Nebraska Postgame Notes
*-The win snapped Nebraska’s seven-game losing streak against Northwestern dating back to 2019. It also marks the fourth losing streak of seven-or-more games to an opponent which has ended this season (Michigan State-11; Kansas State-7, Indiana-7)
*-Josiah Allick reached double figures for the seventh time this season with a season-high 15 points and five rebounds. His previous high in points this season was 14 at Iowa on Jan. 12. Allick started in place of Juwan Gary, who missed Saturday’s game with a calf injury suffered at Rutgers on Wednesday. It is the second time in three games that Allick has led NU in scoring.
*-Nebraska shot a season-best 55.3 percent from the floor against Northwestern. The previous season high was .550 against Stony Brook on Nov. 15. It was the second-highest field goal percentage Northwestern has allowed this season (.625 at Illinois on Jan. 2)
• With the win, NU improved to 14-5 on the season, its best 19-game mark since joining the Big Ten in 2011-12. The last time NU was 14-5 or better after 19 games was in 2010-11 (14-5).
*-Nebraska held Northwestern to 38.1 percent shooting, ninth opponent held to under 40 percent shooting.
*-The Huskers finished with a +14 rebounding margin on the boards, their best since a +17 at Kansas State on Dec. 17.
*-Nebraska put five players in double figures for the first time since Dec. 20 against North Dakota
*-Keisei Tominaga finished with 14 points and a career-high six rebounds, including an offensive putback that gave Nebraska a 69-65 lead with 2:45 left. His previous high in rebounds was five against South Carolina State on Dec. 19.
*-C.J. Wilcher finished with 10 points off the bench, the 16th time in 19 games NU has had at least one double-figure scorer off the bench.
*-Rienk Mast tied a career-high with six assists (also vs. MSU on Dec. 10) and led NU with eight rebounds.
*-Brice Willians finishes with 12 points, his team-high 15th double-figure effort of the season.
Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
On the 3-pointer by Tominaga to make it 74-69
“Kesei (Tominaga) made a great read on the back screen, slipped out of it and made a huge three to make it a two-possession game. Then we knocked down some free throws during the stretch and got some stops. That’s a hard team to do it against with (Boo) Buie. He’s as clutch as anyone in this league and in this country, I think he’s a top-five guard in the nation. I thought our guys did a heck of a job pretty much start to finish. Brice (Williams) did a great job and Sam (Hoiberg) had a lot of possessions on him. Jamarques (Lawrence) had a lot of opportunities and CJ (Wilcher) switched off on him and had a great stop. I also give Josiah (Allick) a lot of credit for stepping up into the starting lineup and really setting the tone in the paint. Northwestern switches a lot of screens and really makes it difficult on you. We assisted 12 of our 16 first half baskets, but also had 8 turnovers. We talked at halftime and said if we take care of the ball we’re going to have a pretty good chance to win the game. We did that early and then had the three or four in a five possession stretch which got them back in the game. We have to start loosening teams up especially when we have a lead, but we found a way to get it done. We found a way and that’s the important thing. Sometimes it's human nature when things don’t go well down the stretch you start to think, ‘here we go again’. Now the challenge for our guys is to get over this one quickly and get ready to have a business-like approach to our practice tomorrow for a team that had an unbelievable performance today. Ohio State puts you in a lot of really tough positions but I’m happy our guys took care of business today against a really good basketball team and found a way to get it done.”
On Josiah Allick’s performance
“He’s playing with a lot more confidence despite going through a stretch where you could tell he was struggling a bit. You can see it in his free throw shooting, he’s taking his time a little more and his rhythm is better. Even his three, he’s looking at shooting it. He had good patience in the paint. We got the ball into him quite a bit in the first half and unfortunately couldn’t get it to him much in the second but he really set the tone for this game with a really physical start. With Juwan (Gary) out, you could probably say he’s the heart and soul of this team with all the little things he’s done, Josiah went out there and he was really good for us.”
Nebraska Forward Josiah Allick
On handling adversity
“It’s part of the ebbs and flows of the season. Obviously, we’re a new team that’s pretty transfer dominant, and so you are still getting that familiarness with other guys with understanding their energy. Part of that can only be experienced when you’re struggling. After the Iowa game and then especially after the Rutgers game where it was kind of coming down the stretch in the exact same fashion this one was where we just had to find a way to get a stop. Our offense was alright obviously besides the ridiculous amount of turnovers, but the biggest thing was understanding that if we’re gonna finish this game it’s gonna have to happen on the defensive end. Everybody just kind of understood that and obviously at no point are you thinking ‘this possession doesn’t matter’ but just playing with that extra edge that once we break this time we gotta set the tone for this first play. I think there was like a stretch where we had three or four turnovers in a row or bad shots, but we weren’t giving anything up on defense. That’s the only reason we were able to stay in this game and eventually obviously put them away was just being able to rely on that defense to take care of us. Just getting that connectivity just knowing what certain guys need and certain things you gotta say, and it’s all a little chess game out there.”
