Post-Game Quotes: Nebraska

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo

Opening Statement…
Strange game. I'm not sure that at the beginning of the year, someone would tell me that Kenny Goins was going to be our leading scorer and Matt McQuaid second. That we played four freshmen 70-plus minutes, thought we might redshirt three of them (at the beginning of the year). I was disappointed in the first half with the turnovers. We cleaned those up. We rebounded okay, but I thought we didn't rebound as good as we need to rebound. But we had some lineups in there that were strange. And probably the hardest thing is that Cassius had a little tendinitis, got hit early. If you didn't think he was himself, he wasn't, but nothing that'll linger. Just gotta get a little treatment now. I looked at my bench and everybody had kneepacks on and all this. None of that matters now. We made it to the last game. I give a lot of credit to Tim (Miles), his staff and his team. To be down almost 20 at halftime and battle back, cut it to eight or 10 and never quit in the second half. We were trying to get some guys some rest, and yet couldn't really do that because of the way they play. I give a lot of credit to him. His second-best player has been out. We had a little more depth, so we survived some of our stuff. He didn't get a chance to survive his. That's been a tough, tough, run for him. His team, anytime you have enough character to not quit at halftime of a game like this shows you a lot about those players and himself and his staff.

On Kenny Goins' continuing to grow and improve…
Kenny did a good job tonight. He hit some big shots and got a little shot-happy there for awhile. I thought when he took good inside/out shots, he made probably 90 percent of them. Forwards aren't supposed to get what they call "heat-check" shots. Think he thought he was Cassius for a couple minutes there. Kenny did a pretty good job. They were a load to cover, cause they went real small. Small means (Isaiah) Roby at the five. We struggled a little bit with that. (Thomas) Kithier struggled a little bit. But Kenny was pretty solid the whole game.

On Matt McQuaid and the rest of the seniors and his need for them to step into those special roles…
We really do, with what we're going through. Seniors are supposed to do this. They've worked their whole four years, five years for Kenny, for this. So proud of Matt, because these games and every practice and every game we play means so much. You just see his eyes in the locker room, see him in the huddles. That means the world to him. He's playing some of his best basketball. Granted, we didn't do everything good tonight. We turned it over a little less, but still didn't defensive rebound as good and didn't guard as good in the second half. That's a hard team to guard, especially with some of the lineups and we were trying to do some different things. None of them worked, so that falls more on me than it does the players.

On Aaron Henry's performance tonight…
We tried to tell Aaron that he's gotta be a slasher. He made one shot out there. He's a very good slasher, a very good offensive rebounder, a very good dunker. He's good in the post to be honest with you, and he made a couple nice post moves. Three guys had a career-high and that was all positive, but we're not gonna win games that way. You're gonna be able to win big games by being able to guard and rebound a little. And we rebounded okay, but gave up still 13 offensive (rebounds). That sits with me a little bit. We had two turnovers with seven minutes left to go in the half, and we had nine at halftime. That was extremely disappointing. We've still got a lot to work on, but a lot to build on too.

On Aaron Henry and Gabe Brown and how they were less hesitant tonight…
Gabe will never be hesitant. He could go 100 years and never find a shot he doesn't like. Don't worry about Gabe. He's down there right now showering and ready to shoot. Now Aaron on the other hand, I think it was less tentative. When he got that first shot, he made a three. But he's gotta understand what his range is and what he can do, play within himself. I thought he did a good job with that tonight. We got out on our break a little better tonight, considering Cash wasn't at full speed. It was nice to see those three guys do well. Xavier (Tillman) was okay. As those minutes get up for him, kind of wears down too. So we're just trying to shuffle guys around and come up with some things we need to come up with. Still have some problems with it too.

