Nebraska Notes
*-Rienk Mast collected his 19th career double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Mast nearly had a double-double in the first half alone with 12 points and eight rebounds. Prior to tonight, the last Husker to have at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in a game was Aleks Maric, who had 32 points and 16 rebounds against Missouri on Feb. 13, 2008.  Mast had Nebraska’s first double-double since Sam Griesel (16/12) against Minnesota (3/8/23),

*-Mast’s 16 rebounds was the most by a Husker since Yvan Ouedraogo had 19 rebounds against Northwestern on March 1, 2020, and the second-highest rebound total in Hoiberg’s four-plus seasons at Nebraska.

*-Nebraska’s 55 rebounds was the most since also collecting 55 against Doane on Dec. 17, 2020. It was the most against a Division I team since having 55 vs. Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 6, 2018.

*-Nebraska has had double-figure scoring runs in each of its first two games (10-0 vs. Lindenwood; 12-0 vs. FAMU)

*-Nebraska had double-digit 3-pointers for the second straight game, the first time it happened since March 4-7, 2001 (at Iowa, at Northwestern)

*-In all, 64 of Nebraska’s 81 points were scored by first-year Huskers, as well as 30 points scored by players coming off the bench

*-Freshman Eli Rice reached double figures for the first time in his career with 16 points, including 11 in the first half

*-Jamarques Lawrence set a career high with three steals, topping his previous best of two set a pair of times in 2022-23. He also tied a career high with four assists (at Iowa, 3/5/23)

*-Sam Hoiberg had a career high four steals, as his previous best was two set on four occasions.

*-Nebraska’s 25 free throws were the most since also making 25 against Maryland on Feb. 18, 2022.

 

Head Coach Fred Hoiberg
On the physicality and emphasis on rebounds
‘Yeah I thought the defensive edge was really good tonight. It is what we really stress the last couple of days in practice was the physicality. I thought we got beat to some 50-50 balls in the opener and gave up way too many offensive rebounds. From that standpoint, I was very pleased. Offensively we obviously weren’t very good tonight. Turning the ball over 18 times shooting 41 percent. In the first half I thought we took way too many contested shots in the paint. We do a drill every day where we drive it into the paint and come to a two-foot jump stop and kick it to the guy pulling up behind. We weren’t talking on it. We were trying to go up and finish over length. It wasn’t working. In the second half, it was a big point of emphasis at halftime to play under control and then we had layups and wide-open plays at the rim and now we decide to start kicking them out. We should have to be better. We have to be more efficient in the paint. We still score 81 points, missing 11 free throws, shooting 41 percent and turning the ball over 18 times. We have a chance to be a very good offensive team, a very good team overall if we can take what we did on the defensive end tonight and then take care of the basketball and get a quality possession every time down. We have a chance to be very good if we can figure that out which is going to be a big part of practice the next few days. We have a huge week ahead. Three tough games and we need to have two quality days of work on Saturday and Sunday.” 

On Rienk Mast’s performance
“That’s pretty good company. Aleks Maric was a monster. Rienk was the guy that really got it going early for us. I thought our guys did a good job finding him. Josiah (Allick) was just a read on his part where he curled, Rienk’s guy was in the paint to pop him out for an open three after he just made one. I love to see that when guys make a shot and have a conscious effort of finding that guy the next time down. Rienk was phenomenal tonight. I thought he did rush a couple in the paint that he could have kicked out but overall yeah with 20 points and 16 rebounds in 27 minutes is a pretty darn good night.”

On the injuries and how they’ve impacted the team
“It’s giving guys great opportunities to go out there and play extended minutes. It’s given Eli (Rice) a chance to get out there and show what he can do. I talk to the guys all the time about taking advantage when it presents itself. With Keisei (Tominaga) being out of the lineup, we have been able to play some different combinations out there, obviously starting big. Juwan (Gary) hopefully we’ll be getting him back sometime next week and have a full team out there. Then we’re gonna have some decisions to make on who’s gonna be in the rotation. You can’t play 12 guys. It doesn’t work that way. I think we use the example of Jamarques (Lawrence) and Sam (Hoiberg). A year ago they didn’t play a lot early in the season. Sam didn’t play at all. And now obviously he’s a very important guy on the floor on both ends. He knows what we needs to do defensively and offensively for the most part, he does his job. When those guys get back, I’m excited. It’s gonna have to be a group that goes out there and continues to play unselfishly but getting Keisei back is going to be very important to us.”

Nebraska Forward Rienk Mast
On last game’s performance and improvement
“The last game we weren’t too happy with the way we boxed out so that was a big emphasis in practice these last couple of days. I think we did a lot better overall with everyone being more physical and just crashing harder and putting effort into rebounding. You see that once we put effort into it we can do it. We got to sustain it through the next couple of days.”

On how the team operates
“Getting everyone back. We hope Keisei (Tominaga) will be back soon. Not rushing him but it’s looking good. He’s already moving better doing parts in practice. Getting everybody back together. We have a lot of veteran guys. You see the potential. I think today you saw potential. We beat this team pretty handily, and we still had 18 turnovers and shot 41 percent from the field. Not a great game on our part, but we see the potential once we have Keisei back.” 

Nebraska Guard Brice Williams
On being veterans in college basketball and how long it takes teams to mesh
“It varies between different teams but when you play together you start to learn each other’s tendencies: where you like the ball and what they’re good at. When you get out there on the court you just try to do what you’re good at. You don’t try to do too much or not enough. It will happen quick just because of the way we play is really very free-flowing. It’s not anybody being asked to do anything they can’t do. It will happen pretty fast once you get out there.”

Florida A&M Head Coach Robert McCullum
On defending Nebraska’s three’s point attack
“We talked about the same emphasis, running them off the line, playing with great awareness, I think we did a better job of contesting (in the second half), and some of them they got some open looks and just missed.”

On having experienced players
“We’ve got older players, but we also have eight new players. We’re still trying to gel and establish the chemistry that we need.”

On bright spots
“I like the fact that we did a better job taking care of the ball. In the first half we had ten turnovers, and we only had four the second half. We liked the number of shot attempts that we got. We had a couple of players that played poorly against Creighton that I thought played better, so we’re able to see some players do some things that boost their confidence and help us get better as we progress through the season.”