Postgame Quotes: Nebraska vs. Doane

Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
On how he felt the game went
“For the first time out in front of the fans, I was pleased for the most part with our approach to this game. I thought we had a great shootaround today and a good week of practice coming into this. I thought early on we had some jitters. We dug ourselves into an 8-0 hole, then 10-2. Then we calmed down. I thought Cam [Mack] really took over the game offensively. I thought Thorir [Thorbjarnarson] was a great spark off the bench. I thought he had some great reads and back cuts. I thought they had a good, little chemistry going on. Kevin Cross in the first half had good minutes for us. We ran into some foul trouble early, which had us deviate from our rotation a little bit. I thought after that four-minute stretch in the beginning, those 14 minutes between the first half when we limited them to five points, our defense was really good and active. We got our hands on balls, we rebounded it and that got our transition game going. If we can build off that defensively, to see what we can do and create opportunities on the offensive end is very important for this team.”

On if the game was how he envisioned it after the first four minutes
“Yeah, I thought we moved it a lot better, both ball movement and player movement. I thought we were standing around a little bit early. Guys were out there looking frozen, except for Dachon [Burke]. He was running a million miles per hour. That’s what I love about him. He’s got unbelievable energy. In that second half, he really got it going for us. The thing I didn’t like in the second half is that we just traded baskets with them. We were scoring, but we were giving it back to them on the other end. Rebounding, I thought we did a solid job. Our goal was to keep them under 10 on the offensive glass after getting hurt in our scrimmage. Overall, for the most part I was pleased. I thought our pace both on misses and makes in that second half was really good.”

On if it was a sign of growth for the team to respond after being down early in the first half
“Yeah, I thought they were great. They stayed with it. I thought they did a good job. [Doane] had played three games already, so we had a pretty good scouting report on them. I thought they followed it pretty well out there. Again, when you get off to a slow start like you do, you can’t press. You can’t get it all back at once. I thought our guys did a good job of really buckling down on the defensive end. I thought were much more solid. As we went on, we were getting back. We gave up a couple of transition baskets early. We got back to our principles, Once we got those stops, we got out in transition on offense.”

Nebraska Players
Cam Mack, So., Guard
On if he took the atmosphere during warm-ups
“Definitely. I am trying to enjoy every moment of it. First time in PBA, so it was kind of crazy. Definitely.”

On the reason for the slow start
“Nerves. First game, first exhibition. People came to see us play. We just had to get it (nerves) out and once we got did, we started rolling.”

Dachon Burke Jr., Jr., Guard
On how it felt to play and play well
“It was good. For the team first, it was good to go out there with my brothers and compete. We had a scrimmage at Wichita State and learned some things and went into practice. Tonight, we played hard. For me personally, though, I was a little nervous the first couple minutes. It was like wow; I haven’t played basketball in a year and a half. You can’t compare it to PBA, so it felt good to get out there and play.”

On what Cam Mack brings to the table
“He brings a lot to the table. He is very versatile, and he can push the ball. He can do a little bit of everything. It is fun playing with him and he gets me going.  I like playing with him.”

Thorir Thorbjarnarson, Jr., Guard
On how it felt to get back out there
“It felt great. We got off to a slow start, but I think it was just the nerves of not playing in PBA for a long time. Being back out there felt great.”

On the key to the transition game
“We have to rebound, that is the main thing. Even though the other team scores, we have to get it out quick, and we want to run as fast as we can. Rebound and just putting your head down when you get scored on.”

Doane Coach Ian McKeithen
On reconnecting with Fred Hoiberg
“It's been a crazy process. I stopped by their camp this summer, just to kind of reconnect with Fred (Hoiberg). I haven’t seen him in a long time, and he hasn’t seen me. For us, 12 years ago, when he was an assistant GM, and I was just an intern getting him coffee every day, literally. For us to be on the same floor in any capacity, and he's had an amazing career as a player and as a coach. I'm just a young guy trying to get my feet wet, even though this is my seventh year as a head coach. He’s somebody who was very courteous to me because I was only 23 or 24 at the time. He was the assistant GM of the team and never looked down on me, always was cordial. To reconnect and coach in the same game as him is really cool feeling for me to come full circle. I owe him and other people in that organization that took a chance on me. You never know where life will take you in basketball. Kind of a cool story. I'm appreciative of Coach Hoiberg for giving me a shot then.”

On playing in-state game
"More importantly, I think this was a good night for our university. For us to be 20 minutes away, I know there were a lot of Doane people in the stands. I know there were tailgate parties and different things. For our university, it is big time, and I hope that Nebraska continues to invite local schools, NAIA and Division II Nebraska schools because I think that there are a lot of alums and people in Lincoln and Omaha that can make this atmosphere on a routine basis, even for an exhibition game. I thought it was great.”

On team’s performance
“It’s tough. I really wish Trace Tupper could’ve played in this game. It hurts me that he couldn’t play tonight. For him, he’s a local kid, and a kid that can physically match up with Nebraska at 6-foot-10. I really wish he could’ve played in this game. You just try to rely on your base principles. If we can just do the things we’ve taught them for eight weeks straight, I’m sure [Nebraska] is doing, you just play. If you don’t have that base in it, nothing is going to matter anyway. You can scheme and scout all you want, but if you don’t have core stuff, it is not going to matter. I thought we did a good job of staying with what we do and letting the chips fall.”

NU Athletic Communications