Nebraska Postgame Notes/Quotes vs. Ohio State

Nebraska Postgame Notes vs. Ohio State

• Nebraska scored 42 points in the second half. The 42 points marked the Huskers’ highest-scoring half in a Big Ten game this season and highest scoring half in conference play since scoring 43 in the first half at Ohio State on March 1, 2022.
• Nebraska held Ohio State to a season-low 60 points (previous low was 64 at Rutgers). The Buckeyes were also held to a season-low 22 points in the first half.  Nebraska held OSU to .882 points per possession tonight as the Buckeyes entered the game sixth nationally in offensive efficiency.
• The Huskers also held Ohio State to 35.7 percent from the field. The Buckeyes entered the game shooting 47 percent on the season. OSU is the eighth Husker opponent held to 40 percent or lower shooting. 
• Nebraska outscored Ohio State 32-16 in the paint. The Huskers have either led or been tied in points in the paint in each of the last eight games.
• Sam Griesel finished with 15 points, his 10th double-digit scoring effort of the season. Griesel scored 10 of is 15 points in the second half, when he was 2-of-4 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
• Making his second start of the season, Keisei Tominaga finished with 11 points, his 10th double-digit effort of the season.
• Derrick Walker totaled 10 rebounds before fouling out, his fourth game with 10 or more rebounds this season and eighth of his career.
• Denim Dawson set a career high with eight rebounds, eclipsing his previous career high of three. Dawson also scored seven points, one shy of his career high, in a career high 30 minutes.
• Nebraska out-rebounded Ohio State, 39-38, as the Buckeyes entered the game 28^th nationally in rebounding margin at +6.2 per game.
• With the victory, Nebraska improved to 10-9 on the season, matching last season’s win total.
• Nebraska snapped OSU’s five-game win streak in Lincoln, picking up the first home win in the series since 2014. It also marked the first time NU has beaten Ohio State in consecutive meetings, dating back to the Huskers’ win in Columbus last March.

Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
Opening Statement
“First of all, I want to say how proud I am of our guys for coming out and showing a lot of resolve in that first half. Obviously, it was a rock fight out there and the ball wasn’t going through the hoop on either side, but we didn’t hang our heads. We were missing some really good looks out there, and I thought we kept guarding. I was really proud of Demin (Dawson). I thought he had a tough assignment with (Brice) Sensabaugh who is one of the tougher covers in this league. When you see that body, how strong he is, how he gets to his spot, and Denim made him work for everything that he got. He got going a little bit in the second half, but Denim defensively really kept us in the game. I want to talk about Oleg (Kojenets) a little bit coming off the bench. We were getting beat up a little bit inside when we went small when Derrick (Walker) went into foul trouble, and I thought Oleg went in there and made a really nice take to the basket. Blaise (Keita) just isn’t ready yet with his ankle, so he was an emergency only situation tonight, but Oleg played really good minutes and really everybody that stepped on the floor, Keisei (Tominaga) and CJ (Wilcher), both played in new roles. They both gave us good minutes out there. Jamarques (Lawrence) off the bench was terrific. Wilhem (Breidenbach) continues to make plays, hustle and make plays on both ends of the floor. And when Derrick (Walker) went out, I think we scored on four straight possessions and that hasn’t been a theme for this team when Derrick has been on the bench. We have really struggled to score more than usual. We got a nice rhythm in the second half. Having a 42-point half will hopefully help us have confidence on that end to string together 40 minutes. But I thought we had good looks. I thought we even missed some good shots in the second half. Keisei had a couple. CJ had a couple that I am confident will go down. We had really good offensive practices the last few days and we had 20 good minutes tonight. Hopefully that carries over to next game.”