On where Gabe Brown is at defensively…
Gabe's not bad. He's got length and he's gotten better. Gabe's a pleaser, he wants to do everything right. He wants to do what he can do. If you ask him to do something, he wants to do it. Sometimes it takes a little longer to do it, that's all. Experience he has little of and yet I think he's learning to play harder. I think that makes up for that a little bit. We're gonna see what happens with Ahrens. Couple more days of rest, see what happens. Nick (Ward), I still don't see him playing, but I do see him start to practice this week, end of the week and see what happens there. I think you've got to look at us that we're gonna play the guys we got, hopefully plus Ahrens, and play as hard as we can play.

On Cassius Winston playing through his tendinitis in knee…
I've been on Cassius since his freshman year, kinda keep pushing him. Cassius Winston has given me everything he's got. We just gotta figure out now, in the next couple days, what we do with him. That'll be me and Cassius. I told him he's gonna live here and just get a lot of treatment. Some of it's just that he's done a lot. But I'm not worried about him. He'll be ready to play on Saturday. What we do between now and then could change a little bit.

On things that Cassius Winston does that we don't see that keeps this thing going…
That's one thing I talked to him about before the game. I said 'Cash, you're going to have a couple new people in there now. You might be playing with Foster (Loyer) (which we did that a little bit). You're definitely gonna be playing with Gabe (Brown), he's going in in the first five minutes or something.' We made some pre-decisions on who we're going to sub, to make sure I did it. I said 'you're gonna really have to use the improved-leadership skills you have, communication.' But then he hurt that thing a little bit early in the game. I thought that made it a little harder. But over the time where we've been doing it, he's just done an unbelievable job of sticking with each guy, knowing what each guy can do. He's done an amazing job of handling these different people, including all-of-a-sudden no Nick (Ward). Then he gets 10 assists and one of the guys you got a lot of assists to isn't playing right now. I think Cassius has earned his medal. I might even give him part of tomorrow off. We're gonna have to figure out how to make sure he's as healthy as he can be on Saturday.

On offensive success with Kyle Ahrens, Joshua Langford and Nick Ward out…
It's a big positive. It's a big positive, I just don't live and die with us shooting 12 threes. I don't live and die with us giving up 10 either. We've still got to hang our hat on what we've been hanging it on for 24 years. We still have to defend, rebound, and run. Our defense for the first time in a while we've given up in the 40's. They shot 41. They shot 37 from the three. Those two things have to improve. Our rebounding being a plus nine but giving up 13 offensive… those have to improve. Our offense can stay the same. If we can keep that the same and improve in those other two, I'll be a happy coach. I don't want our guys to think… that's what I said, Kenny (Goins) got heat check happy there on a couple of those when he shot them quick. We can't live and die with that. They did a good job of collapsing. They were athletic and long. The one thing we told our team before… (Glynn) Watson is very jet quick. He's kind of like Tum Tum. He's a shifty guy. Everybody else on that team… because the (Thoams) Allen kid was out, and it probably hurt them a little bit and probably helped them because everyone on that team is probably 6'6 to 6'9, 6'11 and athletic and long. That was a challenge for us a little bit, especially defensively on certain things. When they moved (Isaiah) Roby to the five, they hurt us on some things that we weren't ready for with the lineups we were playing. I guess it will give us something good to look at tonight and try to shore up tomorrow morning. There might be a little more mental parts of practice now because we were on break with no rules. NCAA doesn't handcuff you if you practice a little longer or put in a few extra hours. I don't think we'll be able to practice any longer, I think we're going to have to study harder and figure out what we're going to have to do that way. We'll be able to come up with something, but all in all it was good to get some guys into the game. It's good to still get 22 assists. It was good to shoot well from the free throw line and the three. There were definitely some positives. It was good to almost have to threaten them on the turnovers. We only had one in the second half. This team made some progress. It's not easy to not turn the ball over when you're playing with guys you've never played with before. That's difficult. I just don't have room to be sympathetic about it. I think they proved to themselves in the second half that maybe if you don't try to do things that are beyond what you should be doing, you don't turn it over.