On getting the ball down low in the paint
“I didn’t go into this game thinking it was going to be as much as it was but we knew they were gonna switch, and we knew there were gonna be opportunities. Anytime I cut or set a screen and I felt somebody that was below 6’6’’ I was like alright get on the block, and I mean credit to everybody else because as the switch happened, I was yelling for it, and they found me. Different guys had their moments, and it was nice because we were kind of able to get them out of their defense to where they weren’t able to trap the post when we opened it up outside. Coach talked a lot about their aggressiveness on defense, and how they disrupt and trap the screens. That’s something that we’ll still have to build on and improve on for the next game because we didn’t do a very good job kicking it out of ball screens very efficiently. We knew they were going to be aggressive and so whenever we had a switch we had to answer back and we got to take advantage of mismatches when they presented themself.”
Nebraska Guard Keisei Tominaga
On keeping a level head against a physical defense
“It’s definitely hard for me to play with those types of defenses, but I still got to keep moving and it’s going to open if I keep moving like that. I just got to wait for my moment to come to me. I think it came to the end of the game today so I just gotta keep playing, I do all the time.”
On if it ever gets old hitting big shots
“No it's always fun, it’s always exciting, especially those end of the game moments.”
On the celebration when he put his hand over his ears
“You know Steph Curry did it, I don’t remember what game he did it. Nothing much.”
Northwestern Coach Chris Collins
Opening Statement
“Well, obviously congratulations to Nebraska. That was a really hard-fought game between two teams. Given everything they had. It was really physical. Both teams competing like crazy, you know, kids on both teams making great plays and fighting. Typical kind of Big Ten battle and give them credit. They really hurt us early in the first half. I thought our defense wasn't where it needed to be. When your defense isn't where it needs to be against this team, they're gonna make you look bad, and so for them to shoot 70% in the first half, that was a big story of the game. Then they came out in the second half and kind of the first four minutes it was much of the same. We just told our guys we were thinking down 11 or 12. At that point, I think 11 and it was a timeout and I just said, ‘Hey, you're on the road and this is a point right now where you either decide we're going to fight back as a group and get ourselves back in this thing or you're just going to let them run away from us.’ I thought the rest of the game we played really well. I thought our defense got physical. We were able to generate some turnovers. We were able to take away their lead they had so I think 22 points in the paint in the first half and then (Josiah) Allick was really hurting us. We're able then to make a little bit of an adjustment on the matchups which I thought kind of helped out slowing him down. And then all things being considered I mean to be down one with the under four timeout, I told our guys we're on the road in a tough environment against a really good team. We're down one. I's right there for us. Give them credit and I thought we had some good looks. We had one of our best guys laying bricks at the free throw line. He misses a free throw that would have tied it. We then got a really nice pull up jumper. That's kind of his money shot. It just went in and out. Ty Berry had a three that was in and out and that happens offensively. We needed to get that one last stop. 52 seconds to go and we cut it to two and you know give them credit. We had a miscommunication. They cut so hard. You have to communicate so well when you play against Nebraska because of how hard they cut and how hard they move and how much they share the ball. And we had just a little bit of a communication error. There was a back screen on the backside and it's supposed to be a switch you know one guy switched one didn't. Give him credit. He stepped up and even if you have a mishap, you still got to step up and make a shot. And he did that, which gave him the five-point lead and obviously that was kind of the game there. So Nebraska is a good team. A lot of respect for what they're doing. Just stings because it's really hard to win on the road in this league. Right? So when you're right there with a couple minutes to go in a one possession game you want to try to find a way to steal it and we just weren't able to do that this afternoon.”
On if Nebraska's struggles on the road define the team today
“I've always been a big fan of what Fred does. I think he's a terrific coach, and they've always been really hard to guard, but you watch them this year and especially in this building, there's a grit to them. There's an unselfishness, you can see it's a connected group. When you get in these environments, it's a great home court, great fan base, and they're cheering for their team, so you get that support and you have a connected group that's playing with confidence. I think between the two of us I saw a stat the other day, which was crazy, that we were two of the winningest teams since like the last month of the season. If you look, I think it was Purdue and I think it was then us and then Nebraska. So, you have two kinds of teams that have maybe in past years been kind of in that bottom for trying to fight and now have seen some success. So you see confidence. You see some confidence, you see those guys that they've now won games where they believe they can do it and they got a good group. We'll get a chance to play them again at our place I think later on in the season but I knew this was going to be a really good team. The guys they brought in, (Brice) Williams and (Reink) Mast have been great additions, just veteran guys who are winners and play really well and fit their system really well. So I have a lot of respect for this team. I knew it was going to be a really tough game and that's why it's disappointing because we were right there. That’s why it hurts. We didn't play our best but then at the end, you're down one and you got a chance and you got to try to figure out a way to throw in a couple shots, get a couple stops and maybe steal it and we just weren't able to do it.”