On the bench performance 
“It is what it is all about for a bench player. Sometimes guys that are out of the rotation get an opportunity like this and take advantage of it. And I was one of those guys (in the NBA). I was a bench player for a lot of my career. I was an out of rotation guy. When my name was called, I always did everything I could to try and be ready. And I give our guys a lot of credit to continue to do that. Oleg is one of the hardest workers. I have talked about him in the past. Denim has been shooting every day and then he comes back at night and shoots on the gun. He gets that extra work in to get the chance that he is getting right now. Jamarques continues to impressive me especially defensively. He had a couple of nice takes and a big three for us,  but what he has done to pick up our defensive schemes is terrific. CJ. has been getting a ton of extra work the last couple of days. He made nine threes in practice yesterday. It is one of those things where that lid is going to come off. We are going to have a game I hope where we knock down double digit threes and run away with one, but this team is working hard. Proud of the resiliency after two tough games. We talked about if we win the glass we would have a good chance to win this one. I think we ended up winning the battle of the boards by one, so that is a huge key for this team, and you can see the theme of wins versus losses, a lot of that has to come down to the rebounds.”
 
On starting Tominaga over Wilcher
“I just wanted to change it up. I went out to lunch with C.J. the other day and just had a conversation. It was in his mind as well just to change up the rhythm. Change up his flow. And he took it great. He said to me when we went to lunch, ‘I have been thinking about coming to you and talking to you about doing.’ So, it was a selfless act by C.J. and I thought he got some really good looks. One thing I showed him is before the New Year’s last year, he was a 33-percent 3-point shooter and after he shot almost 50 percent. I am confident he is going to get it going in his new role and hopefully be consistent the rest of the year.” 
 
On what the win means for the team moving forward
“It is a huge win. You look at our schedule, obviously a really difficult schedule that has been documented here with having the number one strength of schedule. We have played the top teams in our league. We are done with Purdue. We played Indiana at full strength without (Sam) Griesel on the road. We played at Michigan State which is not an easy place to win, and Illinois at the top of their game, so we played a really difficult schedule. We have had three great wins. Iowa, who is rolling right now, at Minnesota, who is playing really well, and this one tonight. But we felt like this was a really important one. Coming home and protecting home court. You have to do this in this league if you want to have a chance to play in March.”

Nebraska freshman guard Jamarques Lawrence
On his 3-pointer that gave Nebraska a lead late
“It felt good. It was me building my confidence up. Every time I step onto the court my confidence keeps going up.”

On his growing role
“I’m just learning and growing. Every time I step onto the court it's a learning experience, just to go back and look at my film.”  

Nebraska redshirt freshman guard/forward Denim Dawson
On how the team responded to Coach Hoiberg’s technical
“We liked it. Coach showing his emotions helped us. We huddled up and were like alright, ‘The game is not going how we want. Calls are getting missed, but we said we were gonna win this no matter what.’ That's what Sam Griesel said. We just fought.”

On how his play has increased his confidence 
“It’s a confidence booster to know you belong out there. When you get like you're supposed to be out there, it's awesome.”

On how his early enrollment has benefited his development
“It's helped a lot. Even from our first exhibition game from when we stepped up there, it was a surreal moment. I knew I belonged because I came here early.”

Ohio State Coach Chris Holtmann 
Opening statement
“Obviously another tough game. I give Nebraska credit for pulling out the win here. I give their kids and Fred (Hoiberg) credit for that. Tough game and it went down to the wire again.”
 
On first-half offense setting the tone for the game
“I thought we missed a lot of some-what clean looks, but they have a good defense so I give them credit. We just did not convert on some plays that would have given us more of a lead at half that we should have converted on. Some missed layups,but outside of that I do not know that our guys were overly frustrated. We just missed some layups.”
 
On the final possession
“It is hard to get a three when everybody knows you need to get a three, and I thought they just played it and played it out. They did a good job taking away our initial action and our guys had good poise in that situation.”
 
On Derrick Walker picking up his fourth foul
“Walker is a really good player. They just play a little bit smaller with their five and that created some matchup issues, but he is a really good player.”

NU Athletic Communications