Postgame Notes

  • Nebraska won its 20th straight home game today, matching the program record. It is the third time NU has won 20 consecutive home game, most recently from Dec. 20, 2017, to Jan. 10, 2019. Nebraska is now 8-0 at home this season.
  • The win over UCLA was NU’s first since Dec. 16, 1955, a 71-65 win at the NU Coliseum. That Husker team was coached by Jerry Bush, the grandfather of Fred Hoiberg. The win also snapped a four-game losing streak to UCLA.
  • The Huskers are 2-0 against ranked teams this year, and NU is 4-2 in its last six games dating back to the win over No. 1 Purdue on Jan. 9, 2024.
  • Nebraska held UCLA to 58 points, the Bruins’ second-lowest total of the season. NU has now held seven of 14 opponents under 50 points. NU held UCLA to .841 PPP, and is now 10-0 when holding foes to under 1.00 PPPP
  • Nebraska went 25-of-29 from the foul line, including 21-of-25 in the second half. The 25 free throws tied a season high (also Saint Mary’s and UTRGV). 
  • Rollie Worster surpassed 1,000 career points today with his 3-pointer with 1:50 left in the first half. 
  • Nebraska’s 15-0 run in the first half tied for the largest run of the season, 12/1/24 vs. North Florida
  • The win over UCLA was the 30th career ranked win for Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg.  
  • UCLA entered the game seventh nationally in turnover margin (+6.7) but finished -2 today against Nebraska. Nebraska also outscored UCLA 17-13 on points on turnovers.
  • Four Huskers scored in double digits, led by Brice Williams with 16. Today marked his 13th game this season with over 10 points and his fourth straight. 
  • Sam Hoiberg tallied three steals, which ties for his second-most this season, as the Huskers forced 13 turnovers. 
  • Andrew Morgan finished with 12 points, the 15th double figure game from a Husker reserve this season. It is the eighth time Morgan has been in double figures.
  • Berke Büyüktuncel tied his career high with nine rebounds, the fifth time this season he grabbed nine rebounds. As a team, NU out-rebounded UCLA 39-34 and has been out-rebounded once in 14 games.

Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg

On settling down offensively (after slow start)
“Well, we quit throwing it to them, that helped. I give Andrew Morgan a lot of credit, he had a tough go at it in the first half, and I thought he was absolutely phenomenal in the second. I thought his pick-and-roll defense, his post defense was outstanding. We just kept guarding. That's the thing, sometimes you just get frustrated. it’s human nature when the ball is not going in the basket. You get frustrated on the other end. We never let that happen. We continued to guard and have good activity. I think we did score more points off turnovers. I thought we did a good job of forcing some turnovers, and that got us a couple of baskets. Not very often are you going to have two of your best offensive players, I think Brice (Williams) and Connor (Essegian) go 2-18, and you find a way to win. And you shoot 32% combined, and you find a way to win. That’s big for us. We’ve talked about how our defense has to be our constant. I thought we went out there for 40 minutes and we were on point with that. We missed a couple of rotations, a few mess-ups, but overall, I thought we were on point defensively. We knew it was going to be hard to get it in the basket.” 

On the team effort and the second-half run that extended the lead
“100%. We wanted to give Brice (Williams) a little rest, we put Juwan (Gary) back in. It’s good to have one of those guys on the floor, and we extended the lead with our leader on the bench. You have to have situations like that, whatever it is, foul trouble, guy needs a break. We hadn’t given Brice a break until that time, and we were able to sit him for three and a half four minutes before we put him back in there. They went on a little run. They had the flagrant in the ensuing possession, but we found a way to withstand it. They made their run at the end. I thought the other thing that we did, they were so good with their hands and their activity. If you’re strong with the ball, you can get to the free-throw line, and you get there 29 times and make 25 of them, that’s huge. When it’s hard to score on this team in the flow of the game, to be able to manufacture some at the line, it’s really important.”

On Ahron Ulis
“He did a little bit live two days ago, and he was full practice yesterday. It was good to have him back out there. I thought he gave us really good minutes. Rollie (Worster) was terrific as well. We got really good production from our point guards tonight. I’m happy Ahron was back out there, he was on a bit of a minute restriction tonight. We kept him under that. I hope he responds well. We’ve got two days. We’ve got to get over this one quickly. I think it was last year we beat Purdue, and the next game was at Iowa and they handed it to us. So we gotta get over this one quickly and come back and have a good day tomorrow. Go a little bit harder on Monday, then travel, and hopefully we continue this thing and play well.”

