Nebraska Postgame Notes and Quotes

Nebraska Postgame Notes
*-Nebraska’s 16-point win was its largest in conference play this season. Prior to tonight, NU’s four wins were by a combined 12 points
*-Nebraska’s 18 assists were the second-highest total of the season (19 vs. South Dakota).
*-Jack McVeigh tied for team-high honors with 15 points, the third time in the last five games he tied or led the team in scoring
*-Nebraska is now 7-1 when scoring 80 or more points this season.
*-Nebraska’s 55.4 percent shooting was its best since shooting 56.2 percent at Michigan on Jan. 14
*-Nebraska’s 45-point first half tied a season high for the first half (South Dakota).
*-Nebraska shot 63 percent in the first half, its best shooting half of the season. NU’s previous high was 61.5 percent in the first half at Michigan
*-Tai Webster reached double figures for the 26th straight game dating back to last season, as he finished with 12 points and six assists. It is the fifth straight game he has had at least five assists – the longest stretch of his career.
*-Jordy Tshimanga reached double figures for the third time in the last four games, finishing with 12 points and seven rebounds. He has had seven or more rebounds in each of the last four contests.

Nebraska Coach Tim Miles
On pace of game and second half mindset:
“The last eight minutes you’re like ‘try not to get too paranoid.’ We had such good pace the whole game, and I thought our guys were fairly locked in on the defensive game plan. Early on, we allowed way too many points, but I thought we were much better in the second half. I thought it was important to go out and get a good start at the rim.”

 

On playing tough:

“There’s no doubt you need a shot of confidence and a game like this can do that for you. I think these guys understand the hard work that goes into preparation and how to put that into work. We have a saying that the toughest team sets the rules. Tonight, I added and the most discipline team wins the game. We need both. Tonight, we were pretty good that way.”

 

On how offense kept going strong and Roby’s athleticism:

“First of all, we got more transition. We were good at the rim. If we’re good at the rim, we’re good. When we are bad at the rim, we’re bad. Not every team is designed like that, but we are. So because we were able to get transition, Roby had those two plays in a row that really kept momentum in the second half when you really could have gotten mulled, and that stretched the lead. Those were big plays.  They show his athleticism, and why we need him because he is so good in transition. He keeps running. He can run the floor all day. Some guys can run the floor the first six, seven minutes, but Roby can go all day.”

 

On pace of offense:

“I think our pace was good. What I mean by pace is how good we cut, how good we ran, and how well we shared the ball. We kept passing it and passing it.”

Senior Guard Tai Webster
On Jordy’s improvements
“He’s starting to click. Guys are finding him in spots where he can really be effective. We’re finally seeing what Coach Miles brought him here to do. He’s been playing well and staying out of foul trouble. Obviously, that has been a big emphasis for him because he brings such a defensive presence for us. When he’s on the court, he’s our best-five (lineup) when we need defense. Just staying away from those fouls is where we need him because he can get in there and play more minutes and be more productive for us. Plus it takes a lot of pressure off of me and [Glynn Watson Jr.] to have a big guy be in there to just throw it up to.”

On opponents adjusting to Jordy
“[Opponents] have to respect [Jordy]. They have to send two or they have to do a good job of forcing him to shoot what they think is a bad shot.”

Sophomore Forward Jack McVeigh
On tonight’s offense
“We’ve been really emphasizing ball movement and stuff like that. When you get everyone working well together and everyone clicking, offense becomes a lot easier. I don’t know what the assist was tonight but I bet you it was pretty decent. It was good when we had inside presence as well like getting some easy buckets in there. Everything was just working. It was just one of those nights.”

On reducing turnovers
“[The assist-to-turnover ratio tonight is what we wanted] especially after the last game where we had 22 turnovers. It was a pretty big emphasis in practice because that really hurt us last week. So we did a better job tonight.”

Freshman Center Jordy Tshimanga
On moving the ball
“The ball was moving very smoothly today. We’ve been doing that previously, but today was good in terms of ball movement.”

On his improvements
“I felt like I can score more and not missing as many shots as I was earlier in the season. I have to cut down my turnovers though. I have too many these days.”

Patrick Chambers
Opening Statement: “Nebraska played terrific. They did a great job. It seemed like everything was going right for them. The last time we gave up 45 points in the half, it has been a while. They moved a lot quicker. They cut with a purpose. And obviously in the second half, they did a nice job guarding us. I knew we had to make eight 3s to stay in this game because of their defensive style. We didn’t make shots. They made a lot of shots. So give them credit; as far as us, we’ll get back to work. No time to scream and yell. We just have to keep getting this young team better, keep developing habits, teaching them how to compete on the road in a hostile environment. (It is) Definitely going to be a learning lesson for us tonight. Hopefully we can carry that with us on our seven days off approaching, and we can be that much better down the stretch.”

On falling behind in the second half: “Looks that way in the second half. I don’t want to use that as an excuse. You are 18 to 23 year olds, you’re doing something that you love. I thought we did all the right things in preparing them. Using our intelligence by keeping their bodies in mind and their minds in mind. We scaled back a little bit. We did a decent job hanging in there. They [Nebraska] hit a half-court shot, if they didn’t hit that you’d only be down by five. That the energy or juice that you need, but that wasn’t the case. They looked fresh and use a lot of different line ups and that kind of wore us down.”

On Tim Miles: “I’ve been watching Tim [Miles] for years now, he always does a good job defensively. They play a pack style, they change the post every now and then which is coverages often. Give them credit, their defense was on point. And give them credit, they’ve been playing good basketball. A Free-throw here, a rebound there and their records is much different.”

On Jordy Tshimanga: “I like him. He was a late pick-up, but he’s really talented, big body. [He has] good feet, good hands. He is an elite finisher. He did some good things and hit them on a lot of rolls. Obviously our ball screen defense needs work and we will continue to work on that. He had a great game, definitely a great first half.”