uneblinstu's Post Game Chatter: Vol 9, Ed 16 - Northwestern

[uneblinstu]

I overheard someone leaving the arena say "bummer! 4-0 would have been so fun!" That about sums up my thoughts. 3-1 is still a heckuva start. We're still in first place. And we'll get another shot at Northwestern in a couple of weeks.

 

- Glynn was off a tick today. Might be as simple as that.

- Thought it was big for Evan to have some success offenively after the Iowa game. Most of those were bonus points.

- Also good to see Jack hit a couple from outside. Interesting that he got the call in the second half and Jeriah didn't get on the floor.

- If I ever start doubting Tai, you have permission to slap me.

- Thought Jacobson was a bit short on his shot all day, too. But he was pretty solid otherwise.

- It's really hard for me to get too worked up over this game. I thought NU did a lot of what it needed to do today to win, Northwestern just did more. We were never going undefeated through conference play and, need I remind you that the Wildcats were the favorites.

- Glad to see Roby out there. Didn't seem to be suffering too many ill effects.

- Nothing's really changed for NU after today as long as they don't get too down on themselves and continue to work their tails off. They'll be just fine.

- Overall, I'm still very encouraged. Here's to getting rested up and pissed of and taking out on some Wolverines on Saturday.

Edited January 8, 2017 by uneblinstu

[Bugeaters1]

Looked very tired, and not everyone was on the same page.

[dt14smoke]

Tired
Hot shooting nw
Learn spacing lessons
Move on


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[Silverbacked1]

If anybody every says to me, "they're young how can they be tired?"  I will put this game on their big screen.

 

Also we go as Glenn and to a bit Tai go.

 

Gotta keep grinding baby, gotta keep grinding.

[uneblinstu]

11 minutes ago, Silverbacked1 said:

If anybody every says to me, "they're young how can they be tired?"  I will put this game on their big screen.

Even youths grow tired and weary.

[AuroranHusker]

I'm tired. And, from the looks of it today, the teams' legs were still tired. NW had a sense of urgency to avoid 1-3 start to B1G, they performed better & they kept Glynn from beating NW today. 

[brfrad]

Struggled on defense.  Didn't get out on shooters.  Didn't force turnovers, especially steals, which could lead to easy baskets.  Only 6 steals.

 

Northwestern played really well on defense.  They were there to protect the rim when we got by their guards, and were in the passing lanes.

 

Nice to see McVeigh watch a few go through the hoop from long range.

 

If we force Northwestern to shoot their season average, they go 21-49 from the floor, and 9-24 from 3, and score 64 points. 

 

I thought after Watson made the 2 free throws with 5:38 left in the game, we should have pressed, tried to force some turnovers.  Maybe the tired legs scared Miles away from doing that. 

 

Probably should have given Horne a look, when we got down towards the end.  I don't know if it would have helped.

 

Put this one behind us, focus on Michigan and try to steal one on the road. 

[busticket]

You guys pretty much summed up my thoughts.  Glynn was off, Northwestern was unconscious shooting the 3.  We didn't play bad.  Just have to give Northwestern credit and get ready for the next one.

[Cowboy Kermit]

Northwestern did what they do better than Nebraska did what they do. Northwestern limited Nebraska's strength's more than Nebraska limited Northwestern's. Plain and Simple


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[hskr4life]

Still at 3-1 and will be tied with Michigan St and Wisconsin.  We would all have taken that 4 games in.  A lot left to play for.  Get a week off, and we are going to be right back at it.  3-1 the rest of the way will mean great things for the Huskers!

[Silverbacked1]

Also thought that NW were kind of the wiley veterans today. 

 

Some of those guys are older, have played in this league longer and know the little things that help.

 

And of course we looked really tired.

[HuskerBB]

Northwestern was very well prepared and obviously shot the ball extremely well today.  Credit them a lot for taking Glynn out of the game.  They did not leave him in the half-court but primarily I think making us play a half court game takes a lot of Glynn's game away as he likes to get 3's in transition as well.  NW really made sure to get back on D so transition opportunities were really only there off steals - and they handle the ball very well so we did not get many turnovers.  All that said - Gavin Skelly for NW is a punk - lots of cheap shots from him.  Reminded me of a tall Grant Gibbs.

 

Disappointing to drop this one because of the opportunity that we had to go 4-0 and really get a jump on the conference.  All home losses hurt.  But the team needs to keep their heads up and come back strong next Saturday to see if they can steal another road win.

 

 

 

[Huskerone]

I thought the game flipped when NW hit 3's on like 4 or 5 straight possessions in the second half.  I just put my hands up, what do you do?  It looks like MN is doing the same thing against Ohio State right now.  I guess it happens.  Its just too bad it wasn't us with the hot hand today.  4-0 would have been pretty unbelievable.

 

Long way to go in the season yet.  Bring on Michigan! 

