Player Postgame Q&A: Indiana basketball players Mackenzie Mgbako and Myles Rice react to win against South Carolina

Indiana basketball players Mackenzie Mgbako and Myles Rice spoke with the media to discuss the team’s win against South Carolina.

The duo spoke about the win, Kanaan Carlyle’s big game, and much more.

Below are the full video Q&As

Q. Myles, obviously 23 points tonight, three assists. What worked for and do you want to get the assist numbers higher while scoring that much?

MYLES RICE: I felt like in some of the passes that I made we just didn’t execute on the shot. That happens. It’s basketball. We had a lot of open looks. We didn’t hit them down tonight, but next game we’ll be able to hit them.

It’s just within a flow. Whether I have two points, ten assists or 20 points, two assists I am always just going to try to make the right play.

Q. Myles, Coach talked about really trying to reinforce the guard rotation in the summer, the spring. What is the chemistry like between you, Kanaan, and Trey? I know Gabe and Anthony didn’t play this afternoon. But just as a group being able to kind of interchange for one another, create for one another, maybe bring the ball up the floor, do things differently but have that versatility?

MYLES RICE: That’s the beauty about our team. You kind of have three different guards that can do everything. Trey is the Swiss Army knife. Kanaan is more of a combo guard. I can be a combo as well.

I thin we all feed off each other really well. That’s a credit to not only us, but our teammates we have. They understand how to play wit us and we understand how to play with them. Our coaching staff knows to you to coach us as well. Game by game we’re getting better at it. Just as the season goes on we’ll just be better at it.

Q. Guys, you guys had a great game today, and I was just wondering, how will this impact your game play for the rest of the season?

MACKENZIE MGBAKO: I mean, we just roll with it and just keep the momentum going. You know, take every game one game at a time and just roll with whatever they give us.

Q. Coach came in and said he thought the offense could have been better. If you look at the stats you shot 51%, 47% from three, and made 82% of your free throws. How much better can you get?

MYLES RICE: It’s about execution. Whether the ball is going into the hoop or not, we got to be better at executing. I think that’s the point he’s trying to make. Even though we did score X amount the points but the crispiness of our plays can be a whole lot better, and that starts with us as the guard and making sure everybody is on the same page.

He can put it on me and I’ll be better at it.

Q. On Kanaan, I want to say he was averaging three through the first like three contests you had here. I think he had 12 out there. How important is it for you offensively when he plays at that level I guess?

MYLES RICE: It’s amazing. Just like any other guy that plays at a great offensive rate. I just feel like today was one of them days. Based on their coverages and how they wanted to guard us, just everything that he’s been doing prepping up to the game. He’s an extremely hard worker and takes no days off.

It was only just a matter of time before he got his shot going and everything just kind of came within a rhythm.

Q. Mackenzie, I know you were pretty confident coming into the season because you finished last season real well. Through these first three games, how is your production level reinforced your confidence and who do you feel most confident in about your own game?

MACKENZIE MGBAKO: I most definitely feel most confident in my defense and my shots, my shot capability. I feel like if I play within the offense and play with what the team gives me, I can make the right shots and right reads. Taking every game in stride and learning from every game so I can move forward and keep elevating my game.

Q. Mackenzie, how much of a difference is the new back court with Myles and Kanaan for you out there? What’s it like playing out there with those guys?

MACKENZIE MGBAKO: It’s amazing. So much easier just being able to run with Myles and K, getting on the break and easy buckets and us feeding off each other and the energy.

Q. Myles, we talked about Kanaan changing the dynamic on the offense. In defense what do you see from his intensity?

MYLES RICE: He makes me want to be a better defensive player. I think I’m a pretty solid, pretty good defensive player. Just to see it translates from practice to game, so when game time comes he’s just causing havoc and everything. Makes it easier to play with and for a guy like that.

He’s always bringing that energy. Like you said, it sparks all of us. You saw when he got that defensive stop. They posted it on Instagram and everything. Like that’s who he is. He plays defense and he can do that. It just sparks the energy for all of us and I am just happy to have him on our team.

Q. Myles, ever so lightly off topic, I was looking up your career high; I saw you scored 35 points in a game last year at Stanford. Kanaan Carlyle scored 31 points in the same game. A, please tell me you two weren’t guarding each other. And B, just talk about how your explosiveness can be in a game like that where you can score that kind of points?

MYLES RICE: Well, at Washington State we played a little bit of a matchup zone, so I wasn’t really guarding him and he wasn’t guarding me. He did his thing; I did my thing. Happy we’re on the same team now.

Like I said, varies from game to game. If it’s my night it’s my might. If it’s somebody else’s night, it’s somebody else’s night. Thank God it was my night tonight. Went out and executed and capitalized on the opportunities that I had.

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