Nebraska vs. Tennessee: Postgame Quotes

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
On the game:
“I think we played a strong first half, but the start of the second half obviously building the big lead; I think making our first 8-of-10 shots and then being able to hang on. Tennessee has been able to comeback on everybody, and they made it a ball game down to the last possession with a smart coach and veteran players. For us to be able to hold them off was important for us.”

On Tai Webster:
“This guy here, Tai Webster, I thought played wonderfully all weekend. He was in my eyes, an All-Tournament player in this event, and really did a heck of a job and keyed us to a win. He was really strong to the rim. I think the last two days was as strong as I’ve seen him play at the rim. He’s using an inside game instead of an outside game, and then obviously he’s been an excellent defender for us too. That’s a staple of our program.”

Tai Webster
On the performance of Andrew White III’:
“Obviously he had his struggles in the first half, but I thought he did a great job of focusing in on the second half, and really correcting his play and just knocking down shots like he’s capable.”

Tennessee Associate Head Coach Rob Lanier
“I think we go outplayed and outworked. The rebounding edge really speaks to what happened in the game. A lot of that was a byproduct of how often we were getting beat off the dribble during the course of the game. Defensively we are not very good right now. We have a long way to go. We are a team with a lot of growth ahead of us. It almost feels like we are playing with 13 freshmen. Everything is new to everyone as we try to establish a culture. Today was one of those days where it showed that we have a pretty small margin for error.”

“When we went to Georgia Tech we saw ourselves take a step forward. We fought. We made some plays offensively. We didn’t feel like we capitalized on the opportunity to win a road game, but we walked out feeling like we competed. We built on that. As recently as our game against Army, a team that we have a lot of respect for, we weren’t perfect, but the competitive nature that we are trying to get from this group seemed apparent then. For stretches we show it, but for us to be the team that we want to be, we have to be more connected defensively for longer periods of time.”

“We were outplayed. (Nebraska) is not a big, strong, physical team. They are very good and very well coached. They have a very good defense as a team. For us to get dominated on the glass, though, I think speaks to our maturity as a team.”

“There is a certain way (Rick Barnes) wants to see his teams play and he is not going to discriminate. Coach is willing to lose to get things done the way he wants them done. He is not afraid to lose…We have enough guys that are good enough that want to do it the right way. We just have to get to a point that when you watch us play you know we are tough, that we are competitive, and that we are going to be a tough out. These last two games were not exemplary of that.”