INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 1, 2026

Tucker DeVries

Lamar Wilkerson

Postgame Media Conference

Michigan State - 77, Indiana - 64

Q. How much of this game was you guys not being able to get stops in the first half when they went 7 for 13 from three, and what were the issues in the first half when they built that double figure lead?

TUCKER DeVRIES: I thought the first half they did really well. Some of them were pretty contested and tough shots, and some of them were missed assignments. I'd say it's a combination of both. To be honest, I thought the first half, for as well as they shot it and kind of the way the game was going, I thought we could give ourselves enough chances to still be in the game at halftime.

In the second half, again, we were clawing back. Just when we needed them, they were able to get some buckets, some offensive rebounds in crunch time, and those are just plays we've got to make if we're going to win those type of games.

Q. In the last three games, the opponents have combined to shoot 50 percent from the 3-point range. Has the coach been happy with the defensive intensity? Do you think the execution is lacking? What do you think needs to improve to stop teams from beating you at the perimeter?

TUCKER DeVRIES: Obviously I wouldn't say he's happy. I thought today at least there was a lot of effort out there today. I thought we competed at a high level. It's just some of the execution of the game plan, I thought we lacked a little bit, especially in the first half. We changed a lot of things in the second half, and we were able to stall them out a little bit offensively --

Their shooting, I think they shot a much lower percentage. I don't know the exact numbers. But then the offensive rebounds, again, when we needed them most, we weren't able to get them.

Q. After that hot stretch you had there after Oregon where it was just really rolling, what's kind of changed the last handful of weeks in your opinion?

LAMAR WILKERSON: I don't know. We're just not playing our best basketball as a group. There's a lot of things we have to fix. We've played some good teams, other than the one we choked on last week. I don't know.

We have to find a way to get back to how we was at the end of January, beginning of February. If any time, it's right now. If we can get to that point right now, I feel like we'll be good going into March.

Q. Tucker, you said you thought the effort was good tonight. How frustrating is it to have great effort and still come up short like this?

TUCKER DeVRIES: That's part of playing really good basketball games. They played hard too. They get coached; they practice too. I think there's some times you walk away from losses and you really want those back. Obviously you want every single one back.

There's times you go out there and you lay it all out there, and it's just not enough. I thought tonight was a little more on that side than the last previous losses. I think there's still a lot to learn from. There's a lot of season still left. I know those opportunities are getting smaller, but our goals are still in front of us.

We've said we're going to go down swinging. Going into this next -- last home game, Senior Night, go down swinging and gain some momentum. If we go down swinging and it's not enough, then there's nothing we can do about that now. As long as we really stick together and give it our all these last few games and hopefully give ourselves a chance to be playing in that tournament.

Q. Lamar, kind of along those same lines, two regular season games left this season, where do you guys go from here?

LAMAR WILKERSON: We just finish strong. One step in front of the next, prepare for this game Wednesday at home and then go on the road and play Ohio State and try to make a run in the Big Ten Tournament, and hopefully we'll be where we want to be.

Q. You talk about giving yourself multiple chances in this game to make a comeback. How deflating was it in the moment where you're putting yourself in those positions and couldn't take advantage of it?

TUCKER DeVRIES: I give a lot of credit to Michigan State for how they played today. I thought they put us in a lot of difficult spots. On our side, like I said earlier, we gave ourselves enough chances to keep staying in the game, keep plugging away. Then kind of that crunch time, I think it was around the eight-minute mark, seven-minute mark, we couldn't get those defensive rebounds. They hit some tough shots.

Those are just plays, like I said, we've got to make if we're going to win these type of games. That's one of the best teams in the country. So in order to win those type of games, you've got to be on point in almost every aspect. I thought there were a few missing pieces tonight that kept us from really clawing back and finding a way.

Q. Lamar, I know you probably don't want to talk about it in a loss, but your second half, 19 points, seemed like you had it going both inside and out. What adjustments were made to get that going for you?

LAMAR WILKERSON: I was just trying to claw back in the game and doing whatever it took to give us a chance to win it. My teammates, coaches, they helped me get it going. It's one of those things, all that, we still came up short, like Tucker said. So it really doesn't mean anything today.