Postgame Notes & Quotes: Nebraska vs. South Dakota State

Nebraska Post-Game Notes

• Tonight’s win marked the first victory as Nebraska’s head coach for Fred Hoiberg. The 17-point margin of victory was the largest by a Husker coach in his first victory since Nebraska defeated Penn State, 75-50, on Dec. 9, 1980 to give Mo Iba his first win as Husker head coach.
• The Huskers scored a season-high 90 points, marking the first time they had reached the 90-point plateau since 93-91 overtime victory over Iowa in the final regular-season game last season. Nebraska topped 90 points for the first time in a regulation game since a 94-75 win over Creighton on Dec. 8, 2018.
• Nebraska scored 51 points in the first half, marking its first 50-point half in 27 games dating back to a 50-point second half against Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 22, 2018.
• Nebraska was 35-of-71 from the field on Friday after entering the game 43-for-128. The Huskers eclipsed their previous season high in field goals by eight and shot 49.3 percent from the field, after not shooting better than 37 percent in either of the first two games.
• The Huskers also hit a season-high seven 3-pointers in the game.
• Nebraska had a season-high 45 rebounds in the win, while also winning the rebounding battle for the first time this season.
• Cam Mack had a game-high 24 points, marking his first 20-point effort as a Husker and the first 20-point performance by a Nebraska player this season. Mack has scored in double figures in all three games this season.
• Dachon Burke (17 points), Haanif Cheatham (17) and Kevin Cross (10) also scored in double figures, giving Nebraska four players in double figures for the first time this season.
• Yvan Ouedraogo pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds in the game, the first double-figure rebounding effort by a Husker this season.

Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
On the difference between tonight and the last two games
“I think the biggest thing was that I’m proud of our guys was the approach they had this week after a very disappointing loss. Sometimes it’s tough to put a really disappointing one behind you and it’s tough to get over. Our guys did that. They got back to work after the day off and sustained it for the entire week. They did a lot of the things that we preach to them; most specifically in that first half, the pace. My favorite play of the game was off the make. and we threw if into Cam [Mack] and he threw it into Haanif [Cheatham] one dribble and got to the rim for a layup, it’s things we can certainly build on. The second half was not very good for us. We allowed them to get in the paint too easily and didn’t do the same things that got us that lead. I was very pleased with the first 20 minutes to get out to that lead and that’s certainly something we can build on.”

On improvements from game to game
“I thought game one to game two we made improvements and again, we made another step in the right direction tonight. This is a good team we played. It is a team that took USC to the wire. It’s a good team that knows how to win. and for us to go out there and establish the tempo and the pace where we wanted to have it is an important thing in a game like this. We didn’t do that against Riverside. We did it for a very small portion of that game (vs. Southern Utah) and allowed them to dictate tempo in the second half. For us, especially in the first half was a thing of beauty, that thing was flying up the floor and it was fun to watch.”

On getting the first win
“It sure beats what happened in the other two, It’s great to get that first one. I’m happy for our guys, I’m proud of our guys for the way they came in and approached this week and we are going to need another good week heading into this next game Friday and then we play a lot of games in a short amount of time. Hopefully, guys get their rest tomorrow and back to work on Sunday.”On South Dakota State making a run to open the second half
 “They did and I let them play through it, I was contemplating multiple times to call a timeout. Samari [Curtis] hit a big three for us to stop the bleeding at one point. Just again, trying to get your guys to go out there and respond, and I thought our guys did that for the most part.”

Nebraska Player Quotes
Dachon Burke Jr., Jr., Guard
On the motivation to move past the losses
“It’s a long season. If you look across the country there’s a lot of teams going through that. I feel like this first two games we should have won but it’s a learning experience. We’re not going to take it and hold our heads down, we’re going to take it and learn from it and I think we did a good job tonight.”

Yvan Ouedraogo, Fr., Forward
On his play tonight
“I feel I played good. I missed some shots but I played good. … My teammates were always with me to push me to say [you’re] good  Yvan. I think I played good, and we got the win.”

Cam Mack, So, Guard
On the pace of the game
“Coach really preached on pace. He said nobody in the country can run with us. Just kind of picked it up and got the win.”

 SDSU Coach Eric Henderson
Opening Statement
“Obviously, a lot of credit goes to Nebraska. They had their guys ready, and Coach Hoiberg is going to have a bunch of success here. So first, credit goes to them. He does a great job. Those kids rallied after a tough couple games to start the season. But you know, end of the road trip for us, we are ready to get home but just wish we had a little more compete there to start the game. That’s the way it goes, and we are going to try and move on and get better.”

On what the team can learn from this game
“What we can learn is we have to play a full 40 minutes. You have to be ready from the tip and ready to compete and fight, especially on the road against a team as hungry as Nebraska was to get a win. You have to have a high level of compete for 40 minutes, and I thought we did for moments, especially in the second half.

On the environment at Pinnacle Bank Arena
“The support for the Huskers is really impressive, but we are going to play in crowds like this and we have before. It’s always good to be in situations like this and to put your guys in situations like this… in tough spots and that’s what we did. Our guys will hopefully learn you can be successful anywhere, you just have to compete for a full 40 minutes.”

On the positives
“There wasn’t any quit. I thought the guys stuck together. We talked about it at halftime, that you have to try and win the next possession. and I thought the team had a better approach in the second half.”

NU Athletic Communications