Nebraska vs. Omaha Postgame Notes

Notes:
*-Tonight’s sellout crowd of 15,889 is the sixth-largest in Pinnacle Bank Arena history.

*-The 16-point comeback matches Nebraska’s largest at Pinnacle Bank Arena (also vs. Indiana on Jan. 30, 2014). It also ties the fourth-largest comeback since the 1996-97 season.

*-Shavon Shields finished with a career-high 35 points, topping his previous best of 33 set against Illinois on Feb. 13, 2014. Shields also matched the PBA record, which was 35 by Terran Petteway against Minnesota on Jan. 26, 2014.  

*-Shields climbed into NU’s career scoring list and now has 743 career points, which ranks 58th all-time. He is 22 points away from moving into the top 50 at Nebraska in program history.

*-Tai Webster matched his career high in assists, as he also had  His previous best was five, set three times last season.

*-Terran Petteway posted his third career double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. His 12 rebounds tied a career high set at Iowa on Dec. 31, 2013.

*-Nebraska has scored 80 or more points in all three home games this season.

*-Nebraska held Omaha to a season-low 67 points after the Mavericks entered the contest averaging 90.3 points per game. UNO did shoot 41 percent, the highest against Nebraska this season.

*-Benny Parker made his first start of the season and finished with a season-high four assists.

*-Nebraska was a season-best +14 on the glass, out-rebounding UNO 42-28.

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles

On Benny starting and the role Parker and Tarin Smith played.
“I want to play Tarin. I think he can help us. I want to play Benny, obviously, and Tai, I’ve always kind of thought I wanted to get him to the two guard. This allowed Tai to come in for Terran (Petteway) or for Shavon (Shields) and not have to be that guy that’s fourth in the pecking order. I think he responded really well. I would say that 10 points and five assists is among one of his better performances for us.”

On what was different about Shavon Shields from earlier in his career
“Shavon has been the same since the summer. He’s playing with great confidence and poise. He’s taking what the defense gives him and when we run something for him, he scores most times. It works good.”

On the team’s performance
“I think we were more flat because of the Rhode Island game. We didn’t watch tape until Monday. We watched the game and it’s just a bummer. Then, here’s Omaha, get ready and their like ‘yeah, right.’ They made some tough shots, but we also made some defensive errors. They went on that huge run early. After that, I think we got our heads calmed down.”

On intensity of Omaha
“It was great. I loved it. That’s why we scheduled it. My thought is always we have to challenge this team. Look what happened when we weren’t up to the challenge. They were the first team to shoot over 40 percent on us this year.”

Nebraska Guard Benny Parker and Forward Shavon Shields 
On what was said to the team to flip the switch

Shields: “We have to do what we know to win. We turned it around and got our energy up and made plays to win.” 

On what was lacking early on
Shields: “Stops. They scored 21 points in the first four minutes. They hit four three-pointers. We should probably get the shooters then, rebound, finish possessions. Actually, we didn’t even have a chance to get a rebound. Probably force some tougher shots so we can get some stops and get going.”

On his career high
Shields: I just tried to play within the offense and take shots when they come. They were falling tonight. I know I put in the work in for them to fall so, I didn’t change anything.”

On getting the start
Parker: “I started my freshman year so it kind of reminded me of that and I just had to get used to it. I got back into the flow of the game which we got over that first four minutes of the game.” 

On Omaha’s big start
Shields: “They’ve played a ton of teams close. They played UNLV to one point. They played Iowa in a close game. They beat Marquette last week. They’re a good team. We know they are a good team so we just needed to regroup and do what we needed to do to win.”

Parker: “I wasn’t surprised. Coach said going into the game they average 90 points so they have to have a spurt like that. He just said to stick with the process and fight back like we’ve been doing. We just have to chop off each bucket at a time.” 

On Parker’s approach as a starter
Parker: “I still do the same thing I usually do. It’s just knowing that I have to bring it out from the beginning of the game instead of coming in off the bench and bringing the intensity on defense.”

On when Shields felt he was going to perform well
Shields: “I couldn’t tell you. I just played within the offense and make plays when they present themselves and that’s what I tried to do.”

On how important Shavon is to the team
Parker: “He’s very important. He can do it all. He’ll get down and rebound for us, get us a bucket anytime, he’ll lock down his opponent whenever it’s clutch time. He’s a dependable teammate.”

Omaha Head Coach Darrin Hansen 
Opening Statement 
"A couple things happened tonight. I thought we needed a quick start, and we got that, it was 23-7 at one point. I thought our guys played with a lot of confidence. I thought defensively we were really dialed in, as the first half wore on though we were not as good in our switches. I thought their guards were getting the ball and going downhill a bit and that hurt us some. In the second half, I liked our fight. We got it back to four points at one time, and then I just thought we did a bad job a couple times on transition. I thought we did a poor job handling the basketball giving them some run outs. That goes with 19 turnovers. You can’t have that against a team like Nebraska. When we do what we need to do, by moving the basketball and getting side to side setting ball screens, I thought we got the ball where we wanted it and were semi efficient. When we kept the ball on one side and let Nebraska's length and athleticism come into play, that is when it really hurt us, and they got some run outs and some separation in the game." 

On if there was some fatigue
"I think so. I think it played a little bit. Foul trouble did not help us tonight. I thought that came into play but that is the life we lead." 

On the start
"We have done that a few times and got some to go, but it was also fool’s gold too because it came kind of easy for us because we made shots. Then for the next four or five minutes, we had a couple of those quick shots again that did not go and they had some run outs or we turned the ball over and we weren't really good with. Again, it was great to have it, a bit of fool’s gold. I didn't do a good enough job managing it and managing our team and give us some better possessions.

On Shavon Shields 
"He has made tremendous progress. To see him play in high school and AAU and then to see him here with his development--Tim and his staff have done it has been tremendous. He was really good down the stretch, we couldn't do anything with him five six or seven feet away from the basket. He was too quick with the ball and was good with his back to the basket. He could face up and do some things, his skill level--he has obviously worked at it."