Junior guard Sam Hoiberg

On toughness and the team’s identity showing today
“It was a rock fight today. We shot 30% from the field, 32% and we still won by almost double digits. Being able to win when it’s ugly is super important, and if we play tough like that, we’re going to be able to do it, no matter if our offense is clicking or not. We can still win games if we’re tough, and that was a perfect example tonight.” 

On Andrew Morgan (on his steal and basket)
“I thought the exact same thing when he got the steal. I was like ‘that’s my thing.’ He came to me and said ‘I felt like Sam Hoiberg on that last play.’ He played amazing. He does every night, off the bench. He’s such a huge offensive kick for us and he played his ass off on defense as well. It was huge having him today.”

Senior forward Juwan Gary

On the grittiness helping him
“We’ve been working on this since the summertime when we got together. We knew that we had to be a gritty, grimy team. We knew we were going to emphasize defense this year, and the guys we brought in from the portal were definitely going to help us, too. Sam (Hoiberg), me, Brice (Williams), Andrew (Morgan), all understand the defensive game, for sure. We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy one. Coach (Ernie) Ziegler definitely emphasized that it was going to be a one-possession game throughout the whole game. We had that run of ours, and they had that run of theirs, and we had to keep our composure and everything. This is what we play basketball for. This is what Nebraska basketball is for. This is what we do. We don’t dwell on turnovers, missed shots. Like Sam was saying, we shot 32% from the field. It’s not going to be a pretty game on the offensive side, but we are going to go on the defensive side and give 100% every time, every possession. No matter how the game goes on the offensive side, no matter how the game was won, we won for sure. Grateful and proud of these guys. We’ll enjoy it, but we’re also going to move on.”

On Brice Williams saying that Nebraska would put the world and Big Ten on notice and if they did that today
“Definitely. We are going to protect the home court. No matter what it is, I think it’s number 20 for us in PBA. That’s an applaud to the fans and the coaches for preparing us for sure. Even us, going out there and in practice and giving 100%, even somebody who doesn’t have the best percentage at the time. That’s the stuff we do on the daily. That’s one thing we harp on every day. We say we have to be the best version of ourselves no matter who is on our side and hyping us up. At the end of the day, it’s all us. In the circle is all we have. The outside noise doesn’t really phase us, for sure. I would definitely say this is a start for the world to know that Nebraska basketball is back and better for sure. Last year, we started that run of making it to the NCAA tournament, too. For sure, this is the start for us. We have another notch to turn up, for sure, with this away game at Iowa coming up.”

Senior guard Andrew Morgan

On the bench’s performance
“It’s a big thing because as bench players, when we come off the bench, we prepare like the starters. We’re ready to go like the starters. When we go in especially if we see what’s working and what’s not a lot better than they do. When we go in, we can see what’s going on on the offensive side and defensive side and also pick up the energy and change the pace of the game. Ahron (Ulis) is really good at that. When he comes in he changes the pace, he loves to push it which is a lot different for the second group of guys. Our whole group of guys that come off the bench really come in prepared and know what they need to contribute and what they need to do well.”

UCLA Head Coach Mick Cronin

Opening Statement
“We didn’t play well enough to win against a good team on the road. That’s really all I have to say.”

On playing without Eric Dailey Jr.
“We still fought. I don’t like that stuff, it’s five on five. It’s not the power play. You don’t have to play a man down. We’re missing two guys but it’s not the power play. We’ve got to deal. We got guys on scholarship that are good enough players. You can’t go 4-28 (from 3) and have any chance to win against a team that stands people in the paint and dares you to shoot. That’s pretty much the game in a nutshell.”

On the ball movement being an issue
“No, we got to make some shots. Dylan Andrews has got to play way better. Dominick Harris and Trent Perry got opportunities today. They played a combined 17 minutes, neither one of them scored. I told them they were going to get an opportunity with Eric (Dailey Jr.) out. They played 17 minutes and didn’t get a basket.”