Fran McCaffery had plenty to smile about on Friday afternoon as his red hot Hawkeyes won their second straight game in the Big Ten Tournament, this time over Rutgers. McCaffery talks about the fight his team showed early on in the game, the toughness they played with when challenged, and the development of Keegan Murray as he set the single season mark for scoring by an Iowa player.

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY OPENING STATEMENT

Really proud of our guys tonight. We beat a really good team. My opinion, one of the best-coached teams in the country. That much respect for Steve Pikiell and that group of veteran guys, Geo and Harper, McConnell, Mulcahy, and Cliff.

So really proud of how we battled back after a slow start. They came out on fire, we just kept coming. I think our defense was really good. It's a hard team to out-rebound and we did that, so that says a lot about our guys. Happy and ready to move on.

Q. Fran, I'm just curious what you feel about Rutgers' chances for the NCAA Tournament. Are you confident that their name will pop up, and if not, is it an indictment of the metrics that are used, the formulas that are used to pick the field?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: You know, I'm kind of baffled by the question. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. To me, it's a no-brainer. That's an NCAA Tournament team.

But the wins that they had this year, the wins they had on the road with the talent that they have, you know, I think sometimes you look at metrics, but sometimes, you know, like we say, you have the eyeball test. You look at that team and it's an NCAA Tournament team, and that's what they are.

Q. Just looking ahead to this Indiana matchup, it's been a long time ago you faced them. Any thoughts? Obviously, a different team for Iowa, and I'm sure you saw a different team today in Indiana?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: You have to be really impressed with the job that Indiana's done here in particular. You know, they lost some games down the stretch, but I don't think in any way it was indicative of the caliber of team. They lost a couple really tough games. The ball didn't bounce their way and they just kept coming. And they showed up here I think determined; we're in the tournament, like we're going to the tournament. And now they think they can win it, this one.

You have to be respectful of the way that they've continued to compete. Obviously, it will be a great atmosphere with them being here.

Q. Coach, with Keegan breaking the single-season scoring record, now that we're at this point in the season, how would you assess how he has stepped into that dominant role on the team and how he's handled everything that's surrounding him this season with all the attention that he's getting without (indiscernible)?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: You really can't do it any better. He just stays the course. He's very even tempered. You guys have seen that on the court, off the court. And then as the game goes on, he affects it in so many different ways. I think that's what people appreciate about him. You look down and he has 26 rebounds, he defends, he draws fouls. We can go to him or we cannot go to him and he just finds a way. He's doing I think a much better job making plays for other people as the season has gone on, which he's had to do because of the way teams are guarding him. Just phenomenally impressive in every aspect. Breaking down his game, but I think breaking down who he is, his demeanor on the floor, his competitive instincts and his desire to win.

Q. Coach, your team might get punched first, they always punch back. What's the predominant trait that your team has that allows them to do that?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: You know, I think we have a lot of players that are really confident in themselves, so if I start going to my bench, those guys typically produce, and then when I go back to the guys that maybe weren't playing as well, they typically produce again.

But it's a strong confidence in themselves. I've talked about that all the time. It's -- my primary objective as their coach is to get them to play with supreme confidence because that's the only way they will ever be the best version of themselves. Their teammates on the bench are really positive with them, we pretty much stay positive with them. I'll get on them once in a while for what I feel are egregious mistakes for things that we've already covered repeatedly, and we don't make many of those so we kind of stay positive with them. I think it's really important in this league, especially with the caliber of teams that you're playing and the different styles that you see on a daily basis, you've got to be able to punch back.

Q. Kind of teeing one up here for you, but two years ago, I think there were a lot of people who thought why are you giving two scholarships on the Murray brothers, who are these guys. Why did you, two years ago, and what do you have on these guys?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: Well, you know what, Mike, we've talked about this topic a fair amount because a lot of people felt the same way, but what I've said publicly, anybody that watched them, I don't think that I was that far ahead of the curve. Like if you watched them play, you would have come to the same conclusion that I did.

It wasn't a favor, it wasn't a gift, it wasn't, hey, we'll take a shot at two 6-8 kids. That's not how I operate. I have a responsibility to this program and to the institution to recruit Big Ten caliber players. And we don't always get it right, you know that, but I was 100 convinced that those two kids were going to be really good, and so was my staff who watched them.

Not a lot of people went to their high school games and they didn't play on a high profile AAU team, so they didn't get the exposure or the recognition that other people got. That's not their fault. They took care of business and they worked on their games and they worked on their bodies and they were dominant players when they did take the floor. So what they're doing now is not a shock to me or my staff or quite frankly anybody that watched them develop.

Q. One lineup that worked particularly well was Joe, Payton, Connor and the Murrays. How did you see them flip the momentum in the first half, especially Kris, who seemed to be really active?

COACH FRAN McCAFFERY: He was. I thought Payton did a great job on the glass. So did Connor. Connor throwing the alley-oops, we got our transition game going, but I think the critical thing there was in that stretch, in the beginning they were taking it right through us and then we got some consecutive stops. You've got to rebound. They're a team that they'll miss, but they'll go back and get it, they'll go back and get it again, they'll go back and get it again. And we got it and we went the other way with it and that team really clicked with the transition opportunities at that point and big change in the complexion of that game, you're right.