Postgame Notes
• Rienk Mast ended with 34 points, which marks both a season and a career high. His previous career high was 30 against Northern Iowa on March 3, 2023. It marked his 10th career game with 20 or more points. 

• Mast’s 34 points and 10 rebounds make this his fifth double-double of the season and 25th of his career.

• Mast’s 34-point effort is the most by a Husker since Teddy Allen had 41 against Penn State on Feb. 23, 2021. Mast’s 34 points ties for 17th on NU’s single-game scoring list.

• Mast’s six 3-pointers is the most by a Husker since Kobe Webster had seven at Northwestern on March 7, 2021. Mast had four against Southern Illinois when he was at Bradley on March 4, 2021

• According to CBB reference, it is only the 12th time this season in Division I that a player had at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and shot 75 percent from the field. Purdue’s Zach Edey is the only other Big Ten player to do it in 2023-24.

• C.J. Wilcher scored 16 points, marking his third-straight game in double-figures (10th this season). Over his last four games, Wilcher is averaging 10.8 points off the bench for the Huskers. Wilcher’s four 3-pointers tied a season high (vs. North Dakota on 12/20/23).

• Wilcher’s 16-point effort gave NU a double-figure effort from its bench in 17 of 20 games this season.

*-Nebraska has scored 80 or more points 11 times, including in six of the last nine contests.

• Nebraska’s six turnovers was its lowest total since setting a school record with two turnovers against Duquesne on Nov. 22.

• Nebraska tied a season high with 14 3-pointers (also vs. Purdue), the 11th time this season with 10-or-more 3-pointers in a game.

• With the win, Nebraska improves to 13-1 at home, matching the most home wins since 2018-19

• Nebraska has won the last three meetings with Ohio State, the first time NU has won three straight against Ohio State. The Huskers’ 83 points tonight is the most NU has scored in 27 meetings with Ohio State.

• Nebraska is 11-0 this season when holding opponents to 70 points or less and

• Nebraska out-rebounded Ohio State 35-28 and is now 10-0 when out-rebounding its opponent this season.

Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg
On Rienk Mast’s 3-pointers and how it changes the offense
“He obviously had one of those nights and it was fun to see our guys really seek him out. We really were just running the ball screen after a swing for the shake pass, got the ball rolling in the post and that's kind of what got him going. They were switching and wanting to try to get rid of the paint. We missed our threes early and once we got the paint established, that's what started opening up the 3-point shot. Rienk (Mast) looked like a different person the last couple days in practice. He had more lift. We do jump testing with our sport science department and his jump numbers were as high as they’ve been since December. So we’ve been careful with him, I know I’ve talked about that – not getting him too many reps in practice just to try to keep him fresh for the game. But at the same time, we need to keep him sharp and he’s a guy that is a rhythm player, so it’s really, get shots, get him in there, get him up and down a few times and then get him off his feet, just with everything he’s been through. But yeah, it was really fun to see our guys execute once he got it going. We got a package for him and I thought our guys executed beautifully finding him and getting him the ball in the right spots.”

On the importance of rebounds and how the team responded
“I thought it started in the first half, I thought we did a good job first to the floor. We got a couple 50-50 balls and we talked about it in the locker room, the more physical team is going to have a great chance to win this game. And Chris Holtmann does a great job, those guys are physical, they guard, they’re tough. We talked about how they had Rutgers-like physicality and obviously we got dominated from a physical standpoint in that game, and we talked about it against Northwestern. You win the glass, you’re going to have a great chance to win. We said the same thing tonight. I think it was 35 to 28. At the end of the day, when you do that, you give yourself a really good chance. And guys got it going. I told them in the locker room, the beauty of this team is that it’s not going to be the same guy every night. Keisei (Tominaga) didn’t have it going tonight, C.J. (Wilcher) came off, and he was phenomenal. Sam (Hoiberg) gave us really good minutes. I thought the game flipped with Sam’s energy off the bench. Eli (Rice) gave us great minutes off the bench as well, and he was a big part of those runs that we made out there on the floor. I think Sam was a plus 23 for us as well. Guys just continued to go out there and I thought it was a full team effort. Josiah (Allick), just the energy he provides for our team, he gave the postgame speech today after the game and I had to give him the hook to get him off of there. It was a fun game, and here’s the other thing, our guys did a great job responding to adversity. We got down nine in that first half and there was no panic, everybody kept their poise. We went out and finally started getting stops. They hit shots early, I think their first four or five, and then we force them to miss a few and that’s what got us out in transition and that’s what got us confident.”

