Nebraska Postgame Notes

• With the win, Nebraska improved to 18-8 on the season, tying its best mark after 26 games in the Big Ten era (2017-18).
• Nebraska improved to 16-1 at home this season, including 8-0 in Big Ten action. The 16 home wins matches the arena record set in 2017-18 (16-1).
• Nebraska held Penn State to a season-low 49 points, as the Nittany Lions came in averaging 75.8 points per game. Penn State’s previous season low was 61 on two occasions, most recently in a 61-46 win over Rutgers on Jan. 31.
• The 49 points allowed was NU’s second-lowest total allowed this season (46 at Kansas State). It was the fewest points allowed to a Big Ten opponent since holding Minnesota to 49 points in a 52-49 win on Jan. 20, 2015.
• Nebraska held Penn State to 33.3 percent shooting, the second straight opponent under 35 percent and the sixth straight under 43 percent. The 33.3 percent shooting was PSU’s third-lowest shooting effort of the season.
• Nebraska improved to 13-0 when holding opponents to 70 point or less.
• Nebraska out-rebounded Penn State 42-31, its highest rebounding margin since a +14 against Northwestern on Jan. 20.
• The Huskers have now made 241 three-pointers this season, which moves them up to the fifth-highest total in program history.
• Keisei Tominaga’s 17 points marked his 16th double-figures game of the season.
• Juwan Gary scored 13 points to mark the 12th time he’s scored in double figures this season. Gary, who also grabbed six boards and had two steals, was a team-best +24 in 31 minutes of work.
• Rienk Mast earned his 16th double-figures game of the season with 12 points. He fell one rebound shy of his sixth double-double of the season.

Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg

On a slow start offensively and the effort it takes to produce a strong defense
“Yeah, it was important. I was a little worried about that, not only because the week off, but the 11 a.m. start. We haven't had one of these in a while. I think we've got another one at Michigan at 12 p.m. eastern, 11 a.m. central. The defensive effort was exactly where it needed to be. I didn't like the force on our cuts, especially against their pressure. But, it shows what we're capable of on the defensive end when the ball is not going in the hoop. It keeps you in the game, and we've had a couple where our lack of offense has affected our defense. Tonight, we really grinded out stops and it was 28-22 at halftime.

I thought Jamarques (Lawrence) gave us a nice spark. I thought it gave us a couple of good pace plays, transition plays, and got a few layups when the ball wasn't going in. I just didn't like the force we were playing with. Offensively in the second half, we got it to go in a little bit. We did a better job in the paint in the second half. Our shots still didn't fall, going 4-for-21 from three and winning the game by 19 is a great sign for this team. As we talked about in the         locker room now, can we carry this same effort on the road? This is a tough team. When you look at Penn State's last five games, they got three wins all by double digits. Two of those on the road by 15, a one-point game with under two to go at Northwestern, and then Michigan State to a single digit game in their last one. So this is a team that's playing their best basketball this season. For us to come out and take care of business like we did is a great sign. Now we have to get back to work and get ready for Wednesday.”

On how big an emphasis the rebounding numbers are in this game: 
“It was a huge emphasis, and I thought Josiah (Allick) was the guy that really set the tone for us on the glass against Michigan last week. I thought Juwan (Gary) was the guy tonight that was getting 50-50 balls and going after it. I thought Sam (Hoiberg) got in there and mixed it up on the glass. He got a couple good offensive rebounds as well. I think everybody who played in the first half had a rebound, and we don't have that happen very often. I’m really pleased to see us win the board battle by double digits. We're generally in pretty good shape.”

On Rienk Mast’s assists and presence on the court:
“Yeah, he only had one but it felt like he had more assists than that tonight, but he's just such a calming influence for us. When you get the ball in his hands, you feel pretty good when he gets cutting and movement going on. That's what our guys, I thought, did a good job of, was the cutting and the movement where it wasn't as forceful as it needed to be in the first 20 minutes. When Rienk had the ball, I thought he did a better job pump faking when he got the ball in the paint as well, where they blocked four shots in the first half. He’s been phenomenal and you can tell he's really picked up on the nuances of the system as the year has gone on. It's not very often when you have a big guy leading in assists. We did last year with Derrick (Walker) and Rienk leading us this year. So I'm really proud of him continuing to go out there and make winning plays for our team on that end.”

