Postgame Notes and Quotes

Correct Records: 
Nebraska 3-0, Seton Hall 1-1 (Incorrect on the Genius Sports PDF)

Nebraska Postgame Notes: 
*-James Palmer Jr. finished with a game-high 29 points, the second-highest total of his career and ninth career 20-point game. He has now been in double figures in 17 straight games dating back to last season 
*-Palmer’s 29 points were the most by an individual player at Pinnacle Bank Arena since Glynn Watson Jr. scored 29 points against Minnesota on Dec. 5 of last season.
*-Isaac Copeland Jr. posted his fifth career double-double and fourth as a Husker with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
*-Glynn Watson Jr. moved past Cary Cochran (1,081 points) for 27th on Nebraska’s career scoring chart. Watson, who also dished out eight assists, now has 1,089 career points. 
*-Husker seniors James Palmer Jr. (29 points), Isaac Copeland (18 points) and Glynn Watson Jr. (14 points) combined for 61 of Nebraska’s 80 points.
*-Nebraska won for the 14th straight time at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The 23-point win was the Huskers’ ninth double-digit victory during their 14-game home winning streak and fourth straight. The 14-game home win streak is NU’s longest since opening the 2010-11 season with 14 straight home wins.  
*-Nebraska has scored 80 or more points in each of the first three games, the first time the Huskers have done that since the 1992-93 season.
*-Tim Miles won his 100th game at Nebraska, becoming the fifth Husker coach to reach the milestone.
*-With the win, Nebraska snapped a seven-game losing streak to Big East teams.  The win was also NU’s first in the Gavitt Tipoff Games after dropping previous games to Villanova (2015) and St. John’s (2017).
*-Nebraska held Seton Hall to 2-of-16 shooting from 3-point range. Opponents are now 6-of-48 (12.5 percent) from beyond the arc this season, and the Huskers have held each of their first three opponents under 18 percent.
*-The Huskers held Seton Hall to 35.6 percent shooting, marking the 29th consecutive game Nebraska has held its opponent to 50 percent shooting or less.

Seton Hall Head Coach Kevin Willard

On Nebraska’s defense
“(Nebraska) They’re a veteran, talented, tested team. They’re very good defensively. Our ball movement wasn’t great tonight, but I think that has a lot to do with them. You got to give them a lot of credit.”

On what his young team can learn from playing a veteran team
“I think you can learn a ton. We’ll get home, break down the tape and kind of see things that we did well. I like the way we battled, up until the 35 minute mark. I think there’s a lot of things we did well and I think there’s a lot of things we didn’t do well and we'll improve on them.”

On what he liked from his team tonight
“I loved their effort and I liked their attitude. I felt their attitude all the way through. Even when we got down 13 late, they were talking about how there was still a lot of time left and to keep their heads up. I was happy with their effort. Nebraska is a tough place to play and they're a good team.”

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles

Opening Statement

“I'd just like to start and just say I think our students were ridiculously good tonight. They were so loud and provided so much energy and it made the game so fun. Thank you to our fans and our crowd. That was really cool to be a part of.”

On his team’s performance 

“I thought they were good all night, but certainly after that 36-15 run, I thought there was this long pause and sometimes you worry. They’re at the monitor trying to figure things out, but I thought our kids really came back and played rock solid. James (Palmer Jr.) had a big shot that helped. That second half we knew that against Coach Willard, it’s the (Rick) Pitino kind of system that it will take awhile for us to figure out what they’re doing and when they’re man and when they’re zone. I’ve said in the pregame stuff with radio and TV that I thought we played better as the game went on. And we did. What was happening was you saw Palmer hit big shots and make big plays. (Isaac) Copeland made big shots. I think that Glynn (Watson Jr.) made a big three. Thomas (Allen Jr.) made a big three. Nana (Akenten) made a great pull-up. They were really important plays, all of them. Then you can see Isaiah Roby had the best 90 seconds of the night. That’s about all he had. People could see why we want him in there.”

On the team's hard work and ability to adjust 

“There’s no doubt. What I feel comfortable with is how they show up every day to work. There’s not really a change in demeanor. They know what needs to be done. When you’re communicating with those top guys, we have smart bigs, which changes everything. Now you can scheme it up in the second half. We took Isaac Copeland and put him right in the middle of the lane to change their whole screen-and-roll game. Then we just switched out on the whole thing and it stopped all that screen-and-roll stuff. Most guys might not make that play. We say Cope 'go do it,' this is how we’re going to switch it out with Glynn or with one of the other guys. They handled it really well. They didn’t even give up an open look. I thought that was really important.”

Nebraska Player Quotes

Isaac Copeland Jr. 
On that run after Isaiah Roby picked up his fourth foul
“That was a real test for us. We didn’t have the experience of playing through that in the first two games, so I think we really stayed together and made a push after that. That helps too (fans getting hyped). PBA has some good fans, and we appreciate them.”

On [Huskers freshman center] Brady Heiman playing extensive minutes
“Brady was great. I thought we had a taste of it in the first two games against other opponents, but I think he stepped up tonight. It was his night, and he helped us out a lot.”

Glynn Watson Jr.
On playing against scoring guards such as Myles Powell
“He’s a great scorer. He moves a lot without the ball, and you always have to move with him. It was just a good test for me to move my feet and try to stay out of foul trouble. I did get into a little foul trouble (early), but I thought the guys stepped up to guard him, like James (Palmer Jr.) and Amir (Harris), and stuff like that too.”

James Palmer Jr.
On if tonight’s win makes them think less about preseason rankings
“I don’t think we really worry about the preseason rankings or anything like that. We just focus on ourselves. Tonight, we just handled business.”