Nebraska-Penn State Quotes

Nebraska-Penn State Postgame Quotes
Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
On Walter Pitchford's status
"I don't think there's any structural damage, but I don't know when he'll be available. He was smiling after the game, so that helped. He wasn't writhing in pain. He'd already iced it. But I really don't know."

On how the team responded after the win over Michigan State "I thought they responded well. We started out the game on a 7-0 run. Then, of course, they made a 7-0 run. But then we came back with like an 8-0 run. We were able to build on that lead and then get through some real major foul trouble and have a lead at halftime. I thought to have a lead of 27 with eight minutes to go, that's pretty good. In the Big Ten, you don't do that to many opponents. Especially a team that has won at Ohio State. They've won at some places. They're a capable team. I was very proud of that. Now, we just kind of survived the last eight minutes. I don't have anything to say about that."

On the defense "I thought our defensive effort was really good for a long time. I think they were still in the high 20s midway through the second half in terms of their field goal percentage. That's excellent defense. I just thought that we did a nice job that way. We didn't sustain it for the whole game. We still held them to just under 35 percent from the field. We made enough foul shots to get it done."

On the team's defensive improvements "I thought [freshman] Tai [Webster] was good. I thought they were all good. It was just one of those games. Everyone got testy. They got a little chippy. The refs are going to take control of the game, as they should, so it's hard to tell on some of the defensive errors. I'll just have to see the film. What I'm saying is I didn't like all the fouling. I thought we still played pretty good defense, which is evident by the field goal percentage."

On the play where Pitchford was injured "I thought the kid was making a hustle play. I didn't think it was a mean-spirited play. I would have preferred he hadn't died. That's a kid that just plays hard. It didn't surprise me."

On how the team has improved defensively this season "We were 0-4 in the league. We were getting our butts kicked around. We just kept getting more solid, getting more solid. Then, eventually, we were buying in to what we're about and what our identity has to be defensively. If you ask me what that is, I'll tell you it's keep them out of the lane, defensive rebound, keep them out of the transition and contest outside shots late. We've been fortunate to go on a little run here."

Sophomore forward Terran Petteway On how they responded with NCAA tournament buzz “This was definitely a good win. Coming off a win from Michigan State has helped us improve. But we still have a lot to prove. We just have to keep building on it.”

On the reaction after Sophomore Walter Pitchford went down “We just had to stay focused on the game. We had to keep locking in on defense and not give up the lead that we had going. Like I said, we just had to keep building.”

On his role in the first half “I really just stayed aggressive and kept attacking the basket.  Last time we played, we weren’t aggressive at all. We were hesitant to get to the right. It was really just about staying aggressive and attacking those guys when they did all those defense switching.”                   Freshman guard Tai Webster On the defensive plan “We emphasized putting a hand over them. We couldn’t let them go to their preferred hand. We just had to do everything we could to stay in front of them. It sometimes takes five guards to guard them. We just had to pay attention.”   On his offensive playing “It felt really good. I just got back to not thinking about the game too much and letting them come to me. I let the points come and found open players to make shots when I needed them. It was a really good time out there.”   On how sophomore guard Benny Parker has pushed him “Benny Parker has been an inspiration. He brings so much energy and spark to the team every single day in practice. He pushes me to the limit every time. He guides me in practice. I want to go at him as hard as he’s going at me. It’s good.”

Penn State Men's Basketball Coach Pat Chambers On how difficult it was to maintain a pace with the large amount of fouls called “Look I have great respect for the officials – 48 free throws – Wow. I give Nebraska a lot of credit. They are a hot team right now and we knew they were hot and we knew we had to play at a high level. We can't blame anything on the officials. We need to hit some shots. We need to hit some outside shots to relieve some of the pressure of these guys getting in the paint. But you know, you just have to adjust and at timeouts we were trying to adjust and you gotta be in a better stance, you got to move your feet and do the little things. Habits that I feel we have created all year long. But they did a good job – they exposed our weaknesses and they converted - I mean it's hard to win games when you make 37 free throws.”

On how Nebraska's defense improved since the first meeting this season “They (Nebraska) are a different team than the first time we played them. They are longer, they clog up the paint, but let's be really honest... They are making shots. Your defense is sometimes dictated by your offense, so when Petteway is drilling three's and Pitchford is drilling three's, when we played them, they were only hitting four threes a game. Now they are—you look at the last five or six games they are drilling shots. If they are not, then Shields is driving to the hoop, and getting himself to the foul line.”

Closing statement “Thanks guys, good luck in the tournament.”  ​