Fran McCaffery admitted that he doesn't know if his basketball team can play any better than they did on Thursday as they routed Northwestern, scoring a tournament record 112 points in the process. Following the one-sided victory, the Iowa head coach spoke to the media about his team continuing to improve and the upcoming game on Friday against Rutgers.

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY OPENING STATEMENT

Yeah, we can't play much better than we played tonight, obviously. Everything was clicking, our offense was really good. I thought early on, our rebounding, especially on the offensive glass, I think was crucial. I think coming into the game, we recognized that when we played Northwestern 10 days ago, they were not right. They had a number of guys with the flu, so you kind of throw that game out. Watched a ton of their games. I have so much respect for Chris and his program, and really watched them play extremely well against so many teams. A substantial number of wins.

So we felt like we needed to play with the kind of effort we played with tonight in order to win. And I think the way we started the second half and continued, that speaks to these two guys here and everybody else. A lot of great play from a lot of different people. Hopefully, that will continue.

Q. Coach, mid-season rebounding was considered a problem or an issue with the Hawkeyes and today you outrebound Northwestern 45-18 and I think it was something none of us saw coming, it was one of those things that improved gradually throughout the year. What do you point to as the reason for that?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: I think it's simply just recognition that we had to be better. We had a team that was capable of rebounding well, you have both Murrays, you have Filip Rebraca, you have Connor. We have big wings, we've got length, and the other thing is we've got guards who rebound. We talked about Tony a minute ago and he's really one of the better rebounding guards I think I've ever coached. I think it's just the mindset that we recognized had to improve and it has.

Q. Coach, following up what Jordan said a second ago about Tony, this is back-to-back games where he set a career high in assists. How have you seen that aspect of his game develop as at the end of the year?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: He always did this, you guys didn't see him in high school, but he was a guy that could play either guard position in high school. We noticed that about him last year. We had more competition back there with Wieskamp especially, so Tony was going to get his shot.

Tonight, Joe T and A-U getting in foul trouble right away, and we just had Tony out there with the one, and we just kind of move him around. We could play the three, we can switch and he's a tough dude. But he could always handle the ball and pass the ball and make plays for other people. I think that's what makes him special. That's why he was such a great high school player and we felt so strongly about having him join our program and be an impact player in the Big Ten.

Q. Tournament record for points in a game, threes, how impressed are you with their offensive performance and what do you think added to it today?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: I think the thing that's impressive is we had a lot of different guys making them, it wasn't one or two guys and that's, obviously, what you want as a coach. Tomorrow's game will be a lot different in terms of style of play, so we'll enjoy and appreciate this performance and put it behind us.

Q. Patrick, back in the starting lineup today, what did you see from him? Seemed like he was very aggressive to start, especially on offense.

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: Yeah, I thought he was really good. He ran out of gas a little bit, said he felt good, but he seemed to be a little fatigued. I would have put him back in, but not when we were up by 30 points, so we kept him out.

I thought, like you said, he moved without the ball, he was aggressive attacking, his defense was pretty solid, he had one breakdown and that's when he got tired and I was trying to get him out. I just have to make sure that he's going good physically. He had been sick, as you know, hadn't practiced and hadn't really done anything. We didn't know what was going to happen today. So all in all, we're very pleased with him.

Q. Jordan's talking about this group has an edge and an underdog mentality and all that stuff. You've had, what, 11 teams at Iowa come into the postseason. Is there anything discernibly different about the mental makeup of this group?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: No, I don't think so. I never really look at that kind of stuff, to be honest with you. It's not something I discuss, it's not something I try to evaluate or identify or encourage.

I have an expectation, you sign up to play in the Big Ten, you believe in yourself. I obviously believe in you, I gave you a scholarship. So you believe in yourself and you recognize how hard it is in this league, so you just bring it every day and compete to the best of your ability.

I felt like we had a team that was deep, I thought we had a lot of different weapons, I thought we had -- we've got length, we've got depth, we had enough shooting, we had enough veteran leadership. We have some young guys that are going to have to step up. The one challenge, as I said at media day, where everyone on the team was going to be in a new role.

So that's always a challenge, but it's also exciting and I think those guys have just kind of stayed the course and believed in themselves and continued to get better. I think as a coach that's what you hope to have, a team that stays together and keeps grinding, that's what we've done.

Q. You know what happened at Rutgers, obviously it looked like a very different team than you had for most of the season and especially last month. Do you sense the guys in the locker room are champing at the bit to get another crack at Rutgers? Or even you, are you excited to get another shot at Rutgers tomorrow?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: To be honest with you, I really don't look at it that way. You show up in this tournament, whoever you play against, you'd better be ready. Anybody you show up to play against can beat you. We feel like anybody we show up to play against, we can beat them. So we're just trying to lock in to a game plan and play well and stay together.

All that, "Boy, I hope we have another shot," all that nonsense, you just get on to the next game. This could have been any number of teams that we're playing tomorrow.

I will say this, I have a tremendous amount of respect for that program and the job that Steve has done. That group, you know, Harper, Geo, McConnell, Mulcahy. I think Cliff's one of the most underrated players in the country, probably one of the most improved players in the country. So they've got a really good team. That's enough for us. We know what we're facing tomorrow.