No. 12 seed Illinois set Big Ten Tournament records for most three-pointers made (14) and largest margin of victory (33) in a dominating wire-to-wire 85-52 win over 13th-seeded Minnesota on Wednesday in the Big Ten tournament's opening round.

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Illinois Postgame Quotes

COACH GROCE OPENING STATEMENT: We really set out, as we call it, season three started with a kind of fresh mindset here over the last couple days. Our goal was to play the right way offensively. Obviously, today we had 32 field goals, 19 of them were assisted. I thought our ball movement was tremendous. And then defensively we wanted to play ridiculously hard. I thought we did that. So really that gave us the chance, obviously, to move our name to the next line on the bracket. And we were more concerned, obviously, about improving from how we played last week. I thought we did that. I was encouraged by that. Again, I was proud of their unselfishness. And I was really proud of their effort on the defensive end.

Q. Michael, can you just talk about what was it like to see a couple go through the net. And then maybe, Malcolm, if you can comment on Mike's performance.

MICHAEL FINKE: Obviously, it felt good. My teammates, Coach Groce, all the coaches, they have been telling me to keep shooting, have confidence in it, and that's just what I had to keep doing. At practice, I have been hitting my shots and getting extra shots up. And then it's just all mental and having confidence in it. So when that first one went in, it felt good and kept making a few more. So I'm glad we could get the win with it all.

MALCOLM HILL: Basically, like he said, we always tell him to keep shooting the ball. I have been getting mad at him lately for passing up shots. So it was good to see him get it up. I feel even better for him because I felt for him tonight.

Q. Kendrick, you guys have been known to have one good half and than have a half that hasn't been so good. Today, you guys pretty much had two good halves that you never let off the gas pedal. Just talk a little bit about what that was like.

KENDRICK NUNN: That was good for us. To come into the tournament, we wanted to start out with a fresh mindset, the records and things like that, out the window. And we wanted to play for 40 minutes. And I think we did that for the majority of the time tonight.

Q. This is for Malcolm and Kendrick. Just talk a little bit about, obviously, you guys knew that Minnesota was down a few men. You had a tremendous game from the outside, I think 14-of-26 threes. Just talk about what were trying to do to take advantage of the fact that Minnesota was down a few men?

MALCOLM HILL: I mean, we just kept the same game plan, stay aggressive. And I don't think we thought any less of them when they had a few men down. Surely other teams don't think that of us when we had men down the whole year. So I think we did a good job of just staying focused the whole game, keep having that attack mindset on offense and defense.

KENDRICK NUNN: I think we didn't think any less of them as a team. They still have good players that played. And they play hard. And we just tried to go out there and compete to our best ability.

Q. Michael, a follow-up to what Jeremy asked you. When you were going through a bit of a slump, is it mental for you? Is it just finding a rhythm? I don't know if you can look back at that and dissect it a little.

MICHAEL FINKE: I think it's more mental and everything. My mechanics weren't changing. My shot wasn't changing. I think it was just all mental with it honestly. And, like I was saying earlier, people would tell me to shoot. Everyone had confidence in me and I just had to have confidence in myself and I'm glad we sunk the -

Q. For Michael and Malcolm. How energizing is it for you guys the way the season has gone in the first game of the tournament, win in the fashion that you guys did?

MALCOLM HILL: It's pretty -- it's a nice momentum to carry us to the second game. We're happy we got this one, but as soon as leave this room, we are going to put our mindset on Iowa and get ready to attack, have a game plan for them. I think that's going to be a big time for us.

MICHAEL FINKE: I think Coach Groce always talks it. We have different seasons. First half of the season, season one. Then the second half, season two. And then the postseason, season three. So, right now, we're not looking at the past. We're looking at one game at a time. We keep saying one possession at a time. I'm glad we could get a win today, but now our focus is on Iowa so we can go out there and get that done tomorrow.

Q. For any of the three of you, y'all were on the bench after the game and were able to watch a big win finish. That's different than it's been all season. How nice was that? How different was that to watch a win kind of wrap up?

KENDRICK NUNN: I think it was good. That kind of showed that we played for a majority of the game and we threw the first punch. I mean, we came out aggressive, we got a good lead and then our guys took control from there.

Q. Malcolm, talk a little bit about the shooting, 14-of-26 from three, 55 percent for the game. How does that feel?

MALCOLM HILL: That's really good, especially because a lot of those were assisted. I think we literally got contributions from everybody that played. So that's something that we can carry for tomorrow. Can I say one more thing? I think a lot of people -- I just want to give a major shout out to Cam, because a lot of people don't see how hard he works. He works just as hard, if not harder, than all of us. To see him go out there, make those buckets. That's why we were excited, because we know how hard he works, and a lot of people, they can't see that, and we appreciate him for that.

Q. John, what do you think with Michael, seeing a shot go in and then another and it seemed like Minnesota played off a little bit and gave him room?