On Kenny Goins and Matt McQuaid getting good looks…
The one thing Xavier (Tillman) does an unbelievable job of is he's a great screen setter. I thought we freed Matt. Matt did a great job of coming off picks. Matt has worked so hard. I mean the poor kid didn't practice for a week, but before that he had worked so hard. Like I say, if you go down and talk to him right now, this part of the season means the world to him. You'd like to capture that and put it into freshman and do that and maintain it. That's why experience matters. He doesn't want it to end. It's so nice to see him do what he did. I think part of it is he exploded off screens, he ran his lane better, he had a couple threes. He had some stuff off the break for once. We got 19 points off the break. That was another area that we were really poor in for some reason in this game that we haven't had a problem in all year. They had 17 points. Our transition defense was kind of below average. We have enough things to work on all night tonight and enough things to improve on tomorrow and get ready for the next game.

On 20 day game conference schedule opinion…
I said he's (Jim Delaney) a genius because it was probably best for the fans, the media, the TV. I don't know if it's the best for the coaches or the players. This is a draining season. I'll bet you that even you guys are more tired than you were in an 18 season. It is a grind. I appreciate what Jim's done for the league and everything else, but let's not put roses on that thing now. Let's figure out that Jim did do a lot of things and the 20 games… we went from 16 to 18, 18 to 20. It's a long season. It's a real long season. I don't know what will happen in the playoffs. I don't know how many more teams we will get in or won't get in. That will be an interesting case study that will probably have to go five or six years to figure it out. For the exposure of the Big Ten schools, the television packages, to have something like we're going to have Saturday where Duke and Carolina are playing and Michigan and Michigan State are going to be playing. You can set up those games at the end of the year and all that… unbelievable. I think it's unbelievable for our university and theirs. I think it's unbelievable for the Big Ten. Yes, he deserves a lot of credit for that, but I promise you for a coach and a player, I'm still a little apprehensive on what is too much. Two more conference games as I told you… that was not an easy game for us. That team is 13th in the league. I told you the bottom of the league is harder to beat than sometimes a good non conference game. That hasn't changed. We'll give Jim some credit and we'll still give Tom some credit that it's a grind. Time will tell on how many teams we get in. I don't think the SEC or the ACC or the Big 12 or the Big East I don't think are playing 20 games. There's going to be some losses because it's hard to win in conference play. Jim deserves a lot of credit for what he's done for all these universities and how he's taken this TV package to a new level. I'm just a little skeptical on this.

On new lineups causing a November game feeling in terms of testing players and new roles…
Hell no! November game. Do I look like it's November? The only problem with that is we haven't been able to work with those guys. We swore as DJ and I figured out our lineups and how we'd make sure we'd get Foster in and make sure we get Gabe in. We said we don't want them in there when there's three freshman. Early in the first half when Cash was a little not where we needed him as far as his knee, we had four of them in there at the same time. That wasn't healthy for me, but that's nothing against them either. It's just that those guys haven't played together like that either. When you're running things or executing things or switching and doing some things defensively… guys just don't know where guys are. I tried my hardest to get the NCAA to put those cell phones on our belt buckles so we could text each other when we're switching and that, but communication isn't quite as good on millennials. I think when those guys haven't played together and didn't understand each other… we had some lapses. They had a layup. They had a wide open three. We had some lapses. Hopefully we can shore that up, but we'll see and I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Why ruin a good thing? See you tomorrow.

Michigan State freshman forward Aaron Henry
On what was key for him tonight…
I was trying to look for my shot, stay aggressive and play my game. You can never be too shy or too sure, you just have to go out there and make the most of your minutes.

On how getting more minutes has helped him…
Experience is key, just getting experience all season, especially with the injuries we have. I'm getting more minutes than I was earlier in the year, getting more comfortable and finding my groove a little bit. Being a starter, coach has been expecting a lot out of me, so I have to bring it for my team, especially the seniors.

On what he's looking forward to on Saturday…
I'm looking forward to the challenge, playing for the alumni, playing for the seniors and playing for myself and my family. I'm also looking forward to playing for that Spartan helmet, because we know what it means to win a Big Ten championship and know what's on the line.