 

 

[colhusker]

Webster had an off day outside about the last 3 minutes seem to be a step off.  Struggled to get over picks and was a step slow on defense.  Think he was a step slow after all the minutes the other night.

Watson - struggled today, as with Webster, seemed a step slow after the other night.

Taylor - Knocked down some key shots today another solid, not great, but solid game.

Jacobson - Another good game by Jacobson.  Rebounded well, shot well, again did the dirty work

Morrow - Spent to much time on bench after committing silly fouls.  A couple were because of over hustle but that is a part of his game he needs to clean up

McVeigh - Nice to see him knock down a couple shots

Roby - Gave us some good minutes on defense but was a no show on offense

Horne - Clearly got into the Miles doghouse in the first half.

Jordy - Really struggled on offense today.  A year in the weight room will fix a lot of that.

 

Coaching - thought staying in the 1-3-1 was a poor decision down the stretch.  Not sure if it was a lack of legs from the other night but we let them take a lot of time off the clock down the stretch.

[throwback]

They made shots, NU didn't. Teams that can make 11 of their first 19 3s on the road probably deserve to win.

 

Agree that we looked tired - a lot of jump shots came up short and defensively we really didn't rotate and close out as well as we normally do. Not an excuse, NW deserved to win, but it wasn't the same team we've been seeing.

 

Iowa looked a bit leg weary at home vs Rutgers today too, but snuck out a win. Flip opponents, and you'd probably flip results too. Just caught a hot shooting NW team on the wrong day for us.

 

The week off will help us hopefully heading to Michigan next weekend!

 

[Coaches kid]

Collins had a great game plan on defense. They were set on keeping Tai and Glynn out of the lane off of our high screen and rolls. Practically every time there were two guys staying with them. They barely ever let us turn the corner off those screens. We made a few adjustments and did better when we moved the ball and the screeners. I was hoping that we would try some ISOs and clear out a side of the floor without a screener to give Tai and Glynn more room to operate. It's a pretty good bet other teams will watch this film and play us the same way. That said, I'm not surprised that we experienced a let down. On the positive side, I thought Jacobsen played a very solid game, as did Taylor. Jacobsen seems to be finding his niche as a garbage man and banger. He played with great intensity. Let's go steal one at Michigan. We can play with them.

[tcp]

NU Jr's a legitimately good team, so no shame in dropping a game to them. We just don't have a real home court advantage that we can rely on for a few extra points, and until we do, good teams will play us very tough at home and win their share.

 

good news is NU Jrs homecourt is one of the worst in the league, so we'll have a good chance to even this up there.

 

It really is appearing that we go as Glynn goes. Tai gets his most night. But Glynn's contribution (or not) appears to be the difference in our wins.

And NW looks like they concluded the same thing. Which means the rest of the league will, too.

 

Will definitely need other players to take the pressure off that young brother before he winds up triple teamed or some ridiculous crap.

 

Onward and upward, Big Red!

[huskerbaseball13]

I hope Nana Akenten is our Vic Law.  That guy has the goods.

[49r]

 

[cozrulz]

Nebraska continually was lost on defense.  College three point shooters will make them getting that much room.

 

Schedule still sets up well for Nebraska.

[hhcmatt]

19 hours ago, NebrasketballJake said:

Northwestern did what they do better than Nebraska did what they do. Northwestern limited Nebraska's strength's more than Nebraska limited Northwestern's. Plain and Simple

 

They don't turn the ball over and slow the game down. That was their lowest tempo game of the year.

[hhcmatt]

 

[hhcmatt]

Ed went to the bench 1 minute into the 2nd with us up 39-33

He came back in at the 12:55 minute mark with us up 47-45

Picked up his 4th foul in less than 2 minutes with us tied 50-50, back to the bench.

Comes back in with 7:50 to go with us down 54-56. 

NW immediately recognizes and attacks at a trying to not foul Ed Morrow. 54-60 NW, timeout Nebraska, and we don't recover.

[Cazzie22]

This Husker team will compete with most teams in the B1G.  Purdue will present huge matchup issues but NU should be in most games when they play well.  Wins will be hard earned.

[hhcmatt]

Post game notes and quotes

Nebraska Postgame Notes
*-Northwestern snapped Nebraska’s four-game win streak, including its 3-0 start in Big Ten play.
*-Michael Jacobson posted his second double-double of the season and of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds. His other double-double came against South Dakota on Dec. 3. 
*-Jacobson has grabbed nine or more rebounds in all four Big Ten games, and averaged 11.5 rebounds per game in two games this week.
*-Evan Taylor had a season-high 11 points (previous best was eight on two occasions), including his first 3-pointer of the season. Taylor also dished out a season-high four assists and added three steals.
*-Tai Webster  has reached double figures in all 16 games this season and 17 straight games dating back to last year’s Big Ten Tournament, as he finished with a team-high 17 points.
*-Northwestern shot 51 percent, the highest by a Husker opponent since Dec. 10. The Wildcats also hit 11 3-pointers, matching an opponent team high set two other times, most recently at Maryland on Jan. 1
*-Nebraska committed nine turnovers, the fifth time this year NU committed less than 10 turnovers
*-Jack McVeigh went 2-of-3 from 3-point range, the first time since Dec. 3 he hit multiple 3-pointers in a gamer.
*-The Huskers started the same lineup for the fifth consecutive game (Webster, Watson, Taylor, Jacobson, Morrow).

