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Postgame Notes
*-Ed Morrow Jr. finished with a career-high 13 rebounds, surpassing his previous high of 12 against Clemson. It was his third 10-rebound game of the season.
*-Tai Webster scored 20 points against Creighton, his fourth 20-point game this season and the sixth of his career. Webster also scored in double figures for the 10th consecutive game dating back to last season’s Big Ten Tournament.
*-Nebraska’s 32.4 percent shooting was its second-lowest output of the season.
*-Isaiah Roby grabbed eight rebounds, a career-high for the freshman. His previous high was four against Mary on Nov. 15.
*-Nebraska held Creighton, which was averaging 90.8 points per game, to its season-low scoring output.
*-Creighton won for the sixth straight time in the series with tonight’s win.
Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
Opening Statement
“I give Creighton a lot of credit. They did an excellent job especially at the start of the game and in the second half about five minutes in when they made their run. They’re an extremely talented team, they’re well coached, and they beat us tonight. It makes me disappointed and sick to my stomach that we could not foster another fight. I thought we were in good shape until Tai [Webster] picked up his fourth (foul) and then we went on a long, long drought that we cannot allow to happen. I know we don’t have a lot of leadership, but at the same time we have guys who can make those plays. As I look at it, I just need to look at who didn’t get the right looks. We wanted to go inside some, we didn’t go inside enough. Three for 22 from the three-point line is pretty dreadful, and we had some guys with open looks that put shots up. If it hadn’t been for Tai, it could have been extremely ugly.”
On taking too many 3-pointers early
“I thought we took too many early when in that very first run when they hopped us 14-2. We were just amped as and you could see that. Glynn [Watson Jr.] threw up a floater and it hit the backboard, you could see how amped up he was. We had missed some open guys, Ed [Morrow] was open underneath, Michael [Jacobson] was open underneath, and they weren’t seeing anything. They’re excited to play; they’re wanting to beat Creighton.”
On Nebraska’s defense
“We forced them to a plan B at times and they went extremely small then. Then we had to go to our plan B, and we didn’t execute it very well. We missed switching on stuff we’re supposed to be switching. We usually play more solid defense and make it a tough shot (for them). We didn’t turn them over the second half either, we only turned them over three times and that was all late in the game.”
Nebraska Senior guard Tai Webster:
On overcoming a slow start to get back into the game
“Obviously, they are a fast team, and they like to get up and down the court. We kind of settled in and kind of found a groove where we were not letting them get as many opportunities in the fast break. I think just playing with poise on both ends was the main thing for us. Sitting down on defensive end and getting shots on the offensive end was the key for us.”
On Creighton’s performance:
“They did a good job. I think they made us shoot a lot of tough ones, and they had a length on their team. They probably tried to make us shoot those tough ones. We were taking too many of those tough ones to be honest. We are a team that does well when we are on the rim. Coach Miles anyway says ‘Love the two, like the three’ so that’s when we are at our best.”
Nebraska Sophomore Guard Glynn Watson Jr.
On Creighton’s second-half run
“They had a big shot, we tied it up and got a big three. Then we put our heads down right after that then they got on the run and we never came back from it.”
On Tai Webster’s leadership
“I just try to feed off of it. I have to bring leadership too at point guard and shooting guard, but I try to feed off of it. I try to bring energy and feed off of his leadership and his energy also in games like these. In any game period.”
On comparing his game to Maurice Watson Jr.
“It’s not really like one on one. You’re playing a team game, it’s got to be a team thing. With switching and pick-and-roll and things like that is the game plan on what we are doing how we are supposed to stop everybody on the team.”
Creighton Head Coach Greg McDermott
On what he learned about team while playing tough game on the road:
“We had to win kind of an ugly game. They’re trying to make us play that way. This is probably the fewest fast-break points we’ve had on the season, but we still got 12 of them. And some of them, and some of them come at key times. I like to think that our pace wears on you over time. We had a hard time of it in the first half because we had to play guys extended minutes because of foul trouble. We were able to save Marcus (Foster) and Justin (Patton) and some of those guys the first half. It was a ‘grind it out’ game. It was an ugly game, and I anticipated that it would be. It’s never easy to come in here and play.”
On Creighton’s ability to pull away and Maurice Watson Jr.’s ability to control game:
“I knew this was going to be difficult, and it proved to be the first half. Tim’s (Miles) team didn’t quit when got them down early. I thought we really had a chance to maybe create some separation once we got it to 18-4 to maybe put them away. To their credit, they got us taking a lot of ‘first side’ shots and then continued to grind it offensively where there were some long possessions. The reality of it is, Maurice (Watson Jr.) is one of the best point guards in the country. He can control a game. He’s controlled games this year where he’s scored eight points, and he’s controlled games where he’s scored twenty-five like tonight. He impacts the game in so many ways. We had to survive some foul trouble. And in the second half we got into the teeth of their defense and shot a really good percentage against very good defensive team.”
On Nebraska’s defensive plan and how Creighton countered:
“I had a sense they tried to do something. We’ve gotten so many of those to Justin through eight games. Obviously that takes the life out of the building when you’re at home if guys are alley-oop dunking. We saw early that they committed to that and we told Maurice, ‘They’re not going to leave the shooter and they’re not going to leave the roll guy—that means you are open going to the rim, and you have to go attack and score until they do something different.’ That’s what makes us hard to guard when you have a guy like Maurice’s ability that can make those decisions and a guy like Justin’s length and athletic ability attacking the rim. Then you got good shooters surrounding them.”
On where he sees Nebraska’s season going moving forward:
“I’ve said leading up to the game: I think that that freshman class from last year has made incredible strides. (Michael) Jacobson, (Ed) Morrow, (Glynn) Watson Jr. have really, really improved. (Jack) McVeigh’s had some games where he’s shot the basketball well. (Tai) Webster, I don’t know in my twenty-eight years of coaching if I’ve ever seen a guy who’s improved from his sophomore to his junior, he improved his scoring average by seven points, and then he did it again from his junior year to his senior year. That’s almost unheard of, so obviously he’s spent an incredible amount of time in the gym working on his game. I think with his leadership they’re going to have a chance to be in games. Then it’s just a matter of young guys figuring out how to win close games. Tim will keep them going the right direction. They’ll be competitive to the end.”