Northwestern-Illinois Springfield post-game press conference notes

After a 89-52 exhibition win over D-II Illinois Springfield, Chris Collins, Scottie Lindsey and Isiah Brown met with the media.

Chris Collins

• On getting back to game action: “Definitely excited to get back out on the floor. At times I thought we got out of character. We’re a work in progress. We got a lot of guys double digit minutes.”
• On Vic Law: “Seeing Vic be able to break through at the end was big...he made his last three shots. He’s so important to us.
• On freshman point guard Isiah Brown: “Isiah’s ability to score the ball is going to be huge for us. He has a knack for putting the ball in the basket. That’s how they call it at the beginning of the year, and we gotta adjust.
• Collins said Pardon’s injury isn’t serious; he just got kneed in the thigh. “That hurts. He tried to come back...and it tightened up. It just wasn’t worth it to get him back out. He should be fine.”
• On Northwestern trying to push the tempo: “It’s something we talked about going into this game. I thought we got a little tired...we got a little bit sloppy. You guys know in the Big Ten, it’s hard to get easy baskets.”
• More on Law: “He really wants to be good. Whenever you miss a year, it’s hard. He knows he’s important to our success. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to be that guy. I thought he settled down in the second half. I thought in the first half he was understandably a little nervous. When you haven’t played, you gotta play out of it.”
• On Gavin Skelly’s play: “Gavin’s the key to what we’re doing. He can score in the post, he can make shots...he can get to the foul line. I’ve been very pleased with where Gavin’s at.”

Scottie Lindsey

• On improving over the offseason: “[It was] just coaches challenging me. I’m getting older. I need to be a veteran. [I’m] just trying to be a better teammate overall.”
• On summer trip to Croatia with Skelly: “That trip was so fun. Me and Gavin were already close, but that trip made us really close. The extra games and extra practice helped us.”
• On playing with McIntosh and Brown: “It’s gonna be great because not everyone is focused on [McIntosh]. They gotta focus on me and Isiah, too.”

Isiah Brown

• On playing in his first game: “[There was] definitely excitement. I don’t think there was any nervousness. [I’m] glad I was able to go out and get that out of the way. [Hitting that first jump shot] just settles you in a little bit. My main focus was to just throw myself into the game.”
• On attacking the basket: “My job is to put pressure on the defense and be in attack mode. We’ve made it a big deal in practice being aggressive and getting to the line. It helps our big guys out getting their big guys in foul trouble.”
• On playing with McIntosh: “He’s been like a big brother to me. On and off the court, he’s telling what to do. It helps me out every single day to have someone to pattern after.”