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Postgame Notes
*-Nebraska improved to 12-5 in Big Ten Conference play. The Huskers’ 12 conference victories tie the school record, as Nebraska also won 12 Big Eight Conference games during the 1965-66 season and 12 Missouri Valley Conference wins during the 1915-16 campaign.
*-The Huskers notched their 21st win of the regular season, marking only the third time in program history that Nebraska has won more than 20 games in a regular season.
*-Nebraska improved to 15-1 at Pinnacle Bank Arena this season, marking just the sixth time in school history a Husker team has won 15 or more home games. The 15 wins also ties a building record set during the 2013-14 season.
*-NU forced 19 Indiana turnovers, tying the Hoosiers’ season high. Indiana also committed 19 turnovers in their season opener against Indiana State.
*-Nebraska scored 26 points off Indiana turnovers, the Huskers’ highest point total in that category during Big Ten play this season.
*-Nebraska’s 19 offensive rebounds was its highest total since grabbing 20 against North Texas on Nov. 13.
*-Nebraska finishes the regular season 8-0 in either zero or one-day preps, including 4-0 in Big Ten action.
*-Jordy Tshimanga’s nine rebounds is his highest total in Big Ten play this year. He had eight in the win over Iowa on Jan. 27.
*-James Palmer Jr. finished with 15 points, his 28th double figure game of the season, while Isaac Copeland reached double figures for the 21st time with 13 points.
*-Evan Taylor tied his season high in both rebounds (seven) and blocks (two), numbers he had done twice this season
Nebraska Coach Tim Miles
Opening Statement
“I thought it was interesting for our guys. I thought the first half we were really jittery. Again, you could see that we shot 15 threes and no free throws, which is not like us. At half-time they talked about playing with confidence, this that and that and the other thing. I am like guys ‘nobody’s game has changed in the three weeks. You know, what has changed is the circumstances. But, you should embrace that.’ That is kind of what an upstart has to do, they have to win a game like this to gain that confidence. Especially, when your cruising along, you’re winning, you beat Maryland even though you’re a little tight. Then, all the sudden you drop one and its like oh boy. You just can’t play like its oh boy, you have to play like its ‘I know this is going to go our way’. But, you don’t do that until you’ve earned it. And that was kind of tonight, one of those nights when I think we earned victory. I think it really helped them build that belief that we can beat anybody.”
On James Palmer Jr. and his defense
“I thought he (James Palmer Jr.) did a very good job. I thought we did a very good job as a team chasing them off the line. We could not let them get going from three.”
On Evan Taylor
“Evan wasn’t, I didn’t think, wasn’t there the first half either but the second half when he came in, I think he made the most of his opportunity. He made some big-time steals on hustle plays, tips, deflects, rebounds, scored at the rim in transition. Evan was really outstanding in the second half when we needed him. That is a huge luxury, having a senior like that coming off the bench and be able to play extended minutes in a quality game like that.”
On the second half
“I think the important part was to finish the game with a great defensive stretch and control the ball on offense and put them away, you know, stretch that lead out from 5 to 11 or whatever it was. That’s one of those things that, with the first half and how we played, I wasn’t sure it was going to end like that. But as we got into the game there was no doubt.”
On the best aspect of the game and the Penn State game coming up
“Well, defense. I thought we did a great job on defense. I thought we did a good enough job on (Juwan) Morgan and on all those perimeter kids. Penn State has got as much talent as anyone in this league. They have just got a tremendous team. That game should be a high-level game.”
On making winning plays of the game
“No doubt you feel a little bit better when you win. We did not hustle the way we needed to in the first half, but we did in the second half. We did a much better job. Everything about our game in terms of our aggressiveness and the right way to play, you could see in the stat sheet but you’ve got to look for it. As a coach, you see it as fans, you see that extra effort and it will show up in the right places.”
Sophomore Forward Isaiah Roby
On the team’s mindset
“It is a must-win. Can’t lose anymore. If we want to go to the tournament, we have to build our resume. We have another big game on Sunday. Today was a big game for us to win, and then we have to make some noise in the tournament, too.”
On the defense “Yeah, yesterday in practice we really focused on defense. We didn’t really do much, it was more of a mental day. But, it was probably 70% focusing on them, not on us. The coaches did a really good job of telling us what their game plan was offensively. We were able to disrupt them, frustrate them, and get some steals and force them into some tough shots.”
On perimeter defense
“That was the number one priority. When you have got a guy like (Robert) Johnson, he made nine (3-pointers) last game. That had got to be a number one emphasis. It was our goal to slow him down, slow down their point guard (Devonte Green), and we did a pretty good job of that.”
Junior Guard James Palmer Jr.
On first-half shooting
“I (thought) we were getting to the rim in the first half too.”
Senior Guard Evan Taylor
On tonight’s game vs. Illinois
“I think we got stops. In the Illinois game, we allowed them to get second shots. Tonight, we got stops.”
Junior Guard Glynn Watson Jr.
On playing aggressive “I just came out with the same mindset and be aggressive. Coach Miles wants me to be aggressive. My teammates want me to be aggressive, so that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
Opening Statement
“Good win by Nebraska. I thought they really finished the game, last eight minutes the right way. We had a really hard time all night taking care of the ball, and we’re slow to second shots. [We] played hard and had some guys do some really good things. I thought we were right there for a good portion of the game, but you can’t do that on the road. (They had) 19 second shots, (we had) 19 turnovers, just not going to get it done. So disappointed, but we’ve got a quick turnaround for our home finale against Ohio State. We have to get ready for that but we’re going to have to be a lot better.”
On the unforced turnovers
“Just a lack of toughness, lack of confidence. I don’t know what it was, maybe the road environment scared them a little bit, I’m not sure. But some of the plays just didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Coming out of halftime trying to get it regrouped, we had four more turnovers right away so we couldn’t take care of it tonight. Give their defense credit. I’m sure they had a lot to do with it, but there were some unforced ones that made no sense.”
On sophomore Devonte Green’s inconsistency late in the season
“He’s been consistent. He’s just played probably his best game of the season at Iowa. He had not a great night tonight. We’ll need him, obviously, to be a lot better against Ohio State.”
On freshman Justin Smith’s play
“Played well, played well. [He] was all over the glass, did a great job finishing some dump-downs. I thought defensively for the most part [he] did a really good job of doing what we asked him to do. He guarded the ball probably as well as he’s guarded it all year. I thought he played, for him, another really good game. I think if you look at his numbers here the last three or four games, I think he’s given us an added dimension. So it’s good to see him finish strong down the stretch and I thought he looked the part out there tonight.”
On how he thought his team handled junior James Palmer Jr. “He’s a good player. I thought for the most part we just tried to make him earn everything. I don’t think he had a whole lot of easy ones. If he did, it was off of our turnovers in transition. I think in the half court, I thought Rob in particular did a good job keeping him front. Our team kind of contained the paint for the most part. It’s hard, though. It’s hard to contain him. He’s big, he’s strong, he can score and he’s probably a first team all-conference player.”