COACH GROCE: I thought we executed well. And I thought, honestly, he took the same shots he has been taking in practice and he has been making a lot of them there. And obviously we know early in season and early in Big Ten play, Jeremy, he made quite a few and was a difference on that in the floor in that regard. You know, I just encourage them to continue to shoot the ball. His teammates did. Our staff has. And then understanding that you don't just put your value in whether you make a shot or not. Contribute on the offensive backboard. Contribute by putting your body into plays, which Michael will do. You know, Michael is pretty tough. So I thought he did those things as well. Obviously the shot numbers show up on the stat sheet. But he has been doing some of those things for a while, and it was good to see the basketball going for him today. Obviously he works at it. But we have got all kinds of confidence in him, our staff does, and certainly his teammates.

Q. There haven't been a whole lot of things this year you controlled start to finish. Does it matter how you win a game? Obviously, you have a big challenge ahead of you, totally different team. But does it matter how you win a game going into the next round?

COACH GROCE: I think it matters how you play, Shannon. And today was probably the best we played all season. It matters how you play. You know, we shared the ball today. The other day, we had 27 field goals, six assisted, and we didn't move the ball very well. That was what we worked on for a couple of days. We moved the ball well. We played unselfish and we played really hard defensively. I thought we were physical. And we did it today for -- I'm going to guess at least 35 minutes, you know. And that part was good. We wanted to play well. We wanted to have a fresh mindset. And we thought the most important thing was to be unselfish offensively, to compete defensively. We did those things, and so we played well today.

Now, tomorrow's game is an entirely different game, as you mentioned to me. You have to go back out and do it again. Every game is different. But for today, the guys played to our standards today, and that part was pleasing.

Q. Did that help with their confidence?

COACH GROCE: I don't know. Confidence is something that is earned. So I would say, in large part, so I would say probably, you know. I mean, obviously it shouldn't. But they saw themselves. I mean, for 20 minutes on Sunday and a loss, people don't want to hear it, but they played their tails off the last 20 minutes. I showed them a lot of those plays, and they played really, really well. And the goal was to try to do that today for 40. And we were closer to doing that today. And so from that standpoint, that's progress. That's improvement.

Q. Coach, obviously you knew those guys were down a few guys. What did you try to take advantage of going into this game to help you guys?

COACH GROCE: Well, I thought the biggest thing was -- and Malcolm said it -- respecting them. First of all, just let me say this. We have had some stuff with our roster as well. That's not easy, you know? We have had several quality players out for long periods of time throughout the season. And so, you know, I don't wish that upon anyone. Having said that, I thought they competed. In the game in Champaign, I thought, the first half, they were the more competitive team to be quite honest. The second half, I thought we responded well. Today I think our guys did a great job of respecting them regardless of who they have out there. Because those kids compete. They play hard. But it's interesting because, you know, I don't know what his comments were, but I saw them getting better throughout the season. Like, I saw it. And I felt that way even coming into game two before we knew of the news that those three guys were going to be out. They had just won two in a row. And to be quite honest with you prior to losing those two in a row, they had been in several close games, like the last four minutes, like, right there. And you could see their young guys getting better. And then obviously you get put in the situation where you have to make difficult decisions, and that's unfortunate, but I just thought, in large part today, the biggest key was worrying about us and how we play. And that's really what we focused in on. You know, we didn't talk about who was out and all of that. We showed them who was playing. They knew who was playing so they're probably smart enough to figure who is out. But our focus was on how we play to our standards, moving the ball, playing hard on defense, and we have certainly have great respect for Minnesota. And I think their young guys are getting better and, you know, I anticipate them continuing to improve.

Q. Coach, Jalen Coleman-Lands is creeping up on that freshman three-point record. Is that something you guys are aware of and make him aware of as well?

COACH GROCE: Absolutely not. I don't know if he knows about it or not. I just want him to take good ones. Today I thought he took some good ones. I think about every player we played had more points than shots taken, which indicates efficiency. And I thought he was pretty efficient today. I thought he played the right way. I thought he did some really good things. And today he made, what, three more of them? So every time he shoots it, I certainly feel like it's going in when it's a good one. And he has gotten a lot better. Talking about their young guys, boy, has he has gotten better, Morgan has gotten better and. Finke has gotten better but hasn't shot the ball as well until today. He is getting better. I mean, I thought Aaron Jordan did good things today. We have got some young guys that we're bringing along that are really improving. And I thought today from a confidence standpoint, as Shannon was alluding to, I thought that was a little bit of a boost for those guys.

Q. John, you talked about saying that this is the best that you guys you have played all season. And playing that way late in the season, is that a huge boost not only for tomorrow and moving forward but for going into next year, too?

COACH GROCE: Oh, sure. You always want to play -- we expect that. We want to do that. We want to continue to get better as the season moves along. You know, it's challenging, what Richard has gone through, what we have gone through, when your roster changes quite a bit throughout the season. But with this current rendition, I think it's the best that this group has played together for sure. And you know, obviously that should give them some confidence. But they're smart enough to know or should know that today doesn't give you any privileges for tomorrow. You have to bring it again tomorrow. You have to compete again tomorrow. You have to compete on the backboard tomorrow. You have to sprint and talk and communicate and move the ball, and you have to do it again, you know, well. And like I said, every day and every game is different. So we will have our hands full tomorrow. Obviously, we have great respect for Iowa.