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Nebraska Post-Game Notes
- Bryce McGowens scored a game-high 25 points for his ninth 20-point game of the season. McGowens’ nine 20-point games are just one shy of the most 20-point games by a freshman in Nebraska history (Joe McCray, 10 in 2004-05). The scoring effort also marked McGowens’ fourth game of the season with at least 25 points.
- McGowens was 14-of-15 from the free throw line. His 14 free throws matched his career high, as he also had 14 free throws on 18 attempts against Rutgers on Jan. 29.
- McGowens now has 437 points, which is second on NU’s all-time freshmen list, as he passed Joe McCray (432, 2004-05). He trails only Dave Hoppen (445, 1982-83) on NU’s all-time freshman list.
- Alonzo Verge Jr. scored 14 points and added five rebounds and five assists. Verge scored in double figures for the 18th time this season.
- C.J. Wilcher chipped in 10 points, his 10th game in double figures this season. It marked the 17th double-figure game from a Husker bench player this season.
- The Huskers out-rebounded Maryland 34-33, marking just the third time this season and second time in Big Ten play that Nebraska has out-rebounded its opponent.
- Nebraska was 25-of-31 from the free throw line. The Huskers’ 25 made free throws were their most in a Big Ten game this season and were one shy of Nebraska’s overall season high of 26 free throws against Sam Houston on Nov. 21.
- Maryland’s 24 made free throws tied for the most free throws by an opposing team at Pinnacle Bank Arena, while the Terrapins’ 33 free throw attempts were the most by an opponent at PBA. Wisconsin held the previous records with 24 free throws on 31 attempts against the Huskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Feb. 10, 2015.
- Maryland committed just four turnovers, a low by a Husker opponent this year (previous low was 8 by Auburn). NU entered the game ranking second in the Big Ten by forcing 14.4 turnovers per game.
Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
On Nebraska’s second-half start
“Yeah that is where we lost the game in those first few minutes of the second half. I think they went on a 12-3 run. You have to come out with that fire and energy and try and grab the momentum when it is a tight game. I thought we did some really good things offensively in the first half, and when they go on their run that’s when we come down and try to get it back. It’s been several times now that we had control, and then they come out in the second half and completely take the momentum back.”
On how Maryland was successful in the second half
“It was turnovers and our misses at the rim. In those two areas, they converted almost every time. When we turned it over, they converted on the other end. Shots at the rim which we missed several of, they got us on the other end as well. Those are two areas that they used to extend their lead.”
Nebraska Guard Bryce McGowens
On the difference between the first and second half
“I feel like we did not come out with a lot of energy on the defensive end, and they just got rolling.”
On if the number of foul calls affected their rhythm
“I would not say that the fouls took us out of rhythm. It was a very physical game today, and I feel like a lot of turnovers on our end got us out of rhythm.”
On getting to the line 15 times
“I just felt like I could get downhill, draw fouls and try to put some points on the board. I was just trying to get us rolling.”
Maryland Interim Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening Statement
“Obviously any time you can go on the road in this conference and get a win it is always rewarding just because it is so hard to come by. I thought our guys did a really good job initially feeding the ball inside to our big guys. I thought they established themselves scoring the basketball and giving us a really good post presence. The one thing that I was shocked by to be honest was when the game was over we only had four turnovers. We know Nebraska leads the league in forced turnovers with how they pressure the basketball and the pace that they play at so for us to take care of the ball against that type of pressure was really good for us. We had a lot of guys score the ball for us which is always good. I think our bigs set the tone early. Not a lot of time to celebrate the win because we have a quick turnaround and play again on Monday.”
On senior guard Eric Ayala
“Just his presence. It is another guy who is used to extended minutes for us. He did not have a great game in terms of scoring the basketball. He is our leading scorer, but his presence down the stretch against their press making sure we got the ball to the right guys was really big for us because he was a calming factor for us because we kind of lost our focus for about two to three minutes span. Picked up a technical foul and we were not as disciplined defensively playing defense with our head up and our feet. Having him out there settled us down. Always nice to get your leading scorer back, but also a veteran presence with a lot of experience.”
NU Athletic Communications