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles 
Opening Statement 
“I think you have to credit Northwestern. They came in and really played well. We jumped on them each half in the first five minutes, and they didn’t flinch. We weren’t able to capitalize on playing well to get enough stops. We blew defensive assignments. They made threes, which was the number two key [to winning this game]. We just morphed into this team that was forcing the ball at the rim and just played that ugly basketball. You have to credit their defensive edge and intensity to create that.”

On Nebraska’s offense:
“I didn’t feel like I ever liked a shot. I just thought our offensive execution was poor all night. It seems like we made shots even though we didn’t run our offense, even early when we got up 12-2. The only time we got in transition was when we went 1-3-1. We had three transition turnovers, untimely turnovers it felt like. At the end of the day I think they had defensive edge and we didn’t, quick frankly. They won more 50-50 balls. They got timely second shots.”

On Northwestern’s second-half comeback:
“Their defensive edge was good, and we weren’t. We really lost an opportunity early in the second half. In the first five minutes, we’re up seven, and they don’t have a three. Then we go another six minutes, or five and a half minutes and they make five threes. We had some turnovers in there. We had a variety of groups blow assignments so our seven-point lead goes to a six-point deficit. That point of the game, even though there’s nine minutes left, it’s like they just ripped our hearts out. Anything we had built was history, and now here we are playing from behind again.”

On Jack McVeigh’s play, and Jeriah Horne moving forward:
“You can see readiness, so we decided to let Jack (McVeigh) have a crack. Jack came in, hit some buckets, did a good job defensively. We’ll go back to Jeriah (Horne). He’ll get his chances, but he’s got to be ready. He’s got to earn his minutes just like anybody else.”

Northwestern Coach Chris Collins
Opening Statement
“Just really proud of my team today. I thought we were playing really well in the first half. We had a ten-point lead and the ball with three minutes to go. We had a careless turnover and it led to a three-minute meltdown on our part. Great job to Nebraska. We came to the locker room and had to regroup. We didn’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves, we had to move forward. It was a four-point game and they were able to push it up to seven there in the second half.

I thought our defense the whole game was pretty good, especially with #0 Tai Webster and #5 Glynn Watson Jr. Those guys have been fantastic these first three games and there was a big emphasis on those guys. It’s great to win on the road. Nebraska has two big road wins, and they earned them. We had to earn this one today. It was a happy locker room. Our guys feel good about what we did today.”

The mood in the Northwestern locker room at halftime:
“Initially, shell shocked. I think we were angry, but initially we couldn’t express it because we felt we were in control of the game. We were playing really well. I thought the tempo was to our liking. We were executing and playing really good defense.”

On playing at Nebraska
“I love playing here because of the fans here. You guys should be really proud of Coach Tim Miles and what he’s built.  It’s a great environment for college basketball. And I know the students weren’t here, but their fans [were]. It was loud, it was red. You guys have some of the best fans which is really cool."

On Tai Webster and Glynn Watson Jr.:
“You have to try to take away their layups. They are so fast and they are such strong drivers you have to try to eliminate the layups and do your best on the tendencies to make them take shots. They are going to get shots off because they’re good. So can you make them take the shots you would like them to take, and not the shots they would like to get?"

 

 

Nebraska Guard Evan Taylor 
On Northwestern blocking the offense and driving lanes:
“They packed it in and dared us to shoot outside shots. I thought their defensive game plan was good but we kind of got timid in the offense. We have to stray away from that.”

On Northwestern making its first five three pointers in second half:
“It is just basketball. It’s the Big Ten. You can’t ever relax on anybody when you play any player, any individual. We knew they had shooters, with one quick let up and just like that, that’s five threes and they go on a run. Now we’re playing catch up. It’s a learning lesson, we’ve just got to get better moving forward.”

Nebraska Forward Michael Jacobson
On the big lead before the half and its momentum:
“That was awesome. I think it was good because we were down like 10, 11, 12 or something like that, so it was good to get it back and get in front right before the half and maybe take some momentum away from them. But it’s a long game so, there’s still half a basketball game left and clearly it was not the deciding factor there.”

On the grind of Thursday’s game, and its impact tonight:
“I don’t know. I don’t want to make any excuses. Everyone has quick turnarounds and it’s a long season for everyone. I don’t think [there was an impact], I think we just got away from ourselves a little bit. Not to discredit anything they did, they did a good job on positional defense and they sat in those lanes and kind of forced us to take some outside shots. I think that hurt us.”