Nebraska Postgame Notes/Quotes vs. Maine

Nebraska Postgame Notes
*-Juwan Gary posted his third career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. His other two came at Alabama during the 2021-22 season. Gary’s 11 rebounds were a career-high, as his previous high was 10 on two occasions (vs. Louisiana Tech, vs. Drake, both in 2021-22
*-Gary had eight of the Huskers’ 16 offensive rebounds, which was the most by the Huskers since the 2020-21 season opener vs. McNeese State (17). Last year’s season high was 14 set twice. Nebraska had 16 second-chance points against Maine.
*-Sam Griesel led NU with 22 points in his debut, his 41st career double-figure effort and 14th career 20-point game. He is now just two points away from 1,000 in his career.
*-Nebraska enjoyed a +17 rebounding advantage, the Huskers’ best against a Division I opponent since the 2017-18 season.
*-Keisei Tominanga reached double figures for the 8^th time in his career with 19 points, including 13 in the first half.
*-With the win, Nebraska improves to 86-41 all-time in season openers and has won 20 of the past 22 openers.
*-Wilhelm Breidenbach tied a career high in points (nine) and grabbed a career-best seven rebounds in the win.

Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
Opening Statement
“Obviously, we played a very good opponent today. We knew coming in they had guys who could really heat up and get it going. Gedi (Juozapaitis) especially. He played in the same league as Coach (Adam) Howard and also my son last year. We knew coming in that he was a guy that could really heat up from the outside, and that’s exactly what happened. Kristians Feierbergs was a guy that got going as well. We made an adjustment and had more of a square coverage. I thought we executed that well and shut it down a little bit. Then I thought we kept executing. I thought we finally started getting stops to open the lead. Proud of the guys for doing that. We have plenty to work on. The next 48 hours are going to be very important. We are playing a quality opponent on Thursday, and we are going to have to play better than we did tonight for the full 40 minutes. I loved our start. I thought we really came out of the gate with great energy. Juwan (Gary) got us off to a great start with an offensive rebound and a great hustle play. He hit a three early, and that’s the kind of start we need. Now we need to duplicate in the second half. It’s very important to get off to a great start for the first five minutes of both halves.”
 
On the importance of player-led teams and what they’re saying in the huddle
“They are talking before I get in there a lot of times. When I get in there, their focus shifts. Sam (Griesel) came to me and said that those guys see some things that we don’t see. Those guys suggested some things, we ran it and they worked. That’s the kind of leadership Sam can give, and the trust level that I have with him. Emmanuel (Bandoumel), same thing.”
 
On if he liked what he saw in the front court
“I had a good conversation with Wilhelm (Breidenbach) a couple days ago, and we decided to make the change. Really just to change up the rhythm. He was going to be the first big off the bench in whatever position that was. We ran a couple clear-out plays for him, and he got to the rim. Wilhem is always going to play hard, and it was great to see him step up and drain that three when we really needed it. I was pleased with Wilhelm. He’s battled some tough things this last week, so to bring him off and change his rhythm I think paid off.”

Nebraska Player Quotes
On getting the game under control after the lead was cut to one point:
Sam Griesel: “That happens all the time in college basketball. Obviously, they came out in the second half and punched us in the face, but I think kind of like what we saw in Colorado the resiliency of the group and staying together was something that we were preaching in the huddles. Every time we broke the huddle, we wanted to make sure we were all on the same page and just trusted our principles defensively. After they got really hot in that first six or seven minutes, they started to cool off and that first part is a big credit to them. They shot it well in that stretch, but just trusting our principles and trusting the process.”
 
On the block that sparked the offense
Sam Griesel: “Effort plays can really change the outlook of halves and games completely. Obviously, that being blocks, dunks whatever to get the crowd into it so that was big time. That (Bandoumel’s block) was a big change in the momentum for us. We got some shots to fall and got some shots that we wanted to get. I thought a few of the times we forced some especially early in transition but like I said earlier just sticking to our principles defensively and trusting the process after that effort play from Emmanuel (Bandoumel).” 
 
On Keisei Tominaga pitching in 10-straight points
Sam Griesel: “That is Keisei to a T. When I first got here, he was not here. He was still playing with Japan but his first few weeks he just lit it up and I was like ‘Who is this?’ Especially when he comes off the bench that is what he can bring for us. He is a big spark plug and he can just take the lid off the basket for us so obviously he did that tonight, but we are going to continue to rely on him to stretch the floor and be that guy for us.”
 
On how the players led during the game
Sam Griesel: “Just speaking up in the huddles weather that was timeout huddles or in the flow of the game when the ball goes out of bounds or whatever. Me personally I kind of think it is my job to rally the troops every time and make sure we are on the same page and bring the team into the huddles and that has just been a big emphasis that I have talked about with Coach Hoiberg is just when we are in the huddles we are on the same page and just me and him our relationship I always have to have his ears and he always has mine so just talking strategy and making sure everyone is on the same page.”
 
On Sam Griesel’s second-half points
Sam Griesel: “I would not necessarily say that I came out of half time and was like ‘I need to do this. I need to do that.’ My whole career I always try to let the game come to me and I felt that my role is to do whatever I can to help the team win and tonight it was score and facilitate obviously but I was not particularly pleased with my defensive play so I am going to need to focus on that but I just want to do whatever I can to help this team come out on top.”
 
On Juwan Gary
Sam Griesel: “Eight offensive rebounds is pretty ridiculous, but he is just such a big energy guy for us. The team can rally around his play. He makes so many hustle plays like we talked about and effort plays and offensive rebounds I think I talked about it before but they are so demoralizing for opponents. When you guard someone for 25 or 26 seconds and then maybe they get a long rebound or Juwan is just out hustling people and we get a second possession it is so demoralizing to them. He is just so relentless on the glass and we are glad that he is on our side.”
 
On offensive rebounds as a team
Sam Griesel: “It is for sure something we have emphasized both offensively rebounding and defensively. We are a pretty tall team across the board so we are going to have to rely on rebounding and we always want to be positive in the rebounding differential like we were tonight but that has been a big focus for us early this season.”
 
Maine Coach Chris Markwood
On how he thought his debut went
“Obviously, there’s some mixed feelings there. I thought we did some good things. We gave ourselves a chance back in the second half, but we just weren't consistent enough. I give all the credit to Nebraska. They came out and played really well. They beat us up on the glass and used their size as an advantage. They kind of got wherever they wanted to go on the offense. We’ve got to have a little bit more defensive urgency and intensity if we're going to win a game.”
 
On the highlights from the game
“I think the biggest one is just the resolve. They showed it down 12 or 13, whatever it was at half. We had a chance on a breakaway layup that we missed to take the lead at some point in the second half. So, I thought the guys fought. They didn't give up. I thought we had a nice run there to give ourselves a chance. Obviously, Gedi Juozapaitis and Kristians Feierbergs both played really well. And I thought we had some other guys that are really talented that didn't have their best game, which is part of basketball. We'll be fine.”

On what the team can take away and work on in practice
“I think the biggest thing for us is the defensive side. That’s what we just talked about with the guys. We gave up 79. Some of that was fouls at the end, but it was 40 in the first half. We're not going to win basketball games if that's where the teams are. I felt Nebraska got what they wanted, and I think Coach Hoiberg is a tremendous offensive coach. So that's not surprising, but I thought a lot of it was within our control, stuff that we've worked on throughout the preseason. To me, that's the biggest takeaway – that we have to get a lot better on that end if we want to look forward to winning basketball games on a consistent basis.”
NU Athletic Communications