Nebraska Postgame Notes/Quotes vs. Iowa

Nebraska Postgame Notes vs. Iowa
*-Nebraska’s 50 points allowed was a season low (53 at Creighton) and the lowest by a Fred Hoiberg coached team at Nebraska (previous low 51 vs. Rutgers, 3/1/21).
*-The 50 points allowed is the lowest by a Husker team since Northwestern scored 50 on Feb. 16, 2019.
*-Nebraska held Iowa to season lows in points (50) and field goal percentage (.260), as Iowa entered the game leading the Big Ten in scoring offense (83.8 ppg).
*-Prior to tonight’s Iowa’s season low shooting percentage was .383 vs. Clemson.
*-Nebraska has now held four straight opponents (Purdue, KSU, Queens and Iowa) to 40 percent or lower. Nebraska has now held seven teams to 40 percent or less shooting this season.
*-Nebraska held Iowa to .746 PPP, NU’s second-lowest total of the year (.73 at Creighton). Iowa entered the game in the top-10 nationally in offensive efficiency
*-Nebraska out-rebounded Iowa 54-40, as NU’s 54 caroms was its highest total of the year (46, at St. John’s) and most since collecting 55 against Doane on Dec. 17, 2020. It was the most against a Division I team since having 55 vs. Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 6, 2018.
*-Nebraska’s 54 rebounds tonight marked it highest total in a Big Ten game since joining the league in 2011-12 and most in a conference game since at least the 2002-03 season.
*-Nebraska’s 20-0 run was its largest of the of the season. The previous high was 12 against both Maine and Boston College
*-The 26 first-half points allowed by the Huskers was the lowest by a Hawkeye team this season (27 vs. Wisconsin)
*-All five of Nebraska's starters put up double figures tonight. It marked the fourth time this season that NU had five players put up double figures. 
*-Sam Griesel’s 12 points and 10 rebounds marked his second double-double of the season and fifth of his career. 
*-Derrick Walker finished with 10 points, his eighth double-figure effort in nine games. 
*-Emmanuel Bandoumel finished with 10 points, his eighth double-figure effort this season.
*-C.J. Wilcher finished with 13 points, his sixth double-figure effort this season. 
*-The win snapped a four-game losing streak to Iowa dating back to the 2019-20 season.

Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
Opening Statement
"Really proud of our guys for the effort they came out of the game with. I thought the energy was exactly what we needed. This style of team (Iowa) gets out to fast starts, and we came out and had great energy from the opening tip. That's what you have to do to give yourselves a chance against this team and in this league. I thought we had sustained energy for 40 minutes. We took our foot off the gas a little bit in the first half. I think when the lead got up to 20, and they made a run which we knew they would do with their shooting and the way they space the floor, but our guys kept their composure. It was good to see Juwan (Gary) bank in that three going into the half to give us a double-digit lead, and the second half was the same. We came out with really good energy to push that lead back up. The offense wasn’t real pretty, as we were trying to milk the clock down and be patient with it, but we continued to get stops on the other end. That’s what this team is built on, the defensive identity. They’ve bought into it, and I could not be prouder how they went out and responded. Guys that stepped up that hadn’t been getting a lot of minutes. I give Oleg Kojenets a ton of credit, what you don't see is how hard that kid works. Everyday he's in there, the first guy in the gym and coming in late. He got some key rebounds when Wilhelm got two quick fouls in the first half and was able to give Derrick (Walker) some much needed rest after he picked up one (foul) and got his second late in the half. Denim Dawson, another guy that hasn’t gotten a lot of minutes, I thought had a great impact and did a great job guarding one of the tougher players in the country in (Kris) Murray. Wilhelm in the second half I thought he was as good as anybody on the floor for us. His numbers don't show it, but he gave us unbelievable energy and a big boost when Derrick picked up his third. We were able to extend our lead with Derrick on the bench, which is hard for this team to do." 
 
On holding Iowa to a season-low shooting performance
"The offense wasn’t real pretty in the second half. In the first half I thought we had good movement, rhythm and flow. They force you to play that way with their press, got us extended a bit, couldn't get the ball downhill, when we did get an open shot, we couldn’t knock it in. We kept defending, and that was what we talked about in the huddle. We are gonna win this game on defense and energy, and I thought we did a great job milking the clock after we got some key offensive rebounds. That’s a team that can go on big runs and score in bunches, so for our guys to go out there and win it on that end is what it is about for our team right now. First half, it was great to see Sam step up and hit those two threes. It was great to see C.J. hit those big shots for us all night long."
 
On defending Kris Murray
"He's a great player. He’s a three-level player and scorer. The plan was to keep Juwan on him as much as possible. Denim gave a good stretch on him as well. They do such a great job of developing their players. You saw it with Keegan (Murray), and now you’re seeing it with Kris and what he's done. Just a really tough cover, who can score from all over the floor. I thought we made him work for everything we got and that’s what you have to do when you’re defending a great player." 

On coming back from the nine-day layoff
"It's kind of a weird time. That’s why we wanted to get off to a fast start because of that layoff and you never know how your guys are going to come out and respond. With the practices we had I felt good, I thought at the very least we'd play with good energy, and it was good to see our guys knock some shots down early in the game." 

Nebraska junior forward Juwan Gary
On the defensive effort
“Coming from Christmas break we've been preaching on conference play. This is the start of the season basically, so it's what we did all week. Practice hard for the three days we had. Defense was a mentality we had almost all week, so we just went out there with the game plan. The defensive effort was more from the coach pushing us through every week, every day so it just came from all that.”
 
On the improvement of Nebraska’s offense
“As a team we just have to look over it. I wasn't here last year. People look at us as a pushover, but it's a whole new team, whole new leadership and whole new group, so we're going to go out there and just take it game after game. Today was the first step for us. We know today was a good win so we're going to move on to the next.”
 
Nebraska Sophomore forward Wilhelm Breidenbach
On the team’s rebounding effort  
“That's just pretty much what we do. That's a part of the game that is completely dependent on us. The only person that can control that is us so it's just a product of playing hard.”
 
Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery
On Nebraska’s defense and Iowa’s shooting struggles
“I think we got off to a bad start shooting the ball. Coming in, they really work. I have been impressed with their defense. You have to move the ball, go in and out and side to side and get good shots which I thought we did. I would say the same for the second half. If you take the two double-figure guys out, we shot 5-of-22. We got 73 shots up. That’s a lot of shots to get 50 points. We had 17 offensive rebounds. Kids were working hard. We had one stretch in the second half where we got nine stops in a row. We made a little run, but not a substantial run. We only made one three in the second half. It’s hard to win when you’re down 12 or 15. When you’re getting open looks, you have to make them. If you get that thing under 10, you have a shot. They ran their stuff. They do a really good job of sharing the ball. Every game it’s like six guys in double figures it seems like.”
 
On how Kris Murray did his first game back
“Considering how much time he was out, I thought he did some really good things. 17 points and eight rebounds is a pretty good line. We wanted him to be aggressive. He got 15 shots up. He could have shot more as far as I’m concerned. We ran a few things for him. Four offensive rebounds was key especially the way we were shooting it. We had a lot of misses.”
 
On what the biggest difference between this year’s Husker team and previous teams
“It’s a completely different team. These guys are playing like a team. They are playing for each other. Nobody is going for themselves. They are playing for each other. I think it’s obvious. When you see that many guys in double figures, there is no selfishness there I see. First of all here, but I’m also talking about the film I’ve watched too. I’ve watched pretty much all their games.”
NU Athletic Communications