kind of challenges does he present to your team?

DARIAN DeVRIES: Yeah, he was terrific. He’s so good in two-man game actions, and you’re going to see it over and over and over again. He just plays until he gets an advantage, either for himself or for a teammate. They do a great job of that. He’s so crafty and smart at being able to take advantage of those and then creating and drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line. He certainly was really good tonight.

Q. It seems like the offense is really different when you get paint touches versus when you don’t, Conerway getting downhill, likes to slip into the rim. But then there’s long stretches where that doesn’t happen. Is that part of the fatigue? Is it defense taken away? What happens when you have those long stretches and no paint touches?

DARIAN DeVRIES: Some of it, our offense in a little bit how we’re constructed right now for this year is just we don’t have a lot of great one-on-one type guys that can go by people. So we rely on a lot of cutting and screening to be able to do that.

Tayton is one of those guys who can get downhill and utilize the speed and Conor once in a while as well. I thought Tayton did a really good job there, while we were struggling, of finding those opportunities and getting downhill and getting to the rim, and we need him to continue to do that.

That’s why our movement is so important for us to get those other paint touches as well off of back cuts and screening angles and stuff so we can create advantages where we can get two to the ball now and now we can get some better offensive opportunities.

Q. On paper it seemed like a really crucial game for both teams really. Then you came out a little slow especially offensively. What led to that slow start? Did you see anything? Was it them doing something, or was it on you guys that you couldn’t get out or find an offensive rhythm to start the game?

TAYTON CONERWAY: I just don’t think we found a rhythm early on like we needed to. I know we needed to get our 3-pointers some better shot attempts because shooting the ones off the screen are a little tough. Just got to get back to the drawing board and figure it out.

Q. Tayton, the last three games you guys have been outscored 36 points total over three games in the second half. Coach was in here a second ago obviously talking about fatigue. From a player’s perspective, is that part of maybe the defensive lapses in the second half, the fatigue, and are you guys — I guess, how do you overcome that in the future games?

TAYTON CONERWAY: I don’t know if it’s fatigue. I think it’s more of just the one-two, and it’s something we’re going to have to figure out. If we want to win, it’s something we’re going to have to do.

Definitely getting back in there, coming out the second half and throwing that first punch is something we’re going to do.

Q. Three-game losing streak here right now. Obviously a critical portion of the schedule these five games that you guys had. Do you guys feel like you’re losing any part of your identity here early part of January, and are you guys trying to scratch and claw your way to get back to where you guys were at the beginning of the season?

SAM ALEXIS: I think we’re still going to go out there and play hard every game. It’s early. We’ve still got, what, 13 more games left. I feel like we’re going to pick it back up. So we’re going to be good.

Q. Sam, you’ve obviously been a part of a program that’s won at a high level last season. Can you draw anything on that experience kind of as you guys hit some adversity and kind of try to rally some of these guys to get things going in the right direction?

SAM ALEXIS: I just got to keep encouraging them every day in practice. Like when I was at Florida, we had — and we lost, we came back and practiced, intense practices. Just keep moving forward. We just took one game at a time.

We took an L today, but we’ve still got multiple opportunities in the Big Ten. There’s a lot of games we’re able to win and overcome adversity. So we’re going to be good.

Q. (No microphone). What was the response?

SAM ALEXIS: We had two good practices. It was a tangible energy. I was thinking we were looking good towards this game.

We’re going to take some Ls. We’re a brand new team, but we’re going to figure it out.

Q. Tayton, Iowa kind of lived in the paint offensively. What made it tough to contain them off the dribble or cuts? Was that on you guys? Was that on their actions? What kind of led to them living in the paint?

TAYTON CONERWAY: They set a couple good screens, and it was just something that we’ve got to want to do, something that we’ve got to want to work at, and something that as a man you’ve got to want to get through them screens, you’ve got to want to play harder. That’s something we’re going to have to do.

Q. Tayton, was it something in the game plan or anything that you guys saw specifically throughout the game that allowed you to get downhill so frequently and easily against that Iowa defense?

TAYTON CONERWAY: Just my teammates believing in me and Coach putting me in a great position to score. He said, they couldn’t stay in front you. He said, get downhill, come off the screen. If it’s not there, make a play. I felt like that was something I was trying to do.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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