On Rienk Mast’s development since transferring and what he brings to the program
“I think he’s very comfortable right now in finding his spots. Not only what he did scoring the ball but he’s leading us in assists right now and that’s pretty impressive when your five man is leading the program in assists. Derrick Walker did it for us last year, so it’s an offense if you got the right guy in it. The thing that Rienk does that Derrick doesn’t is shooting ability. So, having that guy that’s going to take the big away from the basket, that’s what opened up some driving lanes and cutting and when Rienk’s knocking out shots like that it makes it very difficult on the defense.”

 

Nebraska Guard C.J. Wilcher

On Rienk Mast’s play
“Once he hit that step-back three in the first half he got going and it just kind of went from there. He was super steady throughout the whole game. He was attacking them. Of course he is solid as heck on defense. He is just a package game completely.”

On winning the rebounding battle against a big team like Ohio State
“I think what’s also huge is the team being connected, just a connected team. As he (Rienk Mast) said, he shouldn’t have to tell us that we should smash down. Just understanding that they’re fighting down there, we have to smash down. Or even, looking to box out. That’s something that we’ve been talking about a lot lately, so I just think that attitude of being connected as a team.”

 

Nebraska Forward Rienk Mast
On his play in practice this week
“We tried a couple different things with the knee. It’s still a day to day thing so whatever we are doing right now is working so I’ll talk to our athletic trainer and keep doing what we’re doing now. It’s really been a day to day thing and honestly what Coach Hoiberg mentioned about the jump test, it honestly didn’t feel special or anything that the numbers were that good. So I guess it’s a good sign when I don’t expect to be moving well, but I’m actually moving well. That’s good. Day to day thing but whatever we are doing now is working.” 

On when he knew he was in the zone
“Like C.J. (Wilcher) said, that step back yeah you don’t hit that. I was kind of mad at myself for shooting it because I was just not thinking and I just shot it and it went in. Then I thought, ‘It’s one of those days.’ But all basketball players know, I think we all know sometimes we have those days where it looks like the rim looks like an ocean. Everything you throw up goes in. Unfortunately, I don’t have those days that often, but once you have them it’s pretty fun. I don’t expect to shoot that exact same percentage next game, but this does give a lot of confidence.” 

 

 

 

Ohio State Coach Chris Holtmann

Opening Statement
“I give Nebraska credit. I thought they played great offensively. Obviously, (Rienk) Mast was a tough matchup, so I give them credit. It’s a good team and a great environment, so we will work to continue to grow here.”

On what Nebraska was doing offensively
“Yeah, I just think his (Rienk Mast) ability to shoot it and space it made it just a difficult matchup. We’ve got to get better with our traditional lineup and guarding that.”

On how an early run deflated his team
“I think it's too early to get deflated. If that's the case, that shouldn't have been the case. I think it's too early to get deflated in that moment, to be honest with you. Across the board, we just weren't nearly tough enough. Ultimately, that's my fault. I take responsibility for that. We just weren't as physical or as tough as we needed to be. And again, I give them credit. They took advantage. They’re a good team.”

On Nebraska winning the rebounding matchup
“We did not rebound it well, and they did. I give them credit. They kept us off the glass and they got the loose balls.”

 On how getting six three-pointers from a center makes Nebraska difficult to guard
“I think Purdue saw that. Other teams have seen that coming in here, when he's making threes, it just spreads everybody out. You have to look at different ways to guard it and sometimes it's maybe an atypical lineup. That's something that we have not been great with all year, with both Felix (Okpara) and Zed (Key), so we've got to get better at it.”

On if limiting Keisei Tominiaga was in the game plan
“He obviously commands a lot of attention. I think we did a good job making it difficult for him but there's so much more – he's such a dynamic shooter. But there's obviously other really good players – (C.J.) Wilcher, and other guys who can really shoot it. (Brice) Williams has been great for them and then (Rienk) Mast obviously, but they've got other really good players.”