Nebraska vs. Iowa: Postgame Notes and Quotes

Nebraska Postgame Notes

*-Nebraska erased a 16-point second-half deficit to win 93-91 in overtime. The 16-point deficit tied for the second-largest Husker comeback under Tim Miles, trailing only a 19-point comeback against Iowa on Feb. 23, 2013.
*-The Huskers scored 16 points in the final 47 seconds, erasing a nine-point deficit. James Palmer Jr. and Glynn Watson Jr. each hit a pair of 3-pointers during the run, while Palmer scored eight points himself in the final 47 seconds, including the game-tying basket with 12 seconds remaining.
*-Nebraska played its first overtime game of the season and first since a 76-74 loss at Penn State on Jan. 12, 2018. The Huskers snapped a three-game losing streak in overtime, posting their first overtime victory since a 93-90 double-overtime win over Iowa on Jan. 5, 2017.
*-NU won when trailing at the half for just the second time this season.
*-Nebraska scored 50 points in the second half, its only 50-point half in Big Ten play and its first 50-point half since also scoring 50 in the second half against Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 22, 2018.
*-The Huskers were 13-of-26 from the 3-point line, including making their final five 3-pointers over the final 47 seconds of regulation and all of overtime. Nebraska’s 13 3-pointers were its most in a Big Ten Conference game this year and third-highest total overall. The Huskers’ 50 percent shooting from 3-point range was their second-best mark of the season and highest in conference play.
*-Three Huskers scored 20 or more points, with James Palmer Jr. leading the way with a game-high 27 points and Isaiah Roby and Glynn Watson Jr. each scoring 23 points. Sunday marked the first time Nebraska has had three players score 20 points in the same game since Marcus Perry (25), Aleks Maric (23) and Paul Velander (20) each scored 20 points against Oklahoma State on March 5, 2007.
*-James Palmer Jr. produced his second straight 20-point performance and 15th this season. His 15 20-point games are the most by a Husker since Tyronn Lue had 16 20-point efforts in the 1997-98.
*-Glynn Watson Jr. had 23 points. Watson has had back-to-back 20-point games and has scored at least 23 points three times in his past four games.
*-Isaiah Roby finished with career highs in both points (23) and 3-pointers (four). He had 22 points against Penn State on Jan. 10, while his previous 3-point best was three on several occasions, most recently against Northwestern on Feb. 15. It was Roby’s fourth 20-point game of the season and his career. 
*-With 27 points, James Palmer Jr. climbed from ninth to seventh on NU’s single-season scoring chart. His 593 points is the most by a Husker since Tyronn Lue scored 603 points in the 1996-97 season.
*-Palmer broke NU’s single-season record for free throws attempted with 238 breaking the mark of 227 he shared with Kimani Ffriend in 1999-2000. With five made free throws, Palmer also tied the Nebraska season record of 189 free throws, joining Jack Moore, who made 184 free throws in the 1979-80 season. 
*-Tanner Borchardt finished with eight points and eight rebounds. It marked the 13th time this season he has grabbed at least five rebounds in a game, while his eight points tied for his second-highest total of the year. 
*-Amir Harris had the game-winning basket with 10 seconds left in overtime. Harris scored eight points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds.
*-Nebraska finished the season with a school-record average attendance of 15,649, breaking the previous mark of 15,569 set during the 2014-15 season.

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles
On where this win ranks for him
“That’s a special one. I’m just so proud of these kids. Never stopped fighting, never stopped believing and that was a really special day. And I’m happy for the seniors. What a way to celebrate Senior Day.”

On what changed after trailing by 16
“I just felt we were really soft for the first 22 minutes of the game. We didn’t close hard on shooters. We weren’t into the ball. We were OK on rebounding but we still allowed – you had nine fouls and you forced two turnovers, and you allow five or six threes, or whatever it was. Then we started playing much more aggressively, I thought, and we started turning them over a little bit. If we can run off our defense we can actually create some offense that way, and things fall in place.”

On the adversity the team overcame
“Well, you just can’t say enough about being down nine with 50 (second left), and you make shot, after shot, after shot. Then any one thing that might go wrong for them, it just puts a lot of pressure on them. I thought that those were really huge plays by James [Palmer Jr.] and Glynn [Watson Jr.] especially. That’s the only way you can win a game is if some guys go out and make some plays like that. [Jordan] Bohannon did his thing at the end of regulation, and that worried me. I’m not sure he called bank on the one, but our guys rose to the occasion.”

On if he could feel the energy from the team late in the game
“Yeah, you just look at body language and listen to them, and the more they talk, the more they communicate and are exchanging ideas, just the better we are. It was quiet for a long time, and I was on them for a long time. I wasn’t very nice, but I thought we played tougher. Then as we started getting into the fight, turning them over, getting defensive stops, scoring a little bit…then of course with that run at the end and in overtime they were maniacs.”    

 

Nebraska Senior James Palmer Jr.
On if doubt ever crept into their minds when they trailed by 16 in the second half
"As a senior, no I never doubted. I never think or thought we were going to lose the game even though I think at one minute we were down by nine, I still thought we had a chance to win. Me and 'G' [Glynn Watson] had to make some shots"

Nebraska Senior Glynn Watson Jr.
On how some role players stepped up down the stretch
"It was big. They made huge plays especially Johnny [Trueblood], he hasn't played in like three years like he said hasn't played like at all then to come in and have a big senior night for us and make big plays for us. And Amir, he is still growing he's going to be a good player. He's a freshman that made big plays down the stretch and he had two big blocks. I think those were big plays for us so that's good for us."

Nebraska Senior Johnny Trueblood
On if he expected to play as much as he did
"Not that much but I was told like two minutes before that I wasn't starting for senior night but to be ready to go, and I was kind of shocked about it to be honest because I didn't know if he [Tim Miles] was going to roll with our seven guys or dip into me for a little bit, so it worked out."

Nebraska Freshman Amir Harris
On the leadership of the seniors
"I'm just going to say that these guys really do a lot that goes unnoticed. A lot of people don't see it and say we don't have a vocal leader or that's just outspoken, so these guys really lead by example. People don't see behind the scenes where I was struggling early on James [Palmer] pulled me aside and told me to move on from my missed layups and keep playing and keep on moving on. And 'G's [Glynn Watson] telling me I have to focus on my next shot and focus on the next play, get a big stop so a lot of that stuff goes unnoticed, and I feel like these guys deserve a lot of credit for that"

Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery
On Iowa's defensive performance versus Nebraska's offensive performance
"I think you gotta give them credit, those kids made some tough shots. We came up on them, we were contesting. I think if we could do it over again maybe run another guy at them. Joe [Wieskamp] came up the one time and gave [James] Palmer a running start, he was trying to pressure. When you have a lead you don't want to foul, you'd only give them a four-point play. And they made a bunch in a row, gotta give them credit."

On what to tell the team after this loss
"Well nobody is going to feel sorry for them. And they have to understand that we did some really good things in this game, and we did some things that weren't so good. Eleven turnovers in the second half, one in the first half, obviously gave up a bunch of points in the end. But we had a lead, we executed fairly well. Didn't rebound at the start of the game, rebounded midway through. But I thought we broke down defensively in some key situations. And their good players got going. So you gotta learn from it and move on, but you can't feel sorry for yourself."

On if the execution on Iowa's last play in overtime went according to plan
"Pretty much. The kid [Thorir Thorbjarnarson] made a great play. He recognized it, came a pretty good distance to close out. [Jordan Bohannon] was in a tough spot there because you wanna shot fake them but you can't because you're not sure how much time is left and because it was off a pass. So gotta give credit to the defender."