Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
On Trey McGowens…
HOIBERG: Having Trey out there was a lift. You see how much better we are with his intensity, his leadership and his passion on the defensive end of the floor. I thought Alonzo (Verge Jr.) added great pressure on the ball and getting deflections. I think we had nine steals on the night. Again, Trey just gives us a whole different element out there. Being able to put him on the ball or on the other team’s best offensive player, that’s going to be huge for us moving forward. For Trey, as I talked to him, and having an opportunity in my career to come back from a long layoff, it’s all about going out there and letting the game come to you and making simple plays and I thought Trey did a great job of that tonight and stepping up and knocking down that first three, knocking down all of his free throws, and again, giving us that huge lift. As far as his minute-load, we talked about anywhere from 16 to 22. We have a chip that our guys wear underneath their jerseys. When I met with R.J. (Pietig), our trainer, at halftime, he said that his load was at a perfect spot and we could up his minutes by about three in the second half, so that’s what the decision was, to get him up over 21, right in line with where we wanted his load to be. It’s great to have Trey back out there on the floor.
We cut it to four on a few occasions, but we just couldn’t get over the hump. We couldn’t get that big stop; we couldn’t get the basket to cut it to a single possession game. I don’t think we ever got there. You have to find a way to buckle down and get that stop and make the right play. We had a couple plays in the lane to get right to the basket, and we tried to kick it out and turned it over. I think we had three of those, where we had opportunities. We missed a couple right there at the rim. You have to capitalize. You have to finish in order to get over the hump and win these games. You have to be able to make those plays when they present themselves.
On playing on MLK Jr. Day
“It’s an absolute honor to play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I’ve been very fortunate over the course of my career, as a player, playing on this day, as a coach, in the NBA playing on this day and it’s special. It’s an absolute honor to play on this day, understanding what this great man meant to our history and what he means to our history. There’s a lot of work to be done, obviously, for what his vision was and what his message was, but for our players, it’s an honor to be able to go out there and play on this day and honor a great man.”
On Trey McGowens…
HOIBERG: Having Trey out there was a lift. You see how much better we are with his intensity, his leadership and his passion on the defensive end of the floor. I thought Alonzo (Verge Jr.) added great pressure on the ball and getting deflections. I think we had nine steals on the night. Again, Trey just gives us a whole different element out there. Being able to put him on the ball or on the other team’s best offensive player, that’s going to be huge for us moving forward. For Trey, as I talked to him, and having an opportunity in my career to come back from a long layoff, it’s all about going out there and letting the game come to you and making simple plays and I thought Trey did a great job of that tonight and stepping up and knocking down that first three, knocking down all of his free throws, and again, giving us that huge lift. As far as his minute-load, we talked about anywhere from 16 to 22. We have a chip that our guys wear underneath their jerseys. When I met with R.J. (Pietig), our trainer, at halftime, he said that his load was at a perfect spot and we could up his minutes by about three in the second half, so that’s what the decision was, to get him up over 21, right in line with where we wanted his load to be. It’s great to have Trey back out there on the floor.
We cut it to four on a few occasions, but we just couldn’t get over the hump. We couldn’t get that big stop; we couldn’t get the basket to cut it to a single possession game. I don’t think we ever got there. You have to find a way to buckle down and get that stop and make the right play. We had a couple plays in the lane to get right to the basket, and we tried to kick it out and turned it over. I think we had three of those, where we had opportunities. We missed a couple right there at the rim. You have to capitalize. You have to finish in order to get over the hump and win these games. You have to be able to make those plays when they present themselves.
On playing on MLK Jr. Day
“It’s an absolute honor to play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I’ve been very fortunate over the course of my career, as a player, playing on this day, as a coach, in the NBA playing on this day and it’s special. It’s an absolute honor to play on this day, understanding what this great man meant to our history and what he means to our history. There’s a lot of work to be done, obviously, for what his vision was and what his message was, but for our players, it’s an honor to be able to go out there and play on this day and honor a great man.”