Michigan State senior guard Matt McQuaid

On the team's performance...
We're just doing the things that we need to do. We're defending, rebounding, running you know I felt like we did a much better job running within the past few games. We got some good buckets in transition, but we still have to pick up the rebounding, but it's still a better job. Out defending we had spurts, but I still like we can do a better job in that area, but we put it all together and came out the win.

On the importance of playing the younger guys…
I think that was really important especially with Kyle going down. We don't know how long he'll be out. He's a key player and a tough, gritty shooter and brings a lot to the table. He does a lot of little things that nobody sees so a lot of different guys had to step up and fill his role.

On his and Kenny Goins' performances…
I'd say it's a great way to start senior week. For me, my teammates were just finding me. Kenny was finding me, Cash was finding me, Foster was and just a lot of different guys finding me so a lot of credit to them. Kenny shot really good too. He's six of nine from the three and he had a heck of a game.

Michigan State senior forward Kenny Goins

On how it feels being hot on the court…
You kind of get lost up in the moment a little bit, especially with the alumni crowd. The alumni crowd is so phenomenal with their cheers and everything. You kind of just ride that high of them and us.

On the key to closing out the game…
We got a couple of stops in a row. We really emphasize our transition offense this week and we just out ran, and we just shot the ball really well.

On how they cleaned up their game…
I think it was really just we had a couple younger guys in there and once we got the upper classman back in there, we gained our composure, sat back down on defense and tried to get back out on transition a little bit. We just kind of got back to our roots that we lost earlier in the second half.

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles

On Kenny Goins…
The mistake I made was I came out early and talked to Coach Izzo before the game. I said, I'm so impressed with Kenny Goins' set-up into his shot. He gets his butt down, his hands up, he's ready to shoot every time. Coach says, yeah, he's really improved that way, then he goes out and makes his first five and I regretted saying it. I should have said, I think he's got something wrong, but Kenny I think he's a self-made guy. He went from a guy not even in the scouting report years ago to going out and having a great night, you know 24 points and eight rebounds. I think that just says a lot about the culture of Michigan State and the character of a guy like Kenny.

On the fight his team has shown…
Playing hard is one thing, but also playing hard and playing well you have to be able to do both. I thought we did a lot of things right tonight. We'll look at the way we played against Michigan, that was such a disappointment. We've got to have more in us than that and I thought tonight we did. There are no moral victories but at the same time fought back, it was seven. I think a chance to cut it to six with a free throw, we miss. Xavier Tillman hits a three you know an unlikely suspect then we come down, we miss a three and we have the five-point play with the flagrant one and now you're looking up and it's fourteen with maybe thirty seconds to play. That's what Michigan State can do to you and when they shoot the ball that well tonight. That's why they might end up being a conference champion.

On how critical the flagrant call was…
That whole series was really critical because we had momentum. I think we had outscored them by 11 points or 12 in the second half, 11 I think, and you're like okay. Eventually you hope that they get a little bit antsy and they're bickering or agitated with each other and you get them where you want them, but that was a huge play. The explanation is it was a flagrant one and I didn't ask. It looked odd to me, so I figured something was up, but I was looking through nine guys.

Closing Statement...
I think you have to, just in closing, when you look at Michigan State and Coach Izzo losses two lottery picks and he's got what looks to me to be a Final Four team. Then they lose Joshua (Langford) and then Nick (Ward)'s out for a long period of time and so you have to reinvent yourself and doing it at such a high level is just so impressive. The one thing I love about playing Michigan State is you learn so much about yourself and your guys because if you don't compete your butt off against them it's a freight train and you're in the way. I just have to commend them and everybody like that, I mean his coaching staff is what I'm saying, on keeping this thing going because you could lose that. It's easy to get disappointed but Coach Izzo will not allow that and that's really impressive, so I just want to close with that.

Players Mentioned

Kyle Ahrens

Gabe Brown

Kenny Goins

Aaron Henry

Joshua Langford

Matt McQuaid

Xavier Tillman Sr.

Nick Ward

Cassius Winston