Junior forward Juwan Gary
On rebounding success against PSU
“Winning the glass is something we’ve been struggling with in a lot of games. It was a great win. It’s gonna push us to the next one against Indiana to try to get a road win for sure.”

On Jamarques (Lawrence) coming off the bench
“I know what a great player he is. Once he settles down in the game, he can be very physical out there. As you can see, he’s probably one of the top fastest guards in the conference, probably in the nation for real. Like he said, coming off the bench, he sees the game before anybody, so you go out there and play with good poise, be our point guard, and run the team. That’s what he did today, and I’m very proud of him for what he accomplished today, getting to the rim, making shots, getting fouled, and getting the team involved. Coming off the bench doesn't change anything for him.”

On keeping that ‘dog mentality’ even during slow games
“That’s just who I am. I’ll never lose my edge of who I am, making me play the way I am today. No matter if we are up 20 or up two, no matter the day. My team needs me to be a dog so that’s what I’m going to do – attack the glass, get defensive stops, it really doesn't matter, we’ve got to play. If I’m not a dog, it’s a problem out there for me and a problem for my team. I feel like as a glue guy, they look at me as a leader and a voice out there, so if I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing it’s going to be a struggle for us for sure, so just going out there and being myself is who I’m gonna be for sure.”

Sophomore Guard Jamarques Lawrence
On what changed in the second half offensively
“I think we just started off slow. Our offense is just move and cut, play with great pace, and I feel like we just started the game slow.”

On the game plan for Ace Baldwin Jr.
“He’s a great guy, really the main thing was ball screens. He likes to reject, so there were a couple times he got us there, but I think we contained him really well. He’s great in the pick-and-roll so that was our main focus with him.”

On new role coming off the bench
“I just think me coming off the bench gives the team great pace. It just allows me different guys to start with. It just allows me to go out there and be me, I feel like I’m in a different flow.”

Penn State Head Coach Mike Rhoades
Opening Statement
“It’s a great college atmosphere. It's impressive to be out here. It was an ugly first half, I think for both teams, and they got going and we didn’t in the second half. If you told me we'd be on here and hold them to 28 points, I’d think we’re in a good place. We just didn’t have enough juice to get rolling today and they had a lot to do with it, so commend I Coach (Fred Hoiberg). They're having a great year and a good team. Our margin of error is small and today, we didn't honor that enough or apply what we needed to do. If we come on the road and shoot 5-for-23 from three and 8-for-16 from the free throw line, we're going to be in for a long day, and we were. Even when we cut it to 12 there and got a little momentum, we had some breakdowns to get it right back up. It's just a tough road game. We have to learn from it and have to get better.”

On if the offensive struggles were because of Nebraska or if it was an off day
“I think it's both. Nebraska's defense is different and it's good. They have guys that I think guard the ball very well. I think they do a great job of helping each other. I think they have versatile big guys that really can cover things up when the guards gamble or make mistakes. As you know, we've been scoring the ball, and we're a little different in dynamic compared to other teams in the league in the way we play. We just didn't get into that flow today. Out of all the games all year long, this was the one where we were churning and sort of stuck in mud. When we did apply what we wanted to do, we got some really good looking shots. You have to make them on the road at a place like here and we just didn't. I thought early in the game we got some really good open threes. We just didn’t knock them down, but we played the right way. Not enough. Not enough against a good team.”

On why Pinnacle Bank Arena is hard to play in
“I don't know if it's hard to play, it's just really cool. If it's not your arena, everyone's against you and the fans are great. I just think it's such a beautiful arena. Everybody's on top of you, it’s straight up. Your fans are loud and into it. I think the team's good. How about that? Your fans are really cool. I think our fans are better. That's just bias, but they're good. Fans are really good when the team is really good. I think that's what